Fox Sports South keeps tabs on 21 games around the SEC, ACC and more during the college football bowl season. Follow along throughout postseason play for in-depth previews and reactions off every game:
FINAL: Memphis 55, BYU 48 (2OT)
The Memphis Tigers and BYU Cougars combined for 103 points in the Miami Beach Bowl, but it was a defensive play, an interception by DaShaughn Terry, that sealed the double-overtime victory for Memphis. Of course, it was a meeting tarnished by an ugly postgame brawl between the two schools, but the Tigers did notch their school-record 10th win of the season.
UNC's much-maligned defense has been historically bad, and as a result, defensive coordinator Vic Koenning and the Tar Heels parted ways. Will the defense be able to find some form of redemption against a potentially explosive but turnover-prone Rutgers offense? FULL PREVIEW
One of the best battles on the field during the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl will happen when NC State is on offense and UCF is working to slow the Wolfpack down. FULL PREVIEW
Virginia Tech's offense has not been able to move the ball consistently or effectively against almost any opponent. But there's good news for the Hokies in that they'll be facing Cincinnati's 102nd-ranked defense. The only other team with a worse defense that Virginia Tech has faced all year is North Carolina, and the Hokies won that game easily. FULL PREVIEW
Duke's defense has been very bend-but-don't-break all season long, and for the most part, it's been successful at the not breaking part. The Blue Devils' defense was broken a few times towards the end of the season, though, and that can't happen against a very dangerous Arizona State offense that is arguably the most complete Duke has seen this year in terms of the pass and run games. FULL PREVIEW
Miami running back Duke Johnson ranked seventh in the country this season with 1,890 all-purpose yards (1,520 rushing yards). He ranked second in the ACC in rushing, and his worst game of the season was an 88-yard performance on the road against Virginia. Johnson will be the unquestioned most dangerous weapon on the field when Miami and South Carolina meet in the Independence Bowl. FULL PREVIEW
Penn State's top-ranked rush defense was one of only seven vaunted programs to keep opponents under the triple-digit, typically easy-to-attain threshold of 100 rushing yards per game -- joining Alabama, Lousiville, Michigan State, UCF, Clemson and Boston College. BC, in turn, ranked 14th nationally in rushing yards gained. FULL PREVIEW
In a matchup of two well-recognized Air Raid-type offenses, it's somewhat strange to focus on an area in the backfield not involving the quarterback. All the same, Texas A&M's Achilles heel is stopping the run and West Virginia features some talent at the running back spot. FULL PREVIEW
Make no mistake, Clemson has enough offensive firepower to stay with Oklahoma, but there will be an adjustment period for the Tigers, now that Chad Morris has indirectly handed the reins over to co-coordinators Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott. FULL PREVIEW
The sheer size of the Arkansas Razorbacks' offensive line was a popular topic throughout the 2014 season, drawing rave reviews whether the 1,500-plus pounds of blocking mass was opening up holes for running backs Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams or throwing trick-play touchdowns. It was the unsurprising offensive centerpiece for second-year coach Bret Bielema and it's now the task at hand for the Texas Longhorns' defensive front, namely end Cedric Reed and tackles Malcolm Brown and Hassan Ridgeway. FULL PREVIEW
The Fighting Irish limp into Nashville on a four-game losing streak and during that span have given up an average of 221.2 yards per game on the ground. Making matters worse, those performances belonged to Arizona State (57th in rushing), USC (68), Louisville (83) and Northwestern (98). None of that bodes well going against the Tigers. FULL PREVIEW
Louisville will have to establish the run to make Georgia respect the pass, and you can run on Georgia, but if the Cardinals do pass, Georgia is no doubt going to be ready. FULL PREVIEW
Baylor and TCU must have done something big to anger the football gods. First, the schools were glaring omissions from the inaugural College Football Playoff semifinals (Alabama vs. Ohio State; Oregon vs. Florida State). After that high-profile snub, Baylor (Cotton Bowl) and TCU (Peach Bowl) were assigned to encounter arguably the most stifling defenses in college football -- Michigan State and Ole Miss. FULL PREVIEW
Mississippi State's has gotten by on bending but not breaking, leading the nation in red-zone defense (opponents score on 60 percent of all red-zone trips and just 37.5 percent of the time do they score a touchdown). Georgia Tech has survived a near-complete lack of a pass rush (particularly against good offensive lines) by showing a knack for forcing and capitalizing on turnovers and turning them into points. Both teams have generally relied on their offense to outscore the opponent, but whichever defense is able to get a key stop or two is going to come out on top in this one. FULL PREVIEW
Boasting two of the nation's top running backs, Heisman finalist Melvin Gordon and 1,400-yard rusher Cameron Artis-Payne, this bowl game's synopsis could be simplified: Wisconsin and Auburn collectively totaled more than 1,100 rushing attempts this season and could challenge the all-time bowl record of total combined rushing yards. FULL PREVIEW
For those looking for the general makeup of this matchup, it's a meeting of the 96th-ranked passing offense versus the 124th-ranked passing offense. That's a good place to start here. Both teams rely on clock control and defensive efficiency to win ballgames to win games, and it paid off for the better part of the 2014 season. FULL PREVIEW
In a made-for-TV matchup that just might challenge the non-championship bowl ratings record, defending national champion Florida State heads west to Pasadena on the heels of a by-the-skin-of-its-teeth regular season. Its reward? The second-ranked Oregon Ducks, a high-power offense featuring the Heisman Trophy winner that has shown the propensity to take early leads and bury quality opponents. FULL PREVIEW
It's hard to envision Ohio State -- led by a largely untested quarterback (Cardale Jones) -- beating a hyper-focused Nick Saban in the Sugar Bowl. It's also difficult to imagine Amari Cooper playing a pedestrian role in most likely his last college game. But in the cases of No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Ohio State, the respective scripts of these monster programs have been rewritten numerous times this season. FULL PREVIEW
Seven players in college football scored more than 20 touchdowns on the ground in 2014. Pitt running back James Conner was one of them, as he ranked third in the nation with 24 rushing touchdowns. Conner also finished fifth in the nation with 1,675 yards on the ground. At 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, Conner had a Mack-truck-like effect on would-be tacklers. It's usually the smart plan not to get in his way. FULL PREVIEW
Iowa and Tennessee are remarkably similar teams, so much that it's like the Big Ten and SEC moved heaven and earth to ensure this meeting in Jacksonville. To declare a winner for this clash of sometimes-sleepy offenses ... the key undoubtedly lies with special teams. FULL PREVIEW
If there's one area of strength Will Muschamp left behind for Jim McElwain (who will be watching, but not coaching this one), it's the defense. This year's group is no exception, and sets up for the best matchup of this game as corner Vernon Hargreaves III and the Gators' ninth-ranked D, which has given up 311 yards per, takes on Shane Carden and the Pirates' Air Raid attack. FULL PREVIEW
