St. Petersburg Bowl Preview

magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl
Memphis vs South Florida
Saturday, Dec. 20, 4:30
on ESPN2
Tropicana Field - St. Petersburg, FL

Why you should watch:

• It's the third bowl game of the season and the first 2 games of the bowl season probably didn't fix your withdrawal.
  
• The game features a top 20 run offense vs a top 10 run defense.

Why you shouldn't watch:

• There are 2 college basketball games featuring 4 top 10 teams on at 2 and 4
  
• USF has been nothing short of horrible most of the season and Memphis is well Memphis.

Streaks and Scheduling Notes:
Memphis:

• 6-6 (4-4)
  
• 5th bowl game in last 10 years (2-2)
  
• They won 3 of their last 4 games
  
• 2-3 on the road or at neutral sites this season
  

South Florida:

• 7-5 (2-5)
  
• 4th straight bowl game (1-2)
  
• They lost 5 of their last 7 games
• Went 3-3 away from home this season

Key Stats, Figures, and Players:
Memphis:

• 18th in the country with about 205 yards per game on the ground.
• 9 different players have attempted a pass this season.....NINE!
  
• Defensively they do nothing well but nothing really bad either. Pretty much average across the board defensively.
• RB Curtis Steele has rushed for 1,175 yards and 7 touchdowns this season on 206 carries.

South Florida:

• Very good run defense. They are 9th in the country allowing less than 100 yards a game.
• Average offense overall. They are a better passing team than rushing team.
• QB Matt Grothe is pretty much the only player on the offense. He has thrown for 2,675 yards and 15 touchdowns while also rushing 131 times (team high) for 508 yards and 4 touchdowns.
  

Who Wins:

Memphis....I know this game is like 40 miles or something from the USF campus but I don't think the Bulls can hang with ANYONE. Bowl games have a funny way of playing out usually and I think Memphis shocks everyone and beats the Bulls in Florida.