Emerald Bowl: Boston College Eagles VS. USC Trojans
EMERALD BOWL
San Francisco, California
Boston College Eagles (8-4) VS. #24 USC Trojans (8-4)
Saturday, December 26, 5:00 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: USC -7.0
Sam’s Take (55 – 22):
This year’s Emerald Bowl features two programs that entered the season with entirely different expectations. On December 26th, both USC and BC will meet in San Francisco sporting 8-4 records.
For the Trojans, this game represents the last chapter of a forgettable season. Pete Carroll is a master motivator, but even he must have trouble getting motivated for a second-tier bowl after 7 BCS appearances in a row.
Meanwhile, the folks of Chestnut Hill have to be thrilled with how this season has gone. Sure Boston College entered 2009 with a 10-year bowl streak, but extending that streak to 11 was no sure thing considering the turmoil within the program (head coach fired early in year, QB transferred out of program, star player diagnosed with cancer). First year head coach Frank Spaziani has done a fantastic job with this BC team and a win over a program like ‘SC would be icing on the cake.
While I certainly think the motivation edge lies with Boston College, the talent advantage is just as tilted in favor of the Trojans. In my opinion this bowl will be a success for ‘SC if QB Matt Barkley starts looking like a sophomore. It’s fair to say Barkley has struggled in 2009, so it’s critical for the future of the program that he plays well after an extra month of practice. BC is very good against the run (15th nationally in run defense) so Barkley and the passing game may be called upon more than normal.
While I can see the Eagles holding down the Trojans offense, I do not believe the BC offense will fare well against an ‘SC defense that is still full of elite talent. Boston College ranks 97th nationally in total offense and that won’t cut it against Pete Carroll’s squad.
I like ‘SC to win in semi-comfortable fashion.
Prediction: USC 27 – Boston College 13
Boston College Player to Keep an Eye On: RB Montel Harris – Harris is an excellent tailback who has rushed for over 1,300 yards and 13 TDs in 2009. The Trojans had trouble with talented tailbacks this season (Gerhart, Rodgers, James) so BC will be looking to get Harris going early.
USC Player to Keep an Eye On: WR Damian Williams – This will be Williams final game for ‘SC and I’m sure he will want to go out with a bang. He has 821 yards receiving this season, so a big day could result in a 1,000-yard season (and a good resume builder for the NFL Draft).
Dave’s Take (56 – 20):
Generally in a game like this I’d be giving a very strong look at a Boston College upset based on the motivation factor; BC will be thrilled at an oppotunity to play against a team like USC, while USC will be bummed to even be here and could be caught sleeping. Honestly though, I’m not really buying that in this game.
In fact, I’d argue that this game might have more motivation for the Trojans than two of the last three Rose Bowl games.
Despite dropping to Oregon State back in the 2006 season, USC was still in position to play for a national championship that year until their plans were foiled by rival UCLA. Last season, USC once again lost to Oregon State, but from that point forward they were unbeaten while putting together one of the best season-long defensive efforts of all time. Both of these years, the Rose Bowl felt like a consolation to the National Championship, which in ‘06 they let slip away, and in ‘08 they felt they deserved, but so goes the BCS.
This year? No near-misses. The Washington upset looked like this year’s annual stumbling block for the Trojans, but it was in fact just a sign of things to come; they were flat out out-played and dominated by Oregon, and then again on their home turf by Stanford. To add insult to injury, everything shaped up for them to secure a Holiday Bowl berth with a home win over Arizona; and once again, they fell short.
If this team has any pride whatsoever, motivation should NOT be an issue. Preseason expectations are long gone, and in their place should be a desire to take out the frustrations of a lackluster 2009 campaign on a very beatable opponent.
Considering how great of a job Pete Carroll does at preparing and motivating for bowls, I think he can get close to a best effort out of the team, which should be more than enough.
Prediction: USC 31 – Boston College 13
Thats some useful information there; never really examined it carefully like that; i think more discussion on subjects like this make the article more legit.
Thanks for breaking this down for the rest of us. We need more of this! Thanks and 5+.
