New Orleans Bowl preview and pick: Appalachian State vs. UAB

College football bowl season is so often a season of change, with the delay between the final regular-season game and the bowl season providing players and coaches an opportunity to step back and take a breath. And quite often they make career decisions that impact the matchups that occur during the holiday season.

In the case of the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday, December 21, it will mean a new head coach on the sideline. Appalachian State will take on UAB in a game that pits the Sun Belt champions against the Conference USA runner-up, but App State will be without head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who has moved on to Missouri.

Appalachian State vs. UAB, Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

Evans is an offensive force

Appalachian State enters the game 12-1 straight up and 9-4 against the spread. UAB enters 9-4 straight up and 7-6 against the spread. The spread in this game is one of the larger ones you’ll see during bowl season.

For App State the loss of its head coach will be softened by the comfort of knowing a talented roster is still intact and planning to play. Running back Darrynton Evans was named Offensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt, and linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither was Defensive Player of the Year. Zac Thomas has been an effective quarterback, with 26 touchdown passes and just six interceptions for the ninth-best scoring offense in the nation at 39.4 points per game.

Johnson has hit a rough patch

For UAB, quarterback Tyler Johnson had a rough run to end the season, with zero touchdowns and four interceptions in his last three games. The Blazers were steamrolled, 49-6, in their conference championship game against Florida Atlantic and showed very little willingness to battle back in that matchup. Given their inability to stop a FAU defense that isn’t as potent as App State’s, there is little reason to believe the UAB defense can slow down its opponent in this game.

The New Orleans Bowl has all the makings of a blowout

In last year’s New Orleans Bowl, App State also got a Conference USA opponent. The Mountaineers handled Middle Tennessee State easily in a 45-13 win. Given the direction both these teams seem to be headed, and App State’s proven capability of handling out-of-conference foes both in last year’s bowl game and in this year’s games against North Carolina and South Carolina, this looks like a blowout in the making. It’s bowl season, so underdogs should always be an enticing offering, but UAB is simply outclassed in this matchup.

NCAAF free pick: Appalachian State -16

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