All the college football teams in the state of Utah have fought hard and earned bowl eligibility. It’s time to see what bowl game they have all earned.
The Utah State Aggies have earned a spot in the 2019 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl. They face the 6-6 Kent State Golden Flashes from the Mid-American Conference.
While some might consider this a let down year for the Aggies, it was actually not too bad considering the amount of talent they lost from the stellar 11-2 season last year. They posted a 6-2 record in conference and were in contention for a Mountain West Division title. They still have work to do to get to that next level but it can still be a successful season if they win this bowl game. At the start of the year we predicted 8 wins for the Aggies and they have the opportunity to do just that.
Key Matchups:
Jordan Love vs Dustin Crum:
Overall we know that Jordan Love is the more talented quarterback because he is one of the favorite quarterbacks to be chosen in the 2020 NFL Draft. However, Dustin could still possibly lead his team to victory. Jordan has thrown for about 700 more yards. However, he also has a slightly lower completion percentage and has thrown 14 more interceptions to opposing teams.
If Dustin manages the game well and gets help from other position groups then the Golden Flashes could pull out the victory.
Gerold Bright vs Dustin Crum
Wait a minute, didn’t we just preview Dustin vs Jordan? Yes. However, dual-threat Dustin is also the leading rusher for the Golden Flashes as he can scramble in a flash! He has rushed for 560 yards on 145 carries for 5 rushing touchdowns.
Gerold Bright does have more yards (827) and touchdowns (8) than Crum and deservedly so. He is a running back who has had to accept a starter role after Darwin Thompson, last years starter, went to the NFL. Jaylen Warren also has some injuries which made Bright the go-to guy.
USU special teams vs themselves:
Special Teams has sometimes been the scapegoat of Aggie football history. One onside kick recovery at Auburn, one made field goal at Wisconsin, any field goal vs New Mexico State and the Aggies might have eeked out some more wins.
Eberle has been clutch this year. He has only missed three long field goals this year and none of them were costly as the Aggies won those games. Perhaps the best field goal of his career came at Fresno State where he made a game winner. If you forget the debacle at the 2017 Arizona Bowl, Eberle has been pretty spot on. If he can be money as usual we can expect him to end his college career on a high note.
USU could have another disappointing bowl loss to add to the collection if they overlook their opponent. It may be the MAC but it’s still a Division 1 Conference.
Sure the Aggies have been bowl eligible 8 times this decade and they have won 4 of those bowls. They have lost 3 though with two of those losses coming to MAC teams. They lost the 2011 and 2015 Idaho Potato Bowl to Ohio and Akron respectively. Overall their bowl record in program history is 5-8.
It is a great decade anytime the Aggies can post a winning bowl record and have so many bowl eligible seasons so this game will possibly give them a lot of momentum going into the 2020s. Kent State has been to 3 bowls and they’ve never won one. Their last bowl eligible season was 2012. The Aggies will win if they take care of business.