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Mike Rose - Who2beton
Poinsettia
Bowl
UTAH/NAVY UNDER 65'
The 2007-08 College Bowl season kicks off tonight
when the Navy Midshipmen and Utah Utes square
off in the Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium
in San Diego, California.
The
Midshipmen are coming off another fantastic
season that saw them win eight games under the
watchful eye of Head Coach Paul Johnson and
his staff for the fourth time in six years.
Last we saw the Middies, they beat Army for
the 6th straight season, which allowed them
to capture the Commander in Chief Trophy for
the fifth straight season. However, they’ll
take the field without HC Johnson for the first
time in six years since he accepted the Head
Coaching job at Georgia Tech a couple weeks
ago. The task of bouncing back from losing the
Meineke Car Care Bowl to Boston College last
season is now in the hands of Johnson ‘s
longtime assistant Ken Niumatalolo.
As
for the Utes, they got off to a very slow start
this season only winning one of their first
four games, but they scratched together eight
straight wins before the “Holy War”
with BYU in their final game of the season.
They had the Cougars on the ropes, but allowed
a game winning TD drive in the final 30 seconds
and suffered their first loss since September
in the process.
Utah
opened up as 10-point favorites in this spot
with the ‘Total’ set at 67.5. Navy
money has lowered that spread to 8 and the ‘Total’
has been bet down to 65.
This
is the highest posted 'Total' of the season
for the Utes, but it's well warranted. Navy
boasts an atrocious stop unit that's had problems
keeping its opponent off the scoreboard (37
PPG), save for Army who they just flat out own
right now. Utah runs a power brand of football
offensively, much like the Middies, but they
can pass the ball unlike the aforementioned
Midshipmen. That being said, I'm expecting the
final score of this game to come in on the low
side of this 'Total'. Utah by no means wants
to take part in a shoot-out with this Navy club.
If it happens, they have a much better chance
of losing this game outright. Instead, the Utes
will look to pound the ball offensively with
RB Mack and take what it can get from its passing
game when the Middies adjust for the run. Defensively,
they'll look to make amends after Air Force
(another option/wishbone attack) gouged them
way back in September. They’ve only allowed
opponents to rush for 91 YPG their L/3 contests,
and Navy’s offense will certainly start
to press if the Utes force them to pass the
ball (Navy offense ranked dead last in the country
passing the ball). Look for P Louis Sakoda to
play a major role in this game as well pinning
the Midshipmen deep in their own territory all
game long forcing them to go the length of the
field on a number of occasions. This will simply
wear the Middies offensive attack out, and play
right into the hands of the Utes who want to
be very physical tonight and control the tempo
of the game from the opening kick.
SLAM YOUR MAN!!!
Mike Rose
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