Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl & AutoZone Liberty Bowl Betting Guide (2019)
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With the first round of the College Football Playoff behind us earlier than usual, more than 14 games still remain to round out the 2019 college football season. While the big ones will kick off on New Years Day, New Year’s Eve features five games for those of us looking to get some action down before a packed New Years Day of heavyweights squaring off. Just as the year ends, I’ve identified two games that I believe there to be an edge we can cash in on. Let’s look at those two contests as we round out a great 2019 of college football betting.
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Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl – El Paso, TX
Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Florida State Seminoles (+4.5, O/U 54), 2:00 PM EST (via PointsBet)
The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl will kick off at high noon in Texas Wednesday afternoon when the Herm Edwards led Sun Devils take on the transitioning Florida State Seminoles. For the Seminoles, new head coach Mike Norvell (and former Sun Devil offensive coordinator) will be in attendance and has contributed to preparations as he gets ready to take control of the program come the new year. Both teams will play this game without their starting running backs, as the Sun Devil’s Eno Benjamin and Seminole’s Cam Akers will both be sitting out this contest in preparation for April’s NFL Draft. Maybe even more of a blow for the Sun Devils than Benjamin, however, will be the absence of their All-PAC-12 wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk who averaged 155.8 all-purpose yards this season for the Devils. The coaching carousel that is college football hasn’t spared the 2019 Sun Devils either, as the Sun Devils have let go offensive coordinator Rob Likens and two coaches on his staff in receivers coach Charlie Fisher and tight end coach Donnie Yantis. While both teams won’t look like they did in their late surges this season to claim bowl eligibility, the Sun Devils still have more weapons, most notably (and most lethal) in freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels who broke the freshman record this season with 2,748 yards through the air. I’ll take the Sun Devils in a game that’s still for recruiting points across the nation.
AutoZone Liberty Bowl – Memphis, TN
Navy Midshipmen vs. Kansas State Wildcats (+3, O/U 52), 3:45 PM EST (via PointsBet)
The Navy Midshipmen come into this contest in one of the rare spots of having played a game since the season ended in November, a 31-7 dismantling of rival Navy which they covered as 11.5-point favorites. In that games, as he has been all season, quarterback Malcolm Perry was the story for Navy accounting for 305 yards of total offense and three touchdowns on the day. Ranking second in the nation in rushing yards per game at 150.3, there’s no team in the country that relies more on one player on either side of the ball than Navy relies on Perry. Facing a defensive unit in Kansas State that allows 152 yards on the ground per game, Perry’s ability to get Navy’s ground attack going could very well tell the story in this one. For the Wildcats, new head coach Chris Klieman turned around last season’s 5-7 team to 8-4 this season, relying heavily on a much-improved defense that is allowing just 21.5 points per game most impressively, a 25.9% third-down efficiency which leads the nation. While Perry will certainly be one of the most dynamic players the Wildcats have faced all season, if they are able to get him off the field at a clip anywhere near 25%, this game should sail well under the total.
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TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.