It’s the holiday season, and while you may be rushing to finish up Christmas shopping and setting everything up for the family. College football is here to keep you entertained throughout what can be a long a stressful week. I will give a quick preview of each bowl game for this article. Then I will discuss any devy, NFL Draft, and campus2canton players to watch out for during the games.
Monday Dec. 20
Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by TaxAct- Old Dominion vs Tulsa
This is the first time Old Dominion and Tulsa will play each other in their program histories. This bowl game has a tie-in with the American Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. Tulsa comes in as the better team, who took playoff-bound Cincinnati down to the wire. Both teams are coming in off impressive second-half performances.
There are no players from this game to key in on. Sit back and enjoy what could be a very good game.
Tuesday Dec. 21
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl- Kent State vs Wyoming
This is the first time Kent State will play Wyoming in program history. This has a chance to be an intriguing offense vs. defense matchup. Kent State is one of the fastest-moving offenses going up against a solid defense. Crum will have to play an incredible game to lead Kent State to a win. Wyoming will likely come away with the win by playing keep-away and tough defense.
Kent State
Dustin Crum- (NFL Draft, QB, SR) Crum likely won’t be anything more than a backup at the NFL level. However, he has a chance to go out and have a good game.
Dante Cephas- (C2C, WR, SO) Cephas had an incredible season for a sophomore. He finished the season as WR32 in scoring. With this being Crum’s last game, the future of Cephas is a bit cloudy. However, he is likely a low-end draft pick next season and should be worth taking a shot on him after round 30.
Wyoming
Xazavian Valladay- (NFL Draft, RB, SR) likely the last game for Valladay in college; he’ll be on his way to the 2022 NFL draft. Valladay is not a player I expect to do much in the NFL, but he definitely has his fans propping him up.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl- UTSA vs San Diego State
Coming into the bowl games, UTSA comes in after beating Western Kentucky, but San Diego State was beaten handily by Utah State in the Mountain West Championship. San Diego is a defensive lead team. They will need to play good defense and try and force turnovers to win the game. While UTSA has been good on offense with Frank Harris and Zahkari Franklin. They will be missing a key piece of their offense in Sincere McCormick. This game will likely be a low-scoring affair.
UTSA
Zahkari Franklin- (C2C, WR, JR) Franklin finished as WR34 on the season last year in CFF leagues. With Sincere and likely Harris gone next season, Franklin could be the leader of the offense. Zahkari Franklin will likely be the guy in the bowl game, so we should get a good shot to see what this offense could be with Franklin.
San Diego State
Greg Bell is the best player offensively for San Diego State, but being a senior, he also doesn’t have much of an NFL future.
Wednesday Dec. 22
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl- Missouri vs Army
Missouri finally gets its chance to play in a bowl game again. While they’ve been bowl eligible for the past five years, the last bowl game they played in was in 2018. Army comes into the bowl game with a bad loss to Navy in the final game of their season. This will be the fifth meeting between Missouri and the Army; the Tigers lead the 3-1. Missouri has a putrid run defense which should play well for Army and their and their offense. While Army has a tough defense trying to figure out how to slow down, Tyler Badie will be the key as not many teams have been able to do that this year. This should be a fun and exciting offensive game for both.
Missouri
Tyler Badie- (NFL Draft, RB, JR) Badie is an interesting NFL prospect. Badie is a true three-down threat heading for the NFL. He has great burst through the holes. He has decent long speed, and he shows it on his long runs, which he’s tied for 2nd in all of college football with 46 runs over 10+ yards and tied for 6th with runs over 15+ yards. With his experience in returning kicks and punts, Badie should easily end up on an NFL roster.
Mookie Cooper- (C2C, WR, Rs-So) Cooper is a talented young wide receiver who has dealt with injuries and rarely seen the field. His value was high in 2021, 141.43 overall draft spot, but his draft stock is falling some. Currently, his value in startups is sitting at 175.1. He’s still a player I’d be willing to invest in, but he has to get on the field.
Thursday Dec. 23
Frisco Football Classic- North Texas vs Miami (OH)
Frisco Football Classic should be an offensive shootout and one of the more fun games to watch this bowl season. North Texas beat UTSA in the final game of their season, pulling off a shocking upset and ending UTSA’s perfect season. Miami of Ohio comes in with impressive offensive weapons and an excellent rushing defense.
North Texas
DeAndre Torrey (RB, SR) is the best player on North Texas, but he is a senior and likely won’t secure top-end draft capital. Torrey should still ball out in this game and will be a fun player to watch.
Miami (OH)
Jack Sorenson (WR SR) and Mac Hippenhammer (WR, JR) will both be the players to watch for Miami of Ohio. Sorenson is the top option in the passing game and should dominate against the North Texas secondary. Hippenhammer has a chance to be the guy for Miami of Ohio, but he’s not a guy I would build a team around.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl- UCF vs Florida
Florida comes in off a mediocre season, including firing their head coach Dan Mullen. However, with Emory Jones entering the transfer portal, we may get to see what this team looks like with Anthony Richardson running it. Dameon Pierce and Malik Davis should play well for Florida as well.
UCF will be hoping Isaiah Bowser will play in this game. However, UCF doesn’t have much to be excited about outside of him. This should be a win for Florida and give them some hope heading into the off-season.
UCF
Jaylon Robinson- (NFL Draft, WR, JR) had some serious NFL Draft buzz last season. However, he’s played through some injuries and missed time in 2021. After a poor performance this season, again primarily because of injury, he’ll likely return to UCF next season.
Florida
Emory Jones (Devy, QB, Rs-Sr) even though Emory Jones has declared he’s entering the transfer portal and leaving Florida, he will be starting this game. This will be his last game with Florida. There are some who still believe he has 1st round skills. If he can go out there and play a good game it might help him land on a decent team through the transfer portal.
Anthony Richardson (Devy, QB, Rs-So) is one of the more intriguing quarterback prospects in college football right now. His ability to use his legs is dangerous on every play. He’s not quite that accomplished of a passer, but there’s a chance for that to develop if he’s given starts. He has a new head coach now in Billy Napier could be his saving grace. Richardson looks to be the guy moving forward. This game should give us some insight on how good the 2022 season could be for the Gators.
Dameon Pierce- (NFL Draft, RB, SR) Pierce has had a fantastic season. He’s already accepted his invitation to the senior bowl and should get a chance to continue to improve his NFL draft stock. Pierce has excellent contact balance that should be on display in this game. While Pierce won’t blow away anyone with his speed, he’s a grinder and does everything well, and he looks to be a good committee running back in the NFL.
Friday Dec. 24
EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl- Memphis vs Hawaii
Memphis is coming into the bowl game in a much better place than Hawaii. Memphis is being led by true freshman Seth Henigan at quarterback and weapons all over the field. While Hawaii comes in with their top two players having left the program in Chevan Cordeiro and Dae Dae Hunter. Memphis offense is potent and should easily be able to pull out a victory against Hawaii.
Memphis
Seth Henigan- (C2C, QB, FR) finished last season as QB32, even when missing games and dealing with an injury. Memphis seems to always have an explosive offense and moving forward, Henigan should be a worthy QB play every week in C2C formats.
There are three other players on Memphis to look out for. Brandon Thomas (RB) is injured and likely won’t play in this game. He is likely the future of this rushing attack and a player worth betting on. Calvin Austin III (WR) likely won’t play in this game and opt-out. He will be in the senior bowl and have a chance to improve his draft stock. He’s one of the more explosive wide receivers in this class. He has an opportunity to be a day two pick in the NFL draft this off-season. Sean Dykes (TE) will likely be heading to the NFL after this game. While he’s an interesting offensive weapon, I don’t know that he has a ton of NFL upside.
Hawaii
Doesn’t have any players right now that I’d want to roster in any format. However, Hawaii has always had a fun and exciting offense. What players end up standing out? This will be fun to see.
