Maryland vs. Boston College, Quick Lane Bowl 2016: Eagles get first bowl win since 2007

I use advanced stats whenever possible, but I’m not a zealot. I understand that there is a time and place for most things — kicking 18-yard field goals, punting from the opponent’s 37, etc. — just as there’s a time and place for, say, staying on 12 in Blackjack.

If you’re up six or seven points midway through the fourth quarter, that field goal could put the game away. If you’re down two in the closing seconds, kick that damn ball.

Boston College beat Maryland in a rip-roarin’ Quick Lane Bowl on Monday, 36-30.

One of the game’s key points came with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Maryland was trailing by nine, and the Terrapins moved the ball to BC’s 2-yard line. It seemed a mere formality that the Terps would punch in for a touchdown, cutting the lead to two and giving themselves ample time for a comeback.

Boston College beat Maryland in a winding, error-filled, surprisingly exciting Quick Lane Bowl on Monday in Detroit, 36-30. The Eagles moved to 7-6 and the Terrapins to 6-7. It was the Eagles’ first bowl win since 2007.

Talk about a beautiful mess of a game, and you’re talking about this game. It was the sort of game that featured one team (Maryland) getting to the opponent’s 2-yard line, taking penalties and sacks to back up to the 36, then getting a new set of downs because of a defensive facemasking call, then marching back inside the 1 and fumbling the ball away on the goal line.

When one thinks about the best, most innovative offenses in college football, Boston College’s is not normally among the first to pop to mind. The Eagles have scored 19.1 points per game this season (123rd in the country) and were 121st the year before that. They’re not amazing at scoring points, usually. Here’s an exception:

What we’re all witnessing here: Boston College running a sweep play into a wide receiver reverse, as quarterback Patrick Towles floats toward the sideline and catches a 20-yard touchdown pass from receiver Jeff Smith, during Monday’s Quick Lane Bowl against Maryland in Detroit.

There are too many bowl games. OK, sure, fine. They still make players happy, mean football on TV, and make enough people money to keep happening.

The day after Christmas 2016 might be the stiffest test yet each of these arguments has faced. Of the six teams scheduled to play on Boxing Day, not one has a winning record.

Maryland and Boston College are not particularly good this year. Both are 6-6, and they’re 6-6 mostly because they’ve played a bunch of terrible opponents. Maryland lost a combined 121-6 to Ohio State and Michigan, while Boston College lost a combined 153-24 to Louisville, Clemson, and Florida State. They can’t compete with top teams.

But there’s a caveat: It used to be much worse. Maryland and BC are coming off 3-9 seasons. Maryland fired Randy Edsall and ultimately replaced him with uber-recruiter D.J. Durkin, and Steve Addazio’s wins-doubling year has cooled down his hot seat considerably. Maryland, in particular, is adding talent quickly and should be pretty decent, pretty soon. BC’s gotten a bit better.

Both sides are right. Bowls are a cynical money-making exercise, an excuse for ESPN inventory, and an outdated way for all the wrong people to maintain some semblance of control over college football. They’re also happy, bonus football.

We are at both extremes in 2016. We once again had 80 bowl bids to give out and fewer than 80 bowl-eligible teams, a sure sign of bloat and excess. We’re also loaded with perhaps more interesting bowl matchups than we’ve ever seen.

Bowl games are good. There are too many of them. Both things are true.

We’re holding steady at 41 on this year’s schedule, counting the National Championship, and again have multiple 5-7 teams that made it in because we ran out of 6-6 teams (Mississippi State and North Texas this time).

All wagers at -110 odds unless otherwise noted. Visit Odds Shark for updated lines throughout each game week.

College football bowl games are a different beast for bettors. Sure, the typical handicapping elements apply. Offense and defense matter. But there are some key elements at play that don’t apply as much during the regular season.

College football’s bowl season is upon us. A full schedule is here.

There are 40 bowl games spread from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, with the National Championship on Jan. 9. Unless you’re watching on multiple monitors and are really committed, you won’t catch all of them. (If that is your plan, more power to you.)

Also, head over here for the fully updated bowl season calendar as it fills in, from the New Orleans Bowl through the Rose Bowl. We’ll also add picks, scores, and more to that calendar over time.

It’s time for the third year of the Quick Lane Bowl, a college football postseason contest that got going for the first time in 2014. Its lead backer is the Detroit Lions of the NFL, and the game is played in the Lions’ Ford Field. (Its predecessor is the Little Caesar’s Bowl. Little Caesar’s pizza is not good.)