Orange Bowl

Posted by RalphNuts on Jan 4, 2012 in NCAA Football | 0 comments

Good win last night with Michigan covering in overtime. We sit at 14-16-0 ATS and 17-13-0 O/U

Tonight the Orange Bowl—January 4, 2011 @ 7:30 p.m.—Miami, Florida

Clemson Tigers (10-3) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3)
Line: Clemson -3.0 O/U 63.0

CLONEROACH PREDICTION

If Clemson is clicking on all cylinders they win this game going away but that has been the maddening thing about the Tigers is that they simply fail to show up. On the other hand West Virginia has struggled at times to stop the run but has been solid against the pass and has gotten pressure on opposing QB’s. Mountaineers get a huge win for the Big East tonight as they force a couple of turnovers from Taj Boyd and get an outstanding performance out of Geno Smith.

PREDICTED FINAL: West Virginia 33 Clemson 28
PLAYS: West Virginia +3.0 (two units) Under 63.0 (Honorable Mention Only)

CLEMSON

Clemson is entering the game off a 38-10 dismantling of Virginia Tech in the ACC Title Game. Clemson features an extremely dynamic offense surrounded by three superstars. Taj Boyd completed 60% of his passes this year and threw for 3578 yards (275 yds per game) and had 31 TD’s to only 10 Int’s. The running game (156 yards per game) is led by Andre Ellington who finished the regular season with 1062 yards and 10 TD’s. The receiving core is exceptional but led by outstanding freshman Sammy Watkins who recorded 77 receptions for 1153 yards and 11 Td’s. Watkins has amazing quickness which allowed him to average 15 yards per reception. The only deficiency is the O-line that has given up 30 sacks in 13 games.

The Clemson defense yields 26 points a game and 379 yards per contest. Clemson’s main threat on defense is DL Andre Branch who finished the regular season with 78 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 5.5 TFL. The Clemson defense has was almost non-existent in losses to NC State and South Carolina before the strong performance against Virginia Tech.

Clemson was 6-3 against bowl teams.

WEST VIRGINIA

On the other side of the ball will be the West Virginia defense that is yielding 26.3 points per game and 340 yards per contest. The Mountaineers have excelled at getting pressure (28 sacks this year) and have held opponents to only 199 yards per game passing. The defense is led by LB Najee Goode (84 tackles, 4 sacks, 8.5 TFL) and DL Bruce Irvin (38 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 6.5 TFL)

The West Virginia offense has a lot of weapons averaging 34.9 points a game but they will not have leading rusher Dustin Garrison for the bowl after he suffered a knee injury a week ago. That simply puts more pressure on Geno Smith who completed 65% of his passes for 3978 yards (331 yards per game) and had 25 TD’s to only 7 Int’s. Smith’s two favorite targets are Stedman Bailey (67 receptions, 1197 yards and 11TD’s) and Tavon Austin (89 receptions, 1063 yards and 4Td’s). Austin is also a tremendous return threat in the kicking game.

West Virginia was 4-2 against bowl teams.