Classy Bowl Predictions: Higgy

Posted by Higgy

The Section 117 Classy Gentlemen predictions of the Gophers' return trip to Houston for the newly-renamed Texas Bowl continue. Magsh started the daily run of postseason predictions, and Flony followed yesterday with his super-sized installment. Batting third ... Higgy.

Higgy's Classy Bowl Prediction: Texas Bowl
Minnesota (8-4) vs. Syracuse (6-6)
Dec. 27, 2013 - 5 p.m. - Houston, Texas

An on-field celebration was
definitely an early Christmas present.

If you were so inclined to look up prestigious Syracuse quarterbacks in the annals of history, you'd likely find the three most famous to be Donovan McNabb, recently drafted Ryan Nassib and one-year transfer Greg Paulus, who drew his fame as one of those Duke basketball players you love to hate. (I'm guessing Josh McRoberts didn't follow to be Paulus' d-bag tight end because you can't see specially gelled hair under a helmet.) In addition to being three of the most recognizable Orangemen to ever take a snap, what else do these three wise men all have in common?

They lost to the Gophers.

McNabb couldn't stop Minnesota legend Tyrone Carter from picking up fumbles and taking them back for touchdowns in a Gopher win over the Orange in the Metrodome. Years later, Adam Weber outdueled Paulus in his first game under center in an overtime thriller in New York, and last year the Gopher defense and a lubed-up TCF Bank Stadium night crowd took down Nassib and the Orange with a virtuoso defensive performance. A pair of field passes found their way to the Classy Gentlemen for that one, following a tuxedoed steak-and-lobster tailgate, so no doubt our presence on the field had a lot to do with the big win.

The Orange will be pleased to learn the Classy Gentlemen won't be in Houston, or on the field, this time around, but they can't feel good that their top gunslingers have come up short against lesser Gopher teams. Minnesota has a lot going for it in this game. It's familiar with the bowl and its surroundings (and it has a rodeo bowl title to defend!) and last year's overachieving performance in the narrow loss to Texas Tech gives us hope that Jerry and the fellas can really use the time to prepare to our advantage.

Looking at common opponents, Minnesota beat a pair of teams - Penn State and Northwestern - that beat the 'Cuse. However, I'm not one to put much stock in transitive properties, especially regarding the Northwestern game, as they were a much different team in the two games. Syracuse is proud of its run defense, and its attacking front seven, but after playing Wisconsin and Michigan State I'm guessing the Orange won't scare the Gophers.

Good news for the 'Cuse ...
we won't be roaming the sidelines this time.

Also - here's a wild card prediction - expect Minnesota to really give the Syracuse defense fits with the running game ... at the quarterback position. The Syracuse 56-0 loss to Georgia Tech is telling about the Orange's vulnerability to a mobile QB, so expect both Full Nelson and The Lamplighter to play and run. If they can do that early, everything else opens up and we're off to the races. Defensively, our team has fared well against far better offenses, and though switching to Terrell Hunt at QB has helped the Orange improve, he's prone to interceptions. I think Brock Vereen goes out in style with an interception, and the Optimus Prime era ends with a sack and a couple additional tackles-for-a-loss.

Christmas came early for me when Santa delivered my No. 1 wish - a signature win for Minnesota. Fortunately, I got to unwrap that present in October as we celebrated on the field following an amazing day where we bested the Cornhuskers for the first time in my life. Now, I'm hoping Santa hid another present under the tree for me to open on the 27th. Feel free to bet against Santa. I refuse. Happy Holidays and Ski-U-Mah.

MINNESOTA 37, SYRACUSE 17

We'll be revealing our picks for the rest of the B1G bowl games and the BCS bowls as well the morning of the Texas Bowl, but I wanted to share my predictions here. If anyone wants to join in our bowl season guessing game, leave your predictions in the comments! I think the B1G has a tough draw in many of the games, but hopefully Minnesota and a few others can represent the conference well. It's particularly interesting that there are three New Year's Day matchups vs. the SEC in addition to the Rose Bowl. Clemons vs. Ohio State should be one of the more entertaining bowl games, and I'll be proudly wearing my FSU shirt that I picked up on my multiple trips to visit Flony during his college days. I hope the Noles fare better than they did on my trips to Doak, which involved way more Tebow than I would've liked. Here goes nothing...

Higgy's B1G & BCS Bowl Predictions
Texas Bowl - Dec. 27 - Minnesota vs. Syracuse - Winner: Minnesota
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl - Dec. 28 - Michigan vs. Kansas State - Winner: Michigan
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl - Jan. 1 - Nebraska vs. Georgia - Winner: Georgia
Outback Bowl - Jan. 1 - Iowa vs. LSU - Winner: LSU
Capital One Bowl - Jan. 1 - Wisconsin vs. South Carolina - Winner: South Carolina
Rose Bowl - Jan. 1 - Michigan State vs. Stanford - Winner: Michigan State
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Jan. 1 - UCF vs. Baylor - Winner: Baylor
Allstate Sugar Bowl - Jan. 2 - Oklahoma vs. Alabama - Winner: Alabama
At&T Cotton Bowl - Jan. 3 - Oklahoma State vs. Missouri - Winner: Oklahoma State
Discover Orange Bowl - Jan. 3 - Clemson vs. Ohio State - Winner: Ohio State
Vizio BCS National Championship - Jan. 6 - Florida State vs. Auburn: Winner: Florida State