TODAY’S BOWL GAMES

Monday, December 31, 2012

— All times Central

Music City

NORTH CAROLINA STATE (7-5) VS. VANDERBILT (8-4) TIME/TV 11 a.m. ESPN WHERE LP Field, Nashville, Tenn.

LINE Vanderbilt by 7 1/2 SERIES RECORD Vanderbilt 1-0.

WHAT’S AT STAKE Vanderbilt can beat a team with a winning record and notch program’s first nine-victory season since 1915. The Commodores come in with a six-game winning streak that is longest in SEC going into bowl season. N.C. State can make up for a season that cost Coach Tom O’Brien his job by winning its third consecutive bowl and sixth in seven bowls.

KEY MATCHUP Wolfpack QB Mike Glennon and WRs Quintin Payton and Bryan Underwood against Vanderbilt’s defense. They are why N.C. State ranks 20th nationally in passing, averaging 304 yards. Vanderbilt features the nation’s fifth-stingiest pass efficiency defense and ranks 10th in the country by holding opponents to 175.8 yards per game with a secondary led by Andre Hal and Trey Wilson.

PLAYERS TO WATCH N.C. State: Glennon is considered one of the top quarterbacks available in the NFL draft. Glennon, 6-6, is the only quarterback from the Atlantic Coast Conference to have all his team’s yards passing this season and one of only three in the BCS. He is 295 of 511 for 3,648 yards with 30 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He was sacked 36 times. Vanderbilt: QB Jordan Rodgers. The younger brother of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, he was benched a year ago in a Liberty Bowl loss. He rallied for his senior season by completing 59.5 percent of his passes and averaged 221 yards per game with 13 TDs and 5 interceptions.

FACTS & FIGURES N.C. State won two of its final three to become bowl eligible. ... N.C. State is one of only 12 teams to win back-to-back bowls, and this is the Wolfpack’s 27th postseason game. ... This is the Wolfpack’s third bowl in the state of Tennessee. ... Offensive coordinator Dana Bible is interim head coach. ... Wolfpack CB David Amerson has led the ACC in interceptions each of the past two years, and N.C. State is 12-2 when he has an interception, including 5-0 this season. ... This is Vanderbilt’s sixth bowl game all-time, and this is the first time the Commodores have appeared in consecutive bowls. ... Vanderbilt won its last appearance in the Music City Bowl in 2008, beating Boston College 16-14. ... Vanderbilt’s losses all came to teams currently ranked in either the AP or BCS Top 25. ... Vanderbilt WRs Jordan Matthews and Chris Boyd are the SEC’s top receiving duo, averaging 168.2 yards. ... The Commodores scored 40 or more points in five different games, the most since 1915.

Sun

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (7-5) VS. GEORGIA TECH (6-7) TIME/TV 1 p.m. CBS WHERE Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas LINE USC by 7 1/2 SERIES RECORD USC leads 2-1 WHAT’S AT STAKE For a team coming off a two-year bowl ban and entered the season ranked No. 1, the Sun Bowl is a consolation prize for USC. And it will have to play without QB Matt Barkley, who is out with a shoulder injury. But as much as the Trojans want to win, Georgia Tech might be the more desperate team. The Yellow Jackets are bowl eligible for the 16th consecutive season (the fourth-longest such streak in the country), but they’ve lost their past seven bowl games, including a 30-27 overtime loss to Utah in last year’s Sun Bowl.

KEY MATCHUP USC QB Max Wittek vs. Georgia Tech’s defense. Wittek has a lot of weapons at his disposal and has had extra time to prepare for Georgia Tech’s No. 53-ranked defense, but he’s making his second college start.

PLAYERS TO WATCH USC: WR Marqise Lee, the Pac-12 offensive player of the year and Biletnikoff Award winner who finished fourth in the Heisman voting, leads the nation in catches (95), is second in yards (1,764) and second in yards per game (147) and has 14 TD catches. WR Robert Woods, who is USC’s all-time receptions leader, has 73 catches for 813 yards and 11 TDs. Georgia Tech: QB Tevin Washington, the ACC’s all-time leader in QB rushing TDs (37), has passed for 1,764 yards and 7 TDs and rushed for 638 and 19 TDs. He leads a Tech offense that is No. 4 in the nation in rushing at 323 yards per game.

FACTS & FIGURES Neither team is ranked in either of the Top 25 polls. ... Georgia Tech has a sub-.500 record and got into the Sun Bowl only after being granted a special waiver by the NCAA; Tech finished third in the ACC’s Coastal Conference, but North Carolina was ineligible to play in the conference’s title game and Miami has a self-imposed bowl ban this year and was ineligible for postseason play, pushing the Yellow Jackets into the ACC title game as the Coastal Division champion by default and a 21-15 loss to Florida State. . The last meeting between the teams was 1973, a 23-6 USC victory, and they’ve never met in a bowl game. ... USC defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is coaching his final game. . Georgia Tech junior LB Jeremiah Attaochu is among the nation’s leaders with 9 sacks. ... OL Omoregie Uzzi of Georgia Tech was a first team all-ACC pick. . DT Leonard Williams of USC was the Pac-12 defensive freshman of the Year. DE Morgan Breslin is No. 7 in the nation with 10 sacks.

