Poinsettia Bowl Preview

SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl
Boise St. vs TCU
Tuesday December 23, 8:00
on ESPN
Qualcomm Stadium - San Diego

Why you should watch:

• Boise is undefeated and TCU only lost 2 games, to Utah and Oklahoma
• Both teams are ranked in the top 11 of the final BCS standings
• It is arguably the best non-BCS game on the schedule and is probably better than a couple BCS games
  

Why you shouldn't watch:

• While both teams score a lot they might not score against each other which will result in a low scoring game
  
• Other than that there is no reason, so...WATCH THIS GAME!
  

Streaks and Scheduling Notes:
Boise St:

• 12-0 (8-0)
  
• 7th straight bowl game (3-3)
  
• Best team they beat: Oregon
  

TCU:

• 10-2 (7-1)
  
• 4th straight bowl (3-0), 9th in last 10 years (5-3)
  
• Their only losses were to Top 6 teams Utah and Oklahoma
• Best win: BYU
  

Key Stats, Figures, and Players:
Boise St:

• Offensively they are a good passing team that scores a lot. Their running game is average.
  
• Defensively they are 3rd in the country in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense.
  
• QB Kellen Moore has thrown for 3,264 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 70% of his passes.
  
• WR Jeremy Childs has 65 catches for 741 yards and 7 touchdowns.
• RB Ian Johnson has scored 12 times and WR Austin Pettis has 9 touchdowns.
  

TCU:

• Offensively they are a running team. Their passing offense is below average while their rushing offense is top 15 in the country.
  
• This team wins with defense. They are 1st in rushing defense allowing 48 yards a game, 2nd in scoring defense (10.9) and 9th in passing defense allowing 166 yards.
  
• They are also 2nd in the country with over 3 sacks a game.
  
• DE Jerry Hughes has 14 sacks this season and 16 tackles for loss. He also has 2 interceptions and 6 forced fumbles.
  
• 5 different running backs have over 70 carries this season but none of them have over 500 yards on the season.
  

Who Wins:

TCU....They are one of the best defensive teams in the country, maybe 2nd best behind USC, and they play in a tougher schedule so those numbers mean more than some teams. Boise is a good team that won all their games but the WAC is not a real tough conference and they only beat Oregon out of conference. Also Boise's offense just isn't going to be good enough to outplay TCUs defense.