Cougars ’embrace’ underdog role against FSU in Peach Bowl

“You can’t see in there”.

Houston is college football’s cinderella this season but do they have the talent to stand toe-to-toe with one of the country’s blue blood programs? However, Golson wasn’t able to duplicate the success he had from Notre Dame, and due to personal reasons, he will not play in the Peach Bowl. For an even more direct comparison, Cook has single-handedly had more rush yards than the opposing team allowed on average in six of the eleven games in which he has played so far this season. After starting off well, key turnovers and a head injury hindered Golson’s play. The Seminoles will face the Houston Cougars (12-1), who won the American Athletic Conference.

According to our friend Vegas Syngery, teams that are getting seven or more points with no more than one loss during the regular season are 27-14 ATS in bowl games.

Radio: Houston (SportsTalk 790); Florida State (WTLY 1270).

In the wake of what Peterson called the worst game ever played by one of his teams, he staged a full pads practice the following day back in Tallahassee.

But a win over Florida State would certainly change things for Houston, especially its doubters. The Cougars have one of the nation’s top offenses, and not many know about it. Ranked 11th nationally in scoring offense, Houston has scored over 50 points four times while being held to 24 or less on only two occasions, one being their lone loss to CT.

While the Cougars are considered the underdog, they seem to relish the role. Ward entered bowl season second only to Navy’s Keenan Reynolds in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 1,034 yards and 19 scores.

If Cook takes over this game – which would not be a surprise at all – Florida State will prove mostly everyone right by winning. Little kids look up to us whether we want them to or not. This game will be a classic bout of power offense verses power defense.

The total has gone under in five of Houston’s last six games.

Fine, fine. But those phony powerhouses from those also-ran conferences never have the same size and speed on defense as the big boys. Dalvin Cook is an elite rusher who will gash the Cougars defense for big gains. While Ward Jr. leads the team in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, he’ll be glad to have Farrow in the backfield. Ward’s also a pretty prolific passer completing 68.1 percent for 2,590 yards, 16 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is set to kickoff at noon on December 31 at the Georgia Dome. FSU’s defense is 16th in the nation in yards allowed while Houston is 53rd.

However, it should be acknowledged that Dalvin Cook will be the most accomplished running back that Houston has faced this season. Cook has also rushed for over 1,000 yards in both of his season’s on-campus at FSU. The Seminoles will need to be on their toes to try and defend both aspects of Ward Jr’s game. Ward Jr. needs to slide, get out of bounds, and minimize his hits against this aggressive defense to ensure that he lasts the whole game and gives Houston its best chance at pulling the upset.

Cook probably should have earned a trip to the Heisman ceremony in NY after leading the ACC with 1,658 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.