Motor City Bowl News and Notes

Motor City Bowl
By Brian Edwards

The bowl season takes a one-day break on Christmas Day, but the action resumes Friday night in Detroit for the Motor City Bowl. Central Michigan from out of the MAC will take on Florida Atlantic of the Sun Belt Conference at Ford Field.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Central Michigan (8-4 straight up, 6-5 against the spread) as a seven-point favorite with a total of 63. As of Christmas Eve, CMU was still seven and the total was adjusted to 65 at most spots. The Owls are plus-220 on the money line (risk $100 to win $220).

After starting the season with an abysmal 1-5 record, Florida Atlantic (6-6 SU, 7-5 ATS) won five of its last six regular-season games to get bowl eligible. The Owls cashed tickets at a 4-2 clip during their surge to the postseason.

They finished the year with a 57-50 home win over Florida International as 5½-point favorites. FAU quarterback Rusty Smith threw for 389 yards and five touchdowns. Cortez Gent had seven receptions for 108 yards and three TDs, while Jamari Grant hauled in seven catches for 80 yards and a pair of TDs.

Central Michigan took a six-game winning streak into a Nov. 19 home game vs. then-undefeated Ball State. However, the Cardinals came into Mt. Pleasant and captured a 31-24 victory to eliminate the Chippewas from MAC championship contention.

Perhaps suffering from a Ball St. hangover, CMU then lost its regular-season finale 56-52 at Eastern Michigan. The Eagles collected the upset victory as 10-point home underdogs.

CMU’s offense couldn’t be blamed for the loss, however. Junior quarterback Dan LeFevour threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, while wide receiver Antonio Brown had seven receptions for 172 yards and one TD.

LeFevour is one of the nation’s premier QBs, throwing for 2,531 yards and producing an excellent 19/5 touchdown-interception ratio in 2008. He amassed those numbers despite missing a pair of games. Brown was LeFevour’s favorite target, bringing down 82 receptions for 906 yards and six TDs.

LeFevour can get it done through the air or with his scrambling ability. He led CMU in rushing this year, gaining 536 yards on the ground to go with six touchdowns. Ontario Sneed is CMU’s featured back. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry and found paydirt eight times on his way to 519 rushing yards for the year.

In his first two seasons at CMU, LeFevour led the Chippewas to back-to-back MAC titles and threw for at least 3,000 yards and 26 TDs. This could be his farewell performance, as there is the possibility that he’ll bolt early for the NFL Draft.

That won’t be the case for FAU’s Smith, the junior signal caller who couldn’t duplicate his 2007 numbers (32/9 TD-INT ratio). Smith played strong down the stretch to finish the regular season with a 22/14 touchdown-interception ratio, but his play wasn’t nearly as productive as the previous year.

He completed 53.5 percent of his throws in 2008 compared to 58.7 percent in 2007. Smith’s passing yards were also down, going from 3,688 to just 2,918. Gent remained his favorite target, hauling in 53 catches for 837 yards and eight TDs.

As the Owls were prepping for their trip to Motown, they were hit with bad news when four starters were ruled academically ineligible. Junior OG Kevin Miller and senior OT Brandon Jackson are out along with senior LB Andre Clark and place-kicker Warley Leroy.

Clark was FAU’s fourth-leading tackler with 71 stops. Jackson had 34 career starts to his credit, while Miller had started 11 of 12 games this season. Ross Gornall, who has handled kick-off duties most of the year, will sub for Leroy.

FAU head coach Howard Schnellenberger is a program builder. Remember, he brought the Miami Hurricanes to prominence in the early 1980s and led them to their first national championship in an epic Orange Bowl win over Nebraska.

After bolting to the USFL for millions of dollars, Schnellenberger returned to the college game and built Louisville into a winner. He went into retirement after an unsuccessful one-year stint at Oklahoma, only to emerge a decade ago at the Boca Raton school to start the program from scratch.

In FAU’s eighth season of play, it is in a bowl game for the second straight year. The Owls enjoyed their breakout season in 2007, winning the Sun Belt and beating Memphis 44-27 as three-point favorites in the New Orleans Bowl.

The Owls have been underdogs six times this season, posting a 2-4 spread record. CMU has compiled a 2-2 ATS mark in four games as a single-digit ‘chalk.’

The ‘under’ is 8-4 overall for FAU, but CMU has seen the ‘over’ go 6-5.

Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern Friday on ESPN.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--Schnellenberger owns a 5-0 all-time record in bowl games, winning two apiece at Miami and Louisville before last season’s win in New Orleans.

