2012 Discover Orange Bowl Odds

Written by Jack Jones

Two unlikely foes square off in the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl on Wednesday, January 4th. This BCS bowl is scheduled for 8:30 EST and will be nationally televised on ESPN. West Virginia won the Big East after closing out the season on a three-game winning streak, while also getting some help from Cincinnati. Clemson won the ACC title after beating Virginia Tech handily twice. This will be their first meeting since 1989, which resulted in a 27-7 road victory by the Tigers.

According to the bowl odds, Clemson is a 3.5-point favorite over West Virginia with a total set of 60.5 points.

West Virginia

The Mountaineers did not play up to expectations in the early going under first-year head coach Dana Holgorson. They suffered blowout losses to LSU and Syracuse, while also falling to Louisville 38-35 which put them in a tough position with three weeks to go. West Virginia (9-3) would come up huge down the stretch, winning their final three games by a combined 7 points. The Mountaineers were tied with both Cincinnati and Louisville as conference champs, but they received the BCS bowl berth thanks to finishing higher than both in the final BCS standings.

The Mountaineers rank well statistically compared to every other team in the country. They are 17th in total offense (459.6 yards/game), including 7th in passing (341.8 yards/game). WVU is also 19th in scoring offense (34.9 points/game). What many people don’t realize is that they feature a stop unit that ranks 26th in the FBS in total defense (340.4 yards/game).

Junior quarterback Geno Smith has been brilliant, completing 65.0 percent of his passes for 3,978 yards with 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Dustin Garrison (742 yards, six TD) and Shawne Alston (339 yards, 10 TD) form a solid 1-2 punch in the backfield. Stedman Bailey (67 receptions, 1,197 yards, 11 TD) and Tavon Austin (89, 1,063, four TD) give the Mountaineers a pair of 1,000-yard receivers.

West Virginia is 13-17 in 30 bowl appearances all-time. The Mountaineers will be making their 10th straight bowl game this season. This has been a very streaky bowl team. They lost eight straight from 1987-98. They won four in a row from 2005-08 before losing their last two. That includes a 7-23 loss to North Carolina State last year in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Clemson

It has been a tale of two seasons for the Tigers. No. 15 Clemson (9-3) opened the season with eight straight victories, which included a stretch of three straight wins over ranked opponents in then-No. 21 Auburn (38-24), then No. 11 Florida State (35-20) and then-No. 11 Virginia Tech (23-3). They would lose three of their next four after that winning streak, but beat Wake Forest 31-28 in between to clinch the ACC’s Atlantic Division. The Tigers dominated the Hokies once again in the conference title game 38-10 to earn their spot in the BCS.

While this has been a streaky team, they do feature one of the top offenses in the country. Clemson ranks 27th in the land in total offense (440.6 yards/game) and 27th in scoring offense (33.6 points/game). However, the Tigers are just 57th in total defense (379.4 yards/game) and 62nd in scoring defense (26.2 points/game).

Tajh Boyd has had a monster sophomore season at quarterback. He is completing 60.4 percent of his passes for 3,578 yards with 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Andre Ellington leads all rushers with 1,062 yards and a whopping 10 touchdowns. Freshman receiver Sammy Watkins is one of the best in the country. He has team-highs in receptions (79), receiving yards (1,159) and touchdowns (11).

Clemson will be making their seventh straight bowl appearance. The Tigers are 16-17 in 33 bowl appearances all-time. They have lost four of their last five, including a 26-31 setback last year to South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Head coach Dabo Swinney is 28-18 in his first four years on the job at Clemson, which includes a 1-2 bowl record He has them going to their first Orange Bowl since 1981.

Betting Trends

The Mountaineers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog, but just 5-13 ATS in their last 18 vs. ACC foes. WVU is also just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 bowl games.

The Tigers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win. However, Clemson is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 bowl games, and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 vs. Big East opponents.

Own your book on the college gridiron this bowl season by signing up with expert handicapper Jack Jones.

Comments

Got something to say?