Picking Every Bowl: Holiday Bowl, UCLA vs. N.C. State (CANCELED)

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
December 28
UCLA (8-4) vs. N.C. State (9-3), Petco Park, San Diego, 8 p.m., FOX
N.C. State -2 – O/U 60

In a sea of bowl games that lack significance, the Holiday Bowl has always been an indicator that the “real” bowl season is upon us. Since 1978, the Holiday Bowl has only been played four times without at least one ranked team — and this year continues the positive trend. N.C. State is ranked No. 18 in every poll and enters this game as a slight favorite over UCLA. When the Bruins have the ball, it’s strength against strength, as UCLA is a powerful rushing team, led by 1,000-yard rusher Zach Charbonnet, going against the Wolfpack’s mostly effective rushing defense. The Bruins can also pass when they need to, and the result of the relative offensive balance is about 37 points per game. N.C. State should be several good stops, so I’d expect a bit less than that tonight. On the other side of the ball, it’s strength against weakness. UCLA is good against the run, but N.C. State won’t be worrying much about that, because the Wolfpack is terrible at rushing the ball. They focus their efforts on the passing game, where they rank No. 19 in the nation — and UCLA has its biggest defensive struggles. This could turn into a bit of a track meet, with UCLA pounding the ball at N.C. State, and the Wolfpack winging it down the field at will. The Bruins may have a bit of a local advantage playing fairly close to home, but the Wolfpack definitely look like the stronger — and more consistent — team here.
Prediction: N.C. State 34-31
Result: Canceled (UCLA waited until four hours before the game to reveal that it was having a COVID-19 outbreak, leaving both N.C. State and the Holiday Bowl in the lurch.)

Record:
Bowl season: SU – 10-7; ATS – 7-10-0; O/U – 8-9-0
Overall: SU – 602-188; ATS – 374-330-6; O/U – 339-359-12

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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