N.C. State (7-5, 4-4 ACC) vs. Vanderbilt (8-4, 5-3 SEC)
Monday December 31st, Noon EST ESPN
Bowl History: The Franklin American Mortgage Company Music City Bowl began in 1998. The bowl was created to stimulate the economy in Nashville and also so that Nashville could show off it’s beauty to tourists. ESPN has shown the bowl annually ever since its inception and more 760,000 fans have attened the bowl in person. While the bowl has played host to many conferences, it is exclusively an ACC-SEC matchup though 2014. The game has featured many big players such as Jason Campbell, Marion Barber, and C.J. Spiller.
N.C. State Scouting Report: Offensively, the Wolfpack rely on QB Mike Glennon and WR Tobias Palmer. Glennon threw for 30 touchdowns and averaged 304 yards/game. Palmer may not have led the team in yards and TD’s (670 yards this season and 6 touchdowns), he has been Glennon’s favorite target in big games. CB David Amerson leads the team defensively after breaking the ACC interception record last season. He will probably face off against Vanderbilt’s WR Jordan Matthews.
Buckeye Connection: The Buckeyes have played the Wolfpack a total of 2 times winning both of the games. The last time they met was in Columbus in 2003 in a gut-wrenching 44-38 victory.
Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt hasn’t neccesarily lit up the offesnive side of the stat sheet but they are led by RB Zac Stacey. He has carried the workload for most of the season. Stacey rushed for 1,034 yards this season on his way to becoming the all time leading rusher in school history. QB Jordan Rodgers handles the snaps while completing 59% of his passes for an average of 8.3 yards per attempt. LB Chase Garnham was the third leading tackler for the Commodore defense. His 11.5 stops for loss led the team and he is featured in many blitz packages
Buckeye Connection: The Buckeyes and Commodores split their meeting in 1931 and 1933 and have never met since, mainly because the SEC refuses to travel outside of their home states to face anybody anymore. If they met today, I’m sure Ohio State would improve to 2-1.
Our Picks:
- Eric: N.C. State
- Jason: N.C. State
- Mali: Vanderbilt
- Janelle: Vanderbilt
- WVA: N.C. State
- Gary: N.C. State
- Tim: Vanderbilt
Prediction: This game is pretty much a toss up when it comes to who will win. Defense may win championships but offense will probably win this game. Vandy struggles to score much and will need something extraordinary to happen in order to pull out the victory. N.C. State RB Zac Stacey will probably prove to be too much for Vandy in the end as the the Wolfpack win easily. N.C. State 31, Vanderbilt 17
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