Arizona football takes on one of college football’s surprising stories of the year, the Purdue Boilermakers. The two teams face-off in the Foster Farms Bowl.
More: Complete 2017-2018 bowl schedule
A bowl game in northern California is not a bad way to spend the holiday. This is especially true for Purdue (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten). The Boilermakers are making their first bowl appearance since 2012. Quarterback Khalil Tate will lead Arizona (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12) against them in the Foster Farms Bowl.
The Foster Farms Bowl has been renamed several times in its history. The inaugural game was played in 2002 as the San Francisco Bowl. It became the Emerald Bowl two years later and stayed under the name until 2010 when it became the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. In 2013, the bowl played without sponsorship but in 2014 Foster Farms took over and has been the name of the bowl since. The same year the game also became a match-up between the Big Ten and the Pac-12.
Purdue has been quite the story for a 6-6 team. For the last four seasons, the Boilermakers tallied three wins or less. Coach Jeff Brohm took the reigns and guided them to six wins, including a win over rival Indiana in the final game to secure bowl eligibility.
Arizona also turned around their fortunes this season after starting 2-2, when Tate took over at quarterback. The dual threat started burning opposing defenses for big yards. The Wildcats did cool down, losing their last two games to Oregon and rival Arizona State, both on the road.
The two teams have only faced each other twice and not recently either. Purdue won both contests in 2003 and 2005.
Here is how you can watch the Foster Farms Bowl between Arizona and Purdue.
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 27
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Location: Santa Clara, California
Venue: Levi’s Stadium
TV: FOX
Stream: FOXSportsGo
Keys to Victory
Arizona will rely heavily on Khalil Tate and why would they not? He was one of the most electrifying players in all of college football this season, especially in October when the Wildcats went 4-0 in the month.
Tate leads Arizona in both passing and rushing yards. He scored a combined 21 touchdowns on the season, but has been prone to turnovers in the last four games. He threw five of his eight interceptions in November. However he has now had time to rest and learn from his past mistakes.
The Wildcat defense is nothing to write home about. Purdue’s defense is better, but they will have their hands full against Tate. The Boilermakers will need to force turnovers. They were fourth in the Big Ten with a plus three turnover margin. The defense is led by senior linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and the Boilermakers have been great at stopping the run. The big key will be slowing down Tate. If they can limit his yards on the ground, he still may burn them through the air or vice versa.
Quarterback Elijah Sindelar has played pretty well at quarterback, especially in the month of November where the Boilermakers made their run. Running back Markell Jones went off against Indiana, rushing for 217 yards after not putting up over 100 in a game all season. Perhaps he can parlay the performance into some bowl magic.
Prediction
The game should not be without offensive fireworks. Think it would be a little disappointing if suddenly the two teams produced a defensive slug fest. Neither Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez or Jeff Brohm are strangers to offensive playcalling, although it has been Arizona well outpacing Purdue in points per game this season. The Wildcats rank sixth in the nation, averaging nearly 42 points per contest. Brohm will not back down though and should have some tricks up his offensive sleeve.
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When it is all said and done, I do not think Purdue can ultimately keep up with Arizona’s firepower. The Boilermakers keep in it for a half, but Tate takes over for the final 30 minutes and the Wildcats win running away.
Final Score: Arizona 48, Purdue 24