Brownlow's Bowl GIFs: No. 18 NC State looks to get 10 wins in San Diego and UNC seeks a mayonnaise bath for Mack Brown

By Lauren Brownlow, WRALSportsFan columnist/reporter

It's the end of the college football season here locally as North Carolina and No. 18 NC State prepare to play their respective bowl games. But I love bowl season, mostly because it has lots of random historical facts that bring me joy. Like, did you know that there used to be both a Raisin Bowl *and* a California Raisin Bowl? I also really love when old bowl games had names that could be used to describe actual bowls, like the Salad Bowl, the Bean Bowl, the Cherry Bowl (lots of bowls of fruit, somehow none of cereal or fruit that I can find), a Sunflower Bowl that somehow was not played in the 1990s? 

Did you know the Holiday Bowl was founded in 1978 in order to give a WAC team a place to go during bowl season because Arizona and Arizona State leaving caused the Fiesta Bowl to end its tie-in with the league? Did you know that the ACC has never had a team in this game? Did you know that Eugenia Duke began making her famous mayonnaise in Greenville, South Carolina to put on sandwiches she sold at the local army canteen and that she was instrumental in the passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote? Okay, we're a long way away from bowl game facts now, but still. Remember that that mayonnaise helped lead to women's suffrage when you see it dumped over the head of the game-winning coach (and yes, this is a thing that is happening).

Anyway, bowl season has been strange this year with COVID creeping back in to our sports (and life) in a bigger way than the last few months had seen. But if you're NC State football or a fan that managed to make the trip, you're in San Diego! It's one of the most beautiful places on earth! And you have a chance to win 10 games! UCLA isn't an amazing opponent, but it's a Power 5 opponent and no one will care who you beat in your bowl game if you win 10 games anyway. If you're UNC, sure, it was a disappointing season at 6-6. But now, you have a chance to end Sam Howell's career the same way it began — a win over South Carolina that led to a change in the notion of what was possible for the Tar Heels under Mack Brown.

So let's get to the GIFs!

And yes, they will be bowl-themed.

DECEMBER 28

HOLIDAY BOWL: NO. 18 N.C. STATE (9-3) VS. UCLA (8-4)

Time: 8 p.m.
TV: FOX

#ANALYSIS

The first city I remember visiting as a child and wanting to live in was San Diego. It was indescribably beautiful to me. The weather was perfect and you've got mountains, sparkling coastline, a beautiful city sky line? Yes. I wanted to live right on the cliffs. Anyway, once I started to realize how much such things cost, I changed my mind a bit. But sadly for the Wolfpack, they won't get to see San Diego in all its glory on game day as it will likely be ... raining?! Seriously, that is happening. But considering the circumstances, I think NC State will be just fine. In an era when players are (understandably!) avoiding bowl games, that's not what NC State's are doing. And this strikes me as a chance for NC State to really dive head first into the 2022 season and get themselves more on the national radar in such a way that the pollsters won't forget. Or at least this pollster won't. Although it would be hard for me to forget a team that I cover.

It looked like this game might not happen for awhile because of UCLA's COVID issues, but obviously it is. Still, UCLA will be without its leading tackler on defense, among others. But UCLA still has some of its best players playing in this game. On the field, it's a matchup of strength vs. strength as UCLA's strong rushing attack (16th nationally in yards per game and 33rd in yards per carry) will look to find room against NC State's rush defense, which ranks 24th in yards per game allowed and 45th in yards per carry. UCLA went 1-4 this year in games when it averaged fewer than 4.2 yards per carry and 7-0 when it broke that mark. NC State allowed just four teams to break that 4.2 per rush mark this year, but three of those came in NC State's final five games. NC State won all three of those, but it certainly didn't expect to end the season allowing 470 yards rushing in its final two games after allowing 1,079 in its first 10.

I can't believe it took me this long to mention Chip Kelly, but here we are. UCLA's head coach has the Bruins' offense clicking doing something ... totally different than what led to his previous success at Oregon. But he's done what good coaches do: adjust to his personnel. UCLA's leading rusher is junior Zach Charbonnet, who amassed 1,137 yards on 203 carries. But former Duke tailback Brittain Brown, who will be back for this game after missing UCLA's season finale due to injury, led the Bruins' primary backs with 6.03 yards per carry. Add in quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson as a dual threat (we'll get to him later) and there you have it.

UCLA's defense has actually been decent down the stretch comparatively speaking. UCLA has had some ... rough outings, allowing FIFTEEN yards per pass play at Arizona State, 8.4 to Fresno State, 9.2 to Stanford — you get the idea. But the Bruins had two of their best defensive performances in the final three games, holding Colorado to 4.7 yards per play and Cal to 3.4. This is a game for NC State's offense, in theory, and the offense has been ... well, it's been really good at getting points when it has to. And that's the most important part, right? My disconnect with NC State's offense is that it has an experienced offensive line, two old (and good) running backs, a bunch of wide receivers, a quarterback having a breakout season and ... it ranks 58th nationally in yards per play? No one is going to complain, and they shouldn't! And the stats usually look very good at the end of games regardless, but we've all seen NC State inexplicably go through offensive droughts that make things more difficult than they have to be. NC State's defense would be hanging on by their fingernails trying to keep them in the game and then suddenly the offense would get going.

