Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Nevada vs. Boston College

Our second to last edition of previews for the 2010-2011 bowl season is…

Nevada (12-1, 7-1 WAC) vs. Boston College (7-5, 5-3 ACC)

January 9, 2011 9:00 PM ET ESPN

AT&T Park, San Francisco, California

History

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is another game that has gone through a cosmetic change in the last year.  Originally created in 2002, the game was known as the San Francisco Bowl and then the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl for the first two seasons it was played.  Eventually, Emerald Nuts company bought the naming rights, changing the game to the Emerald Bowl from 2004-2009.  You may recall the annoying Emerald Nuts commercials from a couple years ago that almost seemed to dominate the bowl season.

The ACC was an original tie in to the bowl game, playing MWC teams through the first 4 years of the bowl game.  The only exception was in 2004 when Navy came in to cover for the ACC in crushing New Mexico.  In 2006, the PAC-10 became the second tie in to the game resulting in several interesting matchups, including Oregon State over Maryland (21-14) and California over Miami (FL) (24-17).  The only ACC team to beat a Pac-10 team in this game was Florida State over UCLA (44-27) in 2006.

This year, with the name change, also came an alignment switch.  The ACC was replaced by the WAC in facing the sixth placed Pac-10 team.  However, in the event that the Pac-10 can’t provide a sufficient number of bowl eligible teams, such as this year, the ACC fills in for them.

Nevada Wolfpack

This season was a mere touchdown away from being an undefeated ride for the Wolfpack.  It was also two missed field goals away from being a two loss season with a hard fought defeat at the hands of Boise State.  Luckily for Nevada, though, Boise State missed both field goals giving the Wolfpack the win two weeks before the end of the season.  Their only loss was a 6 point defeat in Hawaii (27-21) that split a pair of 6 game winning streaks.

Now Nevada is looking for their second win over a BCS conference opponent.  Their first, a 19 point thrashing of California would have been more impressive if the Golden Bears had made it to bowl-eligibility.  However, their 37-34 overtime win over Boise State certainly deserves praise, even if Boise State had to help out in that win.

The ‘pack are lead by excellent senior quarterback Colin Kaepernick (6-6, 225).  He has the size to be an NFL quality quarterback, and the numbers to back it up.  In fact, he’s currently rated as the #5 overall quarterback in the draft.  Not too shabby.  He’s managed to do it by maintaining some pretty good passing numbers over the years, including a 154.21 QB rating this season.  2830 yards and 20 touchdowns to only 7 interceptions on a 65.3% completion percentage will do that for you.

But that’s not all he can do.  Kaepernick is also the second best rusher on the team, picking up 1184 yards and 20 touchdowns on 164 carries. His friend in the backfield, senior runningback Vai Taua (5-10, 22), is equally lethal as well, 1534 yards and 19 touchdowns on 262 carries.  You simply cannot fail to defend the run against these guys, and even if you do you just have to accept that they’re going to score on you eventually.

Kaepernick’s favorite target is junior receiver Rishard Matthews (6-2, 215).  Matthews has hauled in a respectable 49 catches for 793 yards and 4 touchdowns.  That’s a 16.2 yard per catch average for those of you keeping track at home.  He’s not the only deep threat for the Wolfpack, though, as Kaepernick has found 7 different receivers on a regular basis during the season.

Boston College Eagles

The Eagles had a particularly divergent final ten games this season.  After winning their first two against nobodies (yes Webber State, you’re a nobody), the Eagles fell on hard times.  Facing Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, NC State, Florida State and Maryland consecutively, BC lost all 5.  They showed progress, however, through the last two, losing by only a combined 8 points.  That signaled a turnaround.  The Eagles blew through their last 5 games (against weaker competition) to manage to earn the opportunity to play in this one.

I absolutely have to spend a moment talking about Boston College’s head coach Tom Selleck.  He was absolutely amazing as Magnum, PI!

Wait…  That’s not Tom Selleck?  His name is Frank Spaziani?  Umm…let me check my notes.

Frank Spaziani has been the head coach at Boston College for 2 years, plus their 2008 Bowl Game after they were ditched by head coach Tom O’Brien for NC State.  While Spaziani hasn’t exactly impressed, going 12-10 so far in his career, he has earned a contract extension through 2015, so clearly the administration likes where things are headed.

Amusingly, Spaziani has a bit of a Buckeye connection.  During a BC game broadcast, Chris Spielman stated that Spaziani likes to “cook up plays” – a complement to his ingenuity.  Ever since then, BC students have been seen wearing lab coats in Spaziani’s honor.

Boston College has gone through three quarterbacks this year, finally settling on freshman Chase Rettig (6-3, 205) over a pair of sophomores who dominated play in the first 5 games.  Rettig, despite only playing in 8 games, managed to accumulate 1117 yards and 6 touchdowns against 7 interceptions on 86 completions.  Not the greatest stats in the world, but a freshman has to start somewhere.

The Eagles dominant form of production comes in the running game.  Junior Montel Harris (5-10, 200) has 269 attempts for 1243 yards and 8 touchdowns on the season – 34% of the yards gained by the team all season.  That becomes 46% if you factor out the production by the two quarterbacks who likely won’t be playing in this game.  It’s a safe bet that Boston College will be looking to Harris to make their game go, and Rettig to change the pace a bit.

When Rettig does go to the air, he will regularly hit 7 different receivers.  The most productive is freshman Bobby Swigert (6-1, 180).  Swigert picked up 36 receptions for 494 yards and 4 touchdowns this year, good for a freshman receiver.  Not so good as the top receiver on your team.

It is clear that this Boston College team is particularly young.  I would not be surprised to see them start to surprise teams in the coming year or so, especially once Rettig gets some extra time to develop.

Who Are We Picking?

• Eric- Nevada
• Jay- Nevada
• Jeff- Nevada
• Jim- Nevada
• Joe- Nevada
• Mali- Nevada

Clearly, we here at the Buckeye Battle Cry think that it will not be Boston College’s night.  While their 5 game winning streak was very impressive, the team as a whole is still too young to be able to handle this tough Wolfpack squad.  There’s lots of promise here for the Eagles, but it will take time to develop properly.  Nevada is loaded with experience and talent and it will show.