The ESPN college football bowl season starts up again on Friday with the Syracuse Orange taking on the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the game will be at Reliant Stadium and streaming online from TV on the WatchESPN website and the matchups begins at 6 pm and is one of a number of games on the schedule after the Christmas Day break.
Syracuse comes into the game after a victory against the Boston College Eagles and Minnesota comes into the matchup after losing their final game of the season to Michigan State, who is now in the BCS playing against Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Terrel Hunt has played well for the Orange this season and he has over 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year, while the team has gotten some strong play out of running back Jerome Smith, who helped the team rank in the top 10 in the conference in rushing this past season.
The Orange are ranked 38th nationally in rushing yards per game and the team has been gaining nearly 200 yards per contest and Smith comes in with 840 yards and an impressive 11 scores this year on the schedule. The two teams faced off last season and he had over 50 yards rushing and the team now comes in with a solid battle against a tough Minnesota defense that ranked in the top part of the nation in points allowed this season.
Check here for the Syracuse and Minnesota live coverage.
Mitch Leidner took over for quarterback Philip Nelson when he got hurt for the Badgers and this season the team got some very nice play from David Cobb, as he finished in the top six in rushing in the Big Ten conference with over 1,000 yards this season and he also had seven touchdowns on the year in 2013. Nelson left the game against MSU and Leidner now has the chance to step up for the team and Syracuse will be bringing it on the ground and it could end up being a battle of the running backs.
The Orange comes in with a defense ranked 60th in points allowed with 26 per game and they are ranked in the top part of the nation in rushing, but not much else. The team won three of its final five games of the season, including a win against Maryland on the road, but the team lost bad against FSU in Tallahassee. Minnesota comes in ranked 27th in the nation in defense and they are gaining over 200 yards per game this season and scoring nearly 30 points per contest.
