2010 International Bowl Line

Written by Kyle Hunter

The 2010 version of the International Bowl will be played Saturday January 2nd in Toronto. Northern Illinois will take on South Florida in a battle between two teams with an identical 7-5 record. Both teams come in having dropped their last two regular season games. Both of these teams have strong running games and a shaky passing attack. Which team will come out motivated for their final game of the season?

Northern Illinois is led by a nice rushing duo of Chad Spann and Me’co Brown. Spann has run for 19 touchdowns and averages 5.9 yards per carry. Brown is a talented young back who averages 4.4 yards per carry. Chandler Harnish is the signal caller for the Huskies. Harnish is a gifted young quarterback who completed over 66% of his passes this season. Harnish threw only 5 interceptions this season showing his maturity under center. Landon Cox is the top wide receiver for the Huskies and has 44 receptions on the season. Mike Salerno is a reliable kicker who has successfully converted 18 field goals this season. The Northern Illinois defense was very good for most of the season, but they have been exploited of late. In the last three games, the Huskies defense has given up 34 points per game. If they are going to win this game, they will need the defense to step up.

The South Florida Bulls endured a large amount of crucial injuries and skidded at the end of the season. The Bulls lost 5 of their last 7 games after starting the season 5-0. B.J. Daniels was thrown into the starting quarterback position after a season ending injury to star quarterback Matt Grothe. Daniels is just a Freshman and has made many Freshman mistakes, but he definitely has a lot of potential. Daniels is a mobile quarterback who is working to improve his passing efficiency. South Florida’s passing attack was inconsistent over the last several games. The Bulls offense averages 26 points per game, but has had difficulty keeping the defense off balance. The South Florida defense has done a good job keeping the team in most of their games. The Bulls are allowing just 21 points per game and have a very strong pass defense. South Florida will need Daniels and the rest of the offense to put up some points against a reeling Northern Illinois defense.

The college football odds show South Florida as a 7 point favorite in this one. The odds makers have set the posted total at 49 points. Both teams are just 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 games. When making college bowl picks remember that both of these teams have struggled against quality competition. The Huskies are 0-7 against the spread in their last 7 games against teams with a winning record. The Bulls are 5-13 in the same situation.

South Florida has definitely played tougher competition this year, but the inconsistency of the Bulls has plagued them of late. Both teams will be looking to establish their running game and open up the play action passing game. I expect South Florida and their deeper talent to win out in the end. Prediction: South Florida 28 Northern Illinois 21

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