Friday's Bowl Tip Sheet
December 24, 2014
**Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech**
-- Louisiana Tech (8-5 straight up, 10-3 against the spread) and Illinois will square off in the Heart of Dallas Bowl at Cotton Bowl Stadium. As of Christmas Eve, the Bulldogs were listed as a six-point favorites with a total of 57.5. Gamblers can take the Illini on the money line for a +190 return (risk $100 to win $190).
-- Illinois (6-6 SU, 5-7 ATS) became bowl eligible by winning back-to-back games to close the regular season. First, the Illini won a 16-14 decision over Penn St. as a five-point home underdog. Then in the regular-season finale, Tim Beckman's team won 47-33 at Northwestern as a 7.5-point road underdog. These wins garnered the program its first trip to the postseason under Beckman, who will now be retained after his status was very much in limbo going into the game against PSU.
-- Illinois senior quarterback Riley O'Toole was the catalyst against the Wildcats. He completed 17-of-28 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns. O'Toole also rushed for 147 yards on 21 carries. Josh Ferguson rushed for 95 yards and a pair of TDs on 15 carries.
-- O'Toole will get his third straight start vs. La. Tech. For the season, he completed 58.7 percent of his throws for 1,049 yards with a 9/7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. O'Toole also rushed for 261 yards and one score. Wes Lunt, a transfer from Oklahoma St., was the starter in September before going down with a leg injury. Lunt is healthy now and could see playing time, but Beckman is going to stay with O'Toole as the starter. Lunt connected on 63.7 percent of his passes for 1,729 yards with a 14/3 TD-INT ratio.
-- Illinois freshman WR Mike Dudek had an extraordinary season, hauling in 69 receptions for 965 yards and six TDs. The second-team All Big 10 selection can become just the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 receiving yards.
-- Illinois RB Josh Ferguson rushed for a team-high 685 yards and eight TDs, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
-- La. Tech was a perfect 7-0 ATS in games played against teams that are in the postseason.
-- La. Tech won Conference USA's West Division thanks to a 7-1 record in league play. However, the Bulldogs lost 26-23 at Marshall in the C-USA Championship Game. They did hook up their supporters as eight-point road underdogs.
-- Skip Holtz suspended six La. Tech players due to academic issues prior to the loss at Marshall. Five of those six players were starters and they remain 'out' for the bowl game.
-- La. Tech is going bowling for the first time since 2011. It went 4-8 last year in Holtz's first year at the helm. In 2012, Sonny Dykes' last season with the program, the Bulldogs went 9-3 but declined an invite to the Independence Bowl and then were inexplicably left out of the postseason mix altogether.
-- La. Tech is led by RB Kenneth Dixon, who rushed for 1,236 yards and 21 TDs. Dixon, who averages 5.2 YPC, also had five TD catches. His 26 TDs were the most in C-USA.
-- La. Tech QB Cody Sokol threw for 3,189 and had a 29/13 TD-INT ratio during the regular season. Sokol, a transfer from Iowa, has Trent Taylor as his favorite target. The sophomore WR has 62 catches for 814 yards and nine TDs.
-- These schools had one common opponent: Western Ky. La. Tech took the Hilltoppers behind the woodshed in a 59-10 thrashing as a 7.5-point home favorite. Illinois rallied past Western Ky. for a 42-34 win as a 3.5-point home favorite.
-- Illinois has been an underdog eight times, posting a 4-4 spread record with three outright victories.
-- La. Tech owns a 4-0 spread record when listed as a single-digit 'chalk.'
-- La. Tech's defense led the nation in takeaways with 40.
-- The 'over' is 8-4-1 overall for LT, but the 'under' is 3-2-1 in its last six games. The Bulldogs' games have averaged a combined score of 62.8 points per game.
-- Totals have been an overall wash for Illinois (6-6) with its games averaging 60.5 PPG.
-- Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
**Rutgers vs. North Carolina**
-- North Carolina and Rutgers are poised to collide at the Quick Lane Bowl on Friday afternoon at Ford Field in Detroit. ESPN will have the broadcast at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
-- As of Christmas Eve, most books had UNC installed as a three-point favorite with a total of 67. The Scarlet Knights are available for a +140 payout if they win outright.
