The Beef 'O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl will take place on Tuesday, December 20th at 8:00 p.m. (ET), and the matchup should be one of the more intriguing in the first part of the bowl season. The Florida International Golden Panthers will take on the Marshall Thundering Herd in a battle of two teams that are simply proud to be playing in a bowl game this year.
FIU had to snare the bid that would have been held by a Big East team had either the Connecticut Huskies or South Florida Bulls won on the final day of the regular season. We aren't so sure whether the Golden Panthers would have gotten the call from any other team in spite of the fact that they finished with an 8-4 record, including a 'W' against the co-Big East champs, the Louisville Cardinals on the road on national television a month into the season.
Meanwhile, Marshall needed to win its final two NCAA football betting showdowns of the year just to reach bowl eligibility. It nearly blew it in a narrow escape past the Memphis Tigers, and it needed overtime to tame the East Carolina Pirates in a game that decided which team would come here to the Sunshine State for its bowl game.
Aside from that though, these two teams don't have a heck of in common. The Thundering Herd lack players that can really stretch the field either on the ground or in the air. The team only ranked No. 101 in the land in total offense at 335.3 yards per game and No. 98 in scoring at 22.0 points per game. No rusher that is healthy for this game averaged more than 4.1 yards per carry, and QB Rakeem Cato, a freshman, is averaging just 6.9 yards per pass attempt.
Meanwhile, Florida International can get the ball all over the field with WR TY Hilton. He is an explosive returner, coming up with over 700 yards and a score between punts and kicks, and he came up with 950 yards and seven TDs as a receiver. QB Wesley Carroll does a great job getting him the football, as he threw 14 TDs against just four picks on the campaign. RB Kedrick Rhodes rumbled for 1,131 yards and eight scores.
With the hometown crowd on their side, the Golden Panthers are favored by four points in the St. Petersburg Bowl. You can find these college football odds and a 'total' of 48.5 posted right now at Bookmaker.eu.
