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Meineke Car Care Bowl | Predictions & Pick

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Meineke Car Care Bowl

vs.

South Florida Bulls vs. Clemson Tigers
Friday, December 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm on ESPN

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The Meineke Car Care Bowl is an annual game played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The game will be played on December 31st at 12 PM ET.

This year the contest pits the South Florida Bulls against the Clemson Tigers. South Florida has appeared in five bowls in their team history, winning three of them. One of those games was a Meineke Bowl back in 2005, which they lost 14-0 to North Carolina State.

Clemson has appeared in 32 bowl games winning exactly half of them. Last year, they lost the January Gator Bowl to Nebraska 26-21, and then ended the season with a win in the Music City Bowl against Kentucky, 21-13.

Clemson will represent the ACC Atlantic Division after a 6-6, 4-4 in conference, season. Two strong wins opened the season against North Texas, 35-10, and Presbyterian, 58-21. Those wins were followed by three straight losses to tougher foes, and the Tigers ended the season with a 29-7 loss to South Carolina.

Though the season was an up and down one, they did beat tougher teams like Maryland and NC State.

Head Coach Dabo Swinney saw a bit of regression in his squad in his second full year as head coach, as the 2009 season saw Clemson finish first with a 9-5 record, including 6-2 in conference. This year’s fourth place finish was a disappointment, but Swinney is known as a strong recruiter and is expected to return Clemson to the top of the pack.

The Tigers offense is built around the rush, ranking 73rd overall by averaging 146.4 per game. Running backs Jaime Harper and Andre Ellington form a strong ground presence. Harper carried 177 times for 726 yards and six touchdowns, while Ellington added 686 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Sophomore QB Kyle Parker saw a drop in production from his first season, down to 12 touchdowns and 2,079 yards from 20 touchdowns and 2,526 yards, and as a result, the passing attack ranks 84th by averaging 191.4 per contest. Overall, the offense was 86th in scoring with just under 24 points a game.

On defense, the Tigers are strong limiting opponents to 17.8 on average to rank 9th. When Clemson wins it outscores opponents 195-73, when they lose, they have been outscored 139-91.

As for South Florida, it played its first year under new head coach Skip Holtz. The Bulls responded with a 7-5 record, 3-4 in the Big East, to finish fifth. That was actually a step back after finishing 8-5 in 2009 to finish fourth.

A big win opened the season against Stony Brook, 59-14, but proved to be an aberration as they scored more than 30 only twice more beating Florida Atlantic 31-3 and Cincinnati 38-30. The Bulls did rally for three straight wins at one point, defeating Cincinnati, Rutgers, and Louisville in succession, and never lost more than two in a row (Syracuse, West Virginia).

The Bulls, like Clemson, are built to run. The rushing attack ranked 69th by averaging 149.4 yards a game. Moise Plancher and Demetrius Murray totaled over 1,200 yards and combined for 12 touchdowns.

Senior WR Dontavia Bogan handled the ball 45 times for 658 yards and five touchdowns.

QB BJ Daniels ran more often early on, even grabbing 107 yards against Florida, but abandoned the weapon late in the season. It may have been a poor choice, as he had a down year overall, totaling 1,496 yards and nine touchdowns after 1,983 and 14 in 2009. The passing attack finished 101st with 162.5 yards per contest, while the whole offense scored 23.5 to rank 88th.

The defense can be quite good, keeping opponents to 19.5 points a game, which was 19th in the country, but looked a bit winded as the season wore on. In their first three wins, opponents managed only 29 points, but in their final four wins, opponents scored 98. South Florida ended the regular season with a loss to Connecticut, 19-16.

This will be a fun game to watch, and should be a relatively low scorer. Both are strong defensive teams, with Clemson holding the edge rankings wise but the season ending loss to South Carolina saw a bit of an implosion, which does raise concerns. The Tigers also hold a slight edge in the offense and did beat some fairly strong teams like Maryland.

Clemson is a 5.5-point favorite and the over/under is 40.5.  Go with the Tigers on this one.

Matt’s Free Prediction: Clemson 23, USF 17

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Team records:

  • South Florida: 7-5 SU, 4-7 ATS
  • Clemson: 6-6 SU, 5-6 ATS

South Florida Bulls most recently:

  • When playing in December are 2-7
  • When playing on grass are 5-5
  • After outgaining opponent are 6-4
  • When playing outside the conference are 8-2

Clemson Tigers most recently:

  • When playing in December are 4-6
  • When playing on grass are 5-5
  • After being outgained are 6-4
  • When playing outside the conference are 5-5

A few betting trends to consider:

  • The total has gone UNDER in 4 of South Florida’s last 5 games
  • South Florida is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Clemson’s last 5 games

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