2022 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Eastern Michigan vs San Jose St
posted December 18
The Game
It’s time for another edition of the Potato Bowl as Eastern Michigan travels out west to take on San Jose St. It’s always nice to see some cold weather bowl action in our opinion. San Jose St comes into town with a record of 7-4 whilst the Eagles have already booked eight (!) wins on the season. Both teams are well-coached. Both teams should care. Let’s do itttttttt !
The Details
San Jose -4 Eastern Michigan (54)
MEGALOCKS LINE – San Jose St -5.5
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: San Jose St 29 Eastern Michigan 25
San Jose St offense vs Eastern Michigan defense
The Spartans didn’t get much done on the ground this season (#124 FBS) but they’ve got a decent THROW GAME behind veteran QB C Cordeiro and a rock solid group of WRs and TEs. Cordeiro has sneaky-good mobility and boasts a stellar 20-4 TD to INT mark (382 attempts, just four picks). RB K Robinson is pretty good (696, 4.9, 10 TD) but the Spartans have been sacked 40 (!) times and that EUROPE-SIZED MASS of lost yards counts against the team rushing totals. Eastern Michigan has been decent (in MAC terms) on D (#55 FBS total D) and have only allowed one opponent since September to rush for over 170Y. They’ve only allowed 56.5% completions (#2 MAC) and Cordeiro struggles at times with accuracy (61%). The best news for Eagles fans as we approach press time is that it appears as tho 2nd TEAM ALL-AMERICAN (!) DL J Ramirez (12 sacks) will be playing in this game. That’s great for fans, and more importantly, the Eagles.
Eastern Michigan offense vs San Jose St defense
The QB play was sketchy at times this season but Taylor Powell played well in the final two games (266,315; 6-0 TD to INT) and he does a good job of spreading the ball around to the WR/TE group. San Jose St has been decent vs the pass (#52 FBS pass efficiency D) and they do a great job of getting to the QB (36 sacks, #1 MW). The Eagles boast a 1,000-yard RB in Samson Evans (13 TD) and the key to this game will be the ability (or inability) of Eastern Michigan to have some success on the ground. San Jose St is pretty stingy in terms of rushing defense (#27 FBS) and they held four of their final seven opponents to under 100Y in the rushing department.
Trends, Intangibles and More!
We’ll need a FACT CHECK on this…..but we can’t believe there’s ever been a bowl match-up where the two teams combined for 15 regular season wins with only ONE of those coming vs a bowl team…..The Spartans took down mighty Wyoming……The INTREPID Brad Powers reminds us that Eastern Michigan is on a 35-10-1 ATS run as an underdog (!)……Eagles HC C Creighton is 0-4 in bowl games but 3-1 ATS…..Another TRIVIA BOMB…..Eastern Michigan has only ONE bowl win in program history…..that came in 1987 vs……wait for it…..we know you want it……SAN JOSE ST in the California Bowl (W 30-27)…..Early weather forecast shows mid-30s with snow flurries likely.
Summary
Our gut says that the Mountain West team should be able to handle the MAC team but both teams have played really easy schedules and it’s hard to ignore Eastern Michigan’s success as an underdog. Puzzler. Will be looking for opportunities for some SWEET IN-GAME ACTION. One possible idea is to hope for a quick score and then take the ‘under’ on a better number.
Conclusion
No leanage
Note:
‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.
‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.