Hawaii Bowl: Fresno State tries to break its bowl losing streak against Rice

Hawaii Bowl
Fresno State (6-7) vs. Rice (7-5)
Honolulu
Dec 24, 2014

The reason this bowl was ranked the worst of all the bowls this season by the Dr. Saturday staff is pretty simple — it’s not a good game and these are not good teams.

Both team’s records are products of subpar teams playing even worse teams and scraping by with wins. Fresno State got into its conference title game just because it wasn’t as bad as everyone else, though it did nearly blow a 28-0 lead against Hawaii, which would have cost the Bulldogs that championship spot. Rice had a chance to play for its conference title but lost 76-31 to Louisiana Tech in the final game of the regular season. In fact, of Rice’s seven wins, only one came against a team with a winning record and that was UTEP.

So now we bring these mediocre teams together and hope that the beautiful backdrop of Hawaii will somehow make this game just a little bit better.

Fresno State has been here before. Two years ago, SMU beat up the Bulldogs in the Hawaii Bowl. Fresno State also lost to USC in its bowl game last year.

Fresno State does have two dynamic players in running back Marteze Waller, who has rushed for 1,292 yards and 11 touchdowns, and receiver Josh Harper, who leads the Bulldogs with 86 catches for 1,072 yards. However, Fresno State’s hopes of winning this game will rest on quarterback Bryan Burrell, who has played inconsistently all season, He threw three interceptions against Boise State in the Mountain West title game and two against Hawaii in the game before that. These performances were after he had the best game of his season in a 40-20 win against Nevada.

Rice actually has the longest active bowl streak in Conference USA at three games, but the Owls lost 44-7 to Mississippi State in the Liberty Bowl last season. It did win its previous two bowl games, however.

These teams are evenly matched on paper, so it might be a back and forth defensive affair. The team that can stop the run could have the advantage as neither Burrell or Rice quarterback Driphus Jackson has been consistent this season.

Vegas odds: Rice (-2.5)

FUN FACT

Fresno State is the only team to earn a bowl berth this season despite a sub .500 record.

PREDICTIONS

Graham: Is it possible not to like anyone in a game? I’m giving the nod to Fresno State simply because the competition it faced was better than what Rice face. Also, Josh Harper and Marteze Waller can be difference-makers. Fresno State 24, Rice 21.

Nick: Is there anything better than watching this game on Christmas Eve? OK, it depends on how much you like your family and how addicted to college football you are. The pick here is to go with the team that's above .500. Rice 30, Fresno State 20.

Sam: Fresno has lost bowl games in the last two years in embarrassing fashion, but I can't bring myself to pick a Rice squad that just gave up 76 points to Louisiana Tech. Fresno State 31, Rice 24 .

For more Rice news, visit OwlsInsider.com.

For more Fresno State news, visit FSBulldogs.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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