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New Orleans Bowl ; Cincinnati Bearcats vs North Texas Mean Green
GAME PREVIEW:
For the second straight season the North Texas Mean Green
head to the Big Easy in December for the second annual New Orleans Bowl.
This season they find the Cincinnati Bearcats awaiting them. The contest now puts the champion of the Sun Belt Conference against a Conference-USA opponent. The inaugural game matched the winner of the Sun Belt against the
third place team from the Mountain West Conference.
Unlike last season, when North Texas did not meet NCAA bowl eligibility requirements by winning just five regular season games, the Mean Green went undefeated in conference play and
managed to win its first non-conference game since beating Samford in 2000 to garner its highest win total (seven) since the 1994 season.
North Texas snapped 42-year bowl drought last season, but fell to Colorado State, 45-20 in the inaugu-ral bowl matchup. This marks the first time in school history that North Texas is
making back-to-back bowl appearances.
The Bearcats on the other hand, earned their fourth bowl bid in the last six seasons, and a school record third-straight
appearance in the postseason. Cincinnati defeated East Carolina in its season finale to earn a share of the Conference-USA championship. The title, was the school's first since 1964, when UC won the Missouri Valley Conference crown.
This affair marks the seventh bowl game in the school's history, with the Bearcats splitting their previous six games.This will be the 17th meeting on the gridiron between these schools, both of whom were members of the MVC together from
1958-70, North Texas holds the slimmest of leads at 8-7-1 all-time.
The last time the two met was 1973, with Cincinnati destroying North Texas, 52-3.Cincinnati closed the regular season as the leader in both total offense and passing offense in Conference-USA. In 13 games, UC averaged 263.5 yards passing and 404.3
yards of total offense, to rank 23rd and 29th in the nation, respectively.
The Bear-cats have had at least 400 yards of total offense in nine of their 13 games this season. Gino Guidugli leads the offense for the Bearcats and was selected to the all Conference-USA Second-Team. Guidugli completed 239-of-438 passes for 3,319 yards, 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
By far his favorite target has been First Team all-conference choice (for the second consecutive season) LaDaris Vann, who caught 70 passes for 844 yards and five touchdowns. Vann
caught the most balls, but there's no doubt that when Guidugli wanted a big play he sought out Jon Olinger. Olinger pulled in 50 passes, but totaled 1,007 yards and seven touchdowns, and ranked 40th nationally among wideouts in yards receiving per game (77.46).
The Cincinnati defense started out poorly, but has moved up to rank as one of the premiere defenses in its conference and near
the top nationally. After beating TCU in overtime and losing to West Virginia, the Bearcats ranked near the bottom of every defensive category, but finished the season 24th in total defense nationally, allowing just 318.1 ypg.
The defense is led by senior defensive end Antwan Peek. A dominant force on the defensive line, Peek ranks first on the squad with 97 tackles and led Conference USA in fumbles caused (seven) and fumbles recovered (five). Peek led the team with 21
TFLs, six quarterback sacks and holds the UC career marks in both categories, owning 56 TFLs and 27 quarterback sacks in his career. He has scored a pair of defensive touchdowns this year, returning fumbles for touchdowns against both
Louisville and Houston.
The North Texas offense has not been very good this season,
although it has obviously been good enough to garner a winning record and this bowl bid. The team ranks 106th in the nation in scoring offense averaging 18.8 ppg. The Mean Green are definitely built around the run, as they average 181.7 ypg on the
ground, anking them 41st in the nation. The run game is centered on unanimous First-Team all-Sun Belt Conference selection Kevin Galbreath, who rushed for 1,168 yards and eight touchdowns on 244 carries. Adding to UNT's rushing total is Patrick
Cobbs, who carried 155 times this season, for 732 yards and seven scores.
The Mean Green passing game never got off the ground, and ranks 113th out of 117 Div-ision I-A schools, averaging a minute 100.1 ypg. Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Smith has completed 82-of-174 passes for 1,080 yards, with seven touch-
downs and eight interceptions .
They say,"Offense sells tickets, defense wins champ-
ionships." No-where is this more true than Denton, Texas. The Mean Green rank third in the nation In scoring defense, allowing an average of just 14.4 ppg. UNT had three shutouts this eason, which tied Texas for the most among all Division I-A teams, and the Mean reen defense allowed only three scoring drives of more than 80yards all season.
The defense allows a mere 121.8 ypg on the ground ranking 29th inthe nation, while surrendering just 167.3 ypg through the air (13th in the nation). The unit is led by Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Kennedy. Ajunior tackle, Kennedy is second in the nation in tackles for loss with 24 and is
second in the conference in quarterback sacks with nine. He has also forced three fumbles and recovered three others. Taylor Casey leads the Mean Green defensewith 111 tackles, while Don McGee leads the team in takeaways with four inter-
ceptions.
The matchup of Cincy's offense and UNT's defense is the reason to watch this game. This should be a classic struggle between both team's best unit. The first thing that Cincinnati must do is find a way to block Kennedy. Double- him, triple him,
do something to get him dealt with, so Guidugli can have time to find his receivers and put points on the board.
The Cincy defense against the UNT offense is another
story. The Mean Green will have no answer for Peek, who may be in the backfield as much as Galbreath. Look for the Bearcats to force UNT turnovers and perhaps get a score on defense.
http://www.college-basketballpicks.com
GAME PREVIEW:
For the second straight season the North Texas Mean Green
head to the Big Easy in December for the second annual New Orleans Bowl.
