The Army Black Knights and the North Texas Mean Green get together in the Cotton Bowl Stadium to compete in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl. The contest is slated to start on Tuesday, December 27th at High Noon ET and can be viewed on the ESPN Network. As of now, the Black Knights are a -10 point favorite and the contest’s total is 49.
Would you like some proof that there are too many bowl games? Well these two squads already played in the regular season. The 5-7 Mean Green jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, beating Army 35-18 on the road.
Army (7-5):
It was a year to remember for the Black Knights, which is heading to its first postseason contest in six years. In fact, it’s only Army’s third bowl game since 1988. They went just 2-10 a year ago and head into the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl after their best season in three years under coach Jeff Monken. To top that off, the Black Knights defeated their arch rivals the Navy Midshipmen for the first time since 2001.
Army has victories over the AAC champion Temple Owls and the ACC’s Wake Forest, but they also lost to Buffalo. Let’s not forget, the Black Knights also got trumped by North Texas, 35-18, on October 22nd. In that game, Army fumbled the rock seven times and lost three of them.
Once again, the Black Knights will try to keep the ball on the ground, because throwing just isn’t an option with quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw. He has attempted just 88 passes this season, completing 38 of them for four scores and nine picks. Bradshaw’s productivity comes from his feet, running for just under 700 yards and seven trips to pay-dirt.
Andy Davidson is the Black Knight’s go-to tail back. The durable runner leads the 2nd ranked rushing attack in the nation, with 905 yards and 11 touchdowns. Eight other ball carriers have found the back of the end zone for a team that averages 327.7 yards a contest via the ground.
Army’s defense has been stingy to their enemies all season long. They only allow 18.9 points per game this season (13th). The Black Knights also sport the nation’s 16th ranked run defense (125.7 ypg), and will be ready for whatever the Mean Green can come up with in Dallas.
North Texas (5-7):
The only reason that North Texas is in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl is their APR rating is the top among Group of Five schools. If there weren’t more bowl games, the Mean Green would be at home watching this postseason affair. That being said, Minnesota, San Jose State and the Nebraska Cornhuskers all won their respective bowl games in 2015 with a 5-7 record.
Heading into the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas bowl, the Mean Green have dropped four of their last five games and field an offense that ranks dead last in their conference. Quarterback Mason Fine took over for an unproductive Alec Morrow and didn’t do much better. The signal-caller completed only 155 passes for over 1,500 yards with six touchdowns and five picks.
Running back Jeffery Wilson is clearly North Texas’s best player. In 2016, Wilson carried the ball just under 150 times for 855 yards and a team-high 13 trips across the goal line.
Four Mean Green wide receivers did their best to move the chains through the air this season. Together, the foursome nabbed 131 balls out of the sky for over 1,450 yards and seven touchdowns.
North Texas’ defense may have a big problem when they square-off against the Black Knights for the second time. If Army can hold on to the ball, they will get to pound the rock against the country’s 105th ranked run defense. This year, the Mean Green are giving way to over 219 yards a game over the ground.
Trends and Notes:
The Black Knights are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.
The Mean Green are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Under is 15-2 in the Black Knights last 17 neutral site games.
The Under is 8-3 in the Mean Green last 11 games following a straight up loss.
The Black Knights are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings against the Mean Green.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys hold the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl record with 58 points scored in 2013.
The Washington Huskies won last year’s Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl against Southern Mississippi 44-31.
Game Prediction:
For the second time this season the Army black Knights and the North Texas Mean Green will square-off against each other. The last time out, the Black Knights turned the ball over seven times in their defeat 35-18 defeat.
Army wont have that many fumbles in this one and their defense is good against the run. North Texas will not score in the 30’s because they wont benefit from a short field like last time. Besides, Army is coming off their first win against Navy since 2001 and carry a lot of momentum into the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
Take Army to come out swinging and place your greenbacks on the Black Knights to be up by a touchdown a half-time. The play here is Army -6 at the mid-way point.
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