ORLANDO – After the regular season ended, both Miami and Oklahoma State found out they would be playing each other in this year’s Cheez-It Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 29.

The College Football Playoff Committee had Miami (8-2) ranked at No. 18 and Oklahoma State (7-3) at No. 21. Yet the Cowboys are considered to be a 2.5-point to beat the Hurricanes in this middle-tier bowl, which will be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

The Cheez-It Bowl will be nationally televised tomorrow evening on ESPN with a 5:30 p.m. kickoff.

HOW MIAMI-OKLAHOMA STATE MATCHUP CAME ABOUT

How did Miami get here?

To be blunt, the Cheez-It Bowl seemed like a foregone conclusion after the much-improved program dropped a 62-26 home decision to No. 13 North Carolina (8-3), which was chosen by the CFP Committee to play No. 5 Texas A&M (8-1) in the Orange Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021 (8 p.m. kickoff on ESPN) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

How did Oklahoma State get here?

It is a somewhat similar case for the Cowboys, who at one point had an outside shot of reaching the Big 12 title game and earning a New Year’s Six Bowl berth. But two late-season losses sealed its fate, which included a 41-13 road loss to eventual Big 12 champion Oklahoma (No. 6 in CFP; 8-2 record) on Nov. 21 and a 29-22 upset loss to TCU (5-4) on Dec. 5.

Truth be told, this looks to be an evenly matched game that could go either way.

X-FACTOR: OKLAHOMA STATE PASSING GAME

In a Zoom conference call with reporters this past weekend, Oklahoma State wide receiver Tylan Wallace made sure to not overlook Miami’s defence, which forced 16 turnovers in the regular season.

“From watching them they play a lot of cover one, basically somewhat man,” said Wallace, who will be declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft. “I think that really stood out to us and I think that’s going to be a really good matchup for us, our wideouts versus their DB’s. I think it’s going to be fun and exciting and hopefully a lot of deep balls.”

Wallace was complimentary of his quarterback Spencer Sanders, who has thrown for 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions at a 61.8 percent completion rate this season.

“I think any time you have a quarterback like Spencer, like a dual-threat quarterback, that just really creates more problems for the defense, honestly,” said Wallace, who has 53 catches for 877 yards and six touchdowns this season.

“You get guys that can do both sit in the pocket and throw it, and then you’ve also got to watch out for him when he runs the ball,” Wallace continued. “I think that just adds bonuses honestly. I think that’s really the why. That’s more for the defense to worry about, and I think that’s really it.”

Wallace has studied a copious amount of film on Miami’s defense. While he sees how Sanders can carve up the Hurricanes defenders, the veteran wideout has a certain level of respect for them, even as Miami allowed a school-record 778
yards nine days ago to North Carolina.

“You see stuff like that, you can go based off of last game, but I think I try to look at mostly the season as a whole,” Wallace said. “I think throughout their whole season, they played really good and they did a pretty good job the whole year.
So kind of looking at the last game, it can be deceiving, so you don’t want to go into a game thinking like, oh, they allowed this many yards in this game; we’re just going to think they are not as good as they really are. I think you also have to be aware of the things they have done in the past for sure, and just go in there and don’t take them lightly.”

X-FACTOR: MIAMI PASS DEFENSE

In a Zoom conference call with reporters on Sunday (Dec. 27), Miami safety Bubba Bolden faced the questions head-on, when it came to his team’s 62-26 home loss to North Carolina on Dec. 19.

“We took it into accountability right after the game,” said Bolden, who has 45 tackles, four forced fumbles, three pass breakups, and one interception this season. “We got right back on it. And I think this past week of practice has been actually very good. We’ve been locked in and everyone is really taking this very seriously.”

Bolden took one more question in regards to the Miami-North Carolina game.

“It was a team — it was a full team loss,” the 6-foot-3, 200-pound safety said. “You can’t point one finger at one body. So, you know, we just — we got to take that one to the chin and just keep pushing. That’s in the past. Can’t really go back and do anything about it. We are all focused on this game coming up and we are excited about this opportunity.”

Bolden respects the Oklahoma State offense and the talent its players there have.

“They have got some great players on their offense,” Bolden said. “I have actually played with Tylan Wallace, the receiver, at the Nike Opening when we were in high school. They have got some good players, and you know, we done schemed some things up for them. So it’s a four-quarter game. We’ve just got to come with our A-game.”

Bolden was clear about what his expectations are for the outcome of the Cheez-It Bowl.

“I don’t know, I couldn’t tell you the last time, you know, Miami has won a bowl game,” Bolden said. “So this is very — we take this very personally, and after the last game’s performance, that was not the Miami way. That was not how we play football, especially on the defensive side. So we are coming into this game with a lot of fire. I’ll tell you that right now, and we’re going to come out and that’s what’s going to happen.”

PHOTO CREDITS: Zoom, Cheez-It Bowl, and Florida Citrus Sports