Tag Archives: Holiday Bowl

Holiday Bowl: How do UCLA and Baylor match up?

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UCLA offense vs. Baylor defense: Although they give up more yards than every team in the country except Louisiana Tech, the Bears aren’t the second-worst defense in the college football. Baylor has won four of its past five games because it suddenly discovered the ability to force turnovers. In that span, the Bears grabbed 11 of their 18 interceptions on the season. (Meanwhile, quarterback Nick Florence threw just two picks.) However, this still doesn’t mean that Baylor is a particularly good defense. Only two teams in the Big 12 give up more yards per play than the Bears, which partly negates the argument that their numbers are bad due to the offenses they face.

Though Brett Hundley has thrown a pick in three of this past four games, he is still just 60 yards away from Cade McNown’s single-season passing record and could crack that by the end of the first quarter. Johnathan Franklin could conceivably get 300 yards to hit 2,000 on the season. (Great stat, courtesy of ESPN: Franklin averages 4 yards after contact on fourth-quarter rushes. He averages just 2.1 per carry in the first three quarters.) Edge: UCLA

Baylor offense vs. UCLA defense: Florence isn’t the superstar Robert Griffin III was Continue reading “Holiday Bowl: How do UCLA and Baylor match up?” »

Q&A with Waco Tribune-Herald

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Here are some answers from Baylor beat writer John Werner.

1. What were expectations like for this team post-RG3? Has this exceeded even the best-case scenario?

I think 7-5 was the best most people thought Baylor could finish. Baylor coach Art Briles was never worried about Nick Florence following RG3. But there were big questions about the defense, and those worries came to fruition when Baylor lost its first four Big 12 games. Continue reading “Q&A with Waco Tribune-Herald” »

Bowl allotment sellout first for UCLA since 2006

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UCLA announced yesterday that it had sold its entire 11,000-ticket allotment for the Holiday Bowl, most of which went to season-ticket holders and Wooden Athletic Fund donors. Around 1,000 were assigned for students and their guests, and the first 650 had been discounted from $65 to $25 thanks to anonymous donors.

The athletic department said today it was the first time they’ve sold out a bowl allotment since 2006, when the Bruins went to the Emerald Bowl after beating USC, 13-9. That year, UCLA also requested an additional 1,000 tickets from Florida State’s allotment and sold those as well. The Seminoles won 44-27, but the victory was later vacated due to NCAA violations.

Holiday Bowl tickets are still available at Ticketmaster and Stubhub (lowest going for $59.99).

Pac-12 officials to ref BCS Championship

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Per the Press-Register, national officiating Rogers Redding said today that Pac-12 officials will call the national title game. Conferences aren’t allowed to officiate bowls that involve their teams, and the BCS bowl rotation gave the Pac-12 those duties this year. (Notre Dame might not be in the title game had it not been for Pac-12 officials, but oh well.)

Five of the eight most penalized teams in the country come from the Pac-12: UCLA, Washington, Cal, Oregon and USC. Alabama — sixth-best in the country at 3.85 flags per game — is averaging less than half the penalties of any of those five teams. We’ll see if that ticks up on Jan. 7.

Conference USA will officiate the Holiday Bowl, as well as the Vegas Bowl. Teams from that conference averaged 5.53 penalties per game this season. Pac-12 squads averaged 7.24.