Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Arizona Wildcats | Preview & Predictions

December 30, 2009 | 8:00 PM EST, San Diego, CA, on ESPN

Holiday Bowl

Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-4) vs Arizona Wildcats (8-4)

Opening Line: Pickem (current Nebraska -2.5)

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs Arizona

Game Preview: If not for a couple of key plays these teams might have crashed the BCS.  Instead they are trying to continue climbing the mountain in their respective conferences.  Nebraska was so close.  Their loss to Texas in the championship game is the kind that is tough to get over.  Bo Pelini has done a great job turning the Huskers around and this game is critical to that path.  For Arizona the season has been pretty good given they lost their QB to graduation and their top playmaker, Rob Gronkowski, never saw the field. A win here would be a great finish.

Nebraska Preview: Nebraska’s defense will be the best unit on the field in this contest.  Everyone knows about DT Suh and he is fantastic but the rest of the defense has held their own as well.  The give up less than 12 points per game, good for second in the nation.  They need to because their offense is nothing special.  Roy Helu has a little wiggle and cracked 1000 yards but the passing game is down from what it has been the last couple of years.  Zac Lee just never really got it going.  Nebraska will play it pretty safe and let their defense set up some short fields.  The strategy works, Oklahoma and Texas combined for only 16 points, an impressive feat that Arizona will have to best if they want to win.

Arizona Preview: The Wildcats had a very good finish to the season beating ASU and USC on the road to tie for second in the PAC 10.  Just how they did it is a bit of a mystery.  The Sun Devils are pretty bad but you are not supposed to be able to walk into the Coliseum and grab a victory as easy as it was this year.  The Cats caught the Trojans at a weak moment and pounced.  Any confidence they gained from these victories will be tested quickly by the Nebraska defense, the best they have seen all year.  They will need to be able to run the ball like they did against another top defense, Iowa, and hope that QB Nick Foles will not have a repeat of what was probably his worst game of the season in a loss.
Game Prediction: The Nebraska defense has proven they can pretty much dominate against any type of competition.  Another spirited effort should be expected led by coach Pelini who is  a top motivator.  Arizona just doesn’t have enough weapons but are strong enough to keep it pretty close.

Score Prediction:

Nebraska – 20
Arizona – 10

Pick: Nebraska will close out the year on a good note…unfortunately it will be the last game for the other worldly Suh.  As long as this stays under 3 the Huskers are the play.
-Cornhuskers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games.

Arizona Wildcats Football Betting Trends:

Nebraska Cornhuskers Football Betting Trends:

• Nebraska is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
• The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Nebraska’s last 9 games