Cram Session - Bowl Edition

The BCS bowls kicked off New Year's Day with TCU knocking off Wisconsin in a slight surprise, and Oklahoma handling Connecticut in a non-surprise. Two more BCS bowls are this week, starting tonight with Stanford taking on Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, and then tomorrow night Arkansas meets Ohio State.

Orange Bowl, Monday, January 3rd

#4 Stanford (11-1) vs. #13 Virginia Tech (11-2)

The Hokies are used to playing in BCS bowl games, specifically the Orange Bowl, making their third Orange Bowl appearance in four seasons. The experience will be completely new for the Cardinal and they better enjoy it, as the man responsible for them getting there, coach John Harbaugh, is likely leaving after this game. The Hokies reaching the BCS seemed far fetched after they started the season with two losses, including an incredibly embarrassing loss at home to James Madison. However, any true Hokie historian shouldn't be too surprised, as Tech has made a habit out of losing big games early, then doing well when the pressure is off. That might be a good thing for tonight's game though, as most consider them to be pretty big underdogs to Stanford. It is easy to understand why, as the Cardinal are clearly a better team both offensively and defensively. The Cardinal are led by QB Andrew Luck, who will likely be the first pick in the NFL Draft if he decides to leave school early. Luck finished second in the Heisman voting on the strength of 3,051 yards passing and 28 TDs. Luck also completes an incredible 70% of his passes. Other dangerous offensive weapons for the Cardinal include RB Stepfan Taylor (1,023 yards, 15 TDs) and WR Doug Baldwin (56 catches, 9 TDs). Because of Luck the Cardinal defense doesn't get much attention but they held opponents to just 17 points per game, and had three shutouts this season. Tech's offense matured this season and it correlated with the maturation of senior QB Tyrod Taylor. Taylor had by far the best season of his career and earned ACC Player of the Year honors. The Hokie running game is a three headed monster led by Darren Evans and contributed to by Taylor and Ryan Williams, who is questionable for the Orange Bowl. Taylor spreads the ball around to many different targets, including WRs Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale, as well as TE Andre Smith. I think both offenses will find success in this game but I think Stanford and the steady leadership of Luck will be too much for the Hokie defense to stop. Tech's run of eleven straight wins is impressive but Stanford will be by far the best team they have played all season.

Prediction: Stanford 31, Virginia Tech 20

Sugar Bowl, Tuesday, January 4th

#6 Ohio State (11-1) vs. #8 Arkansas (10-2)

Besides the National Championship game, this is probably the most anticipated BCS bowl. The Buckeyes don't have much history in their favor. Ohio State is 0-9 lifetime against the SEC in bowl games, and the Big Ten is coming off an absolutely embarrassing day on New Year's. Big Ten teams went 0-5 in bowl games that day, including 0-3 against the SEC. If the NCAA had any balls then the outcome of this game wouldn't even be in doubt. The Buckeyes had 5 players suspended for the first 5 games of next season, including QB Terrelle Pryor. Despite those suspensions, for some reason, those players are being allowed to play in this game. Pryor isn' t a prototypical QB but he did put up outstanding number this year. 2,551 yards passing, 25 TDs, 11 INTs, and a completion percentage of 65.8% is nothing to sneeze at. Pryor is also always a threat to run the ball, but the Buckeyes primary ball carrier is Dan Herron. WRs Dane Sanzenbacher, and DeVier Posey are Pryor's favorite targets and both had over 50 catches. Where the Buckeyes truly shine is on defense, giving up just 13.3 points per game. They will have their work cut out for them trying to stop the Razorbacks high powered offense. QB Ryan Mallett is coming off his second straight 30 touchdown season. He threw 3 TDs or more in a game eight times this season. He threw the ball less than he did last season and alot of that had to do with the emergence of RB Knile Davis. Davis comes into the Sugar Bowl having rushed for over 100 yards in four straight games. Despite Mallett's big stats, he doesn't have a standout big play receiver. Surprisingly, Jarius Wright and Joe Adams both have fewer catches and yards than their Ohio State counterparts Sanzenbacher and Posey. It's almost cliche at this point but I think the speed that the Razorbacks have will be unlike anything the Buckeyes have seen by playing their Big Ten schedule. I will be shocked if Arkansas doesn't at least double the Buckeyes average of giving up just 13 points per game. The Razorbacks defense is a major question mark, and the last time they played a quarterback as diverse as Pryor, was Cam Newton, and they gave up 65 points in that game. However, while somewhat comparable, Pryor isn't in Newton's league. I was having trouble picking this game, but the SEC whitewashing of the Big Ten on New Year's Day has me convinced that Arkansas will beat the Buckeyes.

Prediction: Arkansas 28, Ohio State 24

Overall Record: 74-16