Liberty Bowl (12-29)

[Cuck Flemson]

Central Florida
Miss St.


This will be a pick-em
4:30pm start time.

[Cuck Flemson]

Pending bowl games will be on a Sticky!

[papasmurf]

Date/Time: Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m. ET Site: Memorial Stadium, Memphis Network: ESPN
http://images.sportsline.com/images/collegebasketball/gamecenter/logos/UCF.gif
UCF

Offense: With a much-improved offensive line led by versatile senior Josh Sitton, who has started at three different positions this season, TB Kevin Smith led the nation with 2,448 yards, 188.31 yards per game, 13.85 points per game and 31.9 carries per game. The Knights don't need QB Kyle Israel and the receivers to carry the offense but they do need them to be consistent and need Israel to avoid turnovers and big mistakes.
Defense: A defense that struggled with consistency during the first half of the season has been tough to beat in the second half, especially with an interception in seven consecutive games, 23 overall this season and three INTs in the C-USA championship game.

http://images.sportsline.com/images/collegebasketball/gamecenter/logos/MSST.gif
Miss. St.

Offense: While true freshman QB Wesley Carroll and WR Jamayel Smith showed progress late in the season, the Bulldogs are still at their best when they're getting physical with the running game. Mississippi State must set the tone and own the clock with a mixture of 240-pound Anthony Dixon and 215-pound Christian Ducre.
Defense: The Bulldogs are ranked no higher than fifth in the SEC and 28th nationally in any defensive stat category (averaging 341.7 yards per game), but they know how to get physical against the run, force opponents into long-distance passing situations and make plays (they have three INT returns for touchdowns this season.

http://sportsline.com/collegefootball/bowls/liberty

ESPN College Bowl Mania

UCF http://assets.espn.go.com/i/teamlogos/ncaa/sml/trans/2116.gif 69.3% vs. 30.7% http://assets.espn.go.com/i/teamlogos/ncaa/sml/trans/344.gif Mississippi State
http://games.espn.go.com/bowlmania/whopickedwhom

[papasmurf]

UCF (10-3) vs. Mississippi State (7-5)
Dec. 29th, 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Mississippi State will win if... it wins the turnover battle with at least a +2 margin. UCF lost to Texas after committing three turnovers. It turned it over three times in the loss to South Florida, and five times in the loss to East Carolina. In the ten wins, UCF turned it over just 13 times (compared to 11 in the three losses). MSU doesn't have an explosive enough offense to keep up in any sort of a shootout and it needs to force several mistakes, and come up with several third down stops, to keep the Knights from pulling away. MSU needs to get up early, force UCF to throw the ball a bit, and keep Smith to around 100 yards.
UCF will win if... it forces MSU to start throwing the ball. The Knights give up passing yards, but it's good against inefficient passers, which is Wesley Carroll. The 6-1, 190-pound freshman threw for 421 yards and four touchdowns against Arkansas, but he also threw four interceptions and MSU lost. He's a good bomber and isn't afraid to push the ball down the field, but he's not going to consistently march the offense unless the running game is helping him out. UCF led Conference USA in sacks and even though MSU is good in pass protection, generating consistent pressure shouldn't be a problem.

What will happen: It's all up to the consistency of the MSU offense. The defense will keep Smith in check and will keep the score within range, but the Bulldog attack has to take advantage of every opportunity and has to control the time of possession. It'll do both as it pulls out a defensive battle thanks to four takeaways and two big pass plays that'll come from out of nowhere.

Line: UCF -3... CFN Prediction: Mississippi State 24 ... UCF 17

http://cfn.scout.com/2/711268.html

[USCMusicMan]

random thought: I was just thinking about how similiar Miss. St. and Arkansas are to each other. Without Mcfadden and Jones, they practically have the same strenghs and weaknesses.

[willy]

Miss. ST in an upset.

[papasmurf]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/28/sports/FBC-Liberty-Bowl.php#): It's all about Kevin Smith.
The Liberty Bowl on Saturday offers plenty of story lines. There's Sylvester Croom's revitalization of moribund Mississippi State and George O'Leary's resurrection of Central Florida and his career. But all anyone wants to talk about is Smith's chase of Barry Sanders' single-season rushing record. Everyone except Smith, that is.
"If I get 50 yards and we beat Mississippi State, I'm the happiest guy in the world," he said. "If we get to 11 wins and I get to be on the field, I'm the happiest man in the world."
Smith needs 181 yards to break Sanders' record of 2,628 yards, set in 1988 at Oklahoma State. The junior pushed Central Florida (10-3) to seven straight wins and the Conference USA championship in the fourth year of O'Leary's tenure — which began with a winless season in 2004 after a padded resume cost him a job at Notre Dame.
The Bulldogs (7-5), in the midst of a feel-good run after six years of three wins or less and three years of NCAA probation, want to keep the good vibes rolling for Croom, the 2007 Southeastern Conference coach of the year. Croom, the first black coach in the SEC, was under intense pressure to win and finally did.
The Bulldogs are quick to point out that the Knights aren't powered by a single source. The offensive line is beefy and fleet, and quarterback Kyle Israel has taken advantage of defenses stacked to stop the run to complete 59.9 percent of his passes for 2,085 yards with 15 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
Mississippi State has spent the requisite amount of time in practice working on stopping Central Florida's other working parts, but defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said his mind won't often stray from the Bulldogs' toughest task.
"You always worry about (the pass), but I don't think you can take any attention off of (Smith)," Johnson said. "The statistics are proven. You rush for that many yards, you've got to put that first. You've got to stop that."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/28/sports/FBC-Liberty-Bowl.php

[Count Cockula]

350k on msu

[SangareeCrew]

go Bulldogs!

[ConwayGamecock]

Miss St. wins 10-3!!

After going on a 0-fer for a number of bowls earlier last week, I'm now on a sweet little win streak. Hope I didn't just jinx it......

[2000grad]

Congrats to Croom. He has done a great job there this season. Also, congrats to the SEC for being 1-0 in Bowl Challenge Cup. Let's make sure that it is 4-0 after the Peach Bowl.

[Gamecockfanatic4]

where's Cuck? I want my vCash

[usc1]

go cocks

[SangareeCrew]

time to pay up!

[Count Cockula]

show me the vcash:woo: