Big Ten Bowl Games
Big Ten Bowl Game Preview
The college football season is coming to a close. The conference champions have been decided and the four teams that made the college football playoff have been announced. Now it is time for the best part of college football – bowl season.
If a team reaches they become bowl eligible and this season eight teams from the Big Ten will be attending bowl games. This is down from last season when the Big Ten conference sent 10 teams to bowl game.
This season the Big Ten will be hoping for a more successful bowl game campaign as the Big Ten struggled in bowl games going 3-7 in its 10 games.
New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Iowa (7-5) vs Boston College (7-5) – December 27th at 5:15 p.m.
A team from Boston will be travelling south to Yankee Stadium and it will not be the Red Sox. Boston College will be heading back to the New Year Pinstripe Bowl for the first time since 2014 looking to build momentum following a bowl victory last season its first since 2007.
Iowa will be searching for its first bowl victory since 2010 and will be hoping for some Kinnick Stadium magic in the Yankee Stadium. Iowa was 2-3 this season away from home and struggled against top opponents. The Hawkeyes kept Ohio State out of the college football playoff with a 55-24 thumping.
Traditionally this game would be a defensive showdown, but Boston College scored over 30 points five times this season led by AJ Dillon who averages 5.3 yards per carry. Iowa will look for its defense to step up and for Akrum Wadley to have a big game on the ground.
Prediction – Boston College 16, Iowa 13
Foster Farms Bowl – Purdue (6-6) vs Arizona (7-5) – December 27th at 8:30 p.m.
Purdue will be suiting up for its first bowl game since 2012 and the Boilermakers will be looking for their first bowl victory since 2011. Purdue has a tough task on its hands with a matchup against Arizona.
The Wildcats lost their last two games of the season, but Arizona challenged the best of the Pac-12 this season including a victory over Washington State. The Arizona offense is explosive to say the least as the Wildcats average 41.8 point per game and 494.5 yards per game.
Khalil Tate is the leading passer and rusher for Arizona and totaled 2,642 all-purpose yards this season and a total of 21 touchdowns.
Purdue has had an up and down season this year with back to back loses to Rutgers and Nebraska. The Boilermakers though win its last two games of the season to be bowl eligible. The Boilermakers have had a fantastic season but their defense will be faced with the heavy task of stopping the Arizona offense.
Prediction – Arizona 38, Purdue 16
San Diego Country Credit Union Holiday Bowl – 16 Michigan State (9-3) vs 18 Washington State (9-3) – December 28th at 9 p.m.
Washington State and Michigan State have both caused chaos in its respected conferences and the college football world.
Washington State pulled off upsets over USC and Stanford to shake up the Pac-12 but the Cougars were not consistent enough to reach the Pac-12 championship game.
Michigan State on the other hand defeated Penn State in a wacky game following a three-hour weather delay, and had a chance to win the Big Ten with a victory over Ohio State where the Spartans got embarrassed 48-3.
Washington State will put it high powered offense up against the Spartans. The Cougars scored 31.4 points per game including 446.4 yards per game this season. Michigan State will have to slow down Luke Falk who threw 3,593 yards this season. The Spartans will need to force Washnigton State into an ugly game and will also need a big game from Brian Lewerke to have a chance against Washington State.
Prediction – Washington State 42, Michigan State 13
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – 21 Northwestern (9-3) vs Kentucky (7-5) – December 29th at 4:30 p.m.
It will be a battle of the Wildcats in Nashville. Northwestern is headed to its third straight bowl game under the guidance of Pat Fitzgerald after another 9-3 season, the first for Northwestern since 2015, when the Wildcats won the Outback Bowl.
This year the Wildcats will be playing with a chip on their shoulder after the Outback Bowl passed up on Northwestern. Northwestern is on a seven-game winning streak following its loss to Penn State on October 7th.
Kentucky will be playing in its second straight bowl game, but the last bowl victory for Kentucky came in 2009. The Kentucky offense relies heavily on the legs of Benny Snell Jr. who rushed for 1,318 yards this season with 18 touchdowns.
