The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl will take place on December 26, 2010 at the Ford Center (it used to be the Motor City Bowl for those with long memories) with the Florida International Golden Panthers coming out of the Sun Belt Conference and the Toledo Rockets coming out of the MAC. Get your Little Caesars Bowl tickets to see this game post-Christmas college football bowl game matchup.
The Florida International Panthers finished the 2010 season 6-6, going 6-2 in conference play. That means the Panthers won all there games in the comfort of the Sun Belt Conference, which also resulted in a tie for first place in the conference standings. FIU Head Coach Mario Cristobal runs the spread which is why the Panthers average 213.2 passing yards and 189.2 rushing yards a game and 28.3 points a game. The 4-3 defense gives up 26.9 points a game.
Florida State International's spread is run heavy, but quarterback Wesley Carroll is not one of those spread quarterbacks that doubles as another running back. Carroll threw for 2,438 yards for 7.3 yards a pass and 15 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. Carroll's favorite targets are wide receivers T.Y. Hilton and Greg Ellingson. Hilton has 56 receptions for 816 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ellingson has 36 receptions for 546 yards and 5 touchdowns.
The running game is split between running backs Darriet Perry and Darrian Mallary. Perry has 707 yards and 14 touchdowns, seeming to get the football more often as the Panthers approach goal line. Mallary seems to be the open field guy, running for 669 yards and just 2 touchdowns. The question is: Are the Panthers going to run the spread at the Little Caesars Bowl like they did in non-conference play or conference play?
The Toledo Rockets finished the 2010 college football season 8-4 overall and 7-1 in the MAC. The Rockets are coached by Tim Beckman who has run a team that is averaging 27.6 points a game thanks to 203.5 passing yards and 156 rushing yards a game. Toledo's defense surrenders 28.1 points a game. Those numbers are a bit skewed, especially the defensive number, thanks to two absolute blowout losses (57-14 to Boise State and 65-30 to Northern Illinois).
Toledo's key players are quarterback Terrance Owens, running back Adonis Thomas (905 rushing yards and 6 TD), and wide receiver Eric Page (84 receptions, 1,081 yards, and 8 TD). Owens could be replaced by Austin Dantin, the original starting quarterback who went down with an injury. Why? I do not know. Owens threw for 1,112 yards, 8.18 yards a pass, and 12 touchdowns with a 60.3 completion percentage and just 2 interceptions. Dantin completed 66.1 percent of his passes, but only threw 6.53 yards a pass and 8 interceptions to just 7 touchdowns. Dantin is another set of wheels though. He ran for 8 touchdowns.
Look for cheap Little Caesars Bowl tickets to see if the Florida State International can run all over Toledo, and if Toledo will go with the better passing quarterback and the combo quarterback. See this game live on December 26, 2010 at Ford Field.
