Chick-fil-A Bowl

Bowl History: The Chick-fil-A Bowl  …. was established in 1968 and the game has been played annually since that time! This bowl was first called the Peach Bowl and later the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl! The first game in this bowl series took place on December, 30, 1968 … LSU beat Florida State, 31-27; last year’s game featured, Auburn and Virginia, a game won by the Tigers (Auburn), 43-24! . The conference tie-ins are SEC /ACC& the Bowl Pay out is $3,900,000.00 to the ACC & $2,900,000.00 to the  SEC!

Teams: Clemson: Conference Affiliation: ACC; Overall Record 10-2, Conference Record 7-1, Divisional Record 4-1 (ACC’s Atlantic Division) vs LSU: Conference  Affiliation: SEC; Overall Record 10-2, Conference Record: 6-2, Divisional Record 4-1 (SEC’s West Division)

Bowl Location: Atlanta, Georgia … played @ the Georgia Dome, the seating capacity @ the facility is 71,228. Last year’s game which featured Auburn and Virginia, was attended by 72,919 or 102.37% of the Georgia Dome’s capacity.

Day, Date, & Time: Monday, 12/31/12 @ 6:30 p.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Wins: Clemson: beat Georgia Tech 47-31,Virginia Tech, 38-17, Duke, 52-20, & NC State, 62-48; LSU: beat Washington, 41-3, South Carolina, 23-21, Texas A&M, 24-19, Mississippi State, 37-17, & Ole Miss, 41-35 … –all nine of these teams made it to the post-season!

Worst Losses: Clemson: Lost to Florida State, 49-37 & South Carolina, 27-17 … these games are that they must win …  if they are who …. they would like us to think the are!!! LSU: lost to a 12-1 Alabama  21-17  …. & …. a 11-1 Florida , 14-6!

Common Opponents: (2) South Carolina Clemson lost to the Gamecocks, 27-17 while LSU beat the USC, of the South, 23-21 & Auburn Clemson beat the Tigers, 26-19 while LSU survived AU, 12-10!

Las Vegas Hotsheet: The Game opened @ LSU -3.5 and has moved to LSU -5!

Offensive Team Data: Clemson: Total Yards, 518 YPG; Passing Yards, 292 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 227 YPG; Scoring Average 42 PPG, Turnovers, 1.58 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 51.9%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 94% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 74%

Offensive Team Data: LSU: Total Yards, 387 YPG; Passing Yards, 207 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 180 YPG; Scoring Average 30 PPG, Turnovers, 1.33 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 41.4%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 84% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 50%

Defensive Team Data: Clemson: Total Yards, 411 YPG; Passing Yards, 250 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 161 YPG; Scoring Average 25 PPG, Turnovers, 1.83 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 34.7%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 73% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 51%

Defensive Team Data: LSU: Total Yards, 297 YPG; Passing Yards, 194 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 103 YPG; Scoring Average 17 PPG, Turnovers, 2.58 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 30.3%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 77% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 61%

Sully’s Game Simulator: is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will perform, 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 Clemson’s total yards on offense, add it to what LSU 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 LSU’s total offense, add it to what Clemson 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 Clemson 408 to 399

Passing Yards: Advantage Clemson 243 to 229

Rushing Yards: Advantage LSU 171 to 165

Scoring: Advantage Clemson 30 to 28

Turnovers: Advantage LSU 1.58 to 2.08

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage Clemson 41.1% to 38.5%

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage Clemson 86% to 79%

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage Clemson 68% to 51%

Individuals to Watch: Clemson: QB, Tajh Boyd, WRs Sammy Watkins & DeAndre Hopkins and RB, Andre Ellington are all play-makers / differences makers for the Clemson Tigers   LSU: QB, Eric Mettenburger has passed for 2,489 yards, 11 TD’s, 6 INT’s and completed 59% of his attempts. RB Kenny Hilliard is averaging 5.7  yards per carry & Jeremy Hill  is averaging 4.9 yards per carry … they have scored 6 & 10 TD’s respectively. LSU’s  Defensive Linemen … Barkevious Mingo, Sam Montgomery, Bennie Logan …. LB, Kevin Minter, & FS, Eric Reed are more then up to the challenge of dealing with Clemson offensive fire-power!

Sully Says: This is a clear showdown of offense vs defense …. Clemson the  irresistible offensive force against LSU the immovable defensive object! LSU enters the game having won its last three games, while Clemson lost its season ending game against in-state rival South Carolina, 27-17! Clemson has scored 37 or more points 10 times while LSU has allowed more than 22 once this season. These teams have only played twice in their storied histories, the most recent in 1996 in this bowl… then called the Peach Bowl … LSU won, 10-7! This match-up, along with the Cotton Bowl’s, Texas A&M vs Oklahoma are as good or better than any BCS Bowl ….  save the ND – Bama Game! Sully’s CFP Says …. take LSU and give Clemson the high 5 in points!