Emerald Bowl: Oregon State vs. Maryland

Teams: Oregon State vs. Maryland
Date: Dec. 28, 2007 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern
Location: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California

Analysis
Since the beginning of October, Oregon State — along with USC — has been one of the hottest teams in the Pac-10, winning six of seven. During that streak the Beavers won at then-No. 2 California and defeated No. 18 Oregon in double overtime. Two common denominators during that stretch are the Beavers’ ability to stop the run, and turnovers. Oregon State got off the field on third down in those wins. The Beavers held those six Pac-10 opponents to a 26 percent success rate on third down.

Maryland converts on third down at a 41 percent clip, so winning the battle on third down will be key in this matchup. Maryland will use two running backs, Keon Lattimore and Lance Bell, to attack the stiff rushing defense of the Beavers. Both runners gained more than 700 yards in split duty this season.

Breakdown: Maryland
Campus Location: College Park, Md.
Distance to San Francisco: 2,818 miles
All-Time Bowl Game Record: 9–10–2
2007 Season: 6–6, 3–5 ACC

NCAA Rankings (yards/points per game totals):
Rush Offense: 65 (147)
Pass Offense: 78 (203)
Scoring Offense: 77 (25)
Rush Defense: 45 (137)
Pass Defense: 47 (219)
Scoring Defense: 28 (22)
Turnover Margin: 24 (0.58)

Additional Notes:
Maryland has played in 21 bowls, but none in California … The Terrapins have won their previous three bowl games … Pac-10 schools are strangers to Maryland. Maryland split a home-and-home series with UCLA in 1954-55, and lost 21-20 to Washington in the 1982 Aloha Bowl … Defensive lineman Dre Moore with six sacks on the season, and linebacker Erin Henderson were both first-team All-ACC selections this season.

Breakdown: Oregon State
Campus Location: Corvallis, Ore.
Distance to San Francisco: 572 miles
All-Time Bowl Game Record: 8–4
2007 Season: 8–4, 6–3 Pac-10

NCAA Rankings (yards/points per game totals):
Rush Offense: 43 (167)
Pass Offense: 76 (204)
Scoring Offense: 56 (28)
Rush Defense: 2 (75)
Pass Defense: 75 (238)
Scoring Defense: 35 (23)
Turnover Margin: 47 (0.08)

Additional Notes:
Yvenson Bernard sat out the Oregon game nursing an injury, but should be healthy for the bowl game … Bernard was named second-team All-Pac-10 … Offensive lineman Roy Schuening and defensive lineman Dorian Smith were the only Beavers named first team all-conference … Among the seven Beavers named to the second team were all three senior linebackers Joey LaRacque, Alan Darlin and Derrick Doggett.

Prediction: Oregon State by 10

Del.icio.us | Digg it | Athlon Sports RSS Feeds