Bowl History: The Bowl (formally known as the Las Vegas Bowl … 1992 thru 2008 & then the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl 2009 to 2012) was founded in 1992 has been played every year since its inception! The current conference tie-ins are with the PAC 12 & Mountain West Conferences! The first game found Bowling Green beating Nevada, 35-34 while the 2012 defending Champ, Boise State (who beat Washington last year, 28-26) will not be making its 4th straight appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl! The new sponsor, Royal Purple is an American Manufacturing Company that produces lubricants for automotive, industrial & Marine use… They became the official sponsor of the bowl on September 25, 2013! Payout per team is $1,000,000.00!
Teams: USC; PAC 12 Conference, Overall Record 9-4 / Conference Record, 6-3 Divisional Record 3-2 in the South Division…vs Fresno State; Mountain West Conference; Overall Record 11-1 / Conference Record 8-1 / Division Record 5-1!
Bowl Location: The Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl is played annually in Las Vegas, Nevada @ Sam Boyd Stadium (actually in Whitney, Nevada) which has a capacity to seat 40,000 fans! The game’s highest attendance came in 2006, BYU vs Oregon, 44,615 fans attended this Battle … won by BYU, 38-8!
Day, Date & Time: Saturday, 12/21/2013, 2:30 CST
Network: ABC
Best Win(s): Fresno State, Boise State 41-40 & Rutgers 52-51; USC, Stanford 20-17
Worst Losses: Fresno state; San Jose State 62 Fresno State 52; USC, Washington State 10-7
Common Opponents: Hawaii & Utah State, … USC, 30-13 over Hawaii & 17-14 win vs USU; Fresno State beat Hawaii, 42-37 & USU 24-17!
Las Vegas Hotsheet Favorite: USC -6
Offensive Team Data: USC ; Total Yards, 392 YPG; Passing Yards, 218 YPG; Rushing Yards, 174 YPG; ScoringAverage, 29 PPG, Turnovers, 1.15 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 32%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 92% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 67%
Offensive Team Data: Fresno State ; Total Yards, 572 YPG; Passing Yards, 410 YPG; Rushing Yards, 162 YPG; Scoring Average 45 PPG, Turnovers, 1.67 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 43.8%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 97% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 79%
Defensive Team Data: USC; Total Yards, 341 YPG; Passing Yards, 214 YPG; Rushing Yards, 127 YPG; Scoring Average, 21 PPG, Turnovers, 1.54 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 36.1%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 63% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 51%
Defensive Team Data: Fresno State ; Total Yards, 426 YPG; Passing Yards, 278 YPG; Rushing Yards, 148 YPG; Scoring Average, 29 PPG, Turnovers, 1.75 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 37.1%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 86% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 67%
Sully’s CFP Game Simulator is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will preform, based solely on their numbers, when they face off on the gridiron! Keep in mind, these stats were established against different teams and conferences and these differences must be taken into account to get a complete picture when attempting to predetermine a winner. If you are interested in how the Simulator works … read this part … if not … skip it! The process used is … we take USC’s total yards on offense, add it to what Fresno State gives up on defense, … get a total and then divide that number by 2 … to get the mean. We then invert the process by taking FSU’s total offense, add it to what USC gives up on defense, get a total and divide that number by 2 to get the second mean… the greater number (with the exception of Turnovers) is then determined to have the advantage ( please note …. statistical advantage). We repeat this process in each of the eight statistical categories assessed! That said… here are the results of the Head to Head Analysis:
Total Yards: Advantage, Fresno State …. 457 to 409
Passing Yards: Advantage, Fresno State …. 312 to 248
Rushing Yards: Advantage, USC …. 161 to 145
Scoring: Advantage, Fresno State …. 33 to 29
Turnovers: Advantage, USC … 1.45 to 1.61
3rd Down Conversions: Advantage, Fresno State … 39.95% to 34.55
Red Zone All Scores: Advantage, USC … 89% to 80%
Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage, USC … 67% to 65%
Individuals to Watch: Fresno State; QB Derek Carr, 4866 Yards Passing, 48 TD’s & 7 INT & WR Davante Adams, 122 Receptions, 1645 receiving yards, & 23 TD’s! USC; QB Cody Kessler, 2623 passing yards, 16 TD’s, & 6 INT & Nelson Agholor, 51 Receptions, 824 receiving yards, & 4 TD’s!
Sully Says: this is a battle for California … SC is the “Big Boy” on the block and really needs to step up and put Fresno State in its place. These teams have not met in the past six years, … yet … a telling game … is … the San Jose Game in which the Spartans put 62 points on the Bulldogs … in a game Fresno needed to win to keep its BCS hopes alive! Take USC and give FSU the 6!
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