The Central Michigan Chippewas and the Minnesota Golden Gophers will outlast each other on Monday in college football's Quick Lane Bowl. The Chippewas finished the regular season at 7-5 winning five of their last seven games while the Golden Gophers finished the season at 5-7 losing five of their last six games.
Here's everything you to know about the game:
Date and Time: December 28, 5:00 p.m. ET
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
TV: ESPN 2
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
Radio: Minnesota Radio
For the Golden Gophers, they are making their fourth straight bowl game appearance and 19th in school history. The team will head to the postseason even though they suffered a 5-7 record and a 1-6 slide to end the regular season. They will also be 1 of 3 teams in the nation with a losing record to play in a bowl game Monday.
According to Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys, losing coach Jerry Kill was tough for the team, "but our kids [team] have fought awfully hard to give us a chance." Kill needed to resign because of health problems, according to Michigan Live.
The Minnesota hopes that their strategy against Central Michigan will help them to win the game. Golden Gophers offense is averaging at 22.6 points and 357.1 yards per game.
The team can also rely on Mitch Leidner, who has completed 57.8 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns. The quarterback also rushed for 251 yards and five touchdowns. Aside from Leidner, Shannon Brooks can make amazing plays for the team. He leads the Minnesota rushing attack with 644 yards and seven touchdowns.
At the defensive department, the Golden Gophers is only allowing 26.1 points and 354 yards with nine interceptions, eight fumble recoveries, and 20 sacks.
On another hand, the Chippewas closed out a solid 2015 season by winning five of their last six games, including a 35-28 win over Eastern Michigan last time out. The team came back from a deep hole and ranked tied with the Eagles in a 28-all affair.
Central Michigan's quarterback Cooper Rush is one of the keys for the team to win the game. Central Michigan had the 14th-ranked passing attack in the country under Rush. The junior player threw 25 touchdowns this season with 10 interceptions, averaging eight yards per attempt.
At the defensive end, the Chippewas is allowing 22.1 points and 328.2 yards per game with six interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries, and 12 sacks. Defensive back Kavon Frazier leads the team in defense with 103 tackles. Tony Annese follows him with 73 tackles.
According to Sports Illustrated, Central Michigan is a team that has the kind of potent passing attack that can cause problems for any opponent. If the team can get a strong production from running back Martez Walker, they have a huge advantage against Minnesota.
