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Bowl Week 1 Previews
UHND.com  - Joe Brunson
12/19/2001

New Orleans Bowl

December 18 New Orleans

North Texas (5-6) vs. Colorado State (6-5) –12.5

North Texas

The inaugural New Orleans bowl will be the first bowl game since 1971 to invite a team with a winning percentage under .500. Although it seems something is wrong with the bowl system when a losing record conjures a bowl invitation, North Texas won the Sun Belt Conference, which is contracted with the New Orleans Bowl. The Mean Green are 5-1 in their conference and beat Middle Tennessee State (8-3, 5-1) 24-21 to get the tiebreaker after a 0-5 start. The last North Texas bowl appearance was in the 1959 Sun Bowl, when UNT lost 28-8 to New Mexico State. With the invite, North Texas will snap the longest current bowl drought among all Div. I-A schools. Sophomore quarterback Scott Hall leads them with 1,453 yards passing and a 133.1 rating. His best performance came with 175 yards passing against New Mexico State. Junior Kevin Gallbreath heads the ground attack with 1,119 yards in 10 games, but only scored 4 times. Defensively, UNT could be in for a long night. Ranked 83^rd in total defense, the Mean Green have yet to face the offensive weapons the Rams possess.

Bradlee Van Pelt took the starting QB job from DJ Busch on September 29 against Wyoming and never looked back. He has thrown for 1,247 yards and ran for another 546 with twelve touchdowns. He has a reckless style of play and tends to make the best decisions on the run. Because of Van Pelt’s athleticism, CSU has the ability to attack the field through the air in dropback fashion or with the triple option. The Rams will use Henri Childs and Duan Ruff in the backfield to compliment Van Pelt. The two runners have combined for 1,616 yards with nine scores. The problem in CSU’s game is they give up almost as many points as they score (23). They rank 93^rd in total defense but are on a roll as they have won four of their last five games to get to New Orleans.

North Texas will come out with plenty of enthusiasm, as they are going bowling when they probably should have stayed at home. I think they will try to spice up an otherwise dull offense early in the game, however, CSU plays in the Mountain West conference- where gimmick plays are just part of it. The Rams are happy to be here after a horrid 2-4 start. Look for Van Pelt to have a career game as he continues to grow into the role as a leader and a playmaker. While North Texas may have the excitement, they just don’t have the players to keep up in the 2^nd half. Rams by 10.

East Carolina

This is East Carolina's second trip to the GMAC. In the bowl's inaugural game in 1999, TCU defeated ECU 28-14. Leonard Henry led Conference USA in rushing with 1,432 yards. He recorded two games with over 200 yards and reached the century mark on five other occasions. Senior David Garrard is the general on the field, throwing for 2,247 yards. East Carolina has played in six games decided by seven points or less and is a veteran team that is mentally tough. The Pirates run a ball control game plan and typically have the lead, but a porous defense has repeatedly allowed opponents to come back. In 11 games, East Carolina has outscored opponents 112-25 in the first quarter. The bad news for ECU is they rank 101^st in pass efficiency defense, which looms large considering Marshall tends to throw the ball a bit. The Pirates limped threw their last two games, losing consecutively at home to Louisville and Southern Mississippi. In those games, they turned the ball over eight times.

Marshall

Marshall accepted the bid to this bowl before the MAC Championship. Luckily for them as they wasted a 23-0 second quarter lead in their loss to Toledo. The Thundering Herd is primarily a throwing team as most know but they do have a threat in the backfield. Sophomore Franklin Wallace has provided the balance Marshall needs in their offense. He has rushed for 802 yards with 10 scores in a little over eight games of action. Their biggest weapons are obviously in the air game and both of these guys will eventually be in the pros. Byron Leftwich has thrown for a whopping 4,122 yards with a 37-7 touchdown/int. ratio. How this guy was not mentioned amongst the top quarterbacks in the nation is beyond me. The biggest reason is probably the lack of opponents he plays. However, against one of the better secondaries in the nation (Florida), he went for 274 yards and a score. His favorite target is sophomore Darius Watts. This kid can flat out play, no matter who is across from him. He has caught 91 balls for 1,417 yards with 18 scores this year.

Thoughts

This game will be a shootout as neither team has shown any ability to play defense. Marshall’s defense gave up 188 yards to Chester Taylor and Henry is just as good. If ECU can control the clock and keep the Herd’s weapons sidelined they will win. While, Henry should have a nice game, there is no way Leftwich doesn’t have a brilliant game. Marshall should be ready to go after an embarrassing let down in the Glass Bowl. The Leftwich-Watts combination is more than many teams can handle and East Carolina just doesn’t have the defense to stop them. On the other side, no one from the Herd can stop Henry. Bottom line is the team with the most offensive weapons wins. Marshall by 7.

North Carolina State

This will be the 2^nd bowl in as many years under Head Coach Chuck Amato and he has plenty of excitement in his offense. Sophomore QB Phillip Rivers has thrown for 2,586 yards this year and has spread the ball out in doing so. Four players come into the post-season with over 40 catches. The Wolfpack house yet another threat in the backfield in senior Ray Robinson. He has rushed for 733 yards and gained another 376 via the air. Rivers should be ready to go for the bowl game despite suffering a painful injury to the big toe on his left foot in the second half of the Wolfpack's final regular season game against Ohio on November 24.

Pittsburgh

The Panthers had enough of their spread-attack offense after starting the season 1-5. They dropped the no-huddle and adapted a pro-style regime that lead to five straight victories and a trip to Orlando. During that span, Antonio Bryant finally started to return to form catching eight touchdown passes. The biggest push that Pitt received was from their defense. In their last five games, the Panthers yielded only 44.2 rushing ypg. and forced 10 turnovers. QB David Priestly has one of the best WR tandems in the nation with RJ English and Antonio Bryant. They have combined for 83 catches and 15 scores to lead the way.

 Thoughts

NC State is playing great football right now. Rivers has completed 71 percent of his passes for, 1,109 yards, six touchdowns and just two interceptions in the Pack's last five games. Defensively they are led by stud All-American Linebacker Levar Fisher. Mel Kiper ranks him in the top three linebackers in the nation. Pitt also comes into this game on a roll. Bryant has stepped up his play and it has helped the entire offense iron out their mid-season wrinkles. Pitt is really excited about being in Orlando and will win if they can stop Ray Robinson. Pitt has more talent on offense than the Pack but that shouldn’t scare the NC State defenders as they have played and beaten FSU. Look for a very close game with the Pack featuring Robinson as their main weapon in the fourth quarter. I’m going with the better running game and in this case, it is NC State. Wolfpack by a field goal.

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