NFL
By: Brock Vierra
Allegiant Stadium will once again be home to the Las Vegas Bowl. The annual game, played since 1992 will host the Utah Utes (8-4) of the Pac-12 and the Northwestern Wildcats (7-5) of the Big 10. Utah, a perennial contender, won back to back Pac-12 championships in 2021 and 2022. Northwestern, a massive surprise in 2023, the Wildcats overcame a massive offseason scandal to overachieve and become bowl eligible for the first time since 2020. Here’s what to expect.
Utah’s excellent defense hid glaring offensive weaknesses
Utah got a tough roll of the dice when starting QB Cam Rising entered the season listed as questionable in the Utes season opener against Florida. Rising ended up being out for the entire year as backup Bryson Barnes was called upon the steady the ship. Barnes was unable to match the performance of Rising and it showed, however he remains the Utes best option. Barnes missed Utah’s season finale but is expected to play in the Las Vegas Bowl
Ja’Quinden Jackson was Utah’s best offensive threat. The running back hauled in 742 yards and 4 touchdowns off of 153 carries. His efforts were supplemented by Jaylon Glover who had 513 yards for 2 touchdowns on 121 carries. Devaughn Vele was Barnes’ top target, bringing in 43 catches for 593 yards and three touchdowns.
Utah was led by their defense. Longtime defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley’s experience helped Utah grind out wins despite the shortfalls of their offense. The defense allowed 17.1 points per game, while forcing 15 turnovers or about one per game. Jonah Elliss is the star of this defense. The defensive end has 12 sacks and 37 total tackles in 2023. He is paired with Connor O’Toole and Logan Fano in the pass rushing department. Fano and O’Toole combined for 8 sacks. Landar Barton and Cole Bishop are tied for the lead in team inceptions at two a piece.
A surprisingly efficient offense and a hard nosed defense spurred Northwestern’s surprise season
As I’m sure many were aware, Northwestern has not been a good football team. 3-9 in 2021 and 1-11 in 2022 should’ve costed Pat Fitzgerald his job but it was actually their journalism school that took out the Northwestern legend. A scandal seemed to sink the Wildcats’ season before their first game but interim HC David Braun did what he needed to do to make Northwestern competitive and he was rewarded with the fulltime job. The former North Dakota State DC has injected the Bison defensive identity into Northwestern. Braun’s efforts won him the Big 10 Coach of the Year award.
Northwestern gave up only 23 points per game. Compared to the 28.3 points per game Northwestern gave up in 2022, a five point improvement was a massive jump for one year. However it was the offense that had the biggest improvement. Averaging just 13.75 points in 2022, Northwestern behind the excellent play of running back Cam Porter, number one target Cam Johnson and the duo of Michigan transfer A.J. Henning and senior Bryce Kirtz, they put up 22.75 points per game.
The massive improvements gave Northwestern a 5-4 conference record and second place in the Big 10 West standings. The team that won the division was Iowa who Northwestern only lost to by 3. They are legit and are deserving of their spot in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Who wins the Las Vegas Bowl?
The winner of the Las Vegas Bowl will be determined by defense, field position and preventing turnovers. My pick. Utah. As much as I applaud Northwestern on such an impressive year, the Utes are too much for the Wildcats. In every metric for which you could compare two teams, Utah is the better program in every category.
Utah has superior coaching, the superior roster and the numbers to back it up. They only need to travel one state away, they’ll have home field advantage in terms of the crowd and there are levels to college football. These teams are not on the same one.
Utah wins through tough defense and field goals. Utah 30-10. A second straight Las Vegas Bowl for the disappearing Pac-12.
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