The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl will take place this evening at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Tonight's stand alone affair features the Navy Midshipmen and San Diego State Aztecs, which have a combined 17 wins between them. Kickoff is set for 8:00pm ET on ESPN. 2010 Poinsettia Bowl Odds are favoring the Aztecs at -3 points; the game total is presently set at 58 points.
Navy continued its impressive run this season, going 9-3 with wins over SMU, Notre 
Dame, and East Carolina. The Middies, which can secure back to back double digit win seasons with a victory tonight, won four in a row to close out their schedule, including a jaw dropping 76-35 stomping of ECU in Greenville.
Navy's option offense, which is led by elusive senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs, produced an average of 31 points and 407 yards per game during the regular season. Dobbs, who rushed for 1192 yards and 26 touchdowns as a junior, threw for 1380 and 12 touchdowns this year. The Georgia native also tallied a team best 860 rush yards and 13 rushing scores.
The Midshipmen, which are under the direction of third year Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo, snapped a three game bowl losing streak last season, upsetting Missouri 35-13 in the Texas Bowl. Dobbs rushed for 166 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers and he also threw for 130 yards and one score.
San Diego State had its first winning season since 1999, going an impressive 8-4 in Head Coach Brady Hoke's second year with the program. The Aztecs, which finished 4-8 last season and 2-10 in 2008, took third place in the Mountain West with a 5-3 conference record.
San Diego State averaged an impressive 35 points per game this season, and its defense, which gave up 30.5 points per game a season ago, yielded just 22.8 per contest to its opposition.
Junior passer Ryan Lindley ranked eighth in the nation in pass yards (3554) and 15th in passing touchdowns with 26. The Aztecs also have two huge weapons on the outside in senior receivers Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson, which combined for 126 catches, 2362 receiving yards, and 17 touchdowns this year.
San Diego State is just 1-4 all-time in postseason play, but it has not participated in a bowl game since losing the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl 13-20 to North Carolina.
2010 Poinsettia Bowl Betting Trend: The Aztecs are 4-1 straight up and against the spread in their last five games as a favorite with a spread between 0 and 3.5 and a total of 54.5 or more (Under 5-0).
2010 Poinsettia Bowl Navy vs San Diego State Odds:
Navy Midshipmen +3 (-110), Over 58 (-110)
San Diego State Aztecs -3 (-110), Under 58 (-110)
