Georgia Southern @ Bowling Green preview

GODADDY BOWL STORYLINES

1. With one of the most dynamic quarterback-wide receiver tandems in the game, MAC champion Bowling Green will be looking to match a school record for wins set in 2003 when it faces Georgia Southern on Dec. 23 in the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Dino Babers posted an 8-6 record in his first season at the helm in 2014, and now has the Falcons on the verge of consecutive bowl wins for the second time in school history (2003-04). Bowling Green ranks in the top five in FBS in scoring (43.4 points per game), passing offense (376 yards per game) and total offense (561 yards per game).

2. Led by second-year coach Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern is making its first bowl appearance in its first year of bowl eligibility. A power in the Division I-AA ranks, the Eagles won national championships in 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999 and 2000. Georgia Southern won the Sun Belt Conference with a perfect 8-0 record last season and finished third this season, and the Eagles took Georgia to overtime before falling 23-17 on Nov. 21.

3. Bowling Green and Georgia Southern enter with drastically different offensive approaches. The Falcons boast one of the most potent passing games in the country with MAC Offensive Player of the Year Matt Johnson throwing to Paul Warfield Award-winning wide receiver Roger Lewis. The Eagles, on the other hand, rely on a triple-option run attack that averages 355 yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry and received a combined 2,320 yards from Matt Breida and L.A. Ramsby.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Bowling Green -7

ABOUT GEORGIA SOUTHERN (8-4, 6-2 Sun Belt): A potent running attack has allowed the Eagles to top 40 points seven times this season and is led by the 5-11, 190-pound junior Breida, who has rushed for 1,540 yards, 16 touchdowns and an 8.2 yards-per-carry average. Georgia Southern threw just 129 passes all season and sophomore Kevin Ellison enters having completed only 44 percent of his 84 passes for 532 yards and three touchdowns against five interceptions. The Eagles yield 23 points per contest and 204 passing yards per game but have recorded just 21 sacks.

ABOUT BOWLING GREEN (10-3, 7-1 MAC): Johnson, who has completed 368-of-535 passes for 43 touchdowns against eight interceptions, leads FBS with 4,700 yards passing and ranks eighth in passer efficiency rating (166.1). Lewis caught 82 passes for an FBS-high 1,476 yards and joins Ryan Burbrink (56 catches, 627 yards) and Ronnie Moore (67 catches, 871 yards) as receivers who have recorded 2,000 yards receiving in their careers. Running backs Travis Greene (1,219 yards) and Fred Coppet (797) have combined for 19 TDs and 5.8 yards per carry.



PREDICTION: Bowling Green 38, Georgia Southern 24