4.4* NCAAF POD - Hawaii Bowl - 7-1 Career on Xmas Eve

[Pick Bot]

Rice -2 4.4* NCAAF POD
I like Rice here.. Going to Hawaii can be a big distraction for young kids and I just think Rice is more focused than an average Fresno State team. All the quotes from the players and the coaches reveals that Rice is much more focused for this game and even have a chip on their shoulder considering they gave up 76 points in their last game. Typically teams rebound from that and it won't be that hard against Fresno who is ranked 101st in yards per play on offense and 104th on defense. In opponent adjusted offense and defense they are ranked 106th and 99th. Fresno has had issues in the past on under Tim DeRuyter as they lost as a 13 point favorite by 33 points and lost by 25 as a 4.5 point under dog the last 2 years in bowl games under DeRuyter. It's also worth mentioning that this team has a couple of very bad losses including UNLV and Wyoming.. Wyoming of which they had 2 weeks to prepare.

Now Rice has not been that great at times this year, but I really think they have more motivation and they match up well. Up front they should be able to run the ball with Jowan Davis and Darik Dillard and they feature the more complete QB by far and their offensive line has protected a bit better than Fresno Stat who ranks 97th in pass protection. Rice is 14th in the nation in sack% and could create major issues for Fresno who is also very prone to turning the ball over with 25 lost on the season compared with Rice who has turned the ball over only 12 times all year. Fresno is also 1-4 ATS in their last 5 vs. Conference USA and the Mountain West is not exactly impressing me early in these bowls going 2-4 so far.