3 things to know for the St. Petersburg Bowl

Need a brief primer before you attempt to watch all 40 bowl games this season? We’ve got you covered. Here are three things you need to know about the St. Petersburg Bowl.

ST. PETERSBURG BOWL
Miami-Ohio RedHawks (6-6) vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-7)
Dec. 26, 11 a.m. ET
ESPN

– Miami-Ohio earned its first bowl berth since 2010 after starting the season 0-6 and then rebounding to win its next six games. The success was thanks to the Mid-American Conference’s second-best defense. The RedHawks are allowing 354.8 yards per game and 24.3 points per game and didn’t allow more than 26 points in its final six games. That defense will be key on Monday since the RedHawks haven’t defeated an SEC team since beating Vanderbilt to open the 2000 season.

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– While Mississippi State got into this bowl game on the strength of its APR, the Bulldogs have a promising future thanks to quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. It took Fitzgerald a little time to get comfortable replacing Dak Prescott, but he has settled in nicely. Fitzgerald leads the SEC in total yards (3,524), but still need to refine his passing. He threw for 2,281 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing just 54.5 percent of his passes. But while he struggles in the air, he’s one of the Bulldogs’ greatest weapons on the ground. He has 1,243 rushing yards, which ranks third in the SEC, and 14 touchdowns. He will test the RedHawks rushing defense, which is allowing just 3.9 yards per carry.

– Not to be outdone, Miami-Ohio quarterback Gus Ragland has revitalized the RedHawks’ offense since taking over after the 0-6 start. During that time, Ragland has completed 62.4 percent of his passes and thrown 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions. The RedHawks have gone from averaging 17 points per game during the first half of the season to more than 30 points per game during the second half. Ragland should have some success against this Mississippi State defense that is giving up 283 passing yards per game.

Mascot fight prediction: It’s difficult to say who would win a mascot fight between a RedHawk and a Bulldog, but the advantage would probably go to the better aerial attack. The RedHawk can attack from the sky while the Bulldog is stuck of the ground. That’s seems like a metaphor for this game.

Real Predictions
Graham Watson: Mississippi State 24, Miami-Ohio 10
Nick Bromberg: Mississippi State 32, Miami 30
Sam Cooper: Mississippi State 35, Miami-Ohio 21
Chris Herbert: Mississippi State 28, Miami-Ohio 17

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday