Arizona State vs
Texas
Texas
Dec. 27 / 8 p.m.
Was Arizona State snubbed by the BCS? Did the 10-2 Sun Devils deserve to be in the Fiesta Bowl playing against Oklahoma? To include the Sun Devils you would have left out Illinois (which makes perfect sense to me). Then we could have had some monster bowl games
Instead the Fiesta Bowl took 1 loss Kansas instead of the hometown team in ASU. The Sun Devils did a fantastic Kansas impersonation this season loading up on a weak beginning of the schedule and finishing up with the meat. Just like the Jayhawks, ASU wasn't able to survive the big boys waiting at the end of their schedule and met defeat. ASU won their first 8 games handily before falling to Dennis Dixon and the Ducks before his season ending injury. ASU rebounded with a win over UCLA before getting destroyed by USC on Thanksgiving in the desert. The Sun Devils were able to escape with a win over rival Arizona to get to 10 wins and what they thought was going to be a BCS invite. Dennis Erickson will try and work his magic for one more game this season with QB Rudy Carpenter. Carpenter had a decent junior campaign with 23 TDs and only 8 INTs. If ASU can keep him protected (51 sacks this season) against a less-than-stellar Texas passrush he should be able to light up the Texas secondary (276 yards per game have been given up through the air by the Longhorn pass defense). If Texas A&M can pass for nearly 400 yards on these guys, ASU should be able to easily.
Texas on the other hand needs this victory bad. After starting the year near the top of everyone's poll they had a few scares with Arkansas State and UCF before finally getting caught by an overrated Kansas State squad. Then came the loss to Oklahoma that was much closer than anyone expected. The Longhorns won 5 straight after the Oklahoma game giving many in Austin hopes of a BCS at-large bid. Then came the rivalry game with the Aggies. Coach Fran didn't beat many teams during his tenure in College Station, but he bested Mack Brown the last two seasons, even as a lame duck coach this year. Mack Brown needs a big win against a top Pac10 opponent to springboard this team for next season and hopefully show he isn't just a great recruiter who found an all-timer in Vince Young who was able to outplay Brown's ineptitudes as a coach. Brown will need a decent game out of sophomore Colt McCoy and another strong fourth quarter from Jamaal Charles (1458 yards, 16 TDs).
Arizona State will get down early, that much is a given this season. The question will be if Texas can weather the storm of the air attack to stay in this one going into the fourth quarter. If they can, look out. Jamaal Charles hasn't just been good in the last quarter, he's been out of this world. ASU has only allowed 101ypg on the ground, so if Texas can control the clock and thus the game on the ground they should win it.
Line: Texas -2.5, Total: 61.5
Rose: USC vs Georgia
Orange: WVU vs Virgina Tech
Fiesta: Arizona State vs Oklahoma
Sugar: Hawaii vs Kansas/Missouri
Texas on the other hand needs this victory bad. After starting the year near the top of everyone's poll they had a few scares with Arkansas State and UCF before finally getting caught by an overrated Kansas State squad. Then came the loss to Oklahoma that was much closer than anyone expected. The Longhorns won 5 straight after the Oklahoma game giving many in Austin hopes of a BCS at-large bid. Then came the rivalry game with the Aggies. Coach Fran didn't beat many teams during his tenure in College Station, but he bested Mack Brown the last two seasons, even as a lame duck coach this year. Mack Brown needs a big win against a top Pac10 opponent to springboard this team for next season and hopefully show he isn't just a great recruiter who found an all-timer in Vince Young who was able to outplay Brown's ineptitudes as a coach. Brown will need a decent game out of sophomore Colt McCoy and another strong fourth quarter from Jamaal Charles (1458 yards, 16 TDs).
Arizona State will get down early, that much is a given this season. The question will be if Texas can weather the storm of the air attack to stay in this one going into the fourth quarter. If they can, look out. Jamaal Charles hasn't just been good in the last quarter, he's been out of this world. ASU has only allowed 101ypg on the ground, so if Texas can control the clock and thus the game on the ground they should win it.
Line: Texas -2.5, Total: 61.5
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