Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta): Michigan (10-2) vs. Florida (9-3)
12 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 29. On ESPN
This will be the fifth meeting between Michigan and Florida. Michigan leads the series 4-0.
How They Got Here: Michigan
Michigan began the season with a tough loss to Notre Dame to start 0-1. The Wolverines would then go on to win their next 10 games in a row, including wins over Wisconsin and Penn State, to improve to 10-1. At this point, Michigan had their eyes on the College Football Playoff. Surely, if they could win the Big Ten, then they could still make the playoff with only one loss. Then entered Ohio State. Michigan went into the Horseshoe and got the brakes beaten off them 62-39, thus ending any hope they had for the CFP. Head coach Jim Harbaugh will try to improve to 2-2 in bowl games at Michigan.
Michigan will be without stars DE Rashan Gary, LB Devin Bush, and leading RB Karan Higdon. However, quarterback Shea Patterson (2,300 passing yards, 21 touchdowns) has announced that we will be returning to Michigan for his senior year and is looking to get a head start on next season.
How They Got Here: Florida
After starting 2-0, the Gators suffered a disappointing loss to Kentucky to end the everlasting win streak. They would then rattle off five wins in a row, including a win against #5 LSU. Florida finished by going 3-2 in their last five games to finish 9-3 in Dan Mullen’s first year as head coach. This is a big turnaround from their 4-7 record last season. Mullen will be looking for a bowl win in his debut season for the Gators.
Florida doesn’t exactly have a high-powered offense and therefore will be relying mostly on their defense to win this game. The Gators defense has recorded 32 sacks on the year and are only allowing 20.4 points a game.
Player to Watch: Chris Evans
Chris Evans has 74 carries for 403 yards and four touchdowns in nine games this season. However, he put those stats up as the backup running back. With starting RB Karan Higdon skipping the bowl game to prepare for the draft, Evans will be the featured back in this game.
Betting Stats
The over/under is 50.5 points with the Wolverines as six-point favorites
Prediction
Michigan is going to win this football game. They have the better defense and the better quarterback. I also believe they need to make a statement after such an embarrassing loss to the Buckeyes.