Northwestern has the tenth toughest rush defense in the country holding opponents to 3.3 yards per carry. Northwestern has holds the 26th best pass defense in the country holding teams to 6.6 yards per attempt. Northwestern also has an explosive running back in Justin Jackson who can change the course of the game every time he touches the ball.
Prediction – NW 27 Kentucky 9
Goodyear Cotton Bowl – 5 Ohio State (11-2) vs 8 USC (11-2) – December 29th at 8:30 p.m.
Two traditional powers in college football will go head to head in this year’s Cotton Bowl. Both teams are two loss teams conference champions that missed out on the college football playoff and will be playing to prove to the world that they belong in the playoff.
JT Barrett will suit up for the last time as the quarterback for Ohio State. In both of USC’s losses this season the Trojans have struggled against dual threat quarterbacks. In both losses this season, the opposing quarterback rushed for over 100 yards against USC.
Ohio State’s defense will be tasked with slowing down Sam Darnold who has been on a tear following a cold start to the season. USC is also at its best when Ronald Jones II is heavily involved in the offense.
Prediction – Ohio State 35, USC 30
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl – 9 Penn State (10-2) vs 11 Washington (10-2) – December 30th at 4 p.m.
Penn State is headed to it second straight New Year’s Six Bowl, following a 10-2 campaign this season. The Nittany Lions will meet the Washington Huskies in Glendale. Both teams finished the season with a 10-2 record and missed out on a chance to play in their conference championship game.
Washington lost both of its games by a combined 14 points, while the Nittany Lions lost both of their games by a combined four points.
Washington has the nation’s best rushing defense as the Huskies hold opponents to 92.3 yards per game on the ground. This could be problematic for Penn State as the offense is led by Saquon Barkley who struggled against some of the top defenses in the Big Ten.
Penn State has gotten Barkley involved in many creative ways all season but the Nittany Lions will be without offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who took a job as the head coach at Mississippi State.
Jake Browning is the center of the Washington offense. The junior threw for 2,544 yards this season along with 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Dante Pettis is someone the Nittany Lions will have to contain as the senior returned four punts for touchdowns this season.
Prediction – Washington 38, Penn State 24
Capital One Orange Bowl – 6 Wisconsin (12-1) vs 10 Miami (10-2) – December 30th at 8 p.m.
Two different styles of football will clash in Miami in this year’s Orange Bowl. Last season Miami snapped a six-year bowl losing streak following a victory over West Virginia and the Hurricanes carried that momentum into this season starting off the year 10-0.
Miami used its turnover chain and the “U” was back until two straight losses to Pitt and Clemson to end the season. Now Miami will try to feed off of the south beach crowd when Wisconsin travels down South.
Wisconsin has played Wisconsin style football all season and it led them to a 12-0 record, although the Badgers did not face many tough opponents and following a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship Wisconsin will look to prove it’s a top team in the country by taking on the turnover chain and Miami.
It will be paramount for Wisconsin and Alex Hornibrook who threw 15 interceptions this season to not turn the ball over. Wisconsin will also need a big game from Jonathon Taylor as both of these teams look to rebound from a tough end of the season with a victory in the Orange Bowl.
Prediction – Miami 20, Wisconsin 17
Outback Bowl – Michigan (8-4) vs South Carolina (8-4) – January 1 at Noon
Michigan and South Carolina will meet for the first time since the 2013 Outback Bowl, where Jadeveon Clowney destroyed the Michigan running back causing a fumble, which sparked South Carolina to a victory over Michigan.
A lot is different in this bowl game though as in 2013 both teams were ranked inside the top 20 while this season both teams have struggled.
The quarterback position has been the point of weakness for this Michigan team following a season ending injury to Wilton Speight. John O’Korn took over for the Wolverines and struggled only throwing two touchdowns and six interceptions in seven games.
Brandon Peters then took over for Michigan and played decent football until he was also injured against Wisconsin forcing O’Korn to return to the quarterback position. Peters will start the bowl game against South Carolina.
South Carolina played SEC champ Georgia tough only losing by 14 on the road earlier this season. The Gamecocks offense is led by Jake Bentley who threw for 2,555 yards this season. Bentley has struggled turning the ball over in big games this season.
Prediction – South Carolina 31, Michigan 20
Ben Ferree is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email ferreebenjaminc@gmail.com.
