The 2017 Foster Farms Bowl will host the Purdue Boilermakers and the Arizona Wildcats at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The game is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, December 28th at 8:30 p.m. EST and can be watched on FOX. Line setters have the Arizona Wildcats as a -3.5 point favorite over Purdue and the contest’s total rests at 65.5 points.
The Purdue Boilermakers won three of their last four games against the bottom feeders in the Big Ten Conference to make it to the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl. With the three victories, the Boilermakers finished out their season with a 6-6 record. They also posted a losing record of 4-5 in the conference. Their latest win was against their in-state rivals the Indiana Hoosiers. In that game, they held on to a 31-24 triumph after surviving a late rally after being up 31-10 in the second half.
The Arizona Wildcats scratched and clawed their way to a 7-5 record to make their way into this post-season appearance. The Wildcats were .500 four games into the year but reeled off four-straight wins in the middle half of their schedule. Unfortunately, they struggled down the home stretch by losing the last two contests on their schedule. Arizona missed a chance to play in a bowl game in 2016 but participated in four-straight before that.
Purdue Boilermakers (6-6)
Purdue sports a pass-heavy offense that featured two different starters in 2017. David Blough and Elijah Sindelar basically split snaps before Blough went down with a season-ending injury. Together, the duo threw for a little over 2,800 yards with 23 touchdowns and 10 picks. Sindelar will be under center for the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl. The sophomore completed 55 percent of his tosses for 1,703 yards with 14 scores and six interceptions.
Like in the passing game, two different running backs helped move the chains on the ground for the Boilermakers. After Tario Fuller was also lost to injury, Markell Jones and D.J. Knox led the way. The two tailbacks combined for 940 yards with two touchdowns.
A plethora of receivers all pitched in to keep opposing secondaries on their toes for Purdue. Five pass catchers caught over 20 passes and two others over 15. Third down specialist Jackson Anthrop nabbed a team-high 44 balls that went for 391 yards and five touchdowns. Anthony Mahoungou caught another 33 balls for a team-high 560 yards and six scores. Six other wideouts found their way to the back of the end zone for the Boilermakers this season.
Defensively, Purdue is holding their opponents to an average of 19 points per contest and 370 total yards per game. The defense has been led by linebacker Markus Bailey. Bailey was second on the club with 78 tackles. He also kept other school’s quarterbacks on their toes with seven sacks on the year. Overall, the Boilermakers’ defense forced 19 turnovers on the season and finished with an overall turnover margin of +3.
Arizona Wildcats (7-5)
The Arizona Wildcats have been just as unpredictable as the Purdue Boilermakers in 2017. Especially after the injection of dual-threat quarterback Khalil Tate into the line-up in Week 5 against Colorado. Since then, the Wildcats have had one of the nation’s top rushing attack but have needed to outscore their opponents because of their lousy defensive play.
Sophomore quarterback Khalil Tate shook up the FBS when he ran for 327 yards against the Buffaloes. That mark became the all-time record in a single game for a signal-caller in college football. Since that performance, the Wildcats won five of their next eight and scored under 30 points only once. In all, Tate threw the pigskin for almost 1,300 yards with nine touchdowns and eight picks. Whats amazing is that he ran the ball for another 1,353 yards and 12 more scores in just eight games.
When Khalil Tate wasn’t galloping down the field, two other tailbacks took about the same amount of handoffs to add to the wildcat’s rushing attack. J.J.Taylor and Nick Wilson combined for 255 carries that were good for just over 1,400 yards and 11 touchdowns. Their backs ups were no slouches either. The original starting quarterback Brandon Dawkins and Zach Green were good for another 1,044 yards and 19 more trips to the promised land. Overall, Arizona is third in the country, rushing the ball for 324 yards a contest.
Obviously, the Wildcats ran the ball a heck of a lot more than they threw it. For that reason, no wide receiver really made much of a name for himself as the season progressed. Even so, wideout Shun Brown had a decent campaign. The junior caught 39 passes for 511 yards and five scores. On the other side, Tony Ellison was pretty close to putting up identical numbers. He also snatched up 33 passes for 496 yards and three more touchdowns.
The Arizona Wildcats ended the 2017 season with one of the worst defenses in the country. They failed to put up any resistance against opposing quarterbacks. Furthermore, their front seven had a heck of a time stopping the run game. The back half finished out ranked 122nd in the nation and the front half ended up 89th. In all, theWildcats conceded 34 points a game (110th).
Prediction
Apparently, Sin City thinks that this will be a close football game because they errored on the side of caution and placed the Arizona Wildcats as a 3.5 point favorite. I suspect that is because of their ability to put points up in bunches. Although that might be the case, their defense couldn’t stop anybody so I believe playing the spread here is too risky. Purdue did finish out the year with the nation’s 30th ranked defense and that was facing Big-Ten competition.
Las Vegas also has this over/under at 65.5. That is up six points from when it was first introduced. For this line move, I think the public is spot on. Arizona can just flat out move the ball on the ground. Their 3rd-ranked rushing attack is a testament to that. Also, I can not foresee a game against Purdue where their defense finally decides to make a stand. The Boilermakers have plenty of offensive weapons and all of them should have some success against one of the FBS’s worst defensive units. Place your hard earned money on the over 65.5 and watch these offenses shred the other’s defenses with ease. @EriktheHun
To make a play on the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl, go to BetDSI Sportsbook to place your bet.
Trends
The Wildcats are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 bowl games.
The Over is 4-0 in the Wildcats last 4 bowl games.
The Boilermakers are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 bowl games.
The Under is 6-1 in the Boilermakers last 7 games overall.
