Every day (or so) for the next month I will be previewing one of the upcoming college bowl games. I will give my thoughts on the teams playing, players to be on the lookout for, and a general overview of the bowl.
Nothing quite like a mid-major school being matched up against an SEC team in a bowl game. Especially when that mid major team won their conference, and that SEC team barely finished above .500, and were only 3-5 in their conference. The Liberty Bowl is giving us just that this year, South Carolina vs. Houston.
Houston comes into the game with a very good record at 10-3. The problem is, they play in Conference USA, and 7 of those 10 wins have come against Conference USA opponents. Not exactly the cream of the crop. Houston does have a good passing attack with Kevin Kolb at the helm. He has over 3400 yards passing and has found the end zone 27 times. In their running game they may have found someone special in Anthony Alridge. The 5′9″ junior has run the ball 85 times for an astounding 10.6 yards per carry average. They have him listed as a wide receiver, and I haven’t watched enough Houston football (and by that I mean any) to know whether they made a mid-season switch to get him at running back. While the Cougars defense isn’t that great, it really doesn’t have to be. They have a top 10 offense so they haven’t had to focus too much on defense. Their only game against a team of any note is against Miami, a game which they lost 14-13 against a Miami team that is having a very down year.
South Carolina has a deceptive 7-5 record this year. All five of their losses have come within the SEC this year, and all of them are against top ranked opponents. They did finish the year strong with two wins, dominating Middle Tennessee State, and then beating Clemson on the road to end the season. South Carolina has a very potent offense, bringing a well balanced attack. Quarterback Blake Mitchell has done fairly well this year, doing a good enough job of maintaining possession. They also have a good rushing attack lead by Cory Boyd and Mike Davis, who each average over 4.7 yards per carry. This is quite a different style from the fun n gun offense that we are used to seeing the prick Steve Spurrier run. I personally am glad of it, because we don’t have to see him running up the score on opponents any more, and they actually have a defense, which is another change. The South Carolina defense has held well this year, and have helped to keep every game close.
I think that Houston will struggle because they haven’t played in a tough conference at all. South Carolina has faced tough teams and really haven’t been blown out. They have proved that they can play with the big boys, something Houston hasn’t done. Spurrier should lead his squad to another victory in this one.
My Prediction: South Carolina Wins
