The 2012 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl will see the NC State Wolfpack take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in a matchup between ACC and SEC schools. The game takes place in Nashville, Tennessee and will has a start time of 12:00 p.m. Currently the odds for the game have Vanderbilt favored by a touchdown.
This matchup is actually quite better than it might look on paper. We have a pair of teams that both played tough schedules and might be better football programs than people give them credit for. This is a New Year's Eve bowl and the opening game of the day.
Vandy might be one of the hottest teams in the country, and certainly the hottest team no one in America is talking about. The Commodores started 0-2 overall and 2-4 to the season, losing to Georgia, Florida, Northwestern and South Carolina — all bowl teams. Then they reeled off six straight wins to end the regular season, clearly taking advantage of the second half of the schedule. Vandy averaged 29 points per game, including just 33 combined points in three losses to South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. They're not a bad football team.
Coach James Franklin has led the team to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history. The Commodores will look to leadership in this game from QB Jordan Rodgers, who threw two touchdown passes in each of the last five games. He'll look to pick apart an NC State defense that gave up 62 points to Clemson, 44 to Miami and 43 to North Carolina. A win in this game would be the team's ninth, matching the single-season record set most recently in 1915.
The Commodores defense was pretty impressive this season, especially playing in the SEC. They gave up just 18 points per game the entire year. Offensively, they are pretty balanced overall, throwing for more than 220 yards and rushing for over 170 yards per game on average.
NC State kinda stumbles into this one, losers of three of their last five games. However, they did end Florida State's run at an undefeated season midway through the year and that clearly is the staple win for the Wolfpack this season. NC State just hired Dave Doeren, who led a Northern Illinois team that is playing in the Orange Bowl this season. It's not clear yet whether or not Doeren will coach the Huskies in their BCS game, but it's noted that he won't take over for the Wolfpack in their bowl game. This year the Wolfpack relied heavily on the pass, racking up more than 300 yards per game. They don't run the ball very well, collecting just 116 yards per game on average.
Mike Glennon was pretty solid this season and has been dubbed as an NFL-type guy. He led the ACC with 3,648 passing yards and finishing second with 30 TDs.
NC State has been good in bowl games recently, winning five of their last six appearances dating back to the 2002 season. N.C. State beat West Virginia 23-7 in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl and Louisville 31-24 in last season's Belk Bowl.
Free Pick: Vanderbilt 31, NC State 27
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