Sun Life Stadium in Miami will get to see its doors open just one more time for a football game, and it should be a great NCAA football bowl tussle between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Clemson Tigers on the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl odds.
West Virginia is a team that loves to throw the ball all over the field, and that is a quality that Clemson hasn't really seen this year. There aren't really any big time passing teams in the ACC, and out of conference, the only team that tried to gun the ball all over the field against the Tigers were the Troy Trojans way back in Week 1. It is ominous that QB Corey Robinson and company were able to amass 423 yards against this defense, but that was way back in September and will probably have little bearing in how things play out in January.
The Mountaineers are stacked offensively, though. QB Geno Smith is going to end up with over 4,000 passing yards this year, and both WRs Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey are already over the 1,000 yard barrier. Both could, and probably will end up being good for over 100 yards when this one is said and done with if the Tigers' corners don't really end up stepping up and making a big time difference in the outcome of the game.
WVU was a suspect team down the stretch, barely surviving in some games that it probably should have posted blowouts in, and losing games that it should have never lost. That being said, the Tigers weren't all that much better down the stretch, losing all three of its games in the last five. All of those games came on the road, but all three defeats came by at least two TDs.
Two of those losses and a near miss against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons came without WR Sammy Watkins though, and he will surely be ready to put up some big numbers in this one. Head Coach Dabo Swinney does everything that he can to put the ball in his top freshman's hands, and in the end, he had over 2,000 all-purpose yards in spite of missing those two games.
The Mountaineers are getting no respect in their first bowl game under Head Coach Dana Holgorsen, as they are three point underdogs at Bookmaker Sportsbook. The 'total' for the Orange Bowl sits at 61.
