Quick Lane Bowl First Look: Minnesota vs. Central Michigan

The 2015 Quick Lane Bowl will feature a matchup between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Central Michigan Chippewas.

Quick Lane Bowl Broadcast Info

Date: Monday, December 28
Time: 5:00 pm ET
Network: ESPN2
Venue: Ford Field, Detroit, MI

Minnesota Needs To Enjoy This

The Gophers had a rough season. They lost head coach Jerry Kill, the suffered painful close-call losses to Michigan and Iowa, they played Ohio State well, and they hung tough with TCU. As 5-7 seasons go, this was relatively acceptable – the worst loss was a blowout to Nebraska – but now it has a chance to step up and shine for its new head coach. Tracy Claeys has had some big games and some decent moments so far, but the Gophers lost five of their last six games, didn’t generate enough offense, and as bad as some of those close calls were, good teams win those. The bowl is a chance to start fresh.

Central Michigan Can’t Do That Again. But It Might.

There’s no chance Central Michigan puts on the wild show like it did in last year’s ill-fated comeback attempt in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl loss to WKU, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it gets that passing game cranked up to 11 again. Winners of five games in the final six, the Chippewas closed out the year red hot – with the lone loss coming to Toledo. After fighting Oklahoma State in a 24-13 loss, and despite losing by 20 to Michigan State, this was a dangerous team losing its other three games by a total of ten points to Syracuse, Western Michigan and Toledo. Take this team seriously.

For complete College Football Playoff coverage, visit our CFP home.