To a degree, I get it. Dave Doeren is a careful man and he likes defense. And he has a very good defense. He's not going to want his team to take unnecessary risks offensively that could put the game in jeopardy. But he and his offensive staff will have to balance out the need to go for the jugular early with the understandable desire for caution.

THIS GUY

Thayer Thomas. It's easy to forget what the soon-to-be-super-senior brings to the Wolfpack considering some of the other weapons they have, both at receiver and in the return game. But make no mistake: Thomas could have a huge impact on this game, both at punt returner and receiver. In the last two games, Thomas has 49 punt return yards on four returns. He had amassed just two yards total over the previous five gams combined. UCLA will be without its punter as he decided to enter the transfer portal. Punters aren't the only factor when it comes to covering punts, but they're an important one. And Thomas has (somewhat quietly) had a solid season at receiver too, catching at least four passes in nine of NC State's 12 games and scoring eight touchdowns. Thomas ended the season by scoring touchdowns in each of NC State's final two games and catching eight passes for 128 yards in that stretch. He's a weapon that could make a big difference and help flip the field for the Wolfpack, plus his usually sure hands should give Devin Leary a reliable target.

HERE'S A GUY

Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The senior quarterback's decision for next year has not yet been made, but his decision to stick with Chip Kelly and UCLA has paid off for both. He has passed for 2,409 yards (8.5 per attempt) with 21 touchdowns to six interceptions and has added another 609 yards (4.7 per rush) and nine touchdowns on the ground. Thompson-Robinson finished the season strong as well, completing 53 of 76 passes for 10.1 yards per pass attempt, seven touchdowns and three picks. Oh and he also ran for 246 yards on just 33 carries and had another three touchdowns. NC State's defense has been up to the task all year and will need to be again to deal with UCLA's talented dual-threat quarterback in what could be his last game.

NARRATIVES

NC State Win: A good holiday bowl!

NC State Loss: A bad holiday bowl.

PREDICTION

NC State, 34-20. UCLA might have finished the season off strong, but being without their leading tackler will likely be too much. NC State starts slow, but finishes.

DECEMBER 30

DUKE'S MAYO BOWL: UNC (6-6) VS. SOUTH CAROLINA (6-6)

Time: 11:30 a.m.
TV: ESPN

#ANALYSIS

On paper, you'd look at the records of both teams and assume both feel the same about their respective bowl berths. But as usual, the numbers alone aren't sufficient context. South Carolina feels great about its unexpected bowl berth in the first season under Shane Beamer. North Carolina was a preseason top-10 team and certainly didn't envision itself finishing 6-6.

Random: do you think either of these coaches secretly hate mayonnaise? Considering the roots of both men, I kind of doubt it. But I know plenty of native southerners who don't like mayonnaise. I honestly had no idea this was a thing. And Duke's is especially good. They are not giving me any money to say this. I was actually super psyched when Duke's took over this bowl game because I love their mayonnaise that much. Their low-fat mayo is a fixture in my fridge. (It doesn't taste low-fat; don't judge me.) Now that we know that the winning coach will get a mayo bath, I think we'll know pretty quickly if one of these coaches hates mayonnaise. But I'll take a mayo bath if they don't want to. I don't care if you all hate mayonnaise. You won't deter me.

Oh, right, the actual game.

It felt like UNC was inconsistent from game to game offensively, but that's not entirely true: UNC went 1-4 against top-50 defenses this year and 4-2 against the bottom 60-some teams. Here's a weird and random stat, though: UNC actually went 3-2 when performing worse than the average yards allowed by a defense and 3-4 when it out-performed what a defense usually allows. After UNC's offense got going in Week 5 of this season, it did not average fewer than 5.16 yards pre play against anyone, including five top-50 defenses, and it did better than the average allowed by its opponent in its final four FBS games, including three against top-50 foes. The point here is that UNC's offense at the beginning of the year could not win games on its own against teams that had a defense with a pulse or at least a few good pass-rushers, but by the end of the year, that offense was much better. The problem with UNC all year, of course, has been that its defense hasn't improved enough for the Tar Heels to live up to their lofty preseason expectations. South Carolina ranks 69th nationally in yards per play allowed (5.57) but won't be shocked by UNC's offense at all, considering it has already faced four of the nation's top 21 offenses in yards per play. The results were ... mixed. Georgia and Tennessee combined for 85 points an average margin of victory of 26 points, but South Carolina was able to beat Florida straight up and fell to Kentucky just 16-10, holding those two to an average of 16.5 points compared to 42.5 in the two losses to high-powered offenses. UNC ranks 7th in yards per play. But it will be up to the Tar Heel offense to finish drives and avoid turnovers. Georgia is the only team to really gash this South Carolina defense, and UNC will likely have to score via the drive than the big play. South Carolina's passing defense is its strength.

