R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Preview

By Ryan Liss “The Sportmeister”

www.sportmeisters.com

Four bowls down, thirty to go, and tonight, two teams close to home battle it out, but only one can claim victory into the off-season. Let’s go deeper inside the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl with me, The Sportmeister.

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Southern Miss vs. Troy

Sunday, Dec. 21, New Orleans

About Southern Miss: Southern Miss is no stranger to postseason play, this being their seventh straight bowl game (3-3 during that span). Overall, they hold a 8-10 record in bowl games. This is their third trip to the New Orleans Bowl, and they are 2-0 so far. They started off 2-1, before losing five straight games, and forcing themselves to win four straight just to get to bowl eligibility at six wins. RB Damion Fletcher averages 6 yards a carry, and has used that to get 1235 yards and nine touchdowns. QB Austin Davis is scary both running and throwing, with 3323 all purpose yards and 30 touchdowns. His top receiving target is 6-6 Freshman DeAndre Brown, who has 66 catches for 1108 yards and 12 touchdowns. His 92.33 yards per game average is the highest among freshmen in the country.

About Troy: The Troy Trojans are known for playing anyone, anytime, anywhere, but I’m sure they’re happy to be near home for their bowl game. Outside of the one hiccup against Louisiana-Monroe, they won the games they were supposed to, and lost the ones they were supposed to, including an almost victory against then No.20 LSU, when Troy was up 31-3 before losing 40-31. Outside of that, they still finished 8-4, their third straight year of 8 wins. Despite the winning success, Troy has only played in three bowl games in its history, and are currently 1-2, though their one win did come in their last bowl game, the 2006 New Orleans Bowl against Rice. QB Levi Brown, who came in after a week 5 injury to Jamie Hampton, has filled in exceptionally well, with 1775 yards and 14 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. The running styles of DuJuan Harris (1025 yards, 11 touchdowns), has to be credited to a stout offensive line, that, outside of making holes, has given up only nine sacks all season. WR Jerrel Jernigan is the primary receiver, catching 68 balls for 803 yards and five touchdowns, though the ball does get spread around in this offense, as 11 different players have caught a touchdown this season.

About the Bowl: It looks like offense is taking over again, as these two teams know how to put up yards and points. They are both in the top 30 in total yards (Southern Miss 21st at 448 yards a game, Troy 30th at 425.8 yards a game). However, keep in mind that during Southern Miss’s four game winning streak, they have given up only three touchdowns. With that being said, a couple key offense vs. defense matchups to watch for include the play of redshirt freshman Davis for the Golden Eagles against the quickness of Trojan Des Brandon Lang and Cameron Sheffield. This could pose a potential problem for the mobile QB, especially with the O-Line struggling enough to keep Davis from getting hit. Though, if they use the six yard per carry advantage of Fletcher, who is quick enough to hit the smallest of holes, that should take pressure off Davis. On the other side, it is the O-line of Troy that will help give them the advantage, as they can and will fend off the rush of Southern Miss, and will neutralize a pass defense that has intercepted 17 passes this season, because QB Brown will have all day back there to check off his progression. I also look to see Harris take advantage of a rush defense that gives up four and a half yards a carry.

The Pick: Troy 35-21. While Southern Miss’s defense has been splendid as of late, they have too many glaring holes that cannot be overlooked and have strong potential to be exploited by Troy.

InGameNow is sponsoring the Gunaxin Blog Bowl. Check them out for more coverage of the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.