Liberty Bowl Preview, UCF vs Mississippi St.
Sylvester Croom leads his boys into battle.
Bowl season is upon us and I will be previewing all the bowl games featuring SEC teams from now until they play. First up on the schedule is the Liberty Bowl between Central Florida Knights and Mississippi St. Bulldogs.
UCF Knights 10-3 (7-1), 1st Conference USA - East
VS
Mississippi St. Bulldogs 7-5 (4-4), 3rd Southeastern - West
Both teams head into the game under similar circumstances having endured long droughts without a bowl appearance. UCF capped off a fantastic season, including ending the regular season on a seven game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs made it to the Liberty Bowl by beating some of the SEC’s top teams, including over ranked Kentucky and Alabama before winning the Egg Bowl over Ole Miss to close out the regular season.
The game is being played in Memphis on Saturday Dec 29, with Central Florida favored by a field goal. The scouting report on UCF is simple, they have the NCAA’s top rusher in the nation, Kevin Smith, who averaged 188.3 yards per game and is just 180 yards shy of Barry Sander’s single season record for most yards rushing in a single season. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are led by freshman quarterback Wesley Carroll, who was named to the freshman all-SEC team.
The game will come down to whether the Bulldogs can stop the prolific ground game of the Knights. If they can keep the score in the teens, then Mississippi St. should have enough to come away with the win. Consider this though, the Bulldogs have allowed an average of 159.0 rushing yards this season, and have given up more than 200 yards on the ground in four of its last six games. Hopefully coach Croom has a plan to stop the NCAA’s leading rusher come Saturday.
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