Jonathan Lee    AccuScore Analyst
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BASELINE: CONNECTICUT 51% BUFFALO 49% SCORE 28-26

Fittingly, two teams from the Northeast will head to the only game north of the border to Toronto for the International Bowl. Each team’s coach, Randy Edsall for Connecticut and Turner Gill for Buffalo, has lifted each program to new heights this season and have become hot commodities for jobs across the country. Edsall and Gill for now will have at least one more game each in their current jobs and try to tack on one more win on an already successful season.

This game is projected to be a good one with Connecticut winning just over 51 percent of simulations by just 2 points on average. The Huskies amazingly are favorites, albeit slightly, despite quarterback Tyler Lorenzen being projected for a terrible game. He is forecasted for just 135 yards and a 1:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio. In fact, his projected QB rating of 79 is the worst of any starting quarterback in a bowl game this season according to AccuScore simulations. Luckily for Lorenzen he has Donald Brown to hand the ball off to. Brown, the nation’s leading rusher, is projected for 160 yards and 6.7 yards per carry. He has a 48 percent chance to score two or more touchdowns. The Husky defense is also helping out Lorenzen by creating 2.6 more sacks than Buffalo.

Gill has done one of the most amazing coaching jobs turning Buffalo into a winner. Quarterback Drew Willy is projected for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns passing and is averaging less than 1 interception per simulation. His favorite target should be Naaman Roosevelt who is projected for 60 yards and 6 catches. Running back James Starks is forecasted for 70 yards on 3.7 yards per carry.