Kickoff: 3:00/2:00(c) in ORLANDO, FL - ESPN
Boston Mountain Publishing
Thursday, December 15, 2022 4:08 PM
CURE BOWL - ORLANDO, FLORIDA
Friday, December 16, 2022
3:00/2:00(c)
ESPN
Betting Line: Troy -1.5 O/U 55.5
The Troy Trojans and the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners face-off in the 8th Annual Cure Bowl taking place in Orlando, Florida where it will be a beautiful 70 degrees under sunny skies at kickoff in the land of Disney. This game is being played at Exploria Stadium, the home of the Orlando City Soccer Club.
This matchup is Conference USA against the Sun Belt Conference with both teams in the AP Top 25 to end the regular season. Is the best offense, defense? We will find that answer today because UTSA likes to go, and Troy likes to stop. This will be one of the better bowl games this year and most people will be working or getting out of school as this game kicks off on Friday afternoon.
Coastal Carolina beat Northern Illinois 47-41 in last year's Cure Bowl game.
TROY TROJANS (11-2)
SUN BELT Record: (7-1)
Highest AP Ranking this season: #23
Troy is coming into this game as Sun Belt Champions after beating Coastal Carolina 45-26 in the Sun Belt championship game two weeks ago.
The Troy defense ranks #8 nationally allowing only 17.54 points per game. They are ranked #19 in total defense, allowing just 325.3 yards per game to opponents to go with an average of 3 sacks per game. The D has also recovered 11 fumbles this season to rank 21st nationally.
The offense is ranked #79 in total offense gaining 375.2 yards per game and they rank #80 in total offensive scoring with 26.2 points per game. The Trojans are ranked #109 with a 34.2% chance to convert on 3rd down, but their best offensive stat is being ranked #18 nationally giving themselves a 64% chance to convert on 4th down. QB Gunner Watson can throw the deep ball and can get chuck yards pretty quick if left alone.
NOTABLE ALUMNI:
Kevin Ford
US Astronaut, Pilot of Discovery
William Gregory
US Astronaut, Pilot of Endeavour
Jill Dobson
Fox News Correspondent
Tom Forman
CNN Political Correspondent
Windham Rotunda
WWE Wrestler (Bray Wyatt)
USTA ROADRUNNERS (11-2)
CONFERENCE USA Record: (8-0)
Highest AP Ranking this season: #22
The Roadrunners have won 10 straight games and are coming off a big win over North Texas 48-27 in their conference championship game two week ago. Back-to-back conference titles for UTSA.
Their offense ranks #12 in the nation in total offensive scoring with an average of 38.7 points per game. The Roadrunner defense ranks #64 in total points allowed, giving up 26.54 points per game.
QB Frank Harris leads UTSA passing for an average of 297.3 yards per game to rank 11th nationally.
UTSA ranks #8 with a .497 3rd Down Conversion rate and they have a 50/50 chance to convert on 4th down. They are ranked #9 in total offense gaining 486.1 yards per game.
Their biggest liability as a team is being ranked #116 with 90 penalties on the year.
The Roadrunners are ranked #90 in total defense allowing 404.7 yards per game to opponents and they rank #115 in total sacks, averaging only 1.46 per game.
NOTABLE ALUMNI:
Travis Scott
Musician/Record Producer
Bill Peters
NHL Coach, Calgary Flames
David Mikkelson
Founder of Snopes.com
Michelle Beadle
ESPN Personality
Peter Burns
ESPN/SEC Network Personality
Copyright 2022 Boston Mountain Publishing
All rights reserved
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written consent from Boston Mountain Publishing or their affiliates.
If you have an idea for a future story, encounter news to report, want to share a video, or you would like to share your voice with our viewers, feel free to contact us. We can offer you a platform to promote your story to our audience.