This is a game for the UNC defense, at least in theory, to go into 2022 with positive momentum. South Carolina is 108th nationally in yards per play. To say the offense was inconsistent might be putting it a bit mildly, especially down the stretch: South Carolina averaged just 3.85 yards per play against Missouri in a close loss but 5.5 against Auburn the next game and nearly 7 against Florida in an upset win the game before. Those performances in upset wins were by far the Gamecocks' best against Power 5 opponents (they did not crack 5 yards per play against anyone else). Believe it or not, South Carolina's offense will be the worst in terms of yards per play that UNC's defense has seen this year. The next-closest is No. 90 Duke. But after that Week 4 Duke game, UNC's defense held no opponents below 5.33 yards per play. And the 5.33 came in a 45-42 loss at Notre Dame.

South Carolina has struggled because of a lack of continuity at quarterback, among other issues. It seemed like that was settled when transfer Jason Brown took the reins late and led the Gamecocks to their two big upset wins, but he has entered the transfer portal. So South Carolina will go to Charlotte with just two scholarship quarterbacks. ZaQuandre White, South Carolina's leading rusher, will miss the bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft. This is all just a very long way of saying that UNC has an opportunity in this game to go into 2022 with a good feeling about its defense. If it gets gashed by this South Carolina offense? Well, um, the opposite might happen.

Let's not forget, though, that weird things happen when these two teams get together anywhere and especially in Charlotte. I've seen some of the most entertaining (usually not in a good way!) games I've ever seen played between these two. It's often inexplicable as to the how and the why. This doesn't factor into my analysis too much, because how can it? But it's worth noting.

THIS GUY

Sam Howell. I don't want to assume Howell goes pro only to see him inexplicably come back to school. But I'd also hate to see him play his last game at Carolina without having addressed that in some way. Howell can be unpredictable — I personally didn't expect him to play in this game at all, or suddenly turn himeslf into a dual-threat QB this season out of necessity — but it's hard to imagine he passes up an almost-certain first-round draft spot. But in a way, I get why he decided to do this. He will end his UNC career the same way he began it: in his hometown of Charlotte, against South Carolina, eager to propel this UNC program into a brighter future. Howell is a big, big part of the reason that UNC is where it is in terms of its recruiting success, and Mack Brown himself would say that without hesitation. He wants to leave this program better than he found it. He doesn't want all of the insane numbers he put up at UNC to be essentially meaningless. You can debate what that means, of course, but if he's able to get this program a win in its final game and give them something to feel good about heading into 2022, it will undoubtedly be something Howell gives his all to do.

For all of the criticism Howell took this year, all he did was finish his Carolina career with the third-most touchdown passes in ACC history (and the top among quarterbacks who played just three seasons) and if he went off against South Carolina, he could maybe even pass Philip Rivers (he'd need five touchdowns to do that, but who knows?). He finished this season 7th nationally in total offense and completed nearly 63% of his passes, averaging 8.7 yards per attempt, and passed for 23 touchdowns to nine picks. And he ran for 826 yards and 11 more touchdowns. He did all this with an offensive line that did not get better, a wide receiving corps with just one reliable set of hands and having to turn himself into essentially Carolina's only running threat for a time. Howell's 5.7 yards per pass attempt against NC State were his fewest since he had just 5.3 per attempt in a close loss to Clemson as a freshman, which was his worst. And yet Carolina arguably should have won both games. Howell was a big reason why they were even in that position. And he's the ONLY reason the Tar Heels are in a bowl. NFL scouts will likely start to appreciate Howell the same way college football fans eventually will: with the benefit of time and hindsight.

HERE'S A GUY

Zeb Noland. One of South Carolina's two scholarship quarterbacks, Noland is on his third school now, and the 24-year-old has found a home in Columbia. He still feels that way in spite of the way his season went. He started the first two games and did fine, but the quarterback carousel continued to turn and he got hurt against Texas A&M. He missed the next three games and came back against Clemson, which is not the ideal welcome-back party. Against those two stout defenses, he completed just 18 of 34 passes for 126 yards (3.7 per attempt). But he's had his moments, including coming in to lead South Carolina on a game-winning drive against Vanderbilt. Now, he'll need to have a lot of moments. The good news for UNC is that he's not a dual-threat quarterback that the Tar Heels have struggled with for years. But he's old, and he's passed for six touchdowns and one pick (he has just one against FBS opponents, though, and that came against Vanderbilt, which barely counts).

NARRATIVES

North Carolina Win:

North Carolina Loss:

PREDICTION

North Carolina, 37-20. Confession: I was not going to pick North Carolina to win this game, because, you know, South Carolina in Charlotte. But honestly? It's hard to imagine that happening considering South Carolina's circumstances and how badly UNC wants this one.