-- North Carolina (6-6 SU, 5-7 ATS) needs a win over Rutgers to avoid its first losing season since 2007. The Tar Heels, who are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games, won four of its last six games to get bowl eligible. -- UNC won four of its 10 games against bowl-bound schools. The victories included scalps of San Diego St., Ga. Tech, Pitt and Duke. Larry Fedora's team went into Durham on a Thursday night (Nov. 20) and blasted the Blue Devils by a 45-20 count as a five-point underdog. The offense rolled up 591 yards of total offense thanks to the sensational play of QB Marquise Williams, who threw for 276 yards and two TDs without an interception. Williams also ran for 98 yards and a pair of scores on 21 carries. T.J. Logan rushed for a team-high 116 yards and one TD.
-- After crushing Duke, UNC hosted North Carolina St. in its regular-season finale. The Tar Heels got trounced 35-7 as 6.5-point favorites. Fedora's team had scored at least 17 points in its 11 previous games this year. The Wolfpack held UNC to a season-low 208 yards of total offense and knocked Williams out of the game with an injury in the third quarter.
-- Williams, who is completely healthy now, completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,875 yards with a 20/9 TD-INT ratio. He also rushed for a team-high 732 yards and 12 TDs. WR Ryan Switzer caught a team-best 55 balls for 708 yards and four TDs.
-- Rutgers (7-5 SU, ATS) closed the regular season by capturing a 41-38 win at Maryland as a 7.5-point underdog. Kyle Flood's squad trailed 35-10 late in the second quarter, but the game turned when QB Gary Nova found Andre Patton for a one-yard TD pass with nine seconds left until halftime. RU received in the second half and promptly scored on a one-yard TD plunge from Robert Martin just 73 seconds into the third quarter. On the first play of the final stanza, Nova threw a 10-yard TD pass to Patton to pull even at 38-38. Midway through the fourth quarter, Kyle Federico buried a 25-yard field goal for the winning points, as the RU defense made the lead hold up.
-- Nova threw for 347 yards and four TDs without an interception in the win over the Terrapins. For the season, Nova has connected on 58.0 percent of his passes for 2,667 yards with a 20/12 TD-INT ratio.
-- Rutgers is making its fourth consecutive bowl appearance. The Scarlet Knights have come up short in their last two bowl games, losing 29-16 to Notre Dame at last year's Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. We should note, however, that RU took the cash as a 14-point underdog to the Irish. Two season ago at the Russell Athletic Bowl, RU dropped a 13-10 decision to Va. Tech as a two-point 'dog in overtime. In 2011, RU captured its most recent bowl triumph by besting Iowa St. 27-13 as a one-point puppy.
-- RU owns a 6-1-1 spread record in its last eight postseason appearances.
-- As a single-digit favorite this year, UNC posted a 2-2 spread record.
-- Rutgers has compiled a 5-3 spread record with three outright wins in eight games as an underdog. The Scarlet Knights lost five of seven games against bowl-bound foes.
-- The 'over' is 7-5 overall for RU, cashing in five of its last seven regular-season games. RU's game have averaged a combined score of 56.5 PPG.
-- The 'under' is 6-5 overall for UNC after cashing in four of its last five games. The Tar Heels have seen their games average a combined score of 73.2 PPG.
**North Carolina State vs. Central Florida**
-- The ACC and the AAC will face each other when UCF and North Carolina St. face each other at the St. Petersburg Bowl at the Trop. As of Christmas Eve, most books had Central Florida (9-3 SU, 8-4 ATS) installed as a 2.5-point 'chalk' with a total of 49.
-- After limping to a 3-9 record in Dave Doeren's debut season in Raleigh, North Carolina St. (7-5 SU, 7-5 ATS) won its first four games and then had a 17-point lead over top-ranked Florida St. in the third quarter of their ACC showdown. However, the Seminoles rallied and eventually collected a 56-41 win. That first defeat started a four-game losing streak, but the Wolfpack won three games (at Syracuse, vs. Wake Forest and at North Carolina) in November to ensure a winning campaign.
-- North Carolina St. coasted to a 35-7 win at North Carolina as a 6.5-point underdog in the regular-season finale for both schools. QB Jacoby Brissett rushed for 167 yards and one TD, in addition to throwing three TD passes without an interception. Shadrach Thornton ran for 161 yards and one TD.
