Watch the North Carolina vs. Baylor Russell Athletic Bowl online: Time, TV schedule, live stream, 3 things to know
Orlando will be the epicenter for a points explosion.
Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Make sure you have your schedule figured out for today, because you’re not going to want to miss the Russell Athletic Bowl between Baylor and North Carolina. Two of the nation’s premier offenses will go head-to-head, and the only sure winner is us, the viewing public.
This wasn’t where Baylor wanted to end their season, no offense to the Russell Athletic Bowl. However, a slew of injuries at quarterback threw a wrench into their Playoff dreams. Seth Russell’s season ended in October due to a neck injury, and freshman Jarrett Stidham missed the final two games with a foot injury. As it turns out, the Bears’ offense isn’t truly plug and play.
North Carolina, meanwhile, still has first string quarterback Marquise Williams. And good thing, too, because he's been amazing this year. He's also surrounded by prolific skill talent like running back Elijah Hood and a fleet of productive wide receivers, making the Tar Heel offense incredibly hard to stop. They nearly upended Clemson in the ACC title game, and if they had, we might be looking at a Playoff team here.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: Dec. 29, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Radio: North Carolina | Baylor
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Baylor is favored by 3 points.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Tar Heel Blog for North Carolina fans and Our Daily Bears for Baylor fans.
Three big things to know
1. Get ready for fireworks. Baylor led the nation in scoring this year at 48 points per game, and North Carolina was 11th at 40.9 points per game. These were the top two teams in the country in terms of yards per play. The numbers back up just how potent these teams are when they have the ball, so sit back and enjoy them light it up.
2. So long as Baylor has a quarterback, anyway. Once Jarrett Stidham went down with a broken bone in his foot, the Baylor offense hit the skids. It was so bad against Texas, they basically ran a single wing offense for the entire second half, using wide receiver Lynx Hawthrone as a quarterback. It worked surprisingly well, but they’re going to need a healthy and functional Stidham to keep up with Marquise Williams and the UNC offense.
3. Do the defenses have a prayer? The stats you saw just above for these two offenses are insane. The two defenses are ... not as prolific, let’s say. This could very well be a game decided by which defense can get two or three stops in the second half.
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