Orange Bowl Betting: Clemson & West Virginia Will Embrace The Orange Bowl
The Clemson Tigers and West Virginia Mountaineers will be very, very happy to play in this season’s Orange Bowl game. The same can’t be said for other bowl teams across the country.
West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Clemson Tigers – Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Sports betting line: Clemson -3.5
Why West Virginia Will Win
When you do your homework and assess your best best sportsbook on this game, you know that Clemson is feeling full of itself while West Virginia struggled down the stretch to barely beat mediocre teams from Pittsburgh and South Florida. Yet, when a bowl game comes around, the emotional calculus changes. West Virginia has something to prove in this game. The Mountaineers lost to LSU earlier this season after pushing the Tigers hard through three quarters. West Virginia has the athletes to compete with any team in the country; it gave LSU a good ride, better than what most teams have delivered during this college football season. Quarterback Geno Smith has a tremendously diverse skill set – his combination of speed and arm strength will be a lot for Clemson’s defense to handle. Receivers Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin will be very hard for Clemson’s secondary to contain. This game shapes up as an old-fashioned shootout, and if that’s the case, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen – who knows how to run a wide-open, no-holds-barred passing attack – will be right in his element. One can very easily imagine a scenario in which West Virginia – though a clear underdog – rises up to take this game by the horns.
Why Clemson Will Win
The college football betting experts who are looking at this game are mindful of West Virginia’s athleticism and talent on the edges, but they also know that Clemson can match the Mountaineers player for player… and then some. Tajh Boyd struggled throughout the month of November, but he came on strong in the ACC Championship Game and led a Tiger offense which dismantled the ACC Coastal Division champion Virginia Tech Hokies, 38-10. Boyd has so many good athletes to throw to, with Heisman-worth talent Sammy Watkins – just a freshman, mind you – leading the way. Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris, in his first year on the job, has unlocked and unleashed the full measure of the Tigers’ talents in ways that previous offensive coordinators simply failed to do. Clemson is finally maximizing its resources, and that’s why the program has won its first ACC title since 1991. West Virginia might play well in this game, but Clemson has thoroughly demonstrated to the nation that its best brand of ball will trump the Mountaineers’ very best brand of ball. If these two teams play at the same level, Clemson is going to win in Miami and win its first Orange Bowl since 1982, when Perry Tuttle and Homer Jordan led the Tigers to the 1981 national title with in a 22-15 triumph over Nebraska.
Who Will Win
It’s going to be thriller in Miami, but Clemson has better depth and more options than West Virginia. The Tigers have a plan B in this game, whereas the Mountaineers don’t. Take the Tigers in this Big East-ACC encounter.
College Football Betting Pick: Clemson
Posted on December 7th, 2011 by admin
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