Alamo Bowl Northwestern Wildcats vs. Missouri Tigers
Northwestern’s defense did a heck of a job this year. Only two teams exceeded 30 points against them (Michigan State and Ohio State) and the Wildcats limited capable offensive clubs like Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa to 17, 10 and 17 points respectively. All told, they allowed just 19.2 points per game.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: MISSOURI -12.5, Total 66
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* NW has covered four of its last six games
* NW has won nine of its last 12 games SU
* NW has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
* MIZZ has covered one of its last five games
* MIZZ has won 16 of its last 21 games SU
Tyrell Sutton, the team’s leading rusher, who gained 776 yards on the season but missed the last four games with a wrist injury, has been practicing and the team is very optimistic that he will play.
Missouri, however, is well-prepared and well-equipped to bring plenty of bad tidings to San Antonio. Chase Daniel completed 74% of his passes with 37 TD passes and was simply overshadowed by a lot of the other outstanding passers in the Big 12 this year. Certainly he has big guns to throw to. Chase Coffman (83 catches, 920 yards) was a first-team All-American and the recipient of the John Mackey Award for being the nation’s outstanding tight end. Jeremy Maclin, the all-purpose ace, caught 95 passes for 1221 yards and 12 touchdowns, and also received All-America recognition. You could do a whole lot worse than have a third option like Tommy Saunders, whose 66 receptions were good for 800 yards and seven scores. Missouri also gets the right kind of balance in its offense by employing tailback Derrick Washington (992 yards, 6.1 ypc) as the cornerstone of its ground attack.
The Tigers ranked 117th nationwide in pass defense, but you have to remember that they faced a staggering number of capable arms this season, including Juice Williams (Illinois), Colin Kaepernick (Nevada), Drew Willy (Buffalo), Joe Ganz (Nebraska), Zac Robinson (Oklahoma State), Colt McCoy (Texas), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Josh Freeman (Kansas State) and Todd Reesing (Kansas). So it is highly unlikely that they will be fazed by the presence of C.J,. Bacher (14 TD’s, 14 INT’s) across the line of scrimmage. In fact, it will probably be a relief of sorts.
Remember that this was a down year in the Big Ten, and Northwestern has faced no offense yet that has an assortment of weapons to compare to Missouri. Of course, there is the natural concern that Mizzou, having been beaten in the Big 12 title game two years in a row, might be quite disappointed to be competing in this relatively “minor” bowl, but we imagine the defense is anxious to redeem itself for the 61-point embarrassment Oklahoma laid on them in the conference championship game. We’re going to lay the points with the only explosive team on the field, the Missouri Tigers, the 12.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