This season they find the Cincinnati Bearcats awaiting them. The contest now puts the champion of the Sun Belt Conference against a Conference-USA opponent. The inaugural game matched the winner of the Sun Belt against the
third place team from the Mountain West Conference.
Unlike last season, when North Texas did not meet NCAA bowl eligibility requirements by winning just five regular season games, the Mean Green went undefeated in conference play and
managed to win its first non-conference game since beating Samford in 2000 to garner its highest win total (seven) since the 1994 season.
North Texas snapped 42-year bowl drought last season, but fell to Colorado State, 45-20 in the inaugu-ral bowl matchup. This marks the first time in school history that North Texas is
making back-to-back bowl appearances.
The Bearcats on the other hand, earned their fourth bowl bid in the last six seasons, and a school record third-straight
appearance in the postseason. Cincinnati defeated East Carolina in its season finale to earn a share of the Conference-USA championship. The title, was the school's first since 1964, when UC won the Missouri Valley Conference crown.
This affair marks the seventh bowl game in the school's history, with the Bearcats splitting their previous six games.This will be the 17th meeting on the gridiron between these schools, both of whom were members of the MVC together from
1958-70, North Texas holds the slimmest of leads at 8-7-1 all-time.
The last time the two met was 1973, with Cincinnati destroying North Texas, 52-3.Cincinnati closed the regular season as the leader in both total offense and passing offense in Conference-USA. In 13 games, UC averaged 263.5 yards passing and 404.3
yards of total offense, to rank 23rd and 29th in the nation, respectively.
The Bear-cats have had at least 400 yards of total offense in nine of their 13 games this season. Gino Guidugli leads the offense for the Bearcats and was selected to the all Conference-USA Second-Team. Guidugli completed 239-of-438 passes for 3,319 yards, 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
By far his favorite target has been First Team all-conference choice (for the second consecutive season) LaDaris Vann, who caught 70 passes for 844 yards and five touchdowns. Vann
caught the most balls, but there's no doubt that when Guidugli wanted a big play he sought out Jon Olinger. Olinger pulled in 50 passes, but totaled 1,007 yards and seven touchdowns, and ranked 40th nationally among wideouts in yards receiving per game (77.46).
The Cincinnati defense started out poorly, but has moved up to rank as one of the premiere defenses in its conference and near
the top nationally. After beating TCU in overtime and losing to West Virginia, the Bearcats ranked near the bottom of every defensive category, but finished the season 24th in total defense nationally, allowing just 318.1 ypg.
The defense is led by senior defensive end Antwan Peek. A dominant force on the defensive line, Peek ranks first on the squad with 97 tackles and led Conference USA in fumbles caused (seven) and fumbles recovered (five). Peek led the team with 21
TFLs, six quarterback sacks and holds the UC career marks in both categories, owning 56 TFLs and 27 quarterback sacks in his career. He has scored a pair of defensive touchdowns this year, returning fumbles for touchdowns against both
Louisville and Houston.
The North Texas offense has not been very good this season,
although it has obviously been good enough to garner a winning record and this bowl bid. The team ranks 106th in the nation in scoring offense averaging 18.8 ppg. The Mean Green are definitely built around the run, as they average 181.7 ypg on the
ground, anking them 41st in the nation. The run game is centered on unanimous First-Team all-Sun Belt Conference selection Kevin Galbreath, who rushed for 1,168 yards and eight touchdowns on 244 carries. Adding to UNT's rushing total is Patrick
Cobbs, who carried 155 times this season, for 732 yards and seven scores.
The Mean Green passing game never got off the ground, and ranks 113th out of 117 Div-ision I-A schools, averaging a minute 100.1 ypg. Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Smith has completed 82-of-174 passes for 1,080 yards, with seven touch-
downs and eight interceptions .
They say,"Offense sells tickets, defense wins champ-
ionships." No-where is this more true than Denton, Texas. The Mean Green rank third in the nation In scoring defense, allowing an average of just 14.4 ppg. UNT had three shutouts this eason, which tied Texas for the most among all Division I-A teams, and the Mean reen defense allowed only three scoring drives of more than 80yards all season.
The defense allows a mere 121.8 ypg on the ground ranking 29th inthe nation, while surrendering just 167.3 ypg through the air (13th in the nation). The unit is led by Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Kennedy. Ajunior tackle, Kennedy is second in the nation in tackles for loss with 24 and is
second in the conference in quarterback sacks with nine. He has also forced three fumbles and recovered three others. Taylor Casey leads the Mean Green defensewith 111 tackles, while Don McGee leads the team in takeaways with four inter-
ceptions.
The matchup of Cincy's offense and UNT's defense is the reason to watch this game. This should be a classic struggle between both team's best unit. The first thing that Cincinnati must do is find a way to block Kennedy. Double- him, triple him,
do something to get him dealt with, so Guidugli can have time to find his receivers and put points on the board.
The Cincy defense against the UNT offense is another
story. The Mean Green will have no answer for Peek, who may be in the backfield as much as Galbreath. Look for the Bearcats to force UNT turnovers and perhaps get a score on defense.
http://www.college-basketballpicks.com