in NCAA F Articles

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Preview

The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl should be one of the most intriguing matchups of all the non-Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe, the nation's leading Division I-A rusher.

The 25th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs are looking to continue their overpowering defensive ways and close out their season with their eighth consecutive victory, after giving up an average of only 67.6 rushing yards on the ground this season, fourth in the country. TCU, however, faced only one running back (New Mexico's Rodney Ferguson) that ran for at least 1,000 yards, so that stat may be somewhat misleading. Now they hope to shut down Wolfe, who totaled 1,900 yards and 18 touchdowns on 289 carries this season.

Here is a look at both teams and the upcoming matchup:

Northern Illinois Huskies (7-5)

The Huskies put together their seventh-straight winning season, thanks to an offense that ranked 24th in the nation, averaging 388.5 yards per game. The Huskies will rely heavily on running back Garrett Wolfe, who is downright explosive and makes defenders miss tackles on a routine basis, making his lack of size a non-issue. After sputtering in midseason, Wolfe has seemingly regained his legs and explosiveness down the stretch. He has rushed for 367 yards and four touchdowns in his last two games (easy wins over Central and Eastern Michigan), after failing to run for 100 yards in the prior four games. The Huskies went 1-3 in that stretch, the longest Wolfe has gone without a 100-yard game.

At quarterback, starter Phil Horvath sustained a season-ending knee injury late in the season and his replacement, Dan Nicholson, threw three picks in Northern Illinois' final regular season game, raising a red flag here. On the other side of the ball, defensive end Larry English has an explosive first step and is a relentless and effective pass rusher. The smallish front seven makes up for their lack of size by swarming the ball with their quickness and effective team tackling. Bear in mind however, that the Huskies have had problems defending the run in all of their losses this season.

TCU Horned Frogs (10-2)

After stumbling early this season against both Utah, TCU has been absolutely dominant. The Horned Frogs have a talented backfield led by sophomore running back Aaron Brown, who is a dual threat player that rushed for a team high 749 yards and nine touchdowns, but was also the team's second-leading receiver, with 33 receptions for 447 yards. The other running back, Lonta Hobbs, suffered some lingering injuries early in the season, but is a smart runner who knows how to read his blocks and cut it back against the grain.

Quarterback Jeff Ballard looks to finish his career with a 20-2 record as the Horned Frogs starting quarterback. Ballard played well as the regular season wound down, completing 57 of 73 passes for 746 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions in the final three games after completing less than 55 percent of his throws with five TDs and five interceptions through the team's first nine games. Ballard directs a TCU offense that ranks 17th in the nation with 404.5 yards per game, including 600-plus yards in back-to-back games before having 377 in a 38-14 win over Air Force in the regular-season finale.

TCU is fourth in the nation in rushing defense, allowing just 67.6 yards per game, and no opponent rushed for more than 131 yards on them. The Horned Frogs' 4-2-5 defense likes to gang-tackle and has been excellent against the run all year, so it will be interesting to see how they fare against Garrett Wolfe and Northern Illinois' offense. The front four is also capable of getting to opposing quarterbacks.

The Line: TCU -12 Over/Under 47

The big question here isn't whether TCU can stop Wolfe. It's whether the Huskies can step up and stop TCU's offense and give themselves enough opportunities to both score and drain the clock. Take the Horned Frogs to win, but the Huskies to cover. As far as the over/under is concerned, this line is nearly perfect and should actually turn out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of this figure. This selection is as tough as it gets, but the over looks like a winner here.

Get the .

Eric Williams is a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Sunday Sun and nationally syndicated freelance writer who can be heard every Wednesday at 2:15 eastern on www.BetUSradio.com. Contact Eric at eklass66@yahoo.com.