The Sports Corner

2008 Motor City Bowl Preview

Florida Atlantic 6-6 (4-3) vs. Central Michigan 8-4 (6-2)

Friday, December 26, 4:30 p.m. PST.

Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan. 

Sun Belt #3 vs. MAC West #2 (tie)

Coaches: Howard Schnellenberger (30-30) vs. Butch Jones (16-10)

Quarterbacks: Rusty Smith vs. Dan LeFevour

The line: CMU -6.5

Payout: $750,000

Don’t let these two teams’ records fool you, they’re much better than 6-6 or 8-4. And the point spread going 6.5 in CMU’s favour is a bit of a slight to a talented FAU squad, the Motor City Bowl should come down to the wire. Sometimes bowl games are marred by poor quarterback play, that won’t won’t be the case in this game. LeFevour and Smith are two of the best in the country when they’re on, and both should be selected in the 2010 NFL Draft.

CMU’s LeFevour does everything they ask, and then some. Despite missing two games this season, he threw for 2,531 yards, 19 TDs and just 5 interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with 536 yards. He topped 1,000 yards rushing last season and had numbers that rivaled Heisman winner Tim Tebow. He was sacked 24 times this season

Smith, on the other hand, is more of a drop-back passer. He, along with his team, had a terrible start to the season. The Owls went 1-5 and he had thrown 9 interceptions by mid-season. Down the stretch he limited his mistakes, throwing just five interceptions in the final six games as the team went 5-1 to reach bowl eligibility. Of course the schedule was far easier on the back-end. The first six games included Texas, Michigan State, Minnesota and Troy. They did go out and beat Louisiana-Lafayette, who finished second in conference play. 

This game will be a tale of two quarterbacks. A duel to the death. To the winner, the Motor City Bowl championship… yeah, too bad it’s the Motor City Bowl. 

LeFevour has plenty of options when he’s slinging it around. Receivers Bryan Anderson (59 catches) and Antonio Brown (82 catches) were both named first team all-conference this season. Anderson, a junior, is a 6′5 match-up nightmare for corners, while Brown, a sophomore is freaking fast. Brown is one of the best kick returners in the country as well. FAU will have to think about kicking away from him, at the very least they have to be concerned with their kick coverage unit. Kito Poblah, Joe Bockheim and running back Ontario Sneed have also been productive in the passing game. 

Smith lost one of his favourite weapons, 2007 first team all-conference tight-end Jason Harmon, for the season with a torn ACL before it even began. But Jamari Grant stepped in and has been a revelation at tight end with 40 catches and 4 TDs. He earned second team all-conference honours this season. Cortez Gent led all Owls in receptions with 53 and added 8 TDs.

Smith doesn’t have the weapons at his disposal in the passing game that LeFevour does, but he has a much more capable running game to lean on. Running back Charles Pierre has run for 937 yards and 8 TDs, averaging 6.5  yards per carry. If the Owls keep up with CMU, they’ll be able to give Pierre the ball 20-25 times. The only time that happened this season, he ran for 194 yards in a close win over Western Kentucky. One of the reasons he doesn’t see the ball that much is his back-up Di’Ivory Edgecomb, who’s more than capable with the ball in his hands. 

Don’t sleep on the Owls, the FAU defense is the more talented of the two. I don’t think CMU will cover the spread, but LeFevour still finds a way to win 35-32