The Quick Lane Bowl pits the Pittsburgh Panthers (7-5 straight up, 7-5 against the spread) of the Atlantic Coast Conference facing the Eastern Conference Eagles (6-6 straight up, 5-7 against the spread) from the Mid-American Conference at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
— Pittsburgh has enjoyed a lengthy bowl history dating back to the 1927 Rose Bowl. During that history, however, they have never faced a MAC opponent in a bowl game. The Panthers are looking to get untracked after getting dumped 31-24 by Stanford in the Sun Bowl last December.
— Eastern Michigan heads over from nearby Washtenaw County to downtown Detroit for the fourth bowl game in school history. They’re 1-2 SU all-time in bowl games, iwht their only victory coming back in Dec. 1987 against San Jose State in the California Bowl. They lost a narrow battle against Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl in Alabama last season.
— The Panthers ranked 95th in total yards per game (374.1), while ranking a dismal 121st in rushing yards (120.7) per contest. They were above-average in passing yards per game at 253.4, led by Kenny Pickett, who had 2,737 passing yards. They were just 115th in points scored, however, managing a dismal 20.1 PPG. Defensively they were outstanding, as the Panthers allowed just 302.5 total yards per game to rank 11th in the nation, they gave up just 195.6 passing yards per game to rank 20th and they were 10th against the run with 106.9 yards per game. They also allowed only 21.8 points per game to check in 31st.
— For the Eagles, they were a mediocre 67th in total yards per game (402.8), while ranking 118th in rushing yards per game (123.1). EMU was a very strong 29th in the nation with 279.7 passing yards per game, while posting 29.1 points per outing to rank 64th. Defensively, EMU had their issues, allowing 428.3 total yards per game to rank 92nd, 66th against the pass (225.8) and 109th against the rush (202.4). They yielded 30.3 PPG to check in 85th overall.
— Pitt has posted a 10-4 ATS mark in their past 14 games in the month of December, while going 5-1 ATS in the past six non-conference battles. They’re also a solid 3-0-1 ATS in the past four appearances on a fieldturf surface.
— The Panthers are a dismal 1-4 ATS in the past five neutral-site affairs, however, and 2-5 ATS in their past seven bowl appearances.
— Eastern Michigan is 17-6 ATS in the past 23 following a straight-up loss, and 14-4 ATS in the past 18 after a non-cover.
— EMU is 17-8 ATS in the past 25 against winning teams, while going 21-7 ATS in the past 28 as an underdog and 17-5 ATS in the past 22 non-conference battles.
— The under is 28-10-1 in the past 39 games overall for Pittsburgh, while going 7-1 in their past eight as a favorite. The under is 6-1 in their past seven non-conference battles, too, while cashing in four of the past five bowl games as a favorite.
— The over is 4-1-1 in Eastern Michigan’s past six games overall, 3-0-2 in the past five against teams with a winning record and 5-0-1 in the past six as an underdog.
TGR ADVANCED PICK: Pittsburgh -11
