Wednesday’s college football bowl game previews and picks

Wednesday’s bowl games

Pinstripe: Pittsburgh (8-4) vs. Northwestern (6-6), at Bronx, N.Y., 11 a.m., ESPN — If you enjoyed the home runs delivered at Yankee Stadium during the baseball season, just wait until these football offenses start going at these defenses. There’s a reason Louisiana State chose Pitt’s Matt Canada as its new offensive coordinator. His Panthers lit up the scoreboard. Pitt stuck 76 on Syracuse in its regular-season finale. And the Panthers have scored against quality too — 42 and 43 in wins over Penn State and Clemson, respectively. The problem is, Pitt doesn’t stop anybody on defense — particularly teams that can throw the ball. The Panthers ranked next to last among major college football’s 128 teams against the pass. Can Northwestern produce enough big plays on offense to keep pace? Probably not, but the Wildcats have enough firepower in running back Justin Jackson and wide receiver Austin Carr to make it interesting. The pick: Pittsburgh, 38-34.

Russell Athletic: Miami (8-4) vs. West Virginia (10-2), at Orlando, 2:30 p.m., ESPN — West Virginia is the rare Big 12 Conference team that actually plays some defense, and the Mountaineers have some weapons on offense too: Four backs have rushed for more than 100 yards in a game this season, and dual-threat quarterback Skyler Howard has passed for 26 touchdowns and run for nine. West Virginia’s losses were to Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, and neither game was close. Miami has a potent offense with the school’s career passing leader, Brad Kaaya, at quarterback. If the Hurricanes score early, it might be tough for the Mountaineers to play catchup. The pick: Miami, 31-24.

Foster Farms: Indiana (6-6) vs. Utah (8-4), at Santa Clara, Calif., 5:30 p.m., Channel 11 — Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham has a tough-to-beat postseason resume: a 9-1 record in bowl games. His primary objective here — as always — is to put quarterback Troy Williams in position to manage the game rather than have to throw downfield in order to win. Williams is a good athlete but is less than consistent as a passer. When the Utes win, it’s because Joe Williams is pounding away at the defense with hard-nosed runs and the Utah defense is controlling the perimeter and rushing the passer. Indiana will need to protect strong-armed quarterback Richard Lagow from Utah’s “Sack Lake City” rush. But here’s an interesting stat: In Utah’s four losses, the Utes had a total of only eight sacks. The pick: Utah, 27-23.

Texas: Kansas State (8-4) vs. Texas A&M (8-4), at Houston, 6 p.m., ESPN — Texas A&M has the athletes; Kansas State has the coach (Bill Snyder). Typically, the Aggies started fast this season, winning their first six games. And just as typically under Coach Kevin Sumlin, they closed poorly, losing three of their last four. One big factor in the Aggies’ favor is that defensive end Myles Garrett, who is expected to go very early in the next NFL draft, has chosen not to go the Leonard Fournette-Christian McCaffrey route. He’s playing in his team’s bowl game. The key to this game may be whether Garrett and the rest of the Aggies’ front seven can stop the run, which they didn’t do during the team’s late-season skid. Kansas State, with freshman running back Alex Barnes emerging, averages more than five yards per carry. The pick: Texas A&M, 38-24.

mike.hiserman@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeHiserman