Arizona Wildcats v Boston College Eagles

December 31st, 12:30pm Eastern

Independence Stadium, Los Angeles

Arizona Season Review

When the competition intensified towards the end of the season the Wildcats struggled somewhat but still finished their campaign with a respectable 7-5 record.  At 6-2 Arizona had dreams of bigger Bowl opponents but losses to UCLA,  Washington State and Arizona State derailed all hopes.  The other two losses came against USC and Washington,  a 42-16 win over Oregon in the penultimate game will give them the feeling of nothing to lose in this Bowl game.

Boston College Season Review

After opening the season 3-4 Boston College put together a string of four wins to ensure a seven-win season,  with a loss in the final game to Syracuse – a game they should have won - robbing them of an eight.  Virginia Tech and Maryland are two of the bigger foes the Eagles overcame while North Carolina,  Clemson,  USC,  Florida State joined Syracuse in overcoming the college from Massachusetts.

Game Matchup

Which team can stop the run?  With an All-American tailback lining up for each side either Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey or Boston College’s Andre Williams will determine the outcome of this Bowl game. 

Carey totalled 1,716 yards and 17 touchdowns in leading the Wildcats to the 11th best rushing attack in the FBS while Williams had a season for the ages.  The senior compiled 2,102 yards and 17 touchdowns on 329 carries to spearhead the Eagles’ attack.  Both sides like to pound the rock with their star backs and,  while it could take something special from other areas of each offense,  the game plan will be fairly straight forward.

Draft Impact

Ka’Deem Carey will be the best on show at Independence Stadium.  His speed,  vision and agility are up there with the best in the draft class while his hands are not far behind.  One knock on Carey is his poor ability to break tackles through strength but he avoids many through elusiveness.  This lack of strength also affects his pass blocking where he displays a strange technique.

Andre Williams divides opinion.  Yes he ran for a lot of yards but he also did it against poor opposition.  He is a downhill,  north to south runner who gets the tough yards by punishing defenders.  The Heisman finalist is far from a burner but does have adequate speed.  Hands and blocking were something rarely seen due to Boston College’s scheme.