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Sportsinteraction.com betting analyst Frank Doyle previews the Las Vegas Bowl between BYU and Arizona.
BYU is making its fourth straight appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl, while Arizona comes blinking into the Bowl spotlight for the first time in a decade. So how come Arizona is the early chalk when the Wildcats and Cougars get down to it at Sam Boyd Stadium on December 20th?
A lot of it has to do with perspective. BYU began the season with a ten game winning streak, a streak the Cougars confidently ran up to 16. And then, in game 17 at Fort Worth, TCU tore it all to shreds, the Horned Frogs comprehensively hooking the Cougars. BYU regrouped to win four more, and then their house collapsed around their ears again when the Cougars lost to their state rivals Utah at Salt Lake City in the final game of the regular season. That stings.
Arizona, by contrast, beat its in-state rivals, Arizona State, in its final game of the season to set the school's first winning season in ten years. It's Mike Stoops' fifth year in charge at Tucson and the pressure was on but the Wildcats are talking about the win over the Sun Devils as a Rubicon-crossing moment for the program. There may be some truth to that it's been an in and out season for Arizona with some bad beats that might suggest that the Wildcats are a little better than their 7-5 record might suggest, and might explain the ante-post favoritism as being something other than major conference bias.
Arizona is built along the pass happy model of Texas Tech, but if Arizona is to crown its season with a win in Vegas, Stoops will see stopping the Cougars' quarterback, Max Hall, as the key to the game.
Given time in the pocket, Hall is one of the best passers in the country - BYU is ninth in the nation in terms of total passing yards - but the common factor of the TCU and Utah wins against BYU is that both TCU and Utah were able to get to Hall. The Horned Frogs sacked him six times, while the Utes forced six turnovers, including five interceptions from Hall. If the Wildcats can get after Hall that improves their chances of winning immeasurably. If not, then Hall sits back, takes to the skies and consigns the kitties to the Las Vegas litter collectors.
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