--This is CMU’s third straight trip to the Motor City Bowl. The Chippewas took the cash in both previous appearances. They lost a 51-48 decision to Purdue last year, hooking up their backers as 7 ½-point underdogs. In 2006, CMU trounced Middle Tennessee 31-14 as an eight-point ‘chalk.’

--CMU hasn’t lost three straight games since October of 2004.

--The ‘over’ is 3-1 in CMU’s last four games.

--Although Boise State lost a 17-16 decision to TCU in Tuesday’s Poinsettia Bowl, the Broncos took the cash as three-point underdogs. During Chris Petersen’s three-year tenure, Boise St. owns a 4-1 ATS record when listed as an underdog.

vegasinsider.com

What bettors need to know: Motor City Bowl
By DOC'S SPORTS

Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan (-6.5, 63)

Line movement

At many books, the line has jumped from 6.5 to 7 with the over/under also rising a half-point to a point from its opening.

Bowl history

It’s the third straight Motor City Bowl for the Chips, who lost in a shootout to Purdue last year and beat Middle Tennessee State in 2006 (their only bowl win in four tries all-time).

The Owls have been in one bowl in their history, beating Memphis in last season’s New Orleans Bowl.

How they got here

CMU ended the season on a two-game losing streak, falling at Ball State in a result that wasn’t surprising and then losing at Eastern Michigan in one that was a surprise.

FAU won five of its final six games (against teams with a combined record of 18-42) to get bowl-eligible. Both teams allowed at least 50 points in their regular season finales, although FAU won.

Key trends

The Chips tend to bounce back well from losses, going 9-2-1 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight-up loss.

The under also looks good here at 9-1 in CMU’s past 10 games as a favorite of 3.5-10 points and it’s 6-0 in FAU’s past six games as an underdog. FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger is 5-0 in bowl games in his 24 seasons as a college coach.

Plenty of offense

Despite the under trends, it’s hard to imagine these teams not putting up a lot of points. Behind QB Rusty Smith, the 2007 Sun Belt Player of the Year, FAU scored at least 40 points in three of its past four games. Smith (2,918 yards, 22 TDs, 14 INTs) led the Sun Belt in passing for the second straight season and will face a CMU pass defense, which is ranked No. 118 in the country.

Owls running back Charles Pierre is averaging more than 103 yards per game in the last six.

CMU’s offense ranks No. 24 in Division I by averaging 427.1 yards per game. QB Dan LeFevour, the 2006 Motor City Bowl MVP, finished third in the Mid-American Conference with 253.1 passing yards per game.

FAU’s pass defense is 80th in the nation, giving up 219.1 yards per game.

Game outlook

This game looks like a bit of a mismatch for the Chips and CMU will have home-field advantage with FAU only expecting to bring about 1,500 fans from Boca Raton.

The Motor City Bowl set attendance records the past two seasons with the Chippewas competing (the campus is about 150 miles from Ford Field) and it looks like Central Michigan might avoid its first three-game losing streak since 2004.

SCORING IS PEDAL TO METAL IN MOTOR CITY
NYPOST.COM

DETROIT - The Motor City Bowl is where teams put points on the board.

Last year's game was the second-highest scoring bowl game in NCAA history. Today's game between Central Michigan and Florida Atlantic could be more of the same.

Central Michigan lost the 2007 Motor City Bowl 51-48 to Purdue on a last-second field goal. It finished this year with a 56-52 loss to Eastern Michigan.

In that game, Eagles quarterback Andy Schmitt completed 58 of 80 passes for 516 yards and five touchdowns. The teams combined for 1,171 yards of offense.

"We ran into a great quarterback having the game of his life," Central Michigan coach Butch Jones said. "We've had to live with the taste of that game in our mouths for a month now."

Florida Atlantic's last game wasn't any more sedate - the Owls beat Florida International 57-50 in overtime.

"I've been in this game for a long, long time," said 74-year-old Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger. "But I've never seen anything like that game. I would have never believed that you could have a 50-50 tie after 60 minutes of football."

Both teams are led by record-setting junior quarterbacks - Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour and Florida Atlantic's Rusty Smith. They have combined for more than 130 touchdown passes in their careers, with LeFevour adding another 32 on the ground.

This year, LeFevour has thrown for 2,531 yards and 19 touchdowns despite missing two games with an ankle injury. Smith has put up 2,919 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Schnellenberger, who coached quarterbacks like Joe Namath, Bob Griese and Jim Kelly, is impressed.

