Stay hungry, my friends. Or not. Either way.
December 29, 4:00pm EST, ESPN2 television
The Arizona State Sun Devils come into the game 7-5, with a 5-4 record in Pac-12. While they lost their two toughest tests of the season to Oregon and USC, they did finish the season strong with a win over in-state rival Arizona and the Fighting Rich Rod’s. ASU is currently coached by Todd Graham who conducts an offense led by a trio of 500 yard rushers topped by quarterback Taylor Kelly who ran for an additional 643 but oddly never reached the end zone on the ground. All of Kelly’s touchdowns came through the air as he threw for 2772 yards and 25 scores.
The Buckeyes are 2-0 all-time against the Sun Devils with the most famous game being the 1997 Rose Bowl. John Cooper’s finest hour was realized when Joe Germain hit David Boston for the game winning touchdown with time about to expire in the 4th quarter for a 20-17 victory.
Navy comes in at 8-4 record after winning the 113th Army-Navy game on December 9th to close the season. The Middies suffered tough losses to open the season, being trounced in Dublin, Ireland by Notre Dame and two weeks later losing soundly in Happy Valley to Penn State. To be fair, amongst the eight wins, the biggest by far emotionally and perhaps from a competitive standpoint was their 17-13 win over Army in Philadelphia. The Midshipmen did what they do best in 2012: They ran for a combined 3586 yards.
The Buckeyes are 4-0 all-time against Navy and 2012 would have been no different had they met up. The Midshipmen would have no answer for the Buckeye offense and, if it were later in the season when the defense began to click, may have had little to no luck getting their ground game going either.
The BBC staff picks: Mali, Janelle, Eric, Gary, Wva, and Tim are all going with ASU while yours truly is taking the Middies in the upset. I like the heart that Navy showed in holding of Army. They always seem to appreciate these opportunities more than “regular” student athletes. Also, I’m an American and clearly everyone else on this staff is a communist if they want to pick against America. (editor’s note- Da.)
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