Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Preview
30 Dec
By Ryan Liss “The Sportmeister”
www.sportmeisters.com
Now we have a good game! Pac-10 vs. Big 12, two ranked teams battling it out for some good offseason momentum! On top of that, two top ten offenses should have the defensive coordinators erasing the tape as early as possible. It’s the Holiday Bowl, easily the 2nd best pre-New Years bowl we should be watching tonight!
Holiday Bowl
(13) Oklahoma State vs. (17) Oregon
Dec 30th, 8pm, San Diego
About Oklahoma State: The Cowboys were another one of the more competitive Big 12 teams this season, and with their three losses coming against the top 3 teams in the nation, they still manage to be looking at the outskirts of a 10 win season at 9-3. Oklahoma State is in the midst of a two-game bowl winning streak, and hold a 12-6 overall bowl record. QB Zak Robinson leads the 41.6 point per game average team with 2735 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, including a 67% passing completion rate. The team is best known for their rushing game, and Kendall Hunter’s 125 yards per game is the key for the Cowboys. On the year, he has 1518 yards and 14 touchdowns. Keith Totson is right behind him with 658 yards and nine touchdowns, and Robinson also have 508 yards and seven touchdowns. Dez Bryant is easily the top receiver on the squad, with 74 catches for 1313 yards and 18 touchdowns.
About Oregon: The Ducks are no stranger to bowl season, with their sixth appearance in eight years coming tonight. They are 9-12 in their bowl history. For 2008, Oregon started with a three game win streak and ended with a three game win streak, leaving themselves with a 9-3 record, looking for that 10th win. Much like their opponents, Oregon gets it done on the ground, behind the running of RBs Jeremiah Johnson (1082 yards and 12 touchdowns) and LeGarrette Blount (928 yards, 16 touchdowns), and QB Jeremiah Masoli contributes on the ground and through the passing game (2098 all-purpose yards, 19 touchdowns). Terrence Scott and Jeffrey Maehl each have five receiving touchdowns.
About the Bowl: Offense, offense, offense! Where do we begin? The top ten ranked offenses (Oklahoma State 7th 489.3 yards per game, Oregon 8th 478.2 yards per game), the top ten rushing games (Oklahoma State 7th 256 yards per game, Oregon 4th 277.8 yards per game), or the top ten scoring offense (Oklahoma State and Oregon both 6th at 41 points per game)? The defenses do not have the weapons ready to stop either squad. Oregon gives up three yards a carry, which will give Robinson and Hunter plenty of yards to gain on the ground, but for Oregon, they will need all the size of 300 lb. DT Ra’Shon Harris to control the front five of the Cowboys. On the other side, even if Oklahoma State tries to matchup against the better running game, the lack of size of the Ducks secondary will force problems if Masoli looks for tall receivers like 6-5 Jaison Williams (421 yards, 3 touchdowns).
The Pick: Oklahoma State 61-49. It’s a real tossup between the two, but look for it be whichever team makes the most defensive stops to take the victory, and I look for the Cowboys to be the ones getting the stops.
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