New Orleans Bowl, Ohio Vs. Troy: Trojans Skin Bobcats, 48-21

It was probably a fitting nightcap for a day of lopsided bowls; counting the outcome in New Orleans, the average margin of victory in Saturday’s opening round of bowl games was 26 points. But the offensive fireworks put on by Troy in the New Orleans Bowl was maybe the most impressive showing of the day.

Meanwhile, Ohio’s season ends after two disappointing showings. The Bobcats lost by three touchdowns to Kent State at the end of the year. Now, Frank Solich’s bunch got clobbered in their postseason game. Eight wins is nothing to scoff at for Ohio, which still put together just its third winning campaign of the last ten seasons. But it faces as many “what-ifs” as Troy, and has one fewer reason to forget about them.

The Troy romp has continued through the third quarter, though the pace of scoring has slowed down a bit. In fact, the Trojans have scored a pedestrian 10 points in the third, their lowest output of any frame so far.

The team is blowing by several milestones en route to a win that becomes more likely by the minute. The 48 points scored so far would already be the most in the decade-long history of the New Orleans Bowl and is a season-high for Troy. Corey Robinson’s 366 yards passing is also a bowl record. The Trojans passed the 500-yard mark of total offense in the third quarter.

Halftime is probably too early to rule any team out of a game, but it’s looking very much like -- barring a miracle comeback from Ohio in the second half of the New Orleans Bowl -- the search for a competitive bowl game is going to stretch into Tuesday.

In the second quarter alone, Troy has scored on:

Eight plays covering 76 yards in just a shade over three minutes. That’s what teams have to contend with when facing Troy, as Ohio is now finding out.

Back to the Bobcats. Ohio gets the ball at its own 18-yard line and goes with three straight rushes — two of them for losses — and ends up gaining just two yards in a three-and-out. The quarter ends with the Bobcats preparing to punt to Troy, something that will not end well for them if the game so far is any indication.

The 2010 college football postseason kicks off tomorrow, and it’s time to place all your money set aside for Christmas shopping on ridiculous, half-assed bowl games played by largely inept football teams. Degenerate gamblers, start your engines. Now playing: Ohio vs. Troy in the New Orleans Bowl.

The line: Varies a bit. We’ve seen it anywhere from Ohio by one point to Troy by three.

Notable Ohio units: The Bobcats are a top-ten punting team (woo!) and boast a top-15 run defense. Less stellar is their turnover margin, tied for 85th in the nation.

Notable Troy units: The Trojans are air-happy as usual this season, ranking 12th nationally in passing offense, 24th in total offense, and 27th in scoring offense. Their downfall comes on D and special teams, with the country’s 93rd-ranked overall defense, 92nd-ranked scoring defense, and 118th-ranked kickoff return unit.

The pick: Ohio, who by and large played strong in a strong MAC while Troy struggled to retain its perch atop the Sun Belt.