*****2009 Bowl Games Thread including info, write-ups and articles*****

Central Michigan's spread attack is led by 4 year starter Dan LeFevour, who will go down as one of the greatest dual threat quarterbacks in history. LeFevour completed 71% of his passes during this season while averaging 7.1 yppp (against teams that would allow 6.3 yppp to an average QB) and he led the Chippewas in rushing for the 3rd straight season. Central Michigan's offense is very similar to Troy's, with a good passing attack and a mediocre ground game (5.2 yprp against teams that would allow 5.2 yprp), but LeFevour should have more success than Brown given Troy's poor pass defense. The Trojans were horrible defensively the first two games without All-Conference LB Bear Woods, who had 18 tackles for loss in just 10 games. But, in the 10 games with Woods the Trojans still were 0.6 yppp worse than average defending the pass (6.1 yppp allowed to quarterbacks that would average 5.5 yppp) and 0.2 yprp worse than average against the run (4.9 yprp allowed to teams that would average 4.7 yprp against an average stop unit). Neither quarterback is turnover prone (9 interceptions thrown by Brown and just 6 by LeFevour), but Central Michigan does have an edge in projected turnovers that is offset by Troy's edge in special teams. Central Michigan ranks one spot ahead of Troy in points scored at 33.2 ppg, and manages 417.7 total yards per game (32nd in the country), including 172.9 rushing yards per game (41st). The Chippewas beat Ohio 20-10 in the Mid-American Conference title game Dec. 4, coming up short as 13½-point favorites. Central Michigan finished undefeated in conference play en route to its third MAC crown in the last four years, and enters this game on a four-game overall winning streak (3-1 ATS). The Trojans are in their second consecutive bowl game and fourth in school history, all since 2004. Their last two postseason trips were to the New Orleans Bowl, beating Rice 41-17 in 2006 as a 4½-point underdog for their first bowl victory, followed by last year’s 30-27 overtime loss to Southern Mississippi as a 4½-point favorite. Central Michigan is playing in its fourth consecutive bowl game, the first three coming in the Motor City Bowl. The Chippewas fell to Sun Belt foe Florida Atlantic 24-21 as seven-point favorites last season and last won a postseason game in 2006 when they clobbered Middle Tennessee (also from the Sun Belt) 31-14 as 8½-point favorites. LeFevour completes 71.2 percent of his throws and he had 27 TD strikes this season to go with 14 scoring runs. His 147 career touchdowns set the major college football mark he previously shared with former Hawaii QB Colt Brennan and ex-Texas Tech signal caller Graham Harrell. Given Central Michigan's record-setting quarterback has just one game left in his college career (other than the all-star Senior Bowl) - this one - I have to believe he is going to have a field day against the 100th-ranked defense in the nation. There are 120 teams ranked in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Against the pass, Troy is ranked 116th, allowing 277.7 yards per game. I wouldn't be surprised to see LeFevour tally 400 offensive yards tonight. He's the first Football Bowl Subdivision player to pass for 12,000 yards and rush for 2,500 more. He also holds the record for total touchdowns (148 to Tebow's 141). He needs 154 yards to move to No. 2 on the list for total yards (he's at 15,446) and will guide his fellow seniors tonight to matching a school record with 38 wins in four years with a victory over Sun Belt champion Troy. LeFevour will move into 10th in career yards passing with 157 more for the 11-2 Chippewas, and needs nine completions for fifth and 64 yards rushing for 3,000. Although most defensive lines are focused on tracking down the Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year, LeFevour has still managed to produce more than 400 total yards in nine of 13 games. We know Troy is an offensive juggernaut, but at least Central Michigan can play defense. And I know the Chippewas lost its head coach to Cincinnati and is now under the direction of an interim coach, but he was also the Associate Head Coach and he knows the program. This is one of the most dangerous spread offenses going against one of the most atrocious defensive units. Yes, Troy has won by some awfully big margins, but look at what these teams scored on the Trojans' 87th-ranked scoring defense: 3-9 Florida International put up 33 points. 2-10 North Texas put up 26 points. 6-6 La Lafayette put up 42 points. When Trot stepped out, they were thrashed including a 31-14 setback to an ordinary MAC team in Bowling Green. How did they fare vs. Bowl teams? The Trojans lost to Florida by 50 points, to Arkansas by 36 and to Bowling Green by 17. CMU played a very difficult out-of-conference schedule and still went 11-2 this year. They lost to Arizona by just 13 and they beat Michigan State outright. They also beat the aforementioned Bowling Green 24-10. Their closest in-conference game came early, a 7-point win. No team came within single digits on CMU the rest of the way in eight games. The Trojans will not be able to stop Dan LeFevour who set records both in the air and on the ground where he has over 700 yards. Central Michigan won their games this year by an average margin of 33-17 and they went 6-2 on the road. Troy was just 4-3 on the road, actually getting outscored 29-36 on average! The Trojans have to match scores to win, but unfortunately they are out-manned on both sides of the ball.

8* Central Michigan Chippewas -2 (hook)