RSS feed is not working in chrome, Kindly fix it.
Great post, I just bookmarked it on Digg.
Thanks for posting this info. I just want to let you know that I just check out your site and I find it very interesting and informative. I can’t wait to read lots of your posts.
This is a nice blog i must say, usually i don¡¯t post comments on others¡¯ blogs but would like to say that this post really forced me to do so!
Hello dude,i like Your New homepage very much. accomplish u have suggestion being my homepage? thanks for Ones attention
wicked blog, this is going on my twitter.
Hi. I wanted to thank you for the wonderful details you have posted on your website. I will definitelycome back to check it out again and have subscribedto your RSS feed. Have an excellent day.
Thanks for article. Everytime like to read your work.
I’m a sewing machine technician and will tell you DO NOT get a cheap plastic machine from Wal-Mart or wherever. The old machines are the best. Or look in thrift stores or yard sales and find an old one for cheap. If you turn the handle and the needle goes up and down and try the motor and it works then spend a little more and have the repair guy service it (yellow pages). Clean, oil, and adjust. I’m sure you can do all this for under 200 dollars. The old all metal heavy machines with just basic stitch patterns are all you need and they will last you forever. I find old machines all the time for 25 to 50.00 . Then just have it serviced. Good luck to you.
wow this seems really great do you mind if i share this?
I was Truly Appearing for this Source a few Days back. Many thanks for sharing with us your wisdom.This will absolutely Heading
If you’re still on the fence: grab your favorite earphones, head down to a Best Buy and ask to plug them into a Zune then an iPod and see which one sounds better to you, and which interface makes you smile more. Then you’ll know which is right for you.
I would like the next president to be Rastafarian!
Hello,
I just wanted to say that I have been watching for a a couple of months on and off and I would like to sign up for the daily feed. I am not to computer smart so I’ll give it a try but I might need some assistance. This is a great find and I would hate to lose touch, and maybe never find it again.
Anyway, thanks again and I look forward to reading/posting again sometime!
Nice blog, what are you using for your Wordpress membership site, I find Wordpress can be turned into anything with the right plugin.
ADD MY MSN – GUYS ONLY X – tammyscottxox@hotmail.co.uk
I’m sure this one was not as devistating as the one during the Gulf War.
I know this isn’t exactly on topic, but I have a blog using the blogengine platform and I’m having problems with my comments displaying. Is there a setting I am forgetting? Maybe you could help me out? Thanks!
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I¡¯ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
Hi , I just stopped by to visit your blog and thought I’d say I had a great visit .
I had difficulty looking at this in Firefox but it works fine in IE. Anway, the content is good. I am very happy to have come across this.
Fascinating article with many Helpful advises. Thank you very much, I?l start reading your blog.
Unusually pointed!
Hence… looking into comparable stuff on another forums & blogs, I nevermore catch what I was looking for. Yours stand up somewhat different. Much much more ideas and much more innovation… Just keep inspiring us with a lot of enlightening facts, thus readers just like myself would come back to you. I will certainly do this.
PS: I will let on you to take this lovely method to earn more thousands of dollars.
Slick post, I really love your point of look. You normally are in agreement with how I sense.
Wow, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a lot and never seem to get something done.
There is a website http://howtowatchfootball.com/index.php which is about how to watch live nfl football on the internet. I believe it is the best website online to assist you watch football on the internet for totally free. No other site about how you can watch nfl football on the internet is as good as this site.
yayay its good he protected princess paris@!! thank God the world just wont be the same!!anyways please go and check out my muscia at http://www.myspace.com/ozonnamusic xox lots of love oz
Hi there thanks for the quality post, i had a good read. :)
There is really a site http://howtowatchfootball.com/index.php that is about how to watch live nfl football on the internet. I think it is the best website on the internet to assist you watch football online for free. No other website about how you can watch nfl football online is as good as this site.
I enjoy your content on your blog but the Rss feed has several XML problems that you really ought to have a look at. Excellent weblog though!
Obama is getting worn out. He needs a vacation :d