The BYU Cougars are playing in their first bowl game as an independent team in the 2011 Armed Forces Bowl on December 30th against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Bookmaker Sportsbook has posted BYU as a slight favorite in the matchup.
This was an interesting year for both of these teams. BYU didn't play well in its first three games of the year against the Ole Miss Rebels, Texas Longhorns, and Utah Utes, but from that point on this year, the Cougs were able to roll off eight wins in nine games, including posting six straight covers to end the season. The lone loss was a 10 point defeat at the TCU Horned Frogs, a game that certainly wasn't anything to be ashamed of.
Tulsa went 8-4 this year, which doesn't seem like it is all that special. However, when you consider the fact that the Golden Hurricane were beaten by the Oklahoma Sooners, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Boise State Broncos, and the Houston Cougars, that's not all that bad.
QB GJ Kinne and the Golden Hurricane were shocked this year with the problems off the field with WR Damaris Johnson. He was expected to be the do it all once again in 2011, but he was booted off of the team before the campaign ever got started.
The potential is there for a lot of offense in this game. These two teams combined to average over 64 points per game this year, and BYU scored at least 41 in each of its last three. Tulsa meanwhile, averaged 40.6 points per game in its games that didn't come against those four aforementioned teams.
The Cougs ranked No. 17 in the country in total defense at 316.3 yards per game and No. 23 in scoring at 20.3 points per game. Tulsa's defense allowed 27.6 points per game, but once again, if you take out those losses, it only conceded 17.0 points per game, so don't just assume that the scoreboard is going to be lighting up from the toss of the coin in this game.
These two teams have played each other five times since 1995. The home team won four of the five games, but all five were definitely interesting. The winning team put at least 45 on the board. The most recent game featured a 55-47 win for the Golden Hurricane in 2007.
BYU his favored by a slender 2.5 point margin on the Armed Forces Bowl betting lines, while the 'total' is lined at 55.5, down from the 58 posted at the open.
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