Cotton Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech Football Picks

Written January 1, 2009 by Jason Lowry

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The No.8 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders were left out of the BCS bowl picture even though they finished the season 11-1 and tied for 1st in the same division as the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners, and instead will be playing in the Cotton Bowl on January 2nd against the No.20 ranked Ole Miss Rebels, who finished the season 8-4 and had that huge win over Florida at the beginning of the season. For those of you looking to do some NCAA football betting on the big game, the oddsmakers have Texas Tech 4 point favorites over Ole Miss at BetUS.com.

The Rebels are coming into this game red hot, as they won their last 5 games of the season, including a 45-0 win over Mississippi State in the final game of the season. The Rebels likely feel like they could be even better than the 8 wins they posted this season, as their 4 losses came by a combined 18 points. A big reason for the Rebels success this season is the play on the offensive side of things, as the Rebels come in averaging nearly 31 points a game, and almost 400 yards of total offense. Jevan Snead is the leader under center, and he wound up putting together a pretty solid season throwing for 2,470 yards with 23 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. Snead has the great ability of scrambling and using his speed to avoid the rush, and when he is able to let loose its likely going to Shay Hodge, who led the Rebels with 42 catches for 676 yards and 8 scores. As for the running game a number of guys have helped this team to a pretty solid ground attack, and the two guys doing the most damage are Cordera Eason and Dexter McCluster.

The Rebels defense has also put together a solid season holding opponents to just 18 points a game, and the big reason for that is the way this unit shuts down the running game, as opposing teams are averaging just 84 yards a game on the ground and just 2.5 yards per carry. The pass defense has had its struggles giving up nearly 200 yards a game, but when teams can’t run they are forced to air it out more than normal. The Rebels tallied 14 interceptions on the season, and the stat that sticks out the most is the 36 sacks this unit combined for. Look out for Greg Hardy and Peria Jerry who combined for 14.5 sacks this season. Bet Ole Miss Rebles +4 at BetUS.com.

As good as the Rebels might be on the defensive side of things, the Red Raiders bring one of the more explosive offenses in college football to this one, as they come in averaging nearly 45 points a game and 536 total yards of offense per contest. The offense is led by the play of Graham Harrell at quarterback, who many believed got snubbed by not being invited to the Heisman ceremony. Harrell threw for 4,747 yards with 41 touchdowns to just 7 interceptions while completing an amazing 71.5% of his passes. A big reason for Harrell’s success this season is the outstanding player he has at wide receiver in Michael Crabtree, who finished with 93 catches for 1,135 yards and 18 touchdowns, and could very well be the top receiver selected in next year’s draft. The Rebels don’t run often but have done a good job this season of mixing in more runs and getting some pretty good success out of it, as Baron Batch and Shannon Woods combined to run for 1,412 yards and 19 scores.

The Red Raiders defense isn’t going to make very many headlines with their outstanding play, but this unit did pretty well considering the offense heavy conference it plays in, and while they looked terrible against the Sooners late in the season giving up 65 points, don’t be surprised if this unit gives the Rebels some trouble. This unit is best against the run, but it has forced 26 turnovers this season and isn’t far behind the Rebels with 30 sacks. The two guys to look out for are Darcel McBath and Brandon Williams, as McBath led the way with 6 interceptions, while Williams has the team lead with 11 sacks. Bet Texas Tech Red Raiders -4 at BetUS.com.

Lowry’s Lean on the Game: Texas Tech -4
As much as I like what Ole Miss brings to the table in this one, I just think the Red Raiders offense is going to be to much to handle for the Rebels defense. Look for Harrell to come out an make a statement, along with the rest of the Red Raiders who were pushed to the back of the pack because of one big loss this season.

Predicted Score: Texas Tech 42 Ole Miss 34

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