First Responder Bowl Picks and Odds | Louisville vs Air Force
First Responder Bowl Betting Preview
GoldSheet offers their First Responder Bowl betting preview between Louisville and Air Force on Tuesday, December 28. At the time of posting, this game is lined as a pick’em, with the total at 54.5 points.
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| First Responder Bowl | Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Air Force Falcons pick’em vs Louisville Cardinals |
| Total: | 54.5 Points |
| Game Time: | 3:15pm ET / 12:15pm PT on Tuesday, December 28 |
| Stadium: | Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas |
| TV: | ESPN |
First Responder Bowl Predictions
Though occasionally outclassed in past bowl appearances, whenever a Troy Calhoun-coached Air Force team hasn’t been at a fundamental disadvantage in the postseason, the Falcons have been a handful. Air Force has covered six of their last eight bowl trips since 2009 and as this looks like one of Calhoun’s best editions.
Louisville is probably cursing its bad fortune to have been drawn against Air Force in Dallas. Certainly, there would be other foes that Cardinals would have faced other than the nation’s top rushing team (340 ypg, more than 50 ypg ahead of second-place Army!), especially after watching a more-conventional Kentucky infantry batter the ‘Ville mercilessly in the regular-season finale, pounding out 362 yards on the ground and scoring seven (seven!) rush TDs in a 52-21 wipeout.
A bit over two weeks of prep time won’t likely be enough for the Cards, forced to deal with clever QB Haaziq Daniels, who has matured into a quintessential Calhoun option pilot, not only able to scamper to the edge (705 YR and 9 TDs) but also sneak the occasional long ball down the field, with his 45 well-spaced completions gaining 21 yards per pop.
The usual stable of Falc north-south runners is paced by quick-hitting Brad Roberts (1279 YR), whose style remains of former Force great Brian Bream from the Ben Martin era.
Louisville might think it can trade points with daring QB Malik Cunningham, who does almost everything for the Cards short of bringing the ball up the court for Chris Mack’s hoopsters, and like predecessor Lamar Jackson leading the team in rushing (968 YR and 19 rush TDs!) while finding the time to pass for 2734 more yards and another 16 TDs.
But this year’s Falcon stop unit was one of Calhoun’s best, and ranked 7th nationally in rush D, suggesting Jackson’s act might not play as well in the bowl, and the Force didn’t often beat itself, its mere nine giveaways ranking sixth-best in the nation. The best Air Force teams usually win their bowls, and we have suspected that this might be the best Falc edition since Fisher DeBerry’s 12-win side of 1985 that beat Fred Akers’ Texas in the old Bluebonnet Bowl.
Interested in placing a bet on this afternoon’s First Responder Bowl? BetMGM is offering a $1,000 Risk-Free Bet for first-time bettors in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, Tennessee, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Washington DC, Wyoming, Mississippi, Arizona and Louisiana.
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First Responder Bowl Stats
College football handicappers Ralph Michaels and JM Sports have put together a 66-page Bowl Betting Guide featuring everything from first quarter scoring to yards per point to plays per minute. Don’t place a bet on the First Responder Bowl before diving into this FREE download.
College Football Daily
Join Joe Raineri, Dave Cokin, Tony Mejia and Bryan Leonard for College Football Daily as we preview this week’s bowl slate. In this episode, we’ll break down Purdue vs Tennessee (Music City Bowl); Pittsburgh vs Michigan State (Peach Bowl); Arizona St vs Wisconsin (Las Vegas Bowl); Rutgers vs Wake Forest (Gator Bowl).
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the moneylines, point spreads, first half lines and betting percentages for all of the college football bowl games, including this First Responder Bowl showdown between Louisville and Air Force, from your desktop or phone.
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