Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl: No. 18 Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-3) vs. Washington Huskies (6-6)
Date: Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Location: San Diego, California
Time: 10:00 p.m. EST
On the same day as the Music City Bowl, Nebraska will take on Washington in the Holiday Bowl. It will be the first of three meetings between the schools in the next year. Nebraska beat Washington 65-21 in Seattle on Sept. 18. The Cornhuskers missed out on a BCS bowl when they lost to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. Still, Nebraska will move on to the Big Ten next year after a second straight trip to the Holiday Bowl. When these teams met during the regular season, freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez had 137 rushing yards and three touchdowns in addition to 150 yards through the air and another touchdown. Martinez struggled in the Big 12 title game after sitting out the last regular season game against Colorado because of injuries. They have another weapon in senior running back Roy Helu who has 1,211 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. Helu ran for 110 yards and two scores against Washington in September.
Washington senior Jake Locker is another quarterback recovering from injuries. But, he passed for 463 yards and three touchdowns in two road wins to end the season. Sophomore running back Chris Polk has 1,238 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, but faces a Nebraska defense that held him to 55 yards. The Cornhuskers have won the last three meetings against Washington.
My Pick: Locker is a first-round NFL draft pick, but he’s not good enough to carry Washington past the Cornhuskers. My sports pick is Nebraska to win 38-17.
Money Line (odds provided by Eurobet)
Nebraska: 1/5
Washington: 7/2
Point Spread: Nebraska -14
Over/Under: 52.5