The Houston Cougars and the Penn State Nittany Lions both took very interesting roads to make it to the Ticket City Bowl, but the two should put on a good show when they meet on January 2nd at 12:00.
The Cougs had one of the best offenses in the nation, led by QB Case Keenum. Keenum had his third 5,000+ passing yard season of his career this season, and he had to think that he was headed to the BCS. Instead, those dreams for Houston were smashed to bits when it was beaten by the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the Conference USA Championship Game in what amounted to be one of the worst games of Keenum's career.
This is going to be an interesting test against one of the most unheralded defenses in the country. Penn State was obliterated by the Wisconsin Badgers a month ago to cost it a shot at the Big Ten Championship Game, but aside from that, the unit was truly stout this year. There were only two other teams that scored more than 18 points against this defense all year, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Northwestern Wildcats.
We haven't heard a heck of a lot about how the Jerry Sandusky scandal and subsequent firing of Joe Paterno has really changed this team, but we can plainly see that the team was 8-1 with Paterno on the sidelines, with the only loss being to the aforementioned Crimson Tide, and 1-2 without him, with the only win being against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
There is no question who is going to be taking snaps for the Cougars, as Keenum and his tremendous set of receivers will be on full display. The real question might be there for the Nittany Lions. QB Robert Bolden is dealing with some legal issues in court, and QB Matt McGloin suffered a concussion during a locker room fight and might not be able to give it a go if that proves to be a problem.
This is going to be the first game for Tony Levine as the head coach of the Cougs, as he replaces the departed Kevin Sumlin, who is heading to the Texas A&M Aggies.
Needless to say, there is a reason that the Cougars are favored by 6.5 points on the Ticket City Bowl odds at 5Dimes Sportsbook. The 'total' has been set at 56.5, which is down from the 59 at opening.
