Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
California Golden Bears vs Texas Longhorns
Dec. 28, 8:00 pm ET
Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego, CA)
Website: http://www.holidaybowl.com/
TV: ESPN
Line: Texas -3
The Longhorns are playing in their second Holiday Bowl in five years with a Fiesta Bowl, BCS Championship and a 5-7 season between two trips to San Diego. Not to be outdone the Cal Bears enter this game off a bowl-less 2010 and to get into the Holiday Bowl is quite an upgrade from Tedford’s recent rips to the Emerald, Armed Forces ad Poinsettia Bowls.
Both squads need a win as the coaches aren’t exactly their fanbases’ favorite people at the moment.
Making This All Possible
Bridgepoint Education, duh! Never heard of it? They’re a higher education provider that helps folks get degrees in their everyday life while accommodating the daily grind. Think University of Phoenix but without the in your face ads and all that jazz.
Get To Know: California
California doesn’t do anything particularly well but they are not an awful team; hence them ending up at 7-5 on the season. Jeff Tedford’s offense is ran by Zach Maynard with Isi Sofele and Kenan Allen both posting 1,200 yard seasons on the ground and receiving, respectively. Consistency is going to be the issue for Cal as they are up and down when it comes to getting the plays they need to extend drives.
Get To Know: Texas
David Ash and Case McCoy became the “answer” when Garrett Gilbert proved ineffective early in the season. Running back Fozzy Whittaker is out and the loss of the senior due to injury has drastically changed the Longhorns’ effectiveness on offense. Luckily for the young quarterbacks the Texas defense has been able to keep them in but two or three ball games this season.
You Should Know…
THE LONGHORN NETWORK STILL EXISTS!
If You’re Going
To be fair, I’ve never been to San Diego and if my life plays out the way I’m hoping it will I’ll never go. That would be leaving the south and that’s not on my list of things to do anytime soon. However, if I was heading out that way I’d make sure to take a trip to the zoo. Sure it is cliché but the fact is zoo’s are one of the things I secretly enjoy and this one is pretty sweet. This is not a joke, I love zoos.
Also hit up a good truck. Got into these in Charlotte over the summer and this is one part of San Diego that does seem to be a pretty solid bet if you’re in the area.
If You’re Watching At Home
Some folks might expect me to go with the barbecue here and that would just prove they don’t know me at all. Texas’ barbecue is brisket and that’s not worth much to me, I’m a pork guy. I’m generally opposed to trying new things but I got suckered into going to Cabo Fish Taco awhile back and that apparently is a very “San Diego” thing of me to do. Skip the wait and make them yourself at home. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/fish-tacos-recipe/index.html
Prediction
Texas has more talent than California from top to bottom. Texas has the mega-money staff that Mack Brown went out and pull together to salvage the wreckage from a year ago. The folks in Austin didn’t spend that sort of cash to go to Holiday Bowls and this staff must use this game as a building block. In Cal we’ve got a team that bottomed out a year ago at 5-7 and is back to their standard 7-9 wins a year for 2011.
While Texas has more talent, Cal has more playmakers and this game should come down to who can make a play to put their team over the top. Kenan Allen is a dynamic wide receiver who will tax this Texas secondary and Zach Maynard has shown he can play well in spots. In the end, too much talent for Texas as they can keep Maynard off balance, stop the run and allow the Ash-McCoy and company to figure out this Cal defense.
Texas 26, Cal 20
