2022 Rose Bowl: WMU vs Tennessee Preview

[SageBow]

The other big college football semifinal is here. 11-2 Western Michigan takes on 12-3 Tennessee in Pasadena at The Granddaddy of Them All. Anyone could win this game and the Vegas line reflects how tight America thinks this result will be. The world eagerly awaits this battle between the Broncos famed air attack and the Volunteers gritty win-by-all means attitude.

 

Heisman winner Theo Scribner led the nation with 5898 passing yards and 44 touchdowns. His two senior receivers Durham Simmons and Andy Anderson each had over 1700 receiving yards, and to the faithful up in Kalamazoo, this is the team of destiny. On the other side, young Vols shotcaller Brandon Savage has played well beyond his years this season, and he's backed up with running back Aldrick Ynoa, a true force of nature who piled up over 2400 yards rushing this season. Defensively, both teams are fantastic - WMU led by senior defensive lineman Paul Reed (55.5 tackles, 26 TFL, 8 Sacks, 1 FF) while Tennessee has star defensive back Zac Hill (78 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 FF, 1 INT).

 

The Spread

Team	Spread	Total	Moneyline
:bronco: WMU	-3.5	61.5	-170
:tennessee: Tennessee	+3.5		+140

 

Expert Picks

 

SageBow - Oh man where to start. Scribner has been unreal this season. Savage one of the best stories of the year as he came in highly touted and has taken the Vols this far. Both teams led by incredible coaches. To be honest, no result would surprise me, but I'm taking Western Michigan. That air attack is just awesome. The true winner will be the fans!

 

Sarge - Savage has been electric and has stepped up tremendously in the playoffs and in the SECCG but it's going to boil down to stopping Ynoa. He's a force in the passing and ground game with over 3000 yards from scrimmage during the regular season alone. Tennessee's defense doesn't have any stars and that worries me with how dominant WMU is with their offense, and you don't want to put Savage in a game where he's playing from behind and chasing points. WMU will absolutely score and score in bunches, but the key is Tennessee holding them to FGs when they can. I'm taking TENN over WMU 35-30 as the underdogs keep punching up and punch their ticket to the next big game.

 

TuscanSota - We could've had the inevitable Rose Bowl match up between a Pac 12 team and a Big Ten team; but we placed UCLA somewhere else along the bracket and Michigan State got their teeth kicked in by Brandon Savage. So instead, we have what I'll call the changing of the guard. The senior stud Theo Scribner, Heisman winner and having made his history in the CFB landscape, against the new blood freshman Brandon Savage. Tennessee looks good, but I'm going to say WMU because their run defense looks like they can stop Ynoa

[tsweezy]

excited for this game, win or lose it's been a honor just to get here!