2008 Texas Bowl
Western Michigan (9-3) vs. Rice (9-3)
Dec. 30, 8:00 p.m. ET, NFL
Network
Payout:
$1.25 million Location: Reliant Stadium, Houston TX
2008 Texas Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More
 |
|
National
Rankings |
|
Western Mich |
Rice |
|
Total Offense |
|
24th 422.67 ypg |
10th 327.83 ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
83rd 390.33 ypg |
114th 466.75 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
37th 29.83 ppg |
8th 41-58 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
61st 140.92 ppg |
107th 34.92 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
92nd 121.5 ypg |
62nd 144.42 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
61st 140.92 ypg |
102nd 192.92 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
10th 301.17 ypg |
5th 327.83 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
96th 249.42 ypg |
112th 273.83 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
76th -0.25 |
9th 1.08 |
|
Western Mich
at Nebraska L 47-24
No Illinois W 29-26
at Idaho W 51-28
Tenn Tech W 41-7
at Temple W 7-3
Ohio W 41-20
at Buff W 34-28 OT
at CMU L 38-28
EMU W 31-10
Illinois W 23-17
Toledo W 27-17
at Ball St L 45-22 |
Rice
SMU W 56-27
at Memphis W 42-35
at Vanderbilt L 38-21
at Texas L 52-10
No Texas W 77-20
at Tulsa L 63-28
So Miss W 45-40
at Tulane W 42-17
at UTEP W 49-44
Army W 38-31
Marshall W 35-10
Houston W 56-42 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
WMU |
5
highest
1 lowest |
R |
|
4.5 |
Quarterbacks |
5 |
|
2.5 |
RBs |
3 |
|
5 |
Receivers |
4 |
|
3.5 |
O
Line |
3 |
|
3 |
D
Line |
2.5 |
|
3.5 |
Linebackers |
3 |
|
2 |
Secondary |
1.5 |
|
3 |
Spec
Teams |
2 |
|
3.5 |
Coaching |
4 |
|
Yeah, you’re probably going to
be keeping a keener eye on the
Oklahoma State – Oregon Holiday
Bowl, that’ll be a strong one,
but DVR the 2008 Texas Bowl or
get ready to do some flipping.
If you’re going to have a minor
bowl between two teams with
limited fan bases and almost
nothing in the way of name
recognition, then you’d better
have a fun matchup. This is will
be fun with Rice coming in with
the most exciting offense you’ve
never seen, ranking eighth in
the nation in scoring and 10th
in total offense,
and Western Michigan cranking
out an average of 301 passing
yards per game with the talent
to keep pace in a shootout.
However, the Texas Bowl has
never really gone as planned.
The 2003 version with the Texas
Tech passing game vs. the Navy
running game became a boring Red
Raider blowout. Kansas State
didn’t show up in 2006 and got
blasted by Rutgers. There
haven’t been many great games in
the eight years, but this one
has the potential to be special.
Western Michigan lost three
games this year to Nebraska in
Lincoln, Central Michigan in
Mount Pleasant, and Ball State
in Muncie. While those were
three acceptable defeats, none
of them turned out to be all
that close with the Broncos
losing by double digits in all
of them. However, they’re 4-0 in
games decided by a touchdown or
less including an overtime win
against eventual MAC champion
Buffalo and a breakthrough
victory over Illinois. This is a
veteran team with a better
defense than the stats show and
a strong offense with
experienced players in key
places.
Rice is also full of experience
and it came through with a
tremendous six-game winning
streak to close out the season.
Like Western Michigan, all the
losses came on the road going
down at Vanderbilt, Texas, and
Tulsa by a combined score of 153
to 59, but that’s it. It was the
Owls that did most of the
bombing away, and while the
defense stunk all year long, the
offense more than made up for
it.
This is a special game for Rice
as it’s the second bowl game in
three years, losing to Troy
41-17 in the 2006 New Orleans
Bowl, with the previous bowl
before that against Kansas in
the 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl. The
Owls get the equivalent of a
home game, and while that might
not make anyone too excited when
the players might like the trip
to a more exotic locale, for a
program that hasn’t won a bowl
game since 1953, motivation
won’t be a problem.
Rice might not have won a
post-season game in 55 years,
but at least it has a victory.
Western Michigan is 0-3 all-time
with the last bowl game a 2006
International Bowl loss to
Cincinnati. The program has
never won ten games in a season,
so despite falling short of the
stated preseason goal of a MAC
title, this could be considered
the greatest season in school
history with a win.
