Poinsettia Bowl – BYU vs. San Diego State Picks

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Poinsettia Bowl Pick – December 20th

Former rivals from the Mountain West are going to be matched up with one another in college football betting action on Thursday, December 20th at the Poinsettia Bowl, as the San Diego State Aztecs essentially host the BYU Cougars.

The Cougs have known really all season long that they are coming to San Diego for the Poinsettia Bowl, as this is their automatic bowl tie-in that they have earned after going to independent football. It wasn’t a sparkling year by any stretch of the imagination for BYU. The team challenged the No. 1 team in the land, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on their turf, and there was also a stellar win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Atlanta. However, a loss on the road to the San Jose State Spartans was underwhelming, and an early season loss to the Utah Utes didn’t do much for us either. The real talent on this team comes defensively. The club ranks fifth in the nation in scoring at 14.7 points per game and third in the land in yardage at 266.3 yards per game allowed. The offense has been all over the place, though. QB Riley Nelson and QB Taysom Hill rotated snaps for some time, and since Nelson has had problems with his ribs, QB James Lark has joined the fray as well. RB Jamaal Williams really has to get going, as he is the team’s leading rusher with 744 yards and 11 trips to the end zone.

San Diego State was supposed to be a young, inexperienced team this year that just struggled to make it to a bowl game. Instead, the Aztecs won a share of the Mountain West title at 9-3, and they did so in spite of the fact that their starting quarterback, QB Ryan Katz was knocked out for the season a month and a half ago. The real win of note was the one against the Boise State Broncos, and that was a game to be proud of for sure. Head Coach Rocky Long has found himself two gem backs in RB Adam Muema and RB Walter Kazee. These two men have combined to rush for over 2,100 yards and 24 TDs this year, and the averaged right around six yards per carry between them this year as well. SDSU closed out the season with seven straight wins, including that win on the road at Boise State with QB Adam Dingwell at quarterback. The team covered six of the seven spreads in that stretch as well.

Prediction:

These two teams have absolutely stellar defenses, and we think that is going to be the theme of this game. The Aztecs held teams to 9, 13, 14, and 14 points at home in the final four home games of the year, and the ground game is sure to keep the clock moving. The last meeting of these teams in the Mountain West featured a 24-21 win for the Cougs on the road, and we think that we are going to see a very similar score line – just the other direction – this time around. San Diego State 24 – BYU 21