2008 EagleBank Bowl Analysis

Wake Forest vs. Navy in the EagleBank Bowl on Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. in Washington, D.C. on ESPN

In the first ever EagleBank Bowl, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will face the Navy Midshipmen at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. This first bowl game of the year will be in the open air stadium which housed the NFL's Washington Redskins from 1961-1996 according to Wikipedia. The capacity is 56,692, which is about twice the crowd either school is used to playing in front of at home games. The crowd will lean heavily in Navy's favor given the location in Washington, D.C. only about 30 miles from Navy's campus according to Google Maps. Below you will find analysis of each school's offense, defense, and special teams based on statistics compiled from FoxSports.com.

WakeForest (7-5)

Offense: Wake has struggled in the running game, ranking 101^st and averaging just over 111 yards per game. The passing game ranks 85^th and averages over 188 yards per game. The total offense averages just over 300 yards and 20.3 points per game, ranking them 97^th overall.

Defense: Wake's defense gives up 300 yards per game, allowing 116 rushing yards (21^st) and 184 passing yards per game (19^th). They gave up 18.3 points per game to rank 17^th on defense overall.

Special Teams: The Demon Deacons struggled on punt returns, getting only 5.83 yards per attempt. They were just under 20 yards per attempt on kickoff returns. Their kickoff coverage team allowed 20.7 yards per attempt (57^th) on kickoffs. Their punt coverage team ranked first in the country, allowing only 0.7 yards per punt return. Thats just over 2 feet per return.

Navy (8-4)

Offense: Navy led the nation in rushing, averaging almost 300 yards per game. Their passing game was virtually nonexistent (63.3 yards per game, 119^th ranked), but with their dominating running game, Navy can afford to pass on the pass. The Navy offense scored 27.8 points per game this season to rank 48^th.

Defense: The Midshipmen allow 126.2 yards per game (31^st) rushing and 215.7 yards passing (91^st). They give up 21.4 points per game to have the 38^th ranked defense.

Special Teams: Navy averages 11.36 yards per punt return and 18.73 yards per kick return. When they punt, they allow 6.6 yards per return (38^th) and 21.9 yards per return on kickoffs (81^st).

Match Up: Wake Forest has a strong defense, but Navy has proven that they can run on anyone. When they met in week 5, the Midshipmen came away victorious by a touchdown. The passing game for Navy will be nonexistent. The Demon Deacons had 270 yards passing that game, but it wasn't enough to overcome the running game that Navy brought to the table. Special teams won't be much of a factor as both teams are well below average on returns. When Wake Forest learned who their bowl opponent would be, the staff wasn't happy. However if Wake Forest can avoid the turnovers that led to a 17-0 deficit in the previous meeting, they might just pull this one out.

Prediction: Navy 28 - Wake Forest 21