College Bowl Predictions for Orange Bowl: Stanford Vs Virginia Tech
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011“How did they get in here?”
I suppose that might be the sentiment toward possibly of this year’s Orange Bowl groups as each Stanford and Virginia Tech have to be considered relatively of surprise participants in 1 of the sport’s most prestigious bowl games. Having said that, they’ll meet at eight:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, in the Orange Bowl as well as the winner will claim a BCS title (though not THE BCS Title) for its trustworthy followers and followers.
No. thirteen Virginia Tech began the season 0-2, dropping a heartbreaker to Boise State within the opener and then losing a stunner to Div. I-AA school James Madison. At that level the Hokies were being left for dead and were out of the Leading twenty five completely immediately after starting the period inside the Top 10. They had been also losing to East Carolina, 24-21, at halftime of their third sport before a 28-3 second half propelled them on to what would grow to be the first of 11 straight wins and an ACC Championship.
No. 4 Stanford has been unstoppable all season lengthy, winning eleven of twelve games and dominating the majority of the Pac-10. Nevertheless, I think following shedding Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhardt final yr there was little fanfare regarding the Cardinal as being a Leading 5 staff in the country. This organization continues to be a weaker sister in the Pac-10 for decades. However they met and exceeded every single problem, conserve a game at Oregon where they led 31-24 in the fifty percent before faltering, and now Stanford is about the verge from the school’s very first major bowl win of the new millennia.
Stanford’s offense averages 40.three points per game and is also led by triggerman Andrew Luck. Luck is deemed 1 from the top NFL draft prospective customers during this year’s class and the redshirt sophomore has been a stud. The Cardinal is ranked within the Top 20 in rushing and complete yards and they’ve scored 38 or a lot more points in five of their last 6 outings.
They will be considered a handful to get a Virginia Tech defense that’s nevertheless quite young and quite raw. The Hokies made a huge improvement from September to December, but they’ve nonetheless been susceptible at occasions. And also the truth is that despite the fact that they confronted some high quality teams in the ACC, they only confronted three top-tier quarterbacks this year (Kellen Moore of Boise State, Russell Wilson of N.C. State, and Christian Ponder of Florida State), plus they gave up 30 or a lot more factors in every single 1 of these video games.
But the Hokies needs to be in a position to match Stanford almost position for stage. Tyrod Taylor has fashioned himself into an excellent college quarterback and he guides an assault that averages 35.5 points for each sport this season. Tech prefers much more of the ground-based assault, as they are No. 18 within the nation in rushing and have 4 players with extra than 100 carries about the time. But they can score points in bunches and Taylor’s 6-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio is amongst the top in the nation.
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