-- Brissett, a fourth-year junior who sat out the 2013 campaign after transferring from Florida, has been the catalyst for N.C. St. all year long. Brissett threw for 2,344 yards with a 22/5 TD-INT ratio. He also rushed for 498 yards and three TDs.
-- Thornton rushed for a team-high 811 yards and nine TDs while averaging 5.5 YPC.
-- N.C. St. went 4-2 with a pair of outright wins in six games as an underdog.
-- UCF lost its first two games to Penn St. (26-24) and Missouri (38-10), only to respond by winning nine of its last 10 games. George O'Leary's team brings a four-game winning streak both SU and ATS to the Sunshine State. The Knights closed the regular season with a 32-30 win at East Carolina as a 6.5-point underdog. On the final play of the game, Justin Holman found Breshad Perriman for a 51-yard TD pass on a Hail Mary play.
-- UFC had led ECU by a 26-9 score early in the fourth quarter, but the Pirates rallied and took a 30-26 lead with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter. But Holman's TD pass, his first of the night, helped the Knight avoid what would've been a painful defeat. Holman threw for 274 yards and wasn't intercepted by ECU. William Stanback rushed for 101 yards and a pair of TDs.
-- For the season, Holman completed 59.0 percent of his passes for 2,661 yards with a 20/13 TD-INT ratio. Stanback rushed for a team-high 660 yards and 10 TDs, but his YPC average (3.7) was pedestrian. Perriman finished the regular season with 41 receptions for 906 yards and nine TDs.
-- UCF went 2-2 ATS in four games as a single-digit favorite.
-- UCF has won three consecutive bowl games, including last year's 52-42 win over Baylor as a 16.5-point underdog at the Fiesta Bowl.
-- The 'under' is 6-5-1 overall for N.C. St., going 4-2-1 in its last seven regular-season games.
-- Totals have been an overall wash (6-6) for UCF, but we'll note a 4-2 run for the 'over' in its last six games.
-- Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Friday night in Motown. ESPN will have the telecast.
December 24, 2014
**Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech**
-- Louisiana Tech (8-5 straight up, 10-3 against the spread) and Illinois will square off in the Heart of Dallas Bowl at Cotton Bowl Stadium. As of Christmas Eve, the Bulldogs were listed as a six-point favorites with a total of 57.5. Gamblers can take the Illini on the money line for a +190 return (risk $100 to win $190).
-- Illinois (6-6 SU, 5-7 ATS) became bowl eligible by winning back-to-back games to close the regular season. First, the Illini won a 16-14 decision over Penn St. as a five-point home underdog. Then in the regular-season finale, Tim Beckman's team won 47-33 at Northwestern as a 7.5-point road underdog. These wins garnered the program its first trip to the postseason under Beckman, who will now be retained after his status was very much in limbo going into the game against PSU.
-- Illinois senior quarterback Riley O'Toole was the catalyst against the Wildcats. He completed 17-of-28 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns. O'Toole also rushed for 147 yards on 21 carries. Josh Ferguson rushed for 95 yards and a pair of TDs on 15 carries.
-- O'Toole will get his third straight start vs. La. Tech. For the season, he completed 58.7 percent of his throws for 1,049 yards with a 9/7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. O'Toole also rushed for 261 yards and one score. Wes Lunt, a transfer from Oklahoma St., was the starter in September before going down with a leg injury. Lunt is healthy now and could see playing time, but Beckman is going to stay with O'Toole as the starter. Lunt connected on 63.7 percent of his passes for 1,729 yards with a 14/3 TD-INT ratio.
-- Illinois freshman WR Mike Dudek had an extraordinary season, hauling in 69 receptions for 965 yards and six TDs. The second-team All Big 10 selection can become just the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 receiving yards.
-- Illinois RB Josh Ferguson rushed for a team-high 685 yards and eight TDs, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
-- La. Tech was a perfect 7-0 ATS in games played against teams that are in the postseason.
-- La. Tech won Conference USA's West Division thanks to a 7-1 record in league play. However, the Bulldogs lost 26-23 at Marshall in the C-USA Championship Game. They did hook up their supporters as eight-point road underdogs.
