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Poinsettia
Bowl - December 19, 2006
by: VIP.com
Tony Adams previews
tonight’s TCU and Northern Illinois match-up,
the opening of the college football bowl season.
The dynamic running ability of Northern Illinois’
Garrett Wolfe appears all that stands between
TCU and victory in the Poinsettia Bowl.
TCU (10-2) boasts a far superior
record than Northern Illinois (7-5) and goes into
this clash in San Diego as clear 11.5 point favorites.
Wolfe, a brilliant running
back, shapes up as the x-factor as he has the
ability to test a TCU defense ranked fourth in
the nation. At 5’7” and 173 pounds,
Wolfe is a pocket-rocket whose exciting running
style will have him playing on Sundays next year.
The leading rusher in Division
1-A this year, Wolfe has crunched up 1,900 yards
and ran in 18 touchdowns. And after something
of a mini-slump in which he failed to break 100
yards for four straight games, Wolfe finished
the regular season with a bang, scoring four touchdowns
in the last two regular season games.
Northern Illinois is inferior
to TCU in almost every other area of the game,
and that is why Wolfe must get at least 25 carries
to keep it close.
TCU went 11-1 last year,
and finished with 10 straight wins culminating
with a 27-24 victory over Iowa State in the Houston
Bowl. This year, they have won their last seven
games under Coach Gary Patterson, and are currently
ranked 25th in the nation.
A big reason behind that
success has been quarterback Jeff Ballard, whose
record as a starter stands at a staggering 20-2.
In his final game of college football, Ballard
will be looking to close an outstanding season
on a high note.
Ballard has thrown for 12
touchdowns and 2,122 yards this year. He threw
13 touchdowns last year after he was put in the
hot seat after four weeks when veteran Tye Gunn
went down to an injury.
Ballard likes to hand the
ball off to running backs Aaron Brown and Lonta
Hobbs. They have had productive seasons between
them, but are still 600 yards, and three touchdowns,
short of the figures that Wolfe has posted on
his own.
NIU coach, Joe Novak has
used quarterbacks Phil Horvath (1,932 passing
yards, 11 touchdowns) and Dan Nicholson (568 passing
yards, five touchdowns) during this season. Nicholson
is starting tonight and it is unknown whether
Horvath can play at all due to his knee injury.
Summing
Up: Wolfe is the most dangerous player
on the field, but he will be closely marked by
a tenacious TCU defense. If TCU achieves its game-plan
to keep Wolfe quiet, the Horned Frogs should win
big.
For all College Football
betting lines, visit VIP.com
Posted by miker at December
19, 2006 01:08 PM
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