Alamo Bowl: A Battle of Dual Threat Quarterbacks

The Alamo Bowl on January 2nd, 2015 will feature intriguing match-ups all over the field ranging from an elite veteran coach in Bill Snyder facing an up and coming coach in Jim Mora to a quarterback match-up not quite as intriguing as that of the Rose Bowl. Jake Waters and Brett Hundley will face off and try to lead each of their teams to a 10 win season in their final games at the college level. Waters will graduate as a senior, and though Hundley is only a red-shirt junior, the academic senior has announced he will forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the NFL draft.

Before we get any further into this match-up, let’s clarify the obvious: this really isn’t a “match-up” between the two signal callers, as the QB’s wont be on the field at the same time — and while we may be sitting back and thinking about them in a head to head sense, neither one of them is so focused on one another as they are the opposing defense.

Brett Hundley has amassed 3019 yards on the season, passing for 21 touchdowns with only 5 interceptions. Jake Waters, who posted 3163 yards on the stat sheet, threw for one less touchdown (20) and one more interception (6) than Hundley. Both can run the ball and have excellent vision with the pigskin tucked away, showing virtually identical stats on the ground. In 2014, Hundley rushed for 548 yards and 8 TD’s, averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Waters rushed for 471 yards and 8 TD’s as well, at 3.4 yards per carry. Hundley and Waters also share statistically impressive passer ratings, clocking in at 155.4 and 157.8 respectively.

UCLA Bruins

The good news for the Bruins is that Thompson isn’t quite as fast as Marcus Mariota, and doesn’t poses the surprise factor that Kendal Thompson had when he subbed in for Travis Wilson and dominated the Bruins’ defensive front. In other words, he’s stoppable. In fact, Auburn and Texas held Waters to -7 and -1 net rushing yards, respectively. In Auburn’s win, they held the K-State offense to 40 rushing yards, 14 points, and forced 3 turnovers. Mind you, this is an Auburn squad that ranks 59th nationally in scoring defense, only holding it’s opposition to 26.1 PPG. That sounds like a good sign for the Bruins, knowing that the 59th ranked defense can stop K-State, but don’t get to giddy — UCLA comes in at a lousy 74th in the nation. The good news is that both Texas and Auburn have mobile QBs in Nick Marshall and Tyrone Swoopes, which proved beneficial for their defense when practicing for their respective games against the Wildcats. If the Bruins defense gains the same benefit from practicing against Hundley, they will be in good shape come the Alamo Bowl. The bad-ish news is that the Bruins’ “bend but don’t break” mentality has worked for them, but a couple close calls have shown that unless their offense fires on all cylinders, they could finish the season with only 9 wins. Check back for the keys to the game on Go Joe Bruin, but remember, as well as Hundley runs the ball, K-State’s defense practices against a mobile quarterback every day.