5 Things to watch in the Holiday Bowl: No. 18 Michigan St. vs. No. 21 Washington St.
The 40th annual San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl once again matches teams from the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences. 21 Washington State (9-3) returns for the second straight year while No.
18 Michigan State (9-3) makes its first bowl appearance here. The Spartans are 1 1/2-point favorites in the game. Here are five things to watch:.
Washington State's quarterback situation. When Washington State coach Mike Leach was in town two weeks ago for a Holiday Bowl news conference, he was asked about the absence of the team's top two wide receivers — Tavares Martin Jr.
and Isaiah Johnson-Mack — who had been dismissed from the team. When Leach stepped to the podium for Wednesday's news conference, the first question was about the status of starting quarterback Luke Falk.
Falk was photographed with a cast on his left (non-throwing) forearm as he headed into Tuesday's practice at Southwestern College. "He's doing great," Leach said of Falk. "You can use your imagination all you want about the cast.
"He has had something on his hand all year and hence we named him the Kingslayer (a 'Game of Thrones' reference).
Pressed further, Leach said, "We don't talk about injuries, anyway, so you're on your own with that. He's had his glove on his hand all year long, so, yeah.". So Falk is good to go for the game?.
"He's doing exactly what we want him to do, and he looks good to me," Leach said.
Falk (357-for-534 passing, 3,593 yards, 30 TDs/13 INTs) averaged nearly 300 yards a game passing this season, although he was replaced a couple times this season by sophomore backup Tyler Hilinski (91-for-129, 904 yards, 5 TDs/6 INTs).
Hilinski led the Cougars to a triple overtime win over Boise State in September. He also threw four interceptions in a late-October loss at Arizona.
After that game, Leach told the Spokesman-Review: "Hilinski does a good job of bouncing around, pushing the ball downfield, but he gets reckless.
Falk tries to way over-analyze everything to the point where that can be counterproductive, so if I could slice the two of them in half and mold them into one guy, we'd probably have been in a pretty good situation today.".
Air Raid! Air Raid!. Washington State comes to town with its "Air Raid" offense, the uptempo, everybody-into-the-pattern, quick-throw scheme that tires out defenses and scoreboard operators. The Cougars rank No. 2 in the nation in passing with 374.8 yards/game.
Given the depleted receiving corps and potential issues at quarterback, what should observers expect from Washington State's "Air Raid" offense?. That's a good question.
Couple that with Michigan State film study of last year's Holiday Bowl, when Minnesota effectively limited Washington State to short, underneath passes in a 17-12 win over the Cougars.
Falk was limited to 264 yards — nearly 100 yards below his average — while going 30-for-51 passing in last year's bowl game. He had passed for fewer than 200 yards until a touchdown drive in the game's final minutes.
"What they do is cutting edge conceptually," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said, "so we are going to have to play well and play up here (referencing mentally by pointing to his head).
They are going to have to play fast, but play with their minds as well.". Michigan State's low-scoring offense.
Michigan State sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke (233-for-396 passing, 2,580 yards, 17 TDs/7 INTs/110 carries, 486 yards, 5 TDs) has drawn praise for his passing and running ability and his leadership.
He is supported in the run game by junior LJ Scott (183 carries, 788 yards, 6 TDs), among others.
Despite its offensive balance, Michigan State has averaged only 23.1 points a game this season (105th in the FBS). It's been enough to be successful because the Spartans defense has allowed but 20.2 points a game.
Washington State's offense gets most of the attention, but the Cougars defense has been solid. They rank 14th in the nation in total defense and are No. 1 in third-down efficiency.
"They get on you, they play you tight, they provide pressure," Dantonio said. "A lot of different pressure, a lot of different people running from different places and you've got to beat them.
So we've got to make plays on 50/50 balls much like they do. You've got to put the ball in the vicinity and the receiver has to make the tough catch and that run after catch is very important as well.".
When you have a guy named Hercules on your defense, you want him on the field as much as possible.
Washington State junior defensive lineman Hercules Mata'afa earned All-American honors this season after leading the Cougars with 9 1/2 sacks among his 43 tackles, along with two forced fumbles. Mata'afa must sit out the first two quarters against Michigan State, however.
It is the penalty for a targeting foul committed against Washington quarterback Jake Browning last month. Since it came in the second half, Mata'afa must sit for the first half of the bowl game. What will Leach say next?.
In a story posted Wednesday on The Players Tribune, Leach wrote about a pet raccoon he had as a kid. He named it Bilbo Baggins after the title character in J. Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit.".
"I grew up out in the country in Wyoming, and there was a guy near us who had a baby raccoon he wanted to get rid of, so my family took it in," Leach said in the story.
"I will say Bilbo did a fabulous job as a house pet. Got along great with the dog, got along great with the cats and he usually got along with the people, too.".
Leach said he and his father finally had to release Bilbo when the critter started to get a little feisty in his advanced years.
"They hit kinda raccoon teenage years and it's time for them to head off into the sunset," Leach said, adding, "I kinda would like to have a pet raccoon again, but, you know, bouncing around the country it makes it tough.
Raccoons have been spotted around these parts, but Leach is more likely to come across a skunk at the stadium. They have been known to interrupt a game or two, and they aren't likely to be as friendly as Bilbo.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét