Bowling on Monday

Today's News Links:

Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien is in talks to become the next head coach of the Houston Texans.
Full story here.

Central Florida has hired NFL assistant Paul Ferraro to be defensive coordinator.  Full story here.

Because of a legal dispute between the American Athletic Conference and Rutgers over the school's move to Big Ten next season, the AAC has withheld Rutgers' $1.5 million payout from the Pinstripe Bowl.  Full story here.

Notre Dame has hired New York Jets linebackers coach Brian VanGorder to be their new defensive coordinator.  VanGorder replaces Bob Diaco, who left to become Connecticut's new head football coach.  Full story here.

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In the world of professional sports, Monday is a day often associated with professional football.  But, because of network scheduling, and the fact that New Years' Day is on a Wednesday, college football fans have four bowl games to look forward to this afternoon.

Starting at 11:45 AM Eastern on ESPN, TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts the BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL.  This year's game features Middle Tennessee (C-USA) against Navy (Independent).  Both teams finished the 2013 regular season with 8-4 records and appear to be evenly matched in both total offensive yards (approx. 415 yards per game) and average points allowed per game (26 ppg).  But, the similarities appear to end there.  Navy relies on an option offense geared towards the rushing game.  In fact, Navy's offensive squad is #2 in the country in rushing yards (322.0 ypg).  Though Middle Tennessee's rushing offense averages 208.3 ypg, the Blue Raiders make up the yardage difference between them and Navy with a passing game that averages 207.4 ypg (compared to only 91.5 passing ypg for Navy).  At this point, the question is whether the Blue Raiders can stop the Midshipmen's rushing game.  Middle Tennessee is fifth in the country (tied with Arizona State) in forcing 31 turnovers this season, but Navy's offense has only turned the ball over eight times this year.  Not sure who has the advantage here.  ESPN's Mark Schlabach has Navy winning 21-17. 

At 3:15 PM Eastern, the FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee, features two teams, Ole Miss (SEC) and Georgia Tech (ACC), that have not played each other since 1971.  Since both colleges are within a reasonable driving distance from Nashville (250 miles from Atlanta, 230 miles from Oxford), one should expect large numbers of fans from both schools to make the trip.  Ole Miss will attempt to win their sixth consecutive postseason game and they will have with them a formidable offensive squad led by QB Bo Wallace.  Despite setbacks in the Rebels' last two games against Missouri and Mississippi State, Wallace still completed 64% of his passes for 3,090 yards and accumulated 17 touchdowns during the 2013 season.  By contrast, Georgia Tech's offensive line emphasizes the rushing game.  The Yellow Jackets are currently 4th in the country in rushing with 311.7 yards per game.  In terms of defense, neither team has allowed an average of more than 25 points per game (Ole Miss:  24.3, Georgia Tech:  22.7).  Both teams will be playing for their eighth win.  I am looking at a very competitive game to take shape.  Mark Schlabach picks Ole Miss to win by 3 with a projected final score of 24-21.  

The third game, and arguably the most anticipated match-up on today's schedule, is the VALERO ALAMO BOWL between #10 Oregon (PAC-12) and Texas (BIG XII) at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (Kickoff:  6:45 PM Eastern)  Both teams were in the news during the 2013 season, but for different reasons.  Oregon seemed to be en route to another BCS National Championship berth until they lost to both Stanford and Arizona.  While the Stanford loss put the Ducks out of consideration for the PAC-12 championship game, their devastating loss to Arizona ended any chance of an at-large bid for a BCS-level bowl.  As for Texas, the main issue was Mack Brown's continued tenure at Austin after sixteen seasons.  Brown made the decision to resign a couple weeks ago, and today's Alamo Bowl will be his last game as Texas head coach.  So far, there is no word from Austin on who will take his place in 2014.  Since Austin is approximately eighty miles from San Antonio, one can see that this a practically a home game for the Longhorns.  Despite this perceived home-field advantage and a desire, as Texas QB Case McCoy put it, "to go out there and finish this thing right," it will be difficult for the Longhorns to beat Oregon.  The Ducks have averaged 573 offensive yards per game (20th in passing, 9th in rushing), their scoring average is roughly 47 points per game, and the Ducks' defense, even with late season setbacks against Stanford and Arizona, has only allowed an average of 21.6 points per game.  Oregon's QB, Marcus Mariotta, has announced that he will return to Oregon for his junior year while tonight's game will be QB Case McCoy's last one as a Longhorn.  Mark Schlabach picks Oregon to win by at least two touchdowns and a field goal.  His projected final score:  44-27.     

Finally, at 10:15 PM Eastern, #14 Arizona State (PAC-12) and Texas Tech (BIG XII) will meet in the NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY BOWL at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.  For the first time since 1996, Arizona State is in a position to end a season with eleven wins.  Texas Tech, by contrast, had lost their last five games, and four of those losses were by considerable margins.  Even though the Red Raiders boast the #2 offense in the country in terms of passing yardage (392.0 yards per game), their lackluster defense may not be able to stop the Sun Devils' powerful offensive line.  Texas Tech's defense has allowed an average of 31.2 points per game, and they have play against a Sun Devil offense that is 9th in the country in scoring (41.0 points per game).  Adding to Texas Tech's problems is Quarterback Baker Mayfield's decision earlier in December to transfer to another school.  Kliff Kingsbury, the Red Raiders head coach, will start either Davis Webb, who threw for 2.315 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions, or Michael Brewer, who attempted only ten passes and had to endure a back injury.  Arizona State is a fourteen-point favorite.  Mark Schlabach's projected final score:  38-24.