Birmingham Bowl: Texas Tech vs South FloridaDec. 23: 11 a.m., ESPN Line: USF (-3)Texas Tech player to watch: Quarterback Nic ShimonekShimonek started the first 11 games of the season for Texas Tech, but was benched in favor of sophomore McLane Carter in the Red Raiders' season finale at Texas. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury felt Texas Tech needed to make a change to the 5-6 Red Raiders after the team struggled in its previous outing against TCU.Shimonek came into the fourth quarter of the Texas game and led Texas Tech to a 27-23 victory that clinched a bowl berth.