The Utah State Aggies and Ohio Bobcats have only gone 1-9 in 10 bowl games between them, but one of them is going to get in the win column on December 17th, when the two teams duke it out in NCAA football betting action at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise.
Ohio is the team that has yet to come up with a bowl win, and it is going to have to pull off an outright upset as a short underdog if it wants that to change on Saturday. The poor Bobcats are seemingly always coming up just short. They were beaten in the regular season finale last year against the Kent State Golden Flashes, and that only sandwiched two defeats in the MAC Championship Game in 2009 and 2011.
This year's game is going to be one that is difficult for Ohio to get off the mat from. The team was leading the Northern Illinois Huskies for literally the entire 60 minutes before falling to a field goal at the death.
The stats on this Bobcats bunch suggest that they are quite the team. They rank in the Top 50 in the land in virtually every single category both offensively and defensively, and they have some tremendously talented players to rely on.
QB Tyler Tettleton threw for 26 TDs against 10 INTs this year, giving him some of the best stats that an Ohio signal caller has had in quite some time. He also had 598 yards and nine TDs on the ground. RBs Donte Harden, Ryan Boykin, and Beau Blankenship all had over 400 rushing yards and can all rip off some tremendous gains when given the chance. On top of that, WR LaVon Brazill is one of the best receivers in the MAC. He had 64 receptions for 1,063 yards and 10 trips to the end zone on the campaign.
It has been almost 20 years since Utah State has been in a bowl game, and it has to be thrilled to be here at the Potato Bowl. The offense, in spite of the fact that QB Chuckie Keeton missed the final month of the year with a back injury, is quite potent, as the unit ranks No. 20 in the nation at 458.8 yards per game and No. 21 in scoring at 34.5 points per game.
The ground game is simply fantastic for the Aggies. RB Robert Turbin rushed for 1,426 yards and 19 TDs this year, while RB Michael Smith had 728 yards and seven scores. RB Kerwynn Williams on got 72 carries for the year, but he averaged 6.7 yards per carry, good for 480 yards. Even the two quarterbacks, Keeton and QB Adam Kennedy combined for just over 500 rushing yards as well.
USU is favored by 2.5 points on the NCAA football odds for this one, while the 'total' has already risen from 55 up to 57.5 and could go up by kickoff.
