2023 College Football Bowl Previews (Tue 12/26)

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OUR TAKE

The Quick Lane Bowl features an interesting matchup between the Bowling Green Falcons and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. While both teams will be hindered by opt-outs, the Golden Gophers sustained the biggest loss when heralded DC Joe Rossi left to take the same role at Michigan State. Luckily, Bowling Green is not great offensively, so the Golden Gophers should be fine. The biggest question mark for the Minnesota defense is their ability to stop the run. If star Bowling Green RB Terion Stewart plays, that could create issues for a defense allowing 154.7 YPG and 4.7 YPC on the ground. Offensively, the Golden Gophers will be down to their third-string QB, Cole Kramer. Not sure how significant that is considering the poor play of QB1, Athan Kaliakmanis. The most important news for Minnesota will be whether stud freshman RB Darius Taylor is healthy enough to suit up in his hometown. If Taylor and fellow RB Jordan Nubin are fully healthy, then the Minnesota offense will be completely content to run the ball 50-plus times and will have success doing so.

Offensively, Bowling Green improved significantly over their last three games, particularly through the air, averaging 274.3 YPG. Connor Bazelak leaned on three primary targets in the passing game over that stretch, TE Harold Fannin, WR Odieu Hilaire, and RB Ta’Ron Keith. Unfortunately, Keith hit the transfer portal, but Fannin and Hilaire could create issues for the Minnesota defense. Defensively, Bowling Green was essentially a top-30 unit this year. They will be without top CB Jalen Huskey for the bowl game, but that should not matter when facing an inept Minnesota passing attack.

TL;DR: This is a game that feels like it will ultimately be determined by the health of each team’s star RB. My gut says that Darius Taylor plays, and shines, in front of his family and friends in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. I’m picking Minnesota to win this game and cover the spread.

BOWLING GREEN OPT-OUTS/TRANSFERS

• RB Ta’Ron Keith

• RB Nick Mosley

• TE Andrew Bench

• CB Jalen Huskey

• CB Deshawn Jones Jr.

• EDGE Kition Tau

MINNESOTA OPT-OUTS/TRANSFERS

• QB Athan Kaliakmanis
• QB Drew Viotto
• RB Zach Evans
• OT JJ Guedet

STAFF PICKS

	Josh Chevalier	Zach Hall	Matt Wispe	Rick Kamla	Mike Bainbridge
ML
ATS

OUR TAKE

The Texas State Bobcats are playing in their first bowl game ever. Needless to say, the team and players will be ready to go. With no opt-outs reported and star WR Joey Hobert returning from injury, I’m expecting HC GJ Kinne and the Bobcats to put on a show in the First Responder Bowl. Offensively, Kinne produced a top-10 unit, averaging 471.8 YPG and 36.0 PPG. Through the air, QB TJ Finley finally found a home, throwing for 3.188 yards and 24 TDs. However, explosive RB Ismail Mahdi was the star of the offense, turning 217 touches into 1,485 yards and 11 TDs. Defensively, the Bobcats were not good, ranking 106th in FBS in YPG (414.3) and 118th in scoring (33.8).

The Rice Owls are heading to their second straight bowl game under HC Mike Bloomgren. However, they will do so without their starting QB, JT Daniels. Backup AJ Padgett will get the nod at QB, but he is a far cry from Daniels from a talent perspective. Padgett has two offensive weapons to lean on in the passing game, RB Dean Connors and WR Luke McCaffrey, who combined for 110 receptions, 1,358 yards, and 15 TDs. McCaffrey is a great athlete who will have a shot to play on Sundays when he decides to make that leap. Defensively, the Owls rank 57th in YPG (370.8) and 69th in PPG (26.8). They were susceptible to big passing plays, allowing 7.5 YPA. Unfortunately, the Bobcats have one of the more explosive passing attacks in the country.

TL;DR: These are two teams who relied heavily upon their QBs for offensive success this year. Considering JT Daniels is not playing, I believe Texas State will win their first bowl game ever and cover the spread.

TEXAS STATE OPT-OUTS/TRANSFERS

• RB Calvin Hill

RICE OPT-OUTS/TRANSFERS

• QB JT Daniels

STAFF PICKS

	Josh Chevalier	Zach Hall	Matt Wispe	Rick Kamla	Mike Bainbridge
ML
ATS

OUR TAKE

Lance Leipold has this Kansas program going in the right direction. In three seasons, he has taken this Kansas team from a 2-win team to an 8-4 team in 2023. Not to mention he did that with arguably his best player QB Jalon Daniels only playing in three games. Running Back Devin Neal followed up a 1,000-yard rushing effort in 2022 with another one in 2023 — he finished the regular season with 1,209 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. Jason Bean started most of the season at QB and threw for 1,681 yards, 12 touchdowns, and four interceptions. He also added 259 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.

Speaking of moving their program in the right direction, Barry Odom took a UNLV team that hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2013 and got them to a 9-4 record and an appearance in the Mountain West Championship game. A big reason for the success? Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense. This offense went from scoring 26 points a game to 34. One big reason was WR Ricky White. He finished the year with 81 receptions, 1,386 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a force down the stretch for this team. QB Jayden Maiava threw for 2,794 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for 261 yards and three touchdowns. This team relied on a handful of running backs to get the job done in the run game.

TL;DR: Both teams have had their best season in quite some time and are both trending up. I’m going with Kansas in this.

KANSAS OPT-OUTS/TRANSFERS

• TE Will Huggins

• WR Reece Thomas

UNLV OPT-OUTS/TRANSFERS

• S Jordyn Morgan
• WR Jordan Jakes

STAFF PICKS

	Josh Chevalier	Zach Hall	Matt Wispe	Rick Kamla	Mike Bainbridge
ML
ATS