College Football: Devy prospects to watch in bowl games on Dec. 27

With college football bowl season entering its second week, each game’s importance amplifies and the devy prospects get better as we make our way towards the College Football Playoff on Saturday. In this installment of our devy college football bowl game preview, we take a look at the best devy prospects to watch on Friday, December 27th.

Friday’s slate begins at noon Eastern with the 2019 Military Bowl between UNC and Temple, while the final game of the day doesn’t start until 10:15 PM Eastern. With Washington State and Air Force expected to play into the wee hours of Saturday morning, there won’t be much sleep between Friday and Saturday’s action-packed slate featuring the College Football Playoff.

Without further ado, here are the best devy matchups to watch on Friday, December 27th. Be sure to check back throughout the bowl season for our look ahead to every college football bowl game. You can also find my updated 2020 dynasty rookie rankings for a look ahead at which prospects to scout for the 2020 NFL Draft.

Military Bowl: North Carolina vs. Temple

Date: Friday, December 27
Time: 12:00 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Location: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland

North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell had a sensational freshman season with over 3,500 passing yards and a 35-7 TD/INT ratio. As a true freshman showing tremendous potential, Howell should be on devy radars everywhere until further notice.

The Tar Heels backfield turned into a timeshare between Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, while Howell’s top targets Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome had identical 947-yard seasons and 19 total touchdowns between the pair. Barring a surprise entry into the 2020 NFL Draft, the Tar Heels will enter the 2020 season with the majority of their skill-position players still on the roster.

Pinstripe Bowl: Michigan State vs. Wake Forest

Date: Friday, December 27
Time: 3:20 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

After leading Wake Forest to an 8-4 regular-season record, quarterback Jamie Newman looks to continue his impressive 2019 season in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Mark Dantonio and the Michigan State Spartans. Well, that’s assuming the “questionable” Newman can play in today’s game. 

Wake Forest lost star wide receiver, Sage Surratt, to a season-ending knee injury in mid-November before seeing Newman leave the Demon Deacons final regular season contest with an injury of his own. If Newman sits out, sophomore Sam Hartman will get the start at quarterback.

After bursting on the scene in 2019, Surratt is one of the most intriguing devy prospects in college football. Surratt was under-recruited in high school, but the wide receiver was sensational this season before suffering a season-ending injury. Surratt has already announced he’s returning in 2020, so I advise you take him at a discount in devy football drafts while you still can.

Texas Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M

Date: Friday, December 27
Time: 6:45 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Location: NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas

At one point this season, #25 Oklahoma State featured the nation’s leading rusher and receiver as running back Chuba Hubbard and wide receiver Tylan Wallace set the college football world on fire. The duo might have finished #1 in both categories if not for Wallace’s season-ending knee injury in early November.

Hubbard finished the regular season as the nation’s leading rusher with 1,936 rushing yards while adding 21 rushing touchdowns. Wallace still managed to lead the Cowboys with 903 receiving yards despite missing a third of the season.

Hubbard is technically eligible for the 2020 NFL Draft, but the redshirt sophomore might need another year to work on improving his pass-blocking skills. If the highly-ranked devy prospect gets information that he’ll be selected high in the 2020 NFL Draft, the 2019 Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl could offer Hubbard one final game to display his skills on the collegiate level.

Texas A&M’s best offensive weapons are wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon and running back Isaiah Spiller. Ausbon has ideal size to excel on the outside in the National Football League while the electric Spiller had a mini-breakout this season with over 1,000 yards of total offense and nine rushing touchdowns. 

Holiday Bowl: USC vs. Iowa

Date: Friday, December 27
Time: 8:00 PM ET
TV: FS1
Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

After some initial struggles early this season, USC quarterback Kedon Slovis excelled in the Trojans three-game winning streak to end the regular season. Slovis averaged over 450 passing yards in USC’s Pac 12 victories over Arizona State, Cal, and UCLA.

USC’s top target, Michael Pittman Jr., led the Trojans with 95 receptions, 1,222 receiving yards, and 11 touchdown receptions heading into the 2019 San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl. As the son of a former NFL standout, Pittman Jr. has the athletic traits and NFL bloodlines to excel on the next level.

While Pittman Jr. hogged the majority of the targets, fellow-wideouts Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns had near-identical statistical seasons fighting for second-fiddle. Both St. Brown and Vaughns finished the regular season with 68 receptions and six touchdown receptions, while St. Brown finished with 21 more receiving yards.

Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force vs. Washington State

Date: Friday, December 27
Time: 10:15 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona

After an electrifying senior season, Washington State quarterback Anthony Gordon looks to make one final impression on the college football landscape in the 2019 Cheez-It Bowl against the Air Force Falcons. Gordon finished the regular season with a nation-leading 5,228 passing yards and a 45-16 TD/INT ratio.

Following in the footsteps of Washington State alums Luke Falk and Gardner Minshew, Gordon recently accepted an invitation to the 2020 Senior Bowl. While both Falk and Minshew ended up as sixth-round draft choices, Gordon will look to improve on that with a good showing in Mobile, Alabama.