Picking Every Bowl: Myrtle Beach Bowl, Old Dominion vs. Tulsa

Myrtle Beach Bowl
Old Dominion (6-6) vs. Tulsa (6-6), Brooks Stadium, Conway, S.C., 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Tulsa -9 – O/U 52.5

This game is a case study in why there are too many bowl games. Of course, some would argue that it’s a perfect example of why the lesser bowls serve as incentives and rewards for teams that get hot late in the season. Both of these teams were headed for bowl ineligibility before late-season winning streaks. Old Dominion was 1-6 before winning its last five games, while Tulsa was 3-6 before winning out to break even for the year. That said, both teams largely preyed on losing competition in order to reach that magic 6-6 plateau. Old Dominion lost six games to bowl teams by an average score of 36-19. In that five-game winning streak, the Monarchs played only one bowl team (Middle Tennessee) and won those games by an average of 36-22. Tulsa’s track record is very similar, as the Golden Hurricane lost by an average 30-18 and won by an average of 34-25. And Tulsa only beat two bowl teams (Memphis and SMU). That said, the Golden Hurricane did put a scare into both Cincinnati and Ohio State before eventually being worn down. Being battle-tested tends to matter when you reach bowl season. Tulsa’s balanced offensive attack will keep it slightly ahead of the Monarchs, and the Golden Hurricane will salt the game away with power running in the final minutes.
Prediction: Tulsa 31-24
Result: Tulsa 30-17
Old Dominion was about three feet away from making this prediction spot-on. In the fourth quarter, Ali Jennings caught a perfect pass from Hayden Wolff, but cornerback Tyon Davis knocked the ball loose about one yard short of the goal line. The ball tumbled out of bounds in the end zone and went back to Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane promptly drove the ball the length of the field to take a 30-10 lead. The Tulsa offensive attack was, indeed, balanced, picking up 529 total yards, and led by QB Davis Brin’s passing 285 yards and two touchdowns.

Record:
Bowl season: SU – 6-4; ATS – 3-7-0; O/U – 5-5-0
Overall: SU – 600-186; ATS – 372-328-6; O/U – 338-356-12

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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