December 30 College Bowl Picks: Music City, Belk, and Foster Farms Bowls

Nov 1, 2014; Eugene, OR, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

December 30 College Bowl Picks: Foster Farms Bowl

Maryland vs. Stanford (-14) | Santa Clara, CA | 10pm ET (ESPN)

So, what is the Foster Farms Bowl, you ask? Boston College fans should know it: we have played in it three times.

Of course, back then, it was called the San Francisco Bowl, the Emerald Bowl, and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. The Eagles won it in 2003 with Tom O’Brien and lost in 2009 and 2010 under the abortive helmsmanship of one F. Spaziani.

Boston College Eagles

Back to the 2014 game at hand, it’s Maryland and Stanford. Eagles fans might choose to smite their former ACC rivals from College Park, and if they did, nobody would think anything of it.

Stanford’s story this season is that they cannot score — Palo Alto turns its lonely eyes to you, Andrew Luck — but their defense is top-notch. Maryland is much more average: they are perhaps a little better offensively, but definitely more pedestrian on defense. While the Terps score a few more points than Stanford, however, their rushing offense is miserable and quarterback CJ Brown has done little of note this year with his arm.

Brown is also Maryland’s leading rusher, though with a fraction of the success of Tyler Murphy.

The combination of Maryland’s shaky defense and Stanford’s strong defense should edge the Cardinal out in front.

Pick: Stanford