Well, day one went ok, I suppose. I went 2-1 with my picks, but my primary pick was as far off as possible. How could I have been so high on the UTEP Miners? Congratulations to the BYU Cougars, for a well played game in every phase. On to day two!
Beef ‘O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg- Southern Miss. Golden Eagles vs. Louisville Cardinals
This Bowl game will be an interesting one, and not just because of the name. This will be a measuring stick game for Louisville, and head coach Charlie Strong. Is his defense, improved as it may be, capable of containing the #15 offense in the FBS? Will coach Strong be able to get enough out of his offense to pull out a win?
Looking at this game, I have a hard time not seeing Louisville win. First and foremost, I see Charlie Strong's defense making a statement here, and keeping the Golden Eagles offense to a much lower point and yardage total than they are used to. I'd say that this defense is one of the best, out of all of the 6 win teams in the nation.
The rest of the story, and a challenge for readers to pick the game themselves, after the jump.
On the opposite side of the ball, things aren't as solid. There may be as many as three different QBs in for Louisville throughout the course of this game. That doesn't inspire confidence. Coach Strong insists that all three know the system, and are ready to play. I just don't know. I definitely like the senior QB Justin Burke, who will start. He looks to have average accuracy, and plenty of experience. I like that for this game. Playing against an underwhelming Golden Eagles defense, if Burke can simply make good decisions and not shoot himself in the foot, the Cardinals offense should be able to do just enough to win this. That is, of course, assuming the Louisville defense plays at a high level. Which I predict they will.
No surprise here, I'm taking Louisville to win, 17-27.
Disagree? Tell me why in the comments, and put the final score that you predict. If you're right, or even close, I'll mention you in a future post.