Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl Preview
30 Dec
By Ryan Liss “The Sportmeister”
www.sportmeisters.com
One of the toughest problems of these games is trying to find the matchups that help give these games some stronger meaning, and I’ll say, as someone who doesn’t see many WAC matchups, it makes it interesting for me because Nevada has some good options. So let’s look at the game within a game at the Humanitarian Bowl.
Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl
Nevada vs. Maryland
Dec. 29th, 4:30 PM, Boise
About Maryland: The Terps have been an interesting team this year, but they did what it took to get to a bowl game. They started off by winning four of their first five games, including an upset over then No. 23 California and then No. 20 Clemson. They also saw victories over then No. 16 Wake Forest, and then No. 15 North Carolina, but couldn’t hold their own against Middle Tennessee State of all teams, and ended up losing three out of their last four to slip to 7-5. QB Chris Turner threw for 2318 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2008, with five going to Darrius Heyward-Bey, who also led the receiving squad with 561 yards, and did contribute 208 yards on the ground. RB Da’Rel Scott is closing in on a 1,000 yard season, with 959 and six touchdowns so far. Davin Meggett spells him with a 5.3 yard per carry average, leading to 422 yards on the ground.
About Nevada: The Wolfpack are one of the quieter teams of 2008, but they have some good players with definite NFL potential. It was that potential that kept this team afloat during some ugly early losses, and despite no real level of consistency, they did enough to get themselves to 7-5. For Nevada, this is their fourth straight bowl game, and overall they are 3-4. Nevada is one of the top rushing offenses in the nation at 291.4 yards per game, and that would be thanks to not one, but two 1,000 yard rushers. RB Vai Taua leads the team with 1420 yards on a 6.7 yard per carry average and 14 touchdowns. The other 1,000 yard rusher? QB Colin Kaepernick, who has 1115 yards with 16 touchdowns and 7.3 yard per carry average. But wait, he can throw as well! 2479 yards and 19 touchdowns against only five interceptions. WR Marko Mitchell is the primary target, with 1011 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. DEs Kevin Basped and Dontay Moch have a combined 34 tackles for loss, contributing to a 74.5 rushing yard per game average.
About The Bowl: The key for this game will be, can Maryland stop Kaepernick? He has weapons with his arms and legs, and with the 2nd best rushing offense, it will be tough for Maryland to just stack the line, because Kaepernick can just throw over the top to Mitchell. On the other side, Maryland will need to control the front four, and give Turner some options, which does not look too promising. I really can’t go too much further into this matchup because it doesn’t look too promising for Maryland, and so right into the pick, I’m taking Nevada 34-7, and look forward to a show from Kaepernick.
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