Birmingham Bowl 2017 Preview, Prediction: Texas Tech vs. South Florida

The Texas Tech Red Raiders take on the South Florida Bulls in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 23. Here is our preview of the matchup.

Almost a month ago, Texas Tech defeated the Texas Longhorns to become bowl eligible. On the flip side, despite a loss to UCF in the final week of the regular season, USF finished the season 9-2 and is making a repeat trip to the Birmingham Bowl.

While one team had a more successful regular season than the other, they will face off on December 23. One will be looking for win No. 10 and the other is looking for a winning season.

Here is how you can watch the matchup:

Date: Saturday, Dec. 23
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Venue: Legion Field
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

For South Florida, they will rely on quarterback Quinton Flowers to get it done against a decently talented Texas Tech defense. He will need to use his legs and his arm to keep the Raiders guessing. Their defense will also have the tall task of containing a pass happy Texas Tech offense. They haven’t been too great this season against the pass, so this could be the ultimate test for the Bulls.

For Texas Tech, it will be important for them to get their offense going quickly. Nic Shimonek will need to spread the ball out and limit turnovers as much as possible. On the flip side, the Tech defense is going to need to create a few turnovers to seal a victory and a winning season. This game has the chance to come down to the wire, much like they did against the Longhorns. A timely turnover or two will do wonders for the Red Raiders.

Prediction

While USF will put up quite the fight against the Red Raiders, I’ve got Tech coming out of this one with a winning season and a bunch of confidence going into the 2018 season. It will be close, that is for sure. USF quarterback Quinton Flowers will put on a show, throwing for at least two touchdowns and running in one more. However, it won’t be enough to out-offense Texas Tech.

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Look for the Texas Tech passing game to be a huge part of this victory for the Red Raiders. The way USF finds their 10th win is simply shutting down that attack. However, I don’t see it happening.

Final Score: Texas Tech 31, USF 24