Outback Bowl Preview:

By Guest Blogger Tyler Fenwick:

Perhaps the biggest news from the last couple of days has been Florida Coach Urban Meyer stepping down from his job after this bowl game. He will try to leave on a good note, but standing in his way is the Nittany Lions of Penn State.

After starting off 3-3, Penn State really buckled down and finished as the hottest team behind the three champs of the Big Ten.

Their only two losses in the final six games were to Ohio State and Michigan State.

Another big part of this year’s season was Sophomore Matthew McGloin stepping in as quarterback. he went out and really proved himself. So when Bolden was healthy again, Joe Pa decided to stick with the hot hand in McGloin.

Florida didn’t really live up to standard this year. A young team promised some challenges, but I think most people were expecting more than seven wins.

It was really bad after starting out 4-3, but an overtime win over Georgia really propelled them into the better half of their season, where they only lost to South Carolina and Florida State.

It wasn’t the high octain offense people are used to seeing from the Gators. It’s been just enough of a team effort to push them to wins late in the season. Credit can really be given to the defense.

I’m excited to see Penn State’s offensive approach to this one. Florida has a good, all-around defense, and the Nittany Lions have a quarterback and runningback who can get the job done.

So, while a balanced attack would be the logical thing to do, don’t be surprised to see a mix-up going one way or the other.

For Florida, it’s going to come down to the play of the defense.

You can argue that Brantly or Demps need to have the big games, but when Florida has one close games this year, it’s been because of defense.

But they have a tough task ahead of them as there really is no telling who will do the play-making for the Nittany Lions.

What to expect: You can expect to see Penn State firing on all four for this one. They play incredibly in these close, tough situations, and I believe this one will be close.

Really, if McGloin and Royser can move things consistantly, I like Penn State’s chances here.

We will probably see a balanced attack with the occasional mix-up thrown in there.

For Florida, you can maybe expect to see some weaker defense. So many teams have had trouble stopping Penn State lately, and I don’t see how Florida could fair any better.

But on offense, they need to establish the running game. Keep McGloin and the Nittany Lion offense off the field. I think we can expect to see that for the most part from the Gators.