Military Bowl presented by Northrup Grumman

Bowl History: This bowl was founded in 2008, previously known as the EagleBank Bowl (in its’ planning stages it was to be called the Congressional Bowl … played @ DC’s RFK). EagleBank is a Washington D.C. financial institution which sponsored the first two games (2008 & 2009) until Northrup Grumman, one of the worlds largest defense contractors, took over sponsorship in 2010. They renamed the event …. the Military Bowl presented by Northrup Grumman …. that same year! The conference tie-ins are the ACC vs C-USA, Navy or Army. The first game in this bowl was played on December 20, 2008 between Navy & Wake Forest …. Wake won 29-19! Last year’s (2011) winner Toledo crashed-landed … but survived Air Force, 42-41! Bowl Payout …. $ 1,000,000.00 per team

Teams: San Jose State Conference Affiliation: Western Athletic (WAC), Overall Record 10-2, Conference Record 5-1 … finished 2nd in the WAC behind Utah State vs Bowling Green Conference Affiliation: Mid-American (MAC) Overall Record, 8-4, Conference Record, 6-2, and Divisional Record 5-1 (East Division of the MAC).

Bowl Location: Washington D.C. The Military Bowl is played at RFK Stadium  with a seating capacity of 56,692 for football (baseball 45,596)! Last year’s (2011) was 25,042

Day, Date, & Time: Thursday, 12/27/2012 @ 2:00 p.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Wins: SJSU (San Jose State) beat a 7-1 SDSU (San Diego State) the Tri-Champ of the Mountain West Conference, 38 to 34, a bowl bound, BYU, 20-14, & a bowl eligible … but not bowling  Louisiana Tech, 52 to 43 … these Dopes from Louisiana were trying to get more money  .. told the Independence Bowl committee that they needed more time to consider their options ….  and ….  as a result of NIU bumping Oklahoma out of the Orange Bowl  …. a domino effect put Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl the one that LT wanted & and suddenly …. 40 teams with weaker records are in Bowls …while LT is at home counting “Chump Change”! Bowling Green’s, 26-14, victory over a very good Ohio team!

Worst Losses: SJSU …. a 20 to 17 loss to Stanford …. a win here and San Jose State is on the national radar & a 49 to 27 pounding by the WAC Champion, Utah State! BGU’s loss @ Va Tech, 37-0, a game where the Falcons not only failed to compete …. they didn’t show up!

Common Opponents: None

Las Vegas Hotsheet: Opened with SJSU -8 and has fallen to 7

Offensive Team Data: San Jose State: Total Yards, 452 YPG; Passing Yards, 327 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 124 YPG; Scoring Average 35 PPG, Turnovers, 1.92 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 44.8%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 81% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 58%

Offensive Team Data: Bowling Green Total Yards, 375 YPG; Passing Yards, 196 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 178 YPG; Scoring Average 23 PPG, Turnovers, 1.42 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 37.9%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 63% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 49%

Defensive Team Data: San Jose State: Total Yards, 351 YPG; Passing Yards, 228 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 124 YPG; Scoring Average 21 PPG, Turnovers, 2.58 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 33.3%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 76% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 56%

Defensive Team Data: Bowling Green Total Yards, 307 YPG; Passing Yards, 210 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 97 YPG; Scoring Average 16 PPG, Turnovers, 1.75 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 31%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 79% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 50%

Sully’s 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 SJSU’s total yards on offense, add it to what BGU 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 BGU’s total offense, add it to what SJSU 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: SJSU 380 to 363

Passing Yards: Advantage : SJSU 269 to 212

Rushing Yards: Advantage: BGU 151 to 111 

Scoring: Advantage: SJSU 26 to 22 

Turnovers: Advantage: SJSU 1.8 to 2.0

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage : SJSU 37.9% to 35.6%

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage: SJSU 80% to 70%

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage: SJSU 54% to 53%

Individuals to Watch: San Jose’s QB, Davis Fales is lights out at his position …. Fales has passed for 3,798 yards, 31 TD’s, 9 INT’s, & completed 72% of his passes! BGU will counter at QB with, Mark Schilz, who has passed for 2,426 yards, 14 TD’s 12 INT’s, with a relatively weak 56.1 completion percentage. Neither teams has a 1,000 / plus yard rusher …. SJSU’s feature back is De’Leon Eskridge, who has carried the rock 194 times, for 992 yards, 10 TD’s, & a 5.1 yards per carry; while BGU’s go to back is Anthon Samual, who has rushed for 966 yards, on 185 rushing attempts, 10 TD’s and a 5.2 yards gained per attempt!

Sully Says:  San Jose State is perhaps the best story of the 2012 college football season. Given all the chatter about the Mayan Calendar … maybe it was about the Spartans the whole time …. rising from the ashes …. rebirth …. from previous seasons! A ten win season, that included a 20-17 battle with a top ten team in Stanford, and a top 25 ranking ….. were not to be found anywhere as the experts spewed their predictions in preseason publications … NOWHERE …. could you find this kind of season for San Jose being projected! SJSU is better than BGU … in every phase of the game …. Sully’s CFP says San Jose wins & covers!