TODAY’S GAMES

Poinsettia Bowl

UTAH STATE (8-5) VS. NO. 23 N. ILLINOIS (12-1)

8:30 P.M. CENTRAL (ESPN) LINE Utah State by 1.

SERIES RECORD Utah State leads 1-0.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Northern Illinois Jordan Lynch has set the major college record for yards rushing for a quarterback (1,881) to go with his 2,676 yards passing. Utah State Linebackers Jake Doughty and Zach Vigil lead an Aggies defense that has intercepted 16 passes in its last nine games and scored three touchdowns in 2013.

FACTS & FIGURES NIU is playing in its sixth straight bowl game and second Poinsettia Bowl. It lost 37-7 to TCU in 2006 Poinsettia Bowl. … Utah State is playing in its school-record third straight bowl game. … The Aggies are 2-51 alltime against teams in The Associated Press poll, including its 24-17 loss at No.

24 Fresno State in the inaugural Mountain West Conference championship game. USU’s last victory against a Top 25 team was a 48-41 overtime win at No. 19 Louisiana Tech on Nov. 17, 2011.

  • The Associated Press

Little Caesars Bowl

BOWLING GREEN (10-3) VS. PITTSBURGH (6-6)

5 P.M. CENTRAL (ESPN) LINE Bowling Green by 4½ SERIES RECORD Pittsburgh leads 2-1 PLAYERS TO WATCH Bowling Green RB Travis Greene has a single-season, school-record 1,555 yards rushing.

Pittsburgh QB Tom Savage threw for 2,834 yards with 21 TDs and nine interceptions this year.

FACTS & FIGURES The Panthers finished 6-7 the last two years with Compass Bowl losses to Mississippi (38-17) and SMU (28-6). … Bowling Green won its first Mid-American Conference title since 1992 by beating then-No. 16 Northern Illinois earlier this month at Ford Field and days later lost coach Dave Clawson to Wake Forest. … The Falcons hired former Eastern Illinois coach Dino Babers to replace Clawson, but they will be led in the bowl game by interim coach Adam Scheier. … Donald won the Lombardi, Outland, Nagurski and Bednarik awards and was the ACC defensive player of the year.

Sports, Pages 25 on 12/26/2013

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