Meineke Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Connecticut

Teams: Connecticut vs. Wake Forest
Date: Dec. 29, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern
Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.

Analysis
These two teams just completed a home-and-home series last season and will now meet in a semi-home game for the Demon Deacons (same state, anyway). UConn defeated Wake in Winston-Salem 51-17 in 2003 while the Deacons returned the favor last year 24-13 in Storrs. Not that either of those games have much bearing on this matchup, but useless information is always good to have.

When the surprise team from this year (Connecticut) meets Cinderella from a year ago (Wake), it should be a fairly tame battle between strong defenses and average offenses. UConn remains difficult to figure out simply because their competition hasn’t been what an average BCS school typically faces. They’re 2–3 against bowl teams and weren’t even competitive in games against Cincinnati and West Virginia. Wake holds a similar 2–3 record against bowl qualifiers and wasn’t competitive in a late-season matchup with Clemson.

Who wins this stalemate remains anyone’s guess as both team will likely sit back and wait for the other to make mistakes. Turnovers figure to play a big part in this one, but we’ll go with the quarterback that’s had prior bowl experience and likely playing in front of a partisan crown in this one.

Breakdown: Connecticut
Campus Location: Storrs, Conn.
Distance to Charlotte: 795 miles
All-Time Bowl Game Record: 1–0
2007 Season: 9–3, 5–2 Big East

NCAA Rankings (yards/points per game totals):
Rush Offense: 45 (165)
Pass Offense: 91 (193)
Scoring Offense: 62 (28)
Rush Defense: 64 (159)
Pass Defense: 14 (188)
Scoring Defense: 11 (19)
Turnover Margin: 7 (1.08)

Additional Notes:
Connecticut makes its second bowl appearance since moving to Football Bowl Subdivision competition in 2002. The Huskies beat Toledo in 2004 … QB Tyler Lorenzen has the ability to cause trouble for defenses with his legs. Though he won’t be mistaken fro Vince Young anytime soon, Lorenzen ran for 565 gross yards (304 net) this season.

Breakdown: Wake Forest
Campus Location: Winston-Salem, N.C.
Distance to Charlotte: 80 miles
All-Time Bowl Game Record: 4–3
2007 Season: 8–4, 5–3 ACC

NCAA Rankings (yards/points per game totals):
Rush Offense: 72 (143)
Pass Offense: 94 (191)
Scoring Offense: 60 (28)
Rush Defense: 17 (109)
Pass Defense: 78 (242)
Scoring Defense: 34 (23)
Turnover Margin: 15 (0.83)

Additional Notes:
Wake Forest is 19–7 over the last two seasons, the most successful two-year stretch in school history … This is the first time Wake has been to bowls in consecutive seasons. They lost to Louisville in the Orange Bowl last year … DB Alphonso Smith leads the NCAA with eight interceptions, including three returned for TDs … QB Riley Skinner didn’t throw for more than 236 yards in any game this season.

Prediction: Wake Forest by 7

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