2007 Poinsettia Bowl Picks & Predictions
June 5, 2008
The 2007 Poinsettia Bowl kicks off the college postseason in what has been an exciting year to this point. Two teams featured in this contest are the same in so many ways, yet different in strategy. Navy and Utah will be playing in San Diego as both teams come into the game with identical 8-4 records. Navy and Utah are both bowling for the fifth straight season. This is Navy’s longest bowl appearance streak in the history of their program. It’s no wonder Paul Johnson is heading to coach Georgia Tech next season with the success he has been having with the Navy program.
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Navy will be without Paul Johnson on the sidelines, the same coach that got them bowling each of the last 5 seasons. This could definitely play a factor in Thursday’s meeting with Utah. Utah will be looking for their 7th consecutive bowl victory when they take on Navy. The linesmakers definitely feel they will be successful as indicated by their listing as an 8.5-point favorite. The Utes’ winning bowl streak dates back to 1999, which is the second-longest postseason win streak in the nation. Utah started out the season with several nagging injuries on their way to a 1-3 record. Questions began to arise in Ute country before Utah got healthy and reeled off 7 straight wins before falling to BYU in their season finale.
The Navy Midshipmen must love this Poinsettia Bowl as they accepted the invite to go bowling in San Diego back in September when they first became eligible. So their comfort zone with several returning players could be a factor as to why you would want to throw your money down on the Midshipmen Thursday. The coaching problem shouldn’t be too big of an issue as Ken Niumatalolo was hired as their head man as soon as Johnson departed. Niumatalolo was Johnson’s assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in all six years Johnson was here. Navy leads the nation in rushing with 351 yards per game and players already have their playbook down to a “T”. Navy averaged 49 points a game in their final five games so their offensive production shouldn’t be their problem. Utah only put up more than 28 points once during their final six games. Something has to give here as Utah relies on their defense to hold opponents while Navy relies on outscoring foes with their running attack.
A big reason to back Utah is the fact that their rushing defense was one of the best in the country during the latter part of the season. Heading into the Poinsettia Bowl, Utah is giving up just 81.4 rushing yards per game over their last five games. Their scoring defense has reaped the rewards, allowing less than 20 points in each of its last 5 games and giving up an average of just 9.5 points during this span. Utah will bring it on the defensive side of the ball. Navy’s rushing offense may be superb, but their defense is far from spectacular. The Midshipmen put the 99th ranked total defense unit on the field Thursday that is giving up 438 yards a game to opponents. Navy played the 89 th toughest schedule in the land this season and their win over Air Force was their only victory against a team playing in a bowl game. This will definitely be Navy’s stiffest test of the season. The Poinsettia Bowl should be very entertaining and it will be interesting to see how the Navy rushing attack can perform against one of the best defenses in the land.
Interesting trends favoring each team:
Kyle Whittingham is 2-9 ATS as a favorite of 3.5 to 10 points as the coach of Utah.
Navy is 48-19 ATS in road games played on a grass field.
Utah is 23-9 ATS coming off a bye week.
Utah is 17-5 ATS after covering the spread in 4 of their last 5 games.
Official site of the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl.