Las Vegas Bowl Preview

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
BYU vs Arizona
Saturday, Dec. 20, 8:00
on ESPN
Sam Boyd Stadium - Las Vegas

Why you should watch:

• BYU was a preseason pick for a BCS buster and almost lived up to it. They finished the season with only 2 losses, to Utah and TCU.
• Arizona had a solid season as well. They played USC and Oregon State very close before eventually losing both. (Oregon State won with a field goal to end the game)
• You have a top 10 pass offense against a top 15 pass defense.
  
• BYU has beaten Pac-10 teams in the last 2 Las Vegas Bowls.
  

Why you shouldn't watch:

• It's a Saturday night and there is surely better things to do with your time.
• The Dallas Cowboys host the Ravens at 8:15 on NFL Network.
  
• If you are the east coast do you really care about 2 west coast teams? Didn't think so.
  

Streaks and Scheduling Notes:
BYU:

• 10-2 (6-2)
  
• 4th straight visit to the Las Vegas Bowl (2-1)
  
• Their two losses were to 2 teams in the top 12 according to the BCS
  
• 4-2 away from home this season
  

Arizona:

• 7-5 (5-4)
  
• 1st bowl game since 1998
  
• They lost 3 of their last 5 games
• Went 2-3 away from home this season
• Their 5 conference wins came against the 5 teams below them in the standings
  

Key Stats, Figures, and Players:
BYU:

• 18th in the country in scoring offense (35.3) and 7th in passing offense (309).
• Defensively the only thing they do well is keep teams from scoring. The pass and run defense aren't scaring anyone.
  
• QB Max Hall has thrown for 3,629 yards and 34 touchdowns this season.
  
• RB Harvey Unga has 1,061 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.
• WR Austin Collie leads the team with 95 catches for 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns.
  

Arizona:

• Offensively they can score with anyone (37) but their yardage numbers are just average.
  
• Defensively they shut down the passing game better than most of the nation allowing only 170 yards a game.
• QB Willie Tuitama has thrown for 2,763 yards and 21 touchdowns this year.
• RB's Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin combined for 1,591 yards and 25 touchdowns.
• TE Rob Gronkowski is third on the team in catches with 43 but 10 of those were touchdowns.
  

Who Wins:

BYU....Don't kid yourselves here. BYU is a very good team and while Arizona does a solid job scoring and shutting down the passing game they haven't really played an offense as good as this one. I think Arizona can keep it close because they are efficient on offense and they do score a lot but BYU is too good on offense to stay down for long.