College Football: Bowl season has arrived

Good morning and happy Saturday New York Giants fans!

The college football regular season might be over, but that doesn’t mean that we’re done with collegiate football. There are still 40 more games to be played before all is said and done, annual slate post-season games which make up Bowl Season got started this week.

First up was Charlotte vs. Buffalo in the Bahamas Bowl on Friday afternoon, which was followed by Kent State vs. Utah State in the Miami Beach Bowl.

Buffalo took the Bahamas bowl with a dominant 31-9 win, while Utah state fell to Kent state 51-41.

I hope you took the time to watch the Miami Beach Bowl, as Utah State quarterback Jordan Love could be one of the “surprise” risers at the quarterback position over the course of the draft process. He isn’t an efficient quarterback, but it is almost a given that scouts and GMs will fall in love with his stature, arm talent, and athletic ability as they get to see him in person.

Today we have another six games as Bowl Season gets started in earnest.

• New Mexico Bowl - Central Michigan at San Diego State
  ESPN - 2 p.m.
• Cure Bowl - Liberty at Georgia Southern
  CBS Sports - 2:30 p.m.
• Boca Raton Bowl - SMU at Florida Atlantic
  ABC - 3:30 p.m.
• Camelia Bowl - Florida International at Arkansas State
  ESPN - 5:30 p.m.
• New Orleans Bowl - Appalachian State (20) at UAB
  ESPN - 9 p.m.

Las Vegas Bowl - Boise State (19) at Washington

ABC - 7:30 p.m.

All due respect to the other bowl games played so far, this is clearly the marquee game. While Washington came into the season with high expectations, they stumbled over the course of the year and finished with a 7-5 record. Boise State, however, came within 3 points of having an undefeated season.

Both team have NFL talent on their rosters and could see players drafted as highly as the first round. The most notable are Washington quarterback Jacob Eason who has a big frame, a big arm, and a willingness to challenge defenses and give his receivers a chance to make the play — of course that willingness can be prone to tipping over into overconfidence.

On the other side of the ball is Boise State EDGE Curtis Weaver, who has risen as more people have watched Boise State’s tape. He has a good first step, plenty of power, and is a reliable run defender, all of which has him creeping into several lists of the top-5 EDGE players in the draft.

It should be noted that Washington OT Trey Adams and TE Hunter Bryant have elected to sit out the game as they prepare for the NFL Draft.

Players To Watch

Boise State

• Curtis Weaver (EDGE)
• John Hightower (WR)
• Ezra Cleveland (OT)

Washington

• Jacob Eason (QB)
• Nick Harris (OC)
• Aaron Fuller (WR)
• Myles Bryant (CB)