Both teams will be trying hard
and both will consider this a
potential stepping-stone game.
Watch as the points fly, the
defenses struggle, and the
quarterback battle turns into
one of the best this bowl season
outside of the BCS Championship
because of …
Players to watch:
Rice senior Chase Clement
and Western Michigan junior
Tim Hiller. The
record-setting Clement has
thrown for 9,478 yards and 96
touchdowns with just 34
interceptions, and he has rushed
for 1,669 yards and 24 scores.
He emerged from the fray after
Rice made the move from the
option to the spread, and he
blew up over the last two
seasons and is finishing off his
career with an All-America
caliber season with 41 scoring
passes, 11 touchdown runs, and
just seven interceptions. He
started out hot with six
touchdown passes in the win over
SMU and he got hot late with 25
scoring strikes and just three
interceptions over the six-game
winning streak. While he’s not
that big and he doesn’t have the
biggest arm, he can move and
he’s a brilliant decision maker.
Hiller bounced back from a
devastating knee injury that
cost him all of 2006 to come up
with a decent 2007, but he
wasn’t consistent. The 6-5,
228-pounder has the size and he
has the talent to be one of the
nation’s big passing stars next
year with a little more
publicity, and a big national
showing would do wonders for his
profile. He threw 34 touchdown
passes with just eight
interceptions on the year, but
four of those picks game in the
three losses. While he’s not a
runner like Clement, he’s mobile
enough to not be a sitting duck.
He already has seven 300-yard
games this year, and he should
have another against the
nation’s 112th ranked
pass defense.
Hiller’s main weapon is senior
Jamarko Simmons, a big,
tough receiver who makes plays
in bunches with 254 career
catches and 98 this year for
1,184 yards and seven
touchdowns. He caught six or
more passes in every game but
the opener and he had four grabs
with double-digit grabs. A dream
of an H-Back at 6-2 and 240
pounds, he beats up defensive
backs for the ball.
Simmons’ all-star counterpart on
the other side is senior
Jarett Dillard, who will put
a close to a phenomenal career
with 284 catches for 4,052 yards
and 59 touchdowns. With great
hands, good enough deep speed to
make the big plays, and
excellent leaping ability, he’ll
be target one of the veteran WMU
defense. Rice can win if Dillard
doesn’t have a big game, the
offense was fine in two of
Dillard’s worst games (Tulane
and Houston), but don’t expect
him to go out with a whimper.
Rice will win if... the
takeaways start flowing. One of
the keys to the Owl offense was
the turnover margin with a mere
16 turnovers and 29 takeaways.
The defense might not be all
that strong, but it does a good
job of forcing the key mistake
when it has to. Western Michigan
has given the ball away on a
consistent basis, but the
turnovers haven’t proven to be
too costly overall. They will be
against Rice, who tends to take
advantage of every opportunity.
With little pass rush expected
to be generated against a Bronco
line that doesn’t give up too
many sacks, the takeaways will
have to come with big hits.
Western Michigan will win if...
the running game gets moving.
WMU isn’t a running team,
relying mostly on Hiller to bomb
away, but that’s not to say the
offense doesn’t have the ability
to get things moving on the
ground if need by. The three
Rice losses came in three of the
worst days of the year for the
run defense. Army rumbled for
461 yards and four touchdowns,
but that was an all-run offense.
Vanderbilt, Texas and Tulsa all
ran wild, and while it’s not
like Rice was going to beat the
Longhorns, it didn’t have a
chance one the Commodores and
Golden Hurricane got rolling. Of
the 24 rushing touchdowns
allowed this season, eight were
allowed in the eight games
against everyone but Army, Vandy,
Texas and Tulsa. Of the 2,315
rushing yards allowed, only 936
were given up against the other
eight teams.
What will happen:
The two teams will combine for
800 passing yards and about 80
points. While the same thing was
expected in some of the other
early bowls, like the Motor City
Bowl which turned out to be a
Florida Atlantic 24-21 defensive
win over Central Michigan, this
really will be a track meet.
Western Michigan has the better
defense and the better offensive
line, but Rice has been able to
make things happen all season
long against more talented
teams. Clement will outduel
Hiller, but Hiller will make a
big statement going into next
year.
Line: Rice -3.5
... CFN Prediction:
Rice 45 … Western Michigan
38
2008 Texas Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More