"These are two powerful offenses, led by outstanding quarterbacks," Schnellenberger said. "Neither Dan nor Rusty were star recruits coming out of high school, but they both came in, won jobs right away and are having great careers."

Central Michigan's biggest advantage might be its experience at Ford Field. LeFevour led the team to Mid-American Conference championship-game victories there in 2006 and 2007, and the Chippewas went 1-1 in the Motor City Bowl over the same two years.

Florida Atlantic (6-6, 6-5-1 ATS) vs. Central Michigan (8-4, 5-4-2 ATS) (at Detroit)

Florida Atlantic will try to continue its amazing late-season run when it takes on Central Michigan in the 12th annual Motor City Bowl at Detroit’s Ford Field.

After opening the season 1-5 (3-3 ATS), Florida Atlantic went 5-1 over the last six weeks (3-2-1 ATS) to earn its second consecutive postseason bid. However, the Owls needed to work overtime to seal this bowl berth, beating Florida International 57-50 as a 5½-point favorite in the regular-season finale on Nov. 29. FAU scored 28 fourth-quarter points and got 389 passing yards and five TD passes from QB Rusty Smith in the victory.

Central Michigan ended its two-year reign atop the West Division of the Mid-American Conference, as Ball State took the division crown with a 31-24 win over the Chippewas on Nov. 19 as six-point favorites. The Chippewas then finished the season with a 56-52 loss at Eastern Michigan as a 10-point favorite and are now looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 2004.

Florida Atlantic, which finished tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference, two games behind Troy, beat Memphis 44-27 in last year’s New Orleans Bowl, cashing as 3½-point favorites. With that win, Owls coach Howard Schnellenberger improved to 5-0 SU and ATS all-time in bowl games.

This is Central Michigan’s third straight trip to the Motor City Bowl, losing last year’s game 51-48 to Purdue but cashing in as a 7½-point underdog. Butch Jones’ squad is 1-1 SU (2-0 ATS) in this bowl game. Including two Motor City Bowls and two MAC Championship games, the Chippewas have played four times at Ford Field since the end of the 2006 season, going 3-1 SU and 4-0 ATS.

This figures to be a high-scoring affair, giving both teams’ explosive offenses and shaky defenses. Central Michigan averages 30.2 points and 427.1 total yards per game, but gives up 30.8 points and 424.2 yards per contest. Meanwhile, the Owls put up 25.2 points and 391.8 yards per game, but allow 29.3 points and 401.5 total yards per outing.

Florida Atlantic is just 1-4 ATS in its last five after a spread-cover and 2-4 ATS as an underdog this season, but the Owls are 5-2 ATS in their last seven after a straight-up win. The Chippewas are on a host of solid ATS streaks, including 29-11-5 overall, 17-6-3 as a favorite and 8-1-2 after a non-cover, but they’re just 1-3-1 ATS as a chalk this season (0-2-1 ATS as a road favorite).

The Owls are on “under” streaks of 7-3 overall, 4-1 in non-conference games and 6-0 as an underdog. Conversely, the Chippewas are on “over” runs of 14-6 overall, 10-2 following a straight-up loss, 6-1 in non-conference games and 7-1 after a non-cover, but the under is 3-1 in their four games at Ford Field going back to 2006.

ATS ADVANTAGE: CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Gametimepicks.com

Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan
by Carlo Campanella

The Motor City Bowl features a match-up of the preseason favorites to win the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Sun Belt Conference. However, both teams fell short of those preseason expectations, yet can finish the year with a Bowl victory. Both teams are led by experienced quarterbacks in Florida Atlantic's Rusty Smith and Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour. With this game being played on Ford Field in Detroit, Central Michigan will own a "home state" advantage. We find Central Michigan at 4-3 SU on the road compared to FAU's 3-5 SU road record. The oddsmakers had opened the point spread on this bowl game with Central Michigan favored by 4 points, however, the early money poured in on the Chippewas squad, moving the line currently to as high as 7 points at some sportsbooks.

Florida Atlantic ended the regular season at 6-6 SU & 7-5 ATS after embarking on an ambitious non-conference schedule. They opened the year with 6 of their first 8 games on the road, the first three coming against Texas, Michigan State and Minnesota. Losing all three of those games, FAU looked like they were out of the Bowl hunt before winning 5 of their final 6 games when facing easier foes. The Owls did win the close games down the stretch when it counted most: 3 of their 5 wins were by seven points or less. While Head Coach Howard Schnellenberger has his squad packing for a Bowl game, fans will note that this year's team has NOT defeated a team with a winning record, which has been a major cause for concern. Florida Atlantic played in several high scoring shootouts this year, as they averaged 25.2 points per game, while their defense allowed 29.3 points per game. Vegas has listed the Total on this Bowl match-up at 63 points, but players should consider the fact that Florida Atlantic has gone "Under" in all 6 games in the Dog role this year.

