It’s fitting that, in the year of the struggling quarterback, two of the three SEC teams that play bowl games Wednesday each will face a pretty good one.
With that, here are 5 things to watch for during Wednesday’s SEC bowl triple-header:
1. Dak Prescott chases history: The greatest QB in Mississippi State history enters the Belk Bowl vs. N.C. State on the verge of jumping into the SEC’s top 10 in single-season passing yards — with a chance to crack the top 5. Prescott has 3,413 yards. A 300-yard performance will secure a top 10 spot, and another 500-yard effort will be enough to stay in a top 5 that likely will include Chad Kelly. Those are big numbers, but Prescott has thrown for 300 or more in five of his past six games. The Belk Bowl record is 358 yards.
N.C. State allowed 20 TD passes — 11th in the 14-team ACC — despite facing the fourth-fewest passes in the conference. Prescott has 25 TD passes this season. He needs five more to join the SEC’s top 20. Doing so would mean breaking another Belk Bowl record.
2. Jacoby Brissett gets a final shot at SEC: It’s fair to say former Florida coach Will Muschamp chose the wrong QB when he picked Jeff Driskel over Brissett. Both ended up transferring away from Florida, but Brissett has made more out of his second chance, leading N.C. State to consecutive bowl games. With a win, he’ll lead the Wolfpack to consecutive 8-win seasons for just the seventh time in program history.
3. Paxton Lynch vs. Auburn secondary: Eight times this season, the Memphis junior QB has thrown for 300 or more yards. That’s more than Chad Kelly or Dak Prescott. Lynch’s total includes the 384 he dropped on Ole Miss during the Tigers’ 37-24 upset over the Rebels. Lynch will be without his head coach, but the man putting together the game plan was his offensive coordinator. That’s an advantage going against an Auburn team without its defensive coordinator.
4. Can Auburn end on high note? Momentum from one season to another generally is overrated, but considering how far the Tigers fell — preseason SEC champions to barely qualifying at 6-6 to play Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl — and how they fell — shaky QB play throughout — Wednesday’s game is much more about looking ahead than a modest reward for salvaging its season. Both quarterbacks — Jeremy Johnson and injured Sean White — are expected to play. Consider this an early version of the spring game and race to win the job for next season. White has been practicing this week with a heavy brace on his left knee.
5. Is Texas A&M QB Jake Hubenak the answer? My, how quickly that question changed from three weeks ago, when “Who is Jake Hubenak?” might have been more appropriate. But the departures of QBs Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen have pushed Hubenak under center — and maybe for longer than Texas A&M’s Music City Bowl game against Louisville.
It’s possible Oklahoma graduate transfer Trevor Knight arrives in College Station and steps in next season, but as of now, Hubanek is the only answer the Aggies have. Hubenak, a junior college transfer, will make his first start for the Aggies after throwing just 27 passes this season.
He threw for 4,052 yards and 47 TDs last season at Blinn College, the same stopover Cam Newton took before resurrecting his career at Auburn.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
