BIRMINGHAM BOWL, NOON ET; ESPN
AUBURN (6-6) vs. MEMPHIS (9-3)
At first blush this might look like a serious mismatch given the records of both teams. But the reality of an SEC schedule vs. an AAC one cannot be ignored. It also cannot help Memphis that HC JUSTIN FUENTE is already on the job at VA TECH. DARRELL DICKEY will take over the helm for this battle. Conversely, Auburn is missing DC WILL MUSCHAMP who is on the job at South Carolina already. In a statistical oddity Auburn has identical statistical FCS rankings in total Offense and Defense. Unfortunately, the ranking is rather poor at 91st on both sides of the ball. On paper you have to wonder what Auburn is going to do to stop Memphis which enters the game with a national ranking on Offense of 12th. It’s not very hard to figure out why Auburn ranks 91st on Offense. The primary blame lies with the QB position, where the combo of WHITE/JOHNSON combined has thrown for 10 TD and 9 INT. Injuries at RB have also slowed the running game which ranked 40th in the nation. Auburn’s top WR is RICARDO LOUIS with a whopping 45 catches and 3 TD. Memphis is of course led by top QB prospect PAXTON LYNCH, who completed 69% of his throws this past season for 3670 yards and a TD/INT ratio 28 TD/3 INT. IN my book he should be a Top 5 Draft Pick. Because defenses have to concentrate so much of LYNCH and his passing game a solid RB group manages to average just under 200 yards per game. I look for Auburn to try some creative work from the start, but tricks can only go so far. As long as Memphis is patient their offense should win out and eventually pull away form the Tigers. But I still believe Auburn has more talent than their record indicates. This could be a pretty exciting contest for much of the game with Memphis winning by about 10.
Prospects to watch:
AUBURN MEMPHIS
#5 RICARDO LOUIS/WR 6’2/215 #5 MOSE FRAZIER/WR 5’11/185
#6 DE’VONTE LAMBERT/DE 6’6/282 #12 PAXTON LYNCH/QB 6’7/230 JR
#1 MONTRAVIUS ADAMS/DT 6’4/296 JR #39 REGGIS BALL/S 5’11/210
#8 CASSANOVA McKINZY/LB 6’3/253 #40 ALAN CROSS/TE 6’1/245
#17 KRIS FROST/LB 6’2/240 #53 LEONARD PEGUES/LB 5’11/240
#55 CARL LAWSON/ER 6’2/257 #77 TAYLOR FALLIN/OT 6’6/325
#72 SHON COLEMAN/OT 6’6/313 JR
BELK BOWL; 3:30 PM ET; NORTH CAROLINA STATE (7-5) vs MISSISSIPPI STATE (8-4)
Still not sure what a belk is. An animal related to an elk; maybe a plant native to North Carolina. Any help would be appreciated. Whatever a bel is they named a bowl game in Charlotte and this year’s game features a pretty good match-up between two of the best senior QBs in college football in Dak Prescott of Mississippi State and NC State’s Jacoby Brissett. Prescott, a kind of a poor man’s Tim Tebow, albeit with a much better arm, passed for over 3,400 yards this fall as he completed 67% of his passes, including 25 for scores against just 4 picks, while he ran for another 540 yards; he’s considered to be a second day prospect. For his part, Brissett wasn’t quite as efficient throwing for 2,500 yards with 19 TD passes on a 61% completion mark, but like Prescott also only had 4 picks. Brissett also isn’t quite as highly rated as Prescott, but does seem to be moving up draft boards around the league as he has good size and arm strength.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs’ Prescott could be joined on the second day by several teammates including rangy, big-play junior WR De-Runnya Wilson, DT Chris Jones and CB Will Redmond (although the latter is out with an injury. At the same time, other members of the Wolfpack to watch with later round potential include G/T Joe Thuney, OT Alex Barr, CB Juston Burns and DE Mike Rose. Prospects to watch:
MISSISSIPPI STATE NORTH CAROLINA STATE
QB Dak Prescott, #15, 6-2, 230 QB Jacoby Brissett, #12, 6-4, 235
WR De’Runnya Wilson, #1, 6-4, 215 OT Joe Thuney, #54, 6-3, 295
DT Chris Jones, #98, 6-4, 310 OT Alex Barr, #71, 6-6, 320
CB Taveze Calhoun, #23, 6-0, 180 DE Mike Rose, #90, 6-2, 280
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CB Juston Burns, #11, 5-11, 210
MUSIC CITY BOWL, 7 PM ET; ESPN
TEXAS A&M (8-4) vs LOUISVILLE (7-5)
