Autozone Liberty Bowl
Memphis vs. Iowa State
Location: Memphis, Tennessee
Date: Saturday, Dec. 30
Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Matt Campbell completely turned Iowa State (7-5) around. That record doesn’t seem impressive at first glance, but from where the program was when he took over two years ago, it’s a heck of an upgrade. And he did it with a backup quarterback in Kyle Kempt who came in and led the Cyclones to a road upset over Oklahoma to put the team on the map, filling in for Jacob Park. Keep an eye out for Allen Lazard, too.
Memphis (10-2) doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the nation’s best Group of Five teams. The Tigers beat teams like UCLA, SMU, Houston and Navy on their way to a 10-win season and Mike Norvell was on the top of every top program’s wish list in terms of replacement coaches. Riley Ferguson had a heck of a season under center, passing for 3,971 yards and 36 touchdowns while Darrell Henderson has 1,154 rushing yards and nine scores. This offense is scary.
This should be called the bowl of teams that exceeded expectations in 2017 and had coaches that everyone wanted but re-signed with their respective programs. That would be too long of a name, obviously. Iowa State is going to put up a good fight against one of the nation’s most intriguing offenses in Memphis, but Kempt and Lazard aren’t enough to keep up with Ferguson, Anthony Miller and a strong rushing attack.