CollegeKingRex
CTG Regular
Tonight's Emerald Bowl is expected to be a battle between two of the toughest defenses in the country. UCLA is ranked third in the nation in tackles for loss and third-down conversions, and have given up only 24 touchdowns this season, compared with 48 last season. The Bruins have held foes under 17 points seven times, and six times the Bruins have held a team to fewer than 265 yards in total offense. That's dominant stuff.
Linebackers Buster Davis and Lawrence Timmons spearhead a Florida State defense that led the nation in tackles for loss and limited opponents to 278.9 yards a game.
OK, so when Florida State has the ball, here's the lowdown. Offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden will (FINALLY) be relieved of his duties after the Emerald Bowl, and longtime running backs coach Billy Sexton is calling it quits as well. Part of the problems could be the constant uncertainty at quarterback. Throughout the regular season, Florida State has played two quarterbacks (Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee). Weatherford will start tonight, but Lee should get some clock as well.
Weatherford, a 6-3, 220-pound sophomore, is the more traditional drop-back passer who has started 22 games in his career. He passed for 1,829 yards and 11 touchdowns with 10 interceptions during the regular season and has shown that he can have big passing days, such as his four-touchdown effort against Duke this season and a 377-yard effort against Virginia in 2005.
Lee, a 6-4, 230-pound sophomore, has more mobility than Weatherford. After not playing in four of the first seven games of the season, Lee had his moments over the second half of the season. In the first start of his career, against Maryland, he completed 22 of 36 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns.
UCLA ranks sixth nationally in sacks with 39, and its defensive ends, Bruce Davis and Justin Hickman, are tied for second in the country with 12 1/2 each. UCLA is coming off a 13-9 victory over USC, halting the Trojans' 63-game streak of scoring at least 20 points - as impressive of a performance as anyone has had in college football all season.
On the other side, the UCLA offense will try to move it with more consistency than they did against the Trojans, but it could be a tall task against the 'Nole defense. FSU forced 12 turnovers in their six victories this season but only three in their six losses. UCLA is 18-2 under Karl Dorrell when they win the turnover battle.
Dorrell is the first UCLA coach to lead his team into a bowl game in his first four seasons but is 1-2 in his first three bowls. Meanwhile, Bobby Bowden is the winningest coach in college football - and bowl - history. Bowden came to Florida State in 1976 and the Seminoles went 5-6. They haven't had a losing season since, 29 consecutive years in the black. A loss tonight would put them at 6-7 and end the remarkable run.
But another remarkable run ended earlier this year - the 30-0 loss to Wake Forest on Nov. 11, the first time in 18 years the Seminoles had been shut out and the first time in Bobby Bowden's 31 seasons as Florida State's head coach that they had been blanked at home.
Florida State had a stretch from 1987-2000 that was unparalleled in college football history — 14 straight seasons ranked in the top five - each seasons where the Noles lost no more than two games. But the Seminoles have lost an eye-popping 26 times since 2001. Most of it comes in the time that Jeff Bowden has called the plays (and the Noles were breaking in freshmen Chris Rix and Weatherford (Rix played like a freshman for four years) in that time frame).
UCLA and Florida State each have offenses that have struggled to score touchdowns with any consistency inside their opponents' 20-yard line this season.
Rain is in the forecast for today's game. It's been this way in this game the last two or three years, with a wet track and rain. Both teams have to be careful with their footing playing in AT&T Park, a baseball stadium used by the Giants. A slip at the wrong time could determine the game.
And like PUTT said yesterday in his thread, he correctly remembers the field being a quagmire about midway through the first quarter. It's hard to get anything done if the footing isn't a little better this time around.
could UCLA's upset of Southern Cal make it difficult for the Bruins to get back up for this one, against a six-loss unit that it has never played in school history?
Tough to say, but I'm betting against points.
Prediction: Florida State 16, UCLA 9
The plays: FSU ML plus 145 for a medium bet
Florida State/UCLA UNDER 38.5 for a big bet
Linebackers Buster Davis and Lawrence Timmons spearhead a Florida State defense that led the nation in tackles for loss and limited opponents to 278.9 yards a game.
OK, so when Florida State has the ball, here's the lowdown. Offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden will (FINALLY) be relieved of his duties after the Emerald Bowl, and longtime running backs coach Billy Sexton is calling it quits as well. Part of the problems could be the constant uncertainty at quarterback. Throughout the regular season, Florida State has played two quarterbacks (Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee). Weatherford will start tonight, but Lee should get some clock as well.
Weatherford, a 6-3, 220-pound sophomore, is the more traditional drop-back passer who has started 22 games in his career. He passed for 1,829 yards and 11 touchdowns with 10 interceptions during the regular season and has shown that he can have big passing days, such as his four-touchdown effort against Duke this season and a 377-yard effort against Virginia in 2005.
Lee, a 6-4, 230-pound sophomore, has more mobility than Weatherford. After not playing in four of the first seven games of the season, Lee had his moments over the second half of the season. In the first start of his career, against Maryland, he completed 22 of 36 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns.
UCLA ranks sixth nationally in sacks with 39, and its defensive ends, Bruce Davis and Justin Hickman, are tied for second in the country with 12 1/2 each. UCLA is coming off a 13-9 victory over USC, halting the Trojans' 63-game streak of scoring at least 20 points - as impressive of a performance as anyone has had in college football all season.
On the other side, the UCLA offense will try to move it with more consistency than they did against the Trojans, but it could be a tall task against the 'Nole defense. FSU forced 12 turnovers in their six victories this season but only three in their six losses. UCLA is 18-2 under Karl Dorrell when they win the turnover battle.
Dorrell is the first UCLA coach to lead his team into a bowl game in his first four seasons but is 1-2 in his first three bowls. Meanwhile, Bobby Bowden is the winningest coach in college football - and bowl - history. Bowden came to Florida State in 1976 and the Seminoles went 5-6. They haven't had a losing season since, 29 consecutive years in the black. A loss tonight would put them at 6-7 and end the remarkable run.
But another remarkable run ended earlier this year - the 30-0 loss to Wake Forest on Nov. 11, the first time in 18 years the Seminoles had been shut out and the first time in Bobby Bowden's 31 seasons as Florida State's head coach that they had been blanked at home.
Florida State had a stretch from 1987-2000 that was unparalleled in college football history — 14 straight seasons ranked in the top five - each seasons where the Noles lost no more than two games. But the Seminoles have lost an eye-popping 26 times since 2001. Most of it comes in the time that Jeff Bowden has called the plays (and the Noles were breaking in freshmen Chris Rix and Weatherford (Rix played like a freshman for four years) in that time frame).
UCLA and Florida State each have offenses that have struggled to score touchdowns with any consistency inside their opponents' 20-yard line this season.
Rain is in the forecast for today's game. It's been this way in this game the last two or three years, with a wet track and rain. Both teams have to be careful with their footing playing in AT&T Park, a baseball stadium used by the Giants. A slip at the wrong time could determine the game.
And like PUTT said yesterday in his thread, he correctly remembers the field being a quagmire about midway through the first quarter. It's hard to get anything done if the footing isn't a little better this time around.
could UCLA's upset of Southern Cal make it difficult for the Bruins to get back up for this one, against a six-loss unit that it has never played in school history?
Tough to say, but I'm betting against points.
Prediction: Florida State 16, UCLA 9
The plays: FSU ML plus 145 for a medium bet
Florida State/UCLA UNDER 38.5 for a big bet