We’ll see if the Aggies can generate Offense without any of their top QB like Baylor did yesterday. JAKE HUBERNAK, a JC transfer, who was 12/27- 92 yards- 1 TD for the year in mop up work is the newest starter for the Aggies, who have seen their top 2 QB leave school in the past few weeks. Meanwhile, Louisville has improved greatly as the season progressed and right now is a dynamic run/pass team featuring an exciting a true frosh QB in #8 LAMAR JACKSON, who has weapons galore to throw to. Despite a slew of new starters on their Defensive unit, the CARDINALS ranked 14th overall on Defense this past season. They also led their conference (ACC) in takeaways during 2014 with 27. They are strong at every level of the defense and HUBERNAK will be hard pressed to mount a consistent offense, despite some very solid offensive weapons, especially at WR. Meanwhile, Louisville has improved greatly as the season progressed and right now is a dynamic run/pass QB in #8 LAMAR JACKSON, a true frosh. JACKSON is actually a better runner than passer at this early stage of his college career, but the basic talent is there. He passed for 1613 yards passing, while completing 56% of his throws for 10 TD & 8 INT. JACKSON also rushed for 734 yards, including 9 TD. This could play to Louisville’s advantage since A&M’s defense finished 97th against the run, yielding 206 yards per game. I expect a young Louisville squad to set the tone for 2016 with a solid win over A&M in this game. Prospects to watch:
TEXAS A&M LOUISVILLE
#11 JOSH REYNOLDS/WR 6’4/190 JR #13 JAMES BURGESS/LB 6’0/229
#21 TRA CARSON/RB 6’0/235 #44 PIO VATUVEI/DE 6’2/296
#38 DREW KASER/P 6’3/210 #45 JOHN WALLACE/K 6’1/190
#56 MIKE MATTHEWS/OC 6’2/290 #78 AARON EPPS/OT 6’7/288
#74 GERMAIN IFEDI/OT 6’5/325 JR #97 DE’ANGELO BROWN/DT 6’0/308
#79 JOSEPH CHEEK/OG 6’6/310 #98 SHELDON RANKIN/DL 6’2/303
#93 ALONZO WILLIAMS/DT 6’4/295
HOLIDAY BOWL; SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (8-5) vs WISCONSIN (9-3); 10:30 PM ET; ESPN
It will be the Big Ten versus the PAC-12 in San Diego in Wednesday’s nightcap in something of a Rose Bowl lite that has the potential to be a very entertaining game. Certainly, pro scouts will be out in force at the Holiday Bowl to check out a number of potentially interesting prospects for the upcoming draft, starting with USC senior QB Cody Kessler. Kessler was one of the more productive passers in college football this past season when he completed 68% of his pass attempts for over 3,300 yards and 28 scores against just 6 picks. However, Kessler has never gotten much love from NFL personnel people as he lacks prototype size and doesn’t have a real rocket for an arm. As a result, Kessler could very well last well into the third day of the 2016 draft where he could be something of a steal for some team. On the other hand, USC junior OLB Su’a Cravens likely won’t have to wait anywhere nearly that long to get a call this spring if he opts to enter the 2016 draft. Cravens, who could also get some looks as a SS, the position he was originally recruited at, figures to go somewhere in the middle of the second round. Meanwhile, USC has several other mid-to-late round candidates including CB Kevon Seymour, RB Tre Madden, DE Greg Townsend, DTs Delvon Simmons and Antwuan Woods, OLB Anthony Sarao, and FB Soma Vainuku. The best prospects for the Trojans, though, are true sophs CB Adoree Jackson and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster who won’t be draft eligible until 2017.
The big news for Wisconsin heading to the Holiday Bowl is that star junior RB Corey Clement could be back in uniform for the Badgers. Clement had been considered to be one of the top 4-5 prospects at the position for upcoming draft, but barely played this fall because of several injuries, most notably a sports hernia condition. For the record, Clement is not expected to turn pro this winter. That would make unheralded OLB Joe Schobert as the Badgers top prospect for the upcoming draft. Schobert isn’t overly big or athletic, but he just seems to find a way to get into the backfield where he registered 9.5 sacks and 9 other tackles for loss this fall. Schobert figures to be a late third or early 4th round pick this April. Meanwhile, other Badgers with later round possibilities include OT Tyler Marz, FS Tanner McEvoy, SS Michael Caputo, CB Darius Hillary and FB Derek Watt, the younger brother of star NFL DE J.J. Watt. Prospects to watch:
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WISCONSIN
QB Cody Kessler, #6, 6-1, 215 QB Joel Stave, #2, 6-3, 220
RB Tre Madden, #23, 5-11, 225 RB Corey Clement, #6, 5-10, 220, JR
FB Soma Vainuku, #31, 6-0, 255 FB Derek Watt, #34, 6-1, 240
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, #9, 6-3, 210, SO OT Tyler Marz, #61, 6-6, 320
DE Greg Townsend, #93, 6-3, 275 LB Joe Schobert, #58, 6-1, 240
DT Antwuan Woods, #99, 6-, 320 FS Tanner McEvoy, #3, 6-5, 235
DT Delvon Simmons, #52, 6-4, 295 SS Michael Caputo, #7, 5-11, 210
LB Su’a Cravens, #21, 6-1, 225 CB Darius Hillary, #5, 5-10, 190
LB Anthony Sarao, #56, 5-11, 235
CB Adoree Jackson, #2, 5-10, 185, SO
CB Kevon Seymour, #13, 5-11, 185
