The holiday season is indeed the most wonderful time of the year, but it isn’t just about receiving or exchanging gifts with one another. It’s also about the upcoming College Football Bowl games!
Speaking of the bowl games, there’s one coming up on New Year’s Eve day at noon as the up-and-coming, 18th-ranked Houston Cougars and the No. 9 Florida State Seminoles look to cap of their respective campaigns on a strong note when they collide for the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl which will commence at the one and only Georgia Dome. Who will reign supreme over the other?
Read on below for an in-depth preview of this AAC-ACC showdown. And if you want occupy yourself with some more bowl action, checkout our comprehensive breakdowns of Michigan State vs. Alabama in the Cotton Bowl and Oklahoma vs. Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Preview
Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
When: Thursday, December 31, 12:00 PM ET
Line: Houston Cougars (+7) at Florida State Seminoles (-7); total: 55.5 – view all NCAA Football lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Houston Cougars (12-1, 7-1 AAC)
Other than a gut-wrenching setback to UConn in the latter part of November, the Houston Cougars went completely untarnished under Tom Herman’s first year as a head coach. Their offense sizzled all throughout, averaging 39.7 points and 475.8 yards of total offense per game. A testament to this success is their junior quarterback in Greg Ward Jr., who has thrown for 2,590 yards in total along with 16 touchdowns and just five interceptions under his name.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]On ground, the Cougars are actually more lethal with 237.4 yards per game, the 14th-most in the nation. Ward Jr. is once again the reason for this as he carries a team-best of 1041 yards rushing and a staggering 19 scores. Trailing him is senior running back Kenneth Farrow, who has rumbled for a total of 949 yards with 12 touchdowns. But both are bound to have their work cut out for them against the Florida State Seminoles, who are surrendering just 139.7 rushing yards per game.
That being said, Ward Jr. will surely need his favorite target in Demarcus Ayers to aid him in igniting their passing game (238.3 yards per contest). Ayers, the third-year wide receiver, can certainly do so as he’s hauled in a total of 89 receptions for 1140 yards and six touchdowns, while averaging 12.8 yards per catch this season.
As for the defense, the Cougars can’t afford to be overconfident even with the absence of Everett Golson behind center. They still have to worry about holding off star running back Dalvin Cook, who ranks sixth in the nation with 1,658 rushing yards with 18 touchdowns this year, on the ground. Good thing that Houston’s front seven is only giving up 123.2 yards per game.
The Cougars are 4-1 SU and 2-3 ATS in their last five games. Moreover, they also haven’t faced FSU since 1978.
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Betting on the Florida State Seminoles (10-2, 6-2 ACC)
Considering the lack of experience and the departure of last year’s Heisman Trophy winner in Jameis Winston, the Florida State Seminoles should be pretty satisfied about finishing 10-2 overall this season especially with a handful of their players stepping their game up. One of those players was undoubtedly their running back in Dalvin Cook.
Cook has turned a lot of doubters into believes in his sophomore campaign. He led the ACC in rushing yards (1,658) and scores (18) this season after finishing with 1,008 and eight as a freshman. The 20-year-old also made sure to end the regular season on a very high note with four-straight 100-yard outings. That stretch includes their resounding 34-14 triumph over South Florida, during which Cook rumbled for a career-high of 266 yards with three TDs.
No matter how Cook’s played well this year, he can’t do it all alone especially opposite a respectable Houston defense (20.2 points allowed per game). The Seminoles’ quarterback in Sean Maguire, who has 1128 passing yards with nine touchdowns and a completion rate of 90 percent across seven games, ought to make sure that the catching-trio of Kermit Whitfield, Travis Rudolph and Jesus Wilson get enough touches.
Both Whitfield and Rudolph lead the club with 742 and 715 receiving yards with six touchdowns each respectively, while Rudolph has done well quite well to keep up with 554 receiving yards and two scores of his own. The three should relatively be able to make their presences felt versus the Cougars secondary defense (261.4 yards given up per game).
Meanwhile, there’s no question that FSU’s best weapon is its breathtaking defense. But the Seminoles, who are only allowing 16.0 points and 332.6 total yards per contest this season, will have a lot on their plate in trying to fend off a high-scoring team like Houston.
Florida State is 9-1 SU and 6-4 ATS in its last 10 games as the favored team.
Writer’s Prediction
Seminoles (-7) win, 30-27. Create a betting account now and cash in on all the best college football action during bowl season.
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