Finishing the season at 8-4 SU & 6-5 ATS, Central Michigan has become one of the most consistent programs in the MAC, winning the Conference crown each of the past two seasons. A large factor in that consistency has been the play of QB Dan LeFevour, who once again was the team’s leading rusher. CMU has made a habit of playing close games this season. Their last 10 games were all decided by 10 points or less. In fact, five of the Chippewas’ wins have been by three points or less! CMU’s defense has been the major problem, allowing 30.7 points per game, including 30 points or more in their final four games. It's not shocking that they played so many close games as their offense averaged a very similar 30.2 points per game.

In terms of schedule difficulty, both teams have played a similar slate. While we mentioned that Florida Atlantic had faced some tough foes on the road early this year, Central Michigan's non-conference schedule featured trips to face one of the tougher teams in the SEC in Georgia and the Big Ten's Purdue. Florida Atlantic definitely finished the year stronger than did the Chippewas, entering this after winning 3 of their last 4 outright while CMU dropped their final two games, including a 56-52 upset loss on the road to in-state rival Eastern Michigan as 11 point favorites in their final game of the year. It should be noted that Central Michigan might have been looking ahead to this Bowl appearance and may turn things around on Friday as we find them at 6-0 ATS in the second of back-to-back road games the last two seasons.

2008 Motor City Bowl Preview
by Matt Severance

Florida Atlantic (6-6) vs. Central Michigan (8-4)
Conference matchup: Sun Belt vs. Mid-American
When: Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Location: Ford Field, Detroit
Spread: CMU -6.5; total at 63

Line movement: At many books, the line has jumped from 6.5 to 7, with the over/under also rising a half-point to a point from its opening.

Bowl history: It’s the third straight Motor City Bowl for the Chips, who lost in a shootout to Purdue last year and beat Middle Tennessee State in 2006 - their only bowl win in four tries all-time. The Owls have been in one bowl in their history, beating Memphis in last season’s New Orleans Bowl.

How they got here: CMU ended the season on a two-game losing streak, falling at Ball State in a result that wasn’t surprising and then losing at Eastern Michigan in one that was a surprise. FAU won five of its final six games (against teams with a combined record of 18-42) to get bowl-eligible. Both teams allowed at least 50 points in their regular-season finales, although FAU won.

Key trends: The Chips tend to bounce back well from losses, going 9-2-1 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight-up loss. The under also looks good here, as it’s 9-1 in CMU’s past 10 games as a favorite of 3.5-10 points; the under also is 6-0 in FAU’s past six games as an underdog. FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger is 5-0 in bowl games in his 24 seasons as a college coach.

Plenty of offense: Despite those under trends just above, it’s hard to imagine these teams not putting up a lot of points. Behind QB Rusty Smith, the 2007 Sun Belt Player of the Year, FAU scored at least 40 points in three of its past four games. Smith (2,918 yards, 22 TDs, 14 INTs) led the Sun Belt in passing for the second straight season and will face a CMU pass defense, which is ranked No. 118 in the country. Owls running back Charles Pierre has been on a roll, averaging more than 103 yards per game in the last six. Incidentally, FAU offensive coordinator Gary Nord will be on the sideline for the Owls despite having already accepted the same position at Purdue.

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CMU’s offense ranks No. 24 in Division I by averaging 427.1 yards per game. QB Dan LeFevour, the 2006 Motor City Bowl MVP, finished third in the Mid-American Conference with 253.1 passing yards per game. He threw for 2,531 yards and 19 touchdowns and was the Chips’ leading rusher this year with 536 yards and six scores. Sophomore WR Antonio Brown was the MAC leader in all-purpose yards. FAU’s pass defense is 80th in the nation, giving up 219.1 yards per game.

Overview: This game looks like a bit of a mismatch for the Chips, and CMU certainly will have home-field advantage with FAU only expecting to bring about 1,500 fans from Boca Raton. The Motor City Bowl set attendance records the past two seasons with the Chippewas competing (the campus is about 150 miles from Ford Field) and it looks like Central Michigan might avoid its first three-game losing streak since 2004.

Docsports.com