Picking Every Bowl: Boca Raton Bowl, Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State

Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
Western Kentucky (8-5) vs. Appalachian State (10-3), FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, Fla., 11 a.m., ESPN
Appalachian State -3 – O/U 67.5

Appalachian State doesn’t lose bowl games. The Mountaineers have been to a bowl every season in which they’ve been eligible, and they’ve won all six. That will eventually have to change, but until it does, I’ll always pick them to win. Of course, that streak could end this year. Western Kentucky’s passing attack is high-octane, and the Hilltoppers are more than good enough to win this game. QB Bailey Zappe will attack the Mountaineers’ secondary early and often, and he’ll have a lot of success. On the other side, Appalachian State will run the ball over, around and through a vulnerable Western Kentucky defense, and that will allow the Mountaineers to control the pace and wear down the Hilltopper defense. It could go either way, but like I said, until Appalachian State loses a bowl game, I’m going with the Mountaineers in a close one.
Prediction: Appalachian State 41-34
Result: Western Kentucky 59 -38.
As I said, it could go either way, and both teams put on an offensive display. Appalachian State put up 609 yards of offense … AND turned the ball over four times. The Hilltopper picked up 637 yards, including 422 yards and six TDs through the air by QB Bailey Zappe.

Record:
Bowl season: SU – 1-2; ATS – 1-2-0; O/U – 2-1-0
Overall: SU – 595-184; ATS – 370-323-6; O/U – 335-352-12

About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.

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