-- Skip Holtz suspended six La. Tech players due to academic issues prior to the loss at Marshall. Five of those six players were starters and they remain 'out' for the bowl game.
-- La. Tech is going bowling for the first time since 2011. It went 4-8 last year in Holtz's first year at the helm. In 2012, Sonny Dykes' last season with the program, the Bulldogs went 9-3 but declined an invite to the Independence Bowl and then were inexplicably left out of the postseason mix altogether.
-- La. Tech is led by RB Kenneth Dixon, who rushed for 1,236 yards and 21 TDs. Dixon, who averages 5.2 YPC, also had five TD catches. His 26 TDs were the most in C-USA.
-- La. Tech QB Cody Sokol threw for 3,189 and had a 29/13 TD-INT ratio during the regular season. Sokol, a transfer from Iowa, has Trent Taylor as his favorite target. The sophomore WR has 62 catches for 814 yards and nine TDs.
-- These schools had one common opponent: Western Ky. La. Tech took the Hilltoppers behind the woodshed in a 59-10 thrashing as a 7.5-point home favorite. Illinois rallied past Western Ky. for a 42-34 win as a 3.5-point home favorite.
-- Illinois has been an underdog eight times, posting a 4-4 spread record with three outright victories.
-- La. Tech owns a 4-0 spread record when listed as a single-digit 'chalk.'
-- La. Tech's defense led the nation in takeaways with 40.
-- The 'over' is 8-4-1 overall for LT, but the 'under' is 3-2-1 in its last six games. The Bulldogs' games have averaged a combined score of 62.8 points per game.
-- Totals have been an overall wash for Illinois (6-6) with its games averaging 60.5 PPG.
-- Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
**Rutgers vs. North Carolina**
-- North Carolina and Rutgers are poised to collide at the Quick Lane Bowl on Friday afternoon at Ford Field in Detroit. ESPN will have the broadcast at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
-- As of Christmas Eve, most books had UNC installed as a three-point favorite with a total of 67. The Scarlet Knights are available for a +140 payout if they win outright.
-- North Carolina (6-6 SU, 5-7 ATS) needs a win over Rutgers to avoid its first losing season since 2007. The Tar Heels, who are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games, won four of its last six games to get bowl eligible. -- UNC won four of its 10 games against bowl-bound schools. The victories included scalps of San Diego St., Ga. Tech, Pitt and Duke. Larry Fedora's team went into Durham on a Thursday night (Nov. 20) and blasted the Blue Devils by a 45-20 count as a five-point underdog. The offense rolled up 591 yards of total offense thanks to the sensational play of QB Marquise Williams, who threw for 276 yards and two TDs without an interception. Williams also ran for 98 yards and a pair of scores on 21 carries. T.J. Logan rushed for a team-high 116 yards and one TD.
-- After crushing Duke, UNC hosted North Carolina St. in its regular-season finale. The Tar Heels got trounced 35-7 as 6.5-point favorites. Fedora's team had scored at least 17 points in its 11 previous games this year. The Wolfpack held UNC to a season-low 208 yards of total offense and knocked Williams out of the game with an injury in the third quarter.
-- Williams, who is completely healthy now, completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,875 yards with a 20/9 TD-INT ratio. He also rushed for a team-high 732 yards and 12 TDs. WR Ryan Switzer caught a team-best 55 balls for 708 yards and four TDs.
-- Rutgers (7-5 SU, ATS) closed the regular season by capturing a 41-38 win at Maryland as a 7.5-point underdog. Kyle Flood's squad trailed 35-10 late in the second quarter, but the game turned when QB Gary Nova found Andre Patton for a one-yard TD pass with nine seconds left until halftime. RU received in the second half and promptly scored on a one-yard TD plunge from Robert Martin just 73 seconds into the third quarter. On the first play of the final stanza, Nova threw a 10-yard TD pass to Patton to pull even at 38-38. Midway through the fourth quarter, Kyle Federico buried a 25-yard field goal for the winning points, as the RU defense made the lead hold up.
-- Nova threw for 347 yards and four TDs without an interception in the win over the Terrapins. For the season, Nova has connected on 58.0 percent of his passes for 2,667 yards with a 20/12 TD-INT ratio.
