With West Virginia’s win on Thursday night against South Florida, the Mountaineers knew they did their part and their fate rested on Cincinnati and the BCS. The Bearcats defeated the UConn Huskies on Saturday night to force a three-way tie for the Big East championship. According to the rules, if there is a tie amongst two or more teams, the higher ranked team will get the automatic BCS bowl game. Luckily, the Mountaineers (9-3) ended the season ranked at No. 23 in the country and earned a berth to the Discover Orange Bowl played in Miami Florida on January 4th against Clemson. Clemson (10-3) earned their birth after defeating Virginia Tech 38-10 to become the ACC champions.
The Tigers will be making their first BCS bowl game appearance, while the Mountaineers will be taking part in their sixth major bowl in school history.
“It’s just really an exciting opportunity for the West Virginia University football program to be able to go the Discover Orange Bowl for the first time,” said Coach Dana Holgorsen. “I think we’ve been in three BCS games in the last five years, but it’s the first time that we’ve been able to go to South Florida, which is an important recruiting territory for us.”
These two teams did face one another once before in an Orange Bowl in 1989, where Clemson won 27-7. West Virgina finished the season ranked seventh in passing offense (341.8 yards per game), 17th in total offense (459.6 yards per game) and 19th in scoring offense (34.92 points per game). Clemson also has enjoyed a great offensive year finishing ranked 21st in passing offense (282.8 yards per game), 27th in scoring offense (32.62 points per game) and 29th in total offense (440.6 yards per game).
“I think offensively these are two exciting teams and defensively that’s the only way you can win a championship is by playing good, quality defense,” Holgorsen said.
Both teams are undoubtedly led by their quarterback who both have played very well this year with eerily similar stats. Geno Smith anchored the Mountaineer attack this season passing for 3,978 yards and 25 touchdowns with a 148.38 efficiency ranking. Tajh Boyd led the Tigers this season with 3,541 passing yards and 30 touchdowns with a 145 passer efficiency rating.
The big challenge will be stopping the running game of Clemson, something the Mountaineers have struggled with all season. West Virginia is 51st in the country, surrendering 140.8 yards per game. Clemson features 1,000-yard rusher Andre Ellington who will look to carve up the Mountaineer defense. Clemson is ranked 80th against the run allowing 176.5 yards per game. The difference is that the Mountaineers don’t have that “elite” back that Clemson does. They will lean on true-freshman Dustin Garrison and Shawne Alston to handle the majority of the workload. Look for the Mountaineers to try to get the ball to their playmaker Tavon Austin in the open field often as well.
There will be plenty of storylines and news breaking over the next month leading up to the game. Be sure to check back with Ohio Valley Athletics to get the latest Mountaineer news!
Photo Credits: All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks Photo
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