Hyundai Sun Bowl

Hyundai Sun Bowl

Monday December 31st, 15:00 CST (19:00 GMT)
Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas
University of Southern California Trojans vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Sun Bowl is one of the oldest Bowls in the country, it was first played in 1935 (the El Paso All-Stars beat Ranger of Texas 25-21) and has been played continually ever since. Texas Tech have played in the game 9 times, but have a solitary win to their name. The game has been played at Sun Bowl Stadium since construction was completed in 1963 and interestingly, one team will literally be playing downhill as there is a 10 degree slope from North-west to South-east. Georgia Tech come into this game looking to avenge their 2011 loss to Utah in this game 30-27.

USC started the season atop the AP Poll and their season went the only direction it could go from there, down. They won their first two games relatively easily, but were downed 21-14 by old-time rivals Stanford, they bounced back with four straight wins, but after they lost one they shouldn't have against Arizona, they finished the season 1-3 and 7-5 overall losing a shoot-out to (4)Oregon, then succumbing to (17)UCLA and (1)Notre Dame making an absolute mess of 1st and goal at the 2. Matt Barkley returned to the team this season, saying he had unfinished business in college (presumably that business remains unfinished) he was injured in the loss to (17)UCLA and missed the defeat to (1)Notre Dame due to his injured shoulder. It was announced earlier this week that he won't play in this game. That leaves a big hole in the Trojans offense. Under Barkley, they compiled 296.9 passing yards and 451.9 yards of total offense (25th and 29th respectively in the national rankings) but Max Wittek is no Matt Barkley and although he passed for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns against Notre Dame, he coughed up two interceptions, and as mentioned butchered the goal line set-up. Marqise Lee has been a beast at WR this season and finished second in the country in terms of receiving yards with 1680, behind only Terrance Williams of Baylor. Lee scored 14 TDs this year and added 802 yards and a TD when returning kicks. The rushing game has struggled at times (especially against Notre Dame) with Silas Reed getting the bulk of the carries. Despite USC's history of great running backs, under Lane Kiffin, the Trojans have become a pass first team, and with the defense giving up nearly 400 yards a game, Kiffin needs his passing game to come big on Monday.

Georgia Tech finished the regular season 6-6, but they advanced to the ACC title game due to North Carolina's NCAA sanction and Miami's self imposed postseason ban. However after they lost to (12)Florida State 21-15, they needed special dispensation from the NCAA to participate in Bowl season. The Yellow Jackets have had some tough losses this year, most notably a blow-out 41-17 loss to BYU and their 42-10 humbling to Georgia, but their rushing offense has been exceptional all year (not bad from a school with a history of phenomenal receivers, Megaton, Demaryius Thomas and Kelly Campbell) and they deservedly finished 4th in the nation with 312.5 yards per game. Tevin Washington punched in 19 rushing TDs good for T-8th in the country, but Orwin Smith topped the yardage list with just 673 yards, so they can switch it up in the backfield and give USC different looks depending on the situation. Expect the Yellow Jackets to run plenty times on 3rd and 2 and similar situations. The defense will have to be on top of their game, especially against the pass where they rank 69th in the FBS with 239.2 yards per game.

FOR USC TO WIN
Get the ball to Marqise Lee as early and often as possible. Simple.

FOR GEORGIA TECH TO WIN
Pound the ball, kill the clock. As I mentioned, they will play 30 minutes of this game literally running downhill, that's a killer for defensive lines who love to get at the QB and with Georgia Tech's big offensive line making holes for their running backs all season, they will relish the opportunity to use the ground to their advantage at the same time. The defensive line need to pressure Wittek and force him to throw on the run and deliver the ball into small windows, if they can do that, he'll make mistakes and allow the Yellow Jackets rushing game to take over.

VERDICT
USC's passing game against the Georgia Tech secondary? Georgia Tech's running game against USC's front seven? Neither, it's the battle between USC's offensive line and the Georgia Tech defensive line that will decide this one. After the Notre Dame debacle, Kiffin must've run thousands of plays inside 10 yards and he'll expect his offense to respond. Georgia Tech have to stay strong and limit the Trojans to the field goal in that situation as it'll be difficult to chase the game with their predominately rushing attack.

ADVICE
Georgia Tech +7
Over 63 points

DRINKING GAME
1 drink: Any use of “Matt Barkley” and “number one draft” in the same sentence
2 drinks: Trojan fans giving the deuce.
Finish it: Georgia Tech gain more passing yards than USC and vice versa