Bowl Previews and Predictions: New Orleans Bowl

New Orleans Bowl




Background:
The two teams have never met.

Florida Atlantic: 2 game win streak
Memphis: 3 game win streak

Florida Atlantic Advantages:
Almost all losses have been against Quality Opponents (Oklahoma State, Kentucky, South Florida, and Florida) with arguably one fluke loss (Louisiana-Monroe, by a Field Goal).
They have an old, very experienced coach in Howard Schnellenberger, who won't be leaving for a new job anytime soon (he's 73).

Florida Atlantic Disadvantages:
This is their first bowl game, so they are arguably inexperienced.
They may have quality losses, but the majority of their wins have been against lay-down opponents, with the exception of Troy.
They have a lower tier total defense and a mid-tier offense.

Memphis Advantages:
They're on a roll, having won 5 out of their last 6 games (perhaps out of sheer motivation) after the death of Taylor Bradford.
Memphis commands the #13 pass offense in the nation.
A lot of their games have been really close, so thyey have a lot of experience in pressure situations.

Memphis Disadvantages:
Their wins have been against sheer crap. There is no quality wins except perhaps over the Starting QB-less Southern Miss, with the rest being against teams that are at least 3 games below a winning record.
Their best opponent has been UCF, who whooped them, and the rest of their losses haven't been against exactly strong opponents.

Writer Predictions:

Zorgon: Florida Atlantic. You can tell who's gonna win this game simply by reasoning and strength of schedule. Memphis has had an absolute joke of a schedule, while Florida Atlantic pretty much had the toughest schedule possible. The only reason Memphis would be in over say, Troy is because of the massacre that occured at the school. My heart goes out to them, but all signs point to lots of burgers with schnellen sauce.

OKLuschen: Memphis. Don't get me wrong, ole' Schnell has done a great job. But comeon, it's FAU. They had a very nice win against Troy, but without that one game, they aren't even taking the field this holiday season. Memphis big.

Jason Frost: Memphis. The highpowered Memphis passing game will overpower the weak FAU secondary, look for a close, high scoring game with Memphis winning by a TD.

Bottom Line: Florida Atlantic 1, Memphis 2