-- Rutgers is making its fourth consecutive bowl appearance. The Scarlet Knights have come up short in their last two bowl games, losing 29-16 to Notre Dame at last year's Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. We should note, however, that RU took the cash as a 14-point underdog to the Irish. Two season ago at the Russell Athletic Bowl, RU dropped a 13-10 decision to Va. Tech as a two-point 'dog in overtime. In 2011, RU captured its most recent bowl triumph by besting Iowa St. 27-13 as a one-point puppy.
-- RU owns a 6-1-1 spread record in its last eight postseason appearances.
-- As a single-digit favorite this year, UNC posted a 2-2 spread record.
-- Rutgers has compiled a 5-3 spread record with three outright wins in eight games as an underdog. The Scarlet Knights lost five of seven games against bowl-bound foes.
-- The 'over' is 7-5 overall for RU, cashing in five of its last seven regular-season games. RU's game have averaged a combined score of 56.5 PPG.
-- The 'under' is 6-5 overall for UNC after cashing in four of its last five games. The Tar Heels have seen their games average a combined score of 73.2 PPG.
**North Carolina State vs. Central Florida**
-- The ACC and the AAC will face each other when UCF and North Carolina St. face each other at the St. Petersburg Bowl at the Trop. As of Christmas Eve, most books had Central Florida (9-3 SU, 8-4 ATS) installed as a 2.5-point 'chalk' with a total of 49.
-- After limping to a 3-9 record in Dave Doeren's debut season in Raleigh, North Carolina St. (7-5 SU, 7-5 ATS) won its first four games and then had a 17-point lead over top-ranked Florida St. in the third quarter of their ACC showdown. However, the Seminoles rallied and eventually collected a 56-41 win. That first defeat started a four-game losing streak, but the Wolfpack won three games (at Syracuse, vs. Wake Forest and at North Carolina) in November to ensure a winning campaign.
-- North Carolina St. coasted to a 35-7 win at North Carolina as a 6.5-point underdog in the regular-season finale for both schools. QB Jacoby Brissett rushed for 167 yards and one TD, in addition to throwing three TD passes without an interception. Shadrach Thornton ran for 161 yards and one TD.
-- Brissett, a fourth-year junior who sat out the 2013 campaign after transferring from Florida, has been the catalyst for N.C. St. all year long. Brissett threw for 2,344 yards with a 22/5 TD-INT ratio. He also rushed for 498 yards and three TDs.
-- Thornton rushed for a team-high 811 yards and nine TDs while averaging 5.5 YPC.
-- N.C. St. went 4-2 with a pair of outright wins in six games as an underdog.
-- UCF lost its first two games to Penn St. (26-24) and Missouri (38-10), only to respond by winning nine of its last 10 games. George O'Leary's team brings a four-game winning streak both SU and ATS to the Sunshine State. The Knights closed the regular season with a 32-30 win at East Carolina as a 6.5-point underdog. On the final play of the game, Justin Holman found Breshad Perriman for a 51-yard TD pass on a Hail Mary play.
-- UFC had led ECU by a 26-9 score early in the fourth quarter, but the Pirates rallied and took a 30-26 lead with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter. But Holman's TD pass, his first of the night, helped the Knight avoid what would've been a painful defeat. Holman threw for 274 yards and wasn't intercepted by ECU. William Stanback rushed for 101 yards and a pair of TDs.
-- For the season, Holman completed 59.0 percent of his passes for 2,661 yards with a 20/13 TD-INT ratio. Stanback rushed for a team-high 660 yards and 10 TDs, but his YPC average (3.7) was pedestrian. Perriman finished the regular season with 41 receptions for 906 yards and nine TDs.
-- UCF went 2-2 ATS in four games as a single-digit favorite.
-- UCF has won three consecutive bowl games, including last year's 52-42 win over Baylor as a 16.5-point underdog at the Fiesta Bowl.
-- The 'under' is 6-5-1 overall for N.C. St., going 4-2-1 in its last seven regular-season games.
-- Totals have been an overall wash (6-6) for UCF, but we'll note a 4-2 run for the 'over' in its last six games.
-- Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Friday night in Motown. ESPN will have the telecast.
