Posted on 01/05/2012 4:43:18 AM PST by MontaniSemperLiberi
After rumbling 99 yards for a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the second quarter, West Virginia safety Darwin Cook banged into Obie, the Orange Bowl mascot, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
That was more resistance than any Clemson tacklers offered Wednesday night.
In a scintillating display of offense while at the same time humiliating showing on defense, the No. 23 Mountaineers crushed the No. 15 Tigers 70-33 in the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium.
There's not enough room here to list all the records West Virginia set. The most amazing was breaking the mark for most points scored in a bowl game. Any bowl game. In college football history.
"I'd be lying if I thought we could come out and score 70," said West Virginia junior quarterback Geno Smith after earning the games Most Outstanding Player and saying he won't skip his senior season for the NFL. "But with our offense you never know what can happen."
Smith, from nearby Miramar, Fla., completed 31 of 42 passes for 401 yards and six touchdowns. Both the yards and TDs established new Orange Bowl records. The prior owners? Tom Brady (369 yards in 2000) and Matt Leinart (five touchdowns in 2005).
(Excerpt) Read more at foxsportsflorida.com ...
WVU set record for all bowls for points in a half. The 49 points were four better than the 45 scored by Colorado against Boston College in the 1999 Insight.com Bowl. The Mountaineers alone set the Orange Bowl record for points in a half. In 2005, USC and Oklahoma combined for 48 points in the first half. Wednesday's game beat that by 21 points.
Congrats to WVU for winning the Orange Bowl!
Don't let the 70 - 33 score fool ya...............ity wasn't that close.
I gotta admit, I did feel kindda bad for the kids from Clemson.
Thanx, Biggirl.
When I first heard the final score, early this morning, could not watch the game, had crashed into bad early, I could not believe that WVU would score that high numbers of points. True, I really feel bad for the Clemson players, they did not know what hit them.
I have to ask the question, did the WVU football team eat a LOT of WHEATIES to be able to win BIG in the Orange Bowl?
Your welcome!
The Big 12 gets West Virginia next season.
The new WVU coach was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State last year. He has a reputation as an offensive genius.
Also speaking about WVU, my UConn women Huskies beat your women’s b-ball team. Split decision last night.
I like to see West Virginia play Baylor. Winner could play winner of BCS Championship game. Having a college football playoff system is way overdue.
Nah...watch some of the replays on ESPN. A couple of weird plays show that Clemson must learn to "play to whistle." Most of Smith's touchdown "passes" were just little shovels to Tavon Austin and then Austin's brilliance took over. Now that he has gotten some national exposure, I fully expect Austin to be in the running for the Heisman next year. If Tavon doesn't get a job in the NFL, I'm sure Ringling Bros. would hire him as a tightrope walker after some of his sideline runs last night.
....and then there was the WVU defense.......
I was watching at a buddy's house and we both agreed that we would NOT want to be in the Clemson locker room at the half. That walk back to the field at the end of the intermission must have been hell for the Tigers.
Orange Bowl? #15 and #23.
College Football is dying.
Well with so many college sports programs having done “musical chairs” during the last couple of months, it will get interesting.
Even watching the women’s basketball game last night between UConn and WVU, I see a WVU women’s team, though struggling that puts a very strong effort into their games. As a UConn women’s b-ball fan, will miss that competition after this season when WVU goes over to the Big 12.
A reputation which he earned with seven years as an assistant to Mike Leach at Texas Tech. Holgerson should be the head coach at Texas Tech, NOT Tuberville.
My understanding is that the Big East is holding WVU to the small print in its contract that requires 2 years notification, so WVU won't be playing B12 games until 2 years from now. I have not heard that they resolved that dispute, but the clause in the contract is real.
What the heck happened to the defenses during these bowl games?
Further proof that the right two teams are playing for the Title.
WVU definately kicked a$$ and took names last night, but I have to admit it was pretty bush league to still have the entire starting offense on the field and still be passing the ball with 6 minutes left and a 63-26 lead.
1) This is college ball. Agree with it or not,(and I don’t) running up the score is a way of life. Big scores equal higher ranking.
2) Holgorsen. The way Stewart was ousted as head coach, especially after the Rodruiguez fiasco, left a very bad taste in the mouths of MANY WVU fans and Holgorsen knows it. IMO, he is trying to get in their good graces and thinks this is the way to do it.
And this was with Clemson having a home-team crowd. There were were people sneering West Virginia didn’t even belong.
Waiting for the real bowl game to take place on the 9th.
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