Heisman Trophy finalist Jordan Lynch is playing his final college football game in San Diego tonight, and his first half touchdown run has given his Huskies a 7-6 lead over Utah State in the Poinsettia Bowl.
Utah State’s defense has held Northern Illinois in check for most of the game so far, perhaps as expected given the strength of the Aggies defense that also flustered Derek Carr and Fresno State in the Mountain West Conference championship game a couple of weeks ago. Lynch has rushed for just 27 yards, but his one-yard touchdown push in the second quarter proved Utah State still is going to have their hands full if the Huskies get inside the red zone.
Utah State has been held to just two field goals by a team that came within one game of playing in a second straight BCS bowl game. Utah State is doing their best to duplicate what Bowling Green did to Lynch and the Huskies but the offense is struggling to get much going. Utah State’s offense has accounted for just 123 yards of total offense in the first half and now must find a way to play from behind in the second half against a Huskies defense that has given up just eight points per game in the second half this season. Only nine teams have had better defensive scoring number sin the second half this season. Fortunately for the Aggies, Utah State is one of them.
The MAC is 0-3 this bowl season so far, so Northern Illinois is looking to pick up the first win of the postseason for the conference.