December 26th 6:30 PM (Eastern)

San Diego, California (Qualcomm Stadium)

Utah State Review

The Aggies rode a roller coaster throughout the season and finished with an 8-5 record going an impressive 7-1 in conference play.  Their star quarterback and biggest play maker Chuckie Keeton was injured mid way though the season and was replaced by freshman Darell Garretson.  Garrestson took awhile to get comfortable and find his rhythm, but when he did he helped the Aggies win their final five games in a row.  The hot streak landed them in the Mountain West Championship game where they faced Derek Carr and the Fresno State Bulldogs.  Garretson and Utah State were overmatched by Carr as they went on to lose that game 24-17.  This will be the Aggies third straight bowl appearance beating Toledo 41-15 in their most recent bowl game, a victory that helped them finish 16th in the national rankings.  

Northern Illinois Review

The clock struck midnight and the glass slipper disappeared on the Huskies Cinderella season when they got stomped in the MAC Championship game against Bowling Green 47-27.  Led by Heisman trophy finalist quarterback Jordan Lynch, the Huskies dominated their schedule going a perfect 12-0 throughout the season beating Big Ten teams like Iowa and Purdue along the way (first MAC team to beat two Big Ten schools).  That was their fourth consecutive MAC Championship game and their first loss in their last 26 games against conference opponents.  The Huskies average of 312.5 yards rushing a game ranked as one of the best in the country, and was a big reason why they averaged 42 points per game.  

Game Matchup

The Huskies roll into San Diego as 1.5 point favorites against the Aggies.  They own a huge advantage at the quarterback position as Jordan Lynch threw over 2,600 yards and scored 55 touchdowns collectively while being a Heisman runner up.  However, the Aggies have given up just eight rushing touchdowns all year and will copy Bowling Greens blue print which gave them much success making Lynch look very pedestrian.  Utah State's defense is very good and could give Lynch problems with his feet, but as he showed in the Bowling Green game, Lynch is good enough to make the necessary adjustments and still be successful. 

His opposing counterpart is Darell Garretson who is just a freshman and was plugged in after quarterback Chickie Keeton went down with injury.  Garretson has impressed winning his last five games, however, this will be his biggest test on the brightest stage of his young career.  In the end, Lynch's record (24-3 in last two seasons) and his talents should prove to be too much for the Aggies to contain for all four quarters.  The fact that Lynch is also playing with a chip on his shoulder after an embarrassing loss in the MAC title game should be all the motivation he needs to end his career on a high note.       

Draft Impact

Lynch is the one and only legitimate NFL prospect in this game and he is a very intriguing one at that.  Finishing third in the Heisman ballot voting Lynch throwing for 2,676 yards and 232 touchdowns while running for 22 more.  Combine that with his winning percentage as a quarterback for the Huskies and you can imagine it will be a difficult conversation when scouts and coaches tell him he will have to move to another position if he wants to make it on a NFL roster. 

Lynch is on a long list of dual threat quarterbacks that had great production in college, but ultimately won't find that same success at the next level due to poor mechanics.  Lynch will most likely be moved to running back position where he could thrive as he already possesses the body frame and instincts of a runner.  Lynch has shown great arm strength and accuracy while completing 63 percent of his passes. 

Along the way Lynch has destroyed numerous NCAA records as well.  The only problem is the fact that playing for Northern Illinois has cost him the chance to play against quality opponents making it hard to accurately gauge his talents.  There is an outside chance a team could draft him as a developmental signal caller, but if he doesn't show the mental makeup early on he will be forced to switch his position following guys like Tim Tebow, Joe Webb, and Denard Robinson.