Gator Bowl: Nebraska vs. Clemson Football Picks

Written December 31, 2008 by Jason Lowry

Clemson Nebraska Football Picks

This New Year’s Day the Clemson Tigers will take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Gator Bowl. The Tigers had high expectation when the season started, but after an opening day loss to Alabama the Tigers never really got things going and a 3 game losing streak early in conference play really hurt this teams chances of coming out on top in the ACC. As for the Cornhuskers they finished the season 8-4 and were 5-3 in the Big 12 North, including 3 straight wins to end the regular season. For those of you looking to do a little NCAA football betting on this one, the oddsmakers have Clemson 2.5 point favorites over Nebraska at Sportsbook.com.

The Tigers have plenty of talent on the offensive side of things, but its a matter of whether this unit can play consistent over 4 quarters. There are a couple of players looking to make their mark in Clemson’s record book, as running back James Davis needs 112 yards to become the school’s all-time leading rusher, while wideout Aaron Kelly needs just 23 yards to become the school’s all time leading receiver Davis led the Tigers with 725 yards on the ground with 11 scores, but had plenty of help from C.J. Spiller who had 612 and 7 scores. Kelly is easily the teams leading receiver with 61 catches for 648 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Tigers had the best passing attack in the ACC averaging 218 yards a game, but quarterback Cullen Harper has just as many touchdowns as he does interceptions with 12.

The Tigers need a solid game from Harper, but if all else fails they have one heck of a defense, as Clemson’s defense ranks 10 in the nation in scoring defense and 17th in total defense. They will be without defensive end Ricky Sapp, who is out with a torn ACL, but they still have plenty of talent left. The safety duo of Michael Hamlin and Chris Clemons combined for 186 tackles and interceptions, and linebacker Kavell Conner is all over the field leading the way with 114 tackles. Bet Clemson Tigers -2.5 at Sportsbook.com.

The Cornhuskers bring an even better passing attack to this one, as Nebraska averages 285 yards a game through the air, and a solid 458 yards a game in the offensive heavy Big 12 conference. All that has led to 36 points a game on the season, but over the final 3 game this unit put up 47 a game. The big reason for the explosiveness of this unit is quarterback Joe Ganz who has thrown for 3,332 yards with 23 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions. The guy making the big plays on the outside is Nate Swift who leads the Cornhuskers with 60 catches for 909 yards and 9 scores. The running game is more of a duo than just one guy coming at you, as Marlon Lucky and Roy Helu Jr. have combined to run for 1,321 yards and 14 touchdowns (7 each) this season.

There isn’t many defenses that excelled in the Big 12 this season, and the Cornhuskers weren’t one of them, as they come into this one giving up 361.5 yards and nearly 30 points a game. Both Zach Potter and Ndamukong Suh lead the team with 5.5 sacks a piece, and the team as a whole had 30 on the season. Suh was also tied for the team lead with 2 interceptions, but the Cornhuskers had just 10 on the season, not a very big number for a team coached by a guy like Bo Pelini. Bet Nebraska Cornhuskers +2.5 Sportsbook.com.

Lowry’s Lean on the Game: Nebraska +2.5
I think that Pelini will have this team ready to go and this team will be prepared for whatever Clemson brings to the table. I don’t see the Cornhuskers running away with this one by any means, but I think the offense will have enough fire power to make the big play late and give this schools its 23 bowl victory.

Predicted Score: Nebraska 28 Clemson 27

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