HYUNDAI SUN BOWL -- Stanford won't have Bryce Love in this game, but that doesn't matter. Stanford isn't a running team in 2018. It's a passing team, and it will be facing a Pitt pass defense that's been average all season and will have problems dealing with the size Stanford has at receiver and tight end.

SUN BOWL -- Will the last Stanford offensive starter who leaves the room please turn out the lights? RB Bryan Love and RG Nate Herbig are bypassing the bowl to spare themselves for the NFL draft. The absences for WR Trent Irwin and LT Walker Little are injury-related. Pitt cannot match a Stanford team at full strength, but the denuded roster gives the Panthers and their rush-minded team with RBs Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall a chance to control the game. Six of the last eight Pitt outings resulted in covers.

SUN BOWL -- That the Panthers made the ACC title game -- even by default -- was quite an achievement for a club with some serious flaws. They are one-dimensional on offense and improved but still vulnerable on defense. Like Clemson, Stanford should be able to limit Pitt's ground game and force the Panthers to produce through the air. The Cardinal have an unfortunate habit of allowing inferior foes to stay close and they will be without star RB Bryce Love. Even so, an inspired Cardinal team should roll against a Pitt club that reached its pinnacle more than a month ago.