Heart of Dallas Bowl 2014: Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech TV Info, Spread and Time
Illinois may be the Big Ten representative at the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl, but Louisiana Tech of the Conference USA is the favorite.
Power conference or not, the Fighting Illini will have to figure out a way to stop the high-octane attack of the Bulldogs if they want to walk away with a victory. Louisiana Tech scored 76 points in its victory over fellow bowl team Rice and will look to unleash that type of attack on Illinois.
With that in mind, here is a look at the essential information for the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
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Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
Date: Friday, Dec. 26
Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Spread: Louisiana Tech -6 (via Odds Shark, as of Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET)
Preview
Both Illinois and Louisiana Tech come into this bowl game playing some of their best football of the season.
In fact, the Fighting Illini won their final two contests against Penn State and Northwestern just to become postseason-eligible, while the Bulldogs crushed Rice 76-31 and then led the Conference USA title game against Marshall for the majority of the way until a heartbreaking 26-23 loss in the final minutes.
The key player in this game is Louisiana Tech running back Kenneth Dixon, who was fifth in the nation with 21 rushing touchdowns this season and third with 26 total touchdowns. That is the same Dixon who set a national freshman record with 28 touchdowns in 2012 and should find some running room against a Fighting Illini defense that was the sixth-worst run defense in the country at 249.6 yards per game.
O.K. Davis of The Ruston Daily Leader noted just how dominant Dixon has been this season as a one-man wrecking crew:
Louisiana Tech finished No. 13 in the country in scoring offense at 37.5 points per game and will rely on Dixon to exploit what should be some wide-open lanes against the Illini.
Illinois gave up 55 points to Ohio State, 45 points to Nebraska, 44 points to Washington, 38 points to Purdue, 38 points to Wisconsin and even 35 points to Texas State and finished an abysmal 109th in the country in scoring defense.
Dixon gets another chance to demonstrate his abilities against a power-conference defense after losses to Oklahoma and Auburn, and he couldn't have picked a better group to do it against than Illinois.
Coach Tim Beckman offered a defense of his group, though, according to STATS LLC, via ESPN.com: "I will say this: In the big games that we've had in the second half of the football season, the Minnesota game, the Penn State game and the Northwestern game—if you look at them stat-wise—the defense won you those football games.”
Dealing with Louisiana Tech’s offense will not be the only problem for Illinois.
The Bulldogs defense forced a nation-best 40 turnovers on the season and racked up 25 interceptions. While Illinois did manage to score 47 points in its final game against Northwestern, it was still only 84th in the country in scoring offense and 112th in rushing.
Impressive defenses rarely have a problem with this Illinois offense, although quarterback Reilly O’Toole led his team to two victories down the stretch after replacing an ineffective Wes Lunt.
The one advantage Illinois appears to have on paper in this game is a more difficult schedule, which theoretically prepared it better for the postseason than Louisiana Tech. Still, Dixon should have his way against a vulnerable defensive front, and there simply isn’t enough firepower on the Fighting Illini side to overcome an early deficit.
Look for Dixon to put his team ahead in the opening quarter and then gradually work on the clock with a steady dose of handoffs.
Conference affiliation won’t matter in this one.
Prediction: Louisiana Tech 31, Illinois 20
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