Liberty

IOWA STATE (6-6) VS. TULSA (10-3) TIME/TV 2:30 p.m. ESPN WHERE At Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis LINE Iowa State by 1 SERIES RECORD Iowa State leads 2-0 WHAT’S AT STAKE Tulsa is trying to avenge a 38-23 loss at Iowa State in the Sept. 1 season opener. The two schools also will meet at Tulsa in the fourth week of the 2013 season. A victory would give Iowa State its first winning season since 2009. The Cyclones went 5-7 in 2010 and 6-7 in 2011. Tulsa could match a school record by earning its 11th victory. The Golden Hurricane went 11-3 in 2008.

KEY MATCHUP Iowa State QB Sam Richardson vs. Tulsa defense. After throwing 7 touchdown passes without an interception and rushing for a combined 162 yards over Iowa State’s final two regular-season games, Richardson is expected to make his second career start. Richardson gave Iowa State’s offense a spark late in the season, but he will be facing a Tulsa defense that set school records in sacks (48) and tackles for loss (104) this season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Iowa State: LB A.J. Klein: This 6-2 senior was the Big 12’s co-defensive player of the year in 2011 and earned first-team all-conference honors this season. Klein has recorded 342 career tackles to rank 16th among active Football Bowl Subdivision players. He has a team-high 98 tackles this season. Klein has scored on four career interception returns. Tulsa: RBs Trey Watts, Ja’Terian Douglas and Alex Singleton: They have each run for at least 750 yards while helping give Tulsa the nation’s 11th-ranked rushing offense. Watts is the Golden Hurricane’s leading rusher with 959 yards on 161 carries. Douglas has run for 857 yards and 7 touchdowns on 129 attempts. Singleton has run for 765 yards and 21 touchdowns on 187 carries. He has a school-record 40 career touchdown runs.

FACTS & FIGURES Iowa State set a school attendance record this year by averaging 55,274 fans per home game. The Cyclones sold nearly 14,000 Liberty Bowl tickets. ... Iowa State SS Durrell Givens has 6 fumble recoveries and 3 interceptions this season, giving him a share of the NCAA lead in takeaways. ... Singleton set a school single-season scoring record this year with 132 points. He has 21 touchdown runs and 1 touchdown catch. ... Tulsa DE Cory Dorris has 7 career blocked kicks. ... Iowa State is 21-1 during Paul Rhoads’ four-year tenure when it holds teams below 24 points. The Cyclones are 3-25 under Rhoads when they give up at least 24 points.

Chick-fil-A

NO. 9 LSU (10-2) VS. NO. 14 CLEMSON (10-2) TIME/TV 6:30 p.m./ESPN WHERE At Georgia Dome, Atlanta.

LINE LSU by 6. SERIES RECORD LSU leads 2-0.

WHAT’S AT STAKE Clemson is trying to reach 11 wins for only the fourth time in school history and the first time since a 12-0 finish in its 1981 national championship season. LSU, which one year ago was preparing for the national championship game, is hoping for a top-five finish and to close with four straight wins after its 21-17 loss to Alabama on Nov. 3.

KEY MATCHUP LSU freshman cornerbacks Jalen Mills and Jalen Collins, who have had prominent roles since the dismissal of Tyrann Mathieu before the season, will be challenged to contain DeAndre Hopkins, who is second in the nation with 16 TD catches, and Sammy Watkins. Mills, the starter, and Collins, who plays on passing downs, have combined for four interceptions. LSU QB Tajh Boyd has 34 TD passes, taking advantage of his fast receivers.

PLAYERS TO WATCH LSU LB Kevin Minter, a second-team All-American who leads the Tigers with 111 tackles, will be a key to LSU’s hopes of containing 1,000-yard rusher Andre Ellington and Boyd’s runs on QB keepers to make Clemson’s offense one-dimensional. Minter had 12 tackles and an interception in LSU’s 24-19 victory over Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M on Oct. 20. Clemson: Watkins has only three TD catches, a big drop from his 12 as a freshman last season.

FACTS & FIGURES The Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference are 10-10 in the annual game. ... LSU is 36-1 in nonconference games since 2005, with the one loss coming against Penn State in the 2010 Capital One Bowl. ... LSU running backs have a streak of 271 carries without a fumble since two against Towson on Sept. 29. ... LSU is 9-1 all-time in the Georgia Dome, including four victories in the SEC championship game, four victories in the Chick-fil-A Bowl and a season-opening victory over North Carolina in 2010. Les Miles’ 5-2 bowl record at LSU includes a 2-0 mark in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. ... Boyd is tied with former N.C. State star Philip Rivers’ 2003 ACC record of 34 touchdown passes in a season. Boyd has 10 more TD passes than Manziel and 20 more than Heisman runner-up Collin Klein. ... LSU is Clemson’s highest-ranked bowl opponent since Clemson beat No. 6 Tennessee in Atlanta in the 2003 season, when the game was called the Peach Bowl.

Sports, Pages 18 on 12/31/2012