| Who: Florida State Seminoles vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Where: Florida Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Florida) When: Thurs, Dec 29th at 5:30 PM EST TV: ESPN/ESPN 3D/ESPN 3 |
Florida State Seminoles (8-4, 5-3 in ACC)
Most impressive victory: 34-0 vs NC State (Oct 29th)
Worst loss: 35-30 at Wake Forest (Oct 8th)
Notable alumni: Alan Ball, Fred Biletnikoff, Derrick Brooks, Lee Corso, Warrick Dunn, Gabrielle Reece, Burt Reynolds, Deion Sanders, Hunter S Thompson, Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke
Florida State came into this season with some high expectations under second year Head Coach Jimbo Fisher. After taking out two patsies, the Seminoles then dropped three straight close games with the killer being the loss at Wake Forest in early October. When you look at the stats, the defense stands out (#1 in the ACC in points allowed, rushing yards allowed and passing yards allowed). From an offensive standpoint, the Seminoles have been up and down and have struggled to run the football at times (10th in the ACC).
FSU has been bit by the injury bug this year and Jimbo Fisher said that they will probably start six true freshman in the bowl game. FSU needs EJ Manuel to step out in this game from the year he has had. As a first year starter, EJ been OK but hasn’t been the difference maker that some thought he would be. Over the last four games he hasn’t thrown any picks but he also only had 3 TD passes. Freshman Devonta Freeman has been given more chances at RB as the season has progressed and the Seminoles will need a good game from him in this bowl. My gut tells me that if FSU is to win this game they will need to do it with their defense but in order to be in a position to win they need someone to step up on offense and they have to do a better job converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-4)
Most impressive victory: 31-13 vs Michigan State (Sept 17th)
Worst loss: 23-20 vs USF (Sept 3rd)
Notable alumni: Tim Brown, Phil Donahue, Paul Hornug, Joe Montana, Regis Philbin, Knute Rockne, Hannah Storm, Joe Theismann, Carl Yastrzemski
The only way to describe the way Notre Dame started this season is that it was a nightmare. They fumbled away the game at USF and gave up an unthinkable comeback to Michigan. After starting out 0-2, the Irish settled down and played some pretty good football for the rest of the season. They went 8-2 to close the year with losses to USC and Stanford. On the way they beat four teams that would go bowling and they also got the benefit to pick on the weak sisters of the ACC this year.
Notre Dame got some great news earlier this month when stud LB Manti Te’o announced he would be back for his senior season (111 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks). He will be the key on defense but on offense watch out for RB Cierre Wood. Wood ran for over 1,000 yards this season and had at least 60 yards in every game but the two losses to USC and Stanford. Wood’s tag-team partner, Jonas Gray, will not play due to an injury he sustained near the end of the season. If you are FSU you need to find Michael Floyd and make sure you know where he is at all times. Everybody else knew this too but most teams had trouble stopping Floyd and he had 27 receptions over the last three games. He will definitely be looking to have a big game to boost his draft value. QB play will be key for the Irish. In their losses this year, the QB play has not been good.
| Twitter Follows For Champs Sports Bowl:
Florida State Seminoles Unconquered Noles: @Unconquered_FSU TomahawkNation.com: @TomahawkNation Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
The Pick
Kevin: This is one of the more inriguing games of the bowl season and I think you can probably flip a coin to pick the inner. The most intriguing match-up of the game will probably be the Notre Dame ground attack against the FSU defense. If Notre Dame can get something going on the ground then I really like their chances to win this game. Neither team is particularly adept at getting the ball in the end zone once they get there so it could come down to a timely kick to win this one. On paper you would favor FSU in that area but Dustin Hopkins did miss a big kick in a recent loss to Virginia. I have a new motto during this bowl season. When in doubt, pick against the ACC (yeah, I know it didn’t work with NC State but they were playing a team from the Big East so it didn’t count). So I’m rolling with Notre Dame. If they let me down look for them to start outside the 2012 CFBZ Top 25.
Notre Dame 24 FSU 20
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