The 2010 New Orleans Bowl on December 18, 2010 will be played at the Louisiana Superdome with the 7-5 Troy Trojans of the Sun Belt Conference doing battle with the 8-4 Ohio Bobcats from the MAC. New Orleans Bowl tickets for this game will sell well, with two under appreciated college football programs ready to prove themselves on a national stage with a following willing to travel to support their team.
Troy University, the tiny university in Alabama, managed to finish the 2010 College Football season on top of the Sun Belt Conference standings, going 6-2 in conference play and 7-5 overall. The Trojans won with an absurdly explosive offense, scoring 32.9 points a game. This team could both pass (288.2 passing yards a game, 12th in NCAA) and run (152.9 yards a game). Unfortunately, they also allow an obscene amount of points (31.0).
This means quarterback Corey Robinson will need to run Larry Blakeney's offense to perfection to avoid a fourth out-of-conference loss. Robinson threw for 3,320 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. This means he will have to spread the football around and not just zero in on wide receiver Jerrel Jernigan (74 receptions, 755 yards, 5 TD). The Trojans have a run by committee philosophy that goes four deep. Running back Shawn Southward leads this crowded field, running for 548 yards and 7 touchdowns on 106 carries. Troy tickets to the New Orleans Bowl could see this team prove itself outside of the Sun Belt if this offense can operate on all cylinders.
The Ohio Bobcats finished second in the East division of the MAC. Second is a familiar position for this team, as it is considered the second college football team in the state, with the Ohio State Buckeyes the overwhelming force ranked ahead of them. Head Coach Frank Solich will need to poke this chimp on the shoulder to push this team.
Ohio finished the season 8-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play. When they won, they ran the ball relentlessly. The Bobcats average 168.8 yards a game on the ground. Solich pushes the ball with one leading running back (Vince Davidson) and two quarterbacks (Phil Bates and Boo Jackson). Bates has nearly as many yards as Davidson (508 to 509). To call him a quarterback seems a little silly. He has only thrown 22 passes all season and completed just 9 of them, while Jackson has thrown the majority of the passes (224 attempts). Unfortunately, Jackson also has a tendency to throw picks, throwing 16 interceptions and just 15 touchdowns. Fans coming down to the Superdome with Bobcats tickets must hope the team keeps the ball on the ground to avoid shooting themselves in the foot.
This game should be interesting. The Trojans are a smaller program, but the Bobcats are turnover prone with a two quarterback system. The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will be one of the more interesting early bowl matchups, priming the rabid college football fans for another month of one and done college football.
