Motor City Bowl Preview

By Tim Cottrell
Sports Writer/Designer
Published: December 25, 2008

You may wonder why I didn’t find the time to preview the Hawaii Bowl, which featured Notre Dame, while I am finding time to preview this one.

Part of the answer to that is this: A bowl this bad deserves a preview from yours truly.

Now, this might not be a bad game. Both teams have good quarterbacks and fairly strong offenses. But a 6-6 Sun Belt team and a team that just allowed 56 points to Eastern Michigan don’t exactly make for a compelling matchup. This game and the poor Independence Bowl are in a dead heat for worst bowl matchup ever, although now that I think about it that dishonor might go to the 2004 Silicon Valley Classic. That Northern Illinois-Troy clash was bad enough it killed the bowl.

But still, as I said in my first thoughts on the bowls: Don’t the good people of Detroit deserve better than this?

Here are the vitals:

Central Michigan Chippewas: 4th place in the MAC, 8-4 (6-2 conference)

Tangible stuff: The Chippewas may be in a bit of a freefall. After failing to knock off Ball State while wearing the worst uniforms ever, non-Oregon division, they wound up losing, 56-52, to Eastern Michigan, who came into the game with a 2-9 record and a lame-duck coach. But they do still have the Tebow of the MAC, Dan LeFevour. Last year LeFevour became one of only three players ever to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 (the other two being Tebow and Vince Young). His numbers haven’t been quite as good this year, but he’s still a pretty special player, at least for where he is. Wide receivers Antonio Brown and Bryan Anderson both came pretty close to the 1,000-yard mark. The defense hasn’t been particularly good.

Other stuff: CMU was one of a few schools to avoid the heavy hand of the NCAA in its anti-Indian nickname crusade of a few years ago. This is their third straight trip to the Motor City Bowl. I’m sure they’re thrilled to be back.

Central Michigan schedule/results:

8/28 Thu vs. Eastern Illinois W 31 12
9/6 Sat @ Georgia L 17 56
9/13 Sat @ *Ohio W 31 28
9/20 Sat @ Purdue L 25 32
9/27 Sat vs. *Buffalo W 27 25
10/11 Sat vs. *Temple W 24 14
10/18 Sat vs. *Western Michigan W 38 28
10/25 Sat @ *Toledo W 24 23
11/1 Sat @ Indiana W 37 34
11/12 Wed @ *Northern Illinois W 33 30
11/19 Wed vs. *Ball State L 24 31
11/28 Fri @ *Eastern Michigan L 52 56

Florida Atlantic Owls: 4th place in Sub Belt, 6-6 (4-3 conference)

Tangible stuff: The Owls were a pretty big disappointment in 2008. They were my (and most others) pick to win the conference, and proceeded to lose to everyone of note they played (and some not so much of note). Quarterback Rusty Smith’s numbers were down, but the defense actually played pretty well in all but a few games (one of them being Texas, so that’s excused). Frantz Joseph is both an awesome name and an awesome linebacker. Running back Charles Pierre and wide receiver Cortez Grant each had pretty big years.

Other stuff: The Owls don’t even sort of belong here. Louisiana-LaFayette had a better conference record and Arkansas State tied with them AND beat them, yet neither of those teams are in a bowl. They are still coached by Howard Schnellenberger. At least one of their opponents think the Owls are a tinge on the dirty side.

Florida Atlantic schedule/results:

8/30 Sat @ Texas L 10 52
9/6 Sat vs. Alabama-Birmingham W 49 34
9/13 Sat @ Michigan State L 0 17
9/20 Sat @ Minnesota L 3 37
9/30 Tue @ *Middle Tennessee State L 13 14
10/7 Tue vs. *Troy L 17 30
10/18 Sat @ *Western Kentucky W 24 20
10/25 Sat @ *Louisiana-Monroe W 29 28
11/8 Sat vs. *North Texas W 46 13
11/15 Sat vs. *Louisiana-Lafayette W 40 29
11/22 Sat @ *Arkansas State L 14 28
11/29 Sat vs. *Florida International W 57 50 @ Miami, FL

The matchup: You should pretty much expect a lot of scoring. Both teams are strong on offense, and while the FAU defense has played well at times it hasn’t shown it can cope with a good offense.

The pick: Central Michigan 45, Florida Atlantic 34