This is going to be a short one because I have a date with Shaun T.  Not that kind of date. He leads the Insanity Asylum work-out I am currently doing. It’s a high intensity workout with very little break between exercises. That’s kind of how I see tonight’s game turning out.

West Virginia will not be able to stop all of Clemson’s weapons on offense. This is going to be even more difficult after a couple WVU players decided to pull a Cam Newton. Even with those players and extra time to prepare, I don’t think they would be able to keep up.

Clemson’s tough schedule will have them prepared to play tonight. They played the better teams in the ACC and two teams from the SEC. Boyd and Watkins will be too much to contain, with Watkins being your Orange Bowl MVP.

Prediction – Clemson 38 – WVU 28

You know when you cook a delicious batch of home-cooked tacos and you put those delectable refried beans on the burner at too high a temperature? The crust that’s left over is not fun to clean up. You “let it soak” because you don’t feel like cleaning it right away. That’s the feeling I had after the Virginia Tech loss last night.

We all get so hyped up for the game. We make delicious food, get all of our friends together, and have a couple drinks in excitement for the game. We “set the burner too high.” Our expectations are way above realistic by game time. Then, when we are let down, that disgusting crusty substance is left in the bottom of our stomachs and we “let it soak” for a couple days because we don’t have the ability to clean the pan right away.

Frank Beamer’s Hokies have won 10 games EIGHT YEARS in a row. The Hokies have been the class of the ACC since joining the conference that was supposed to be Miami’s and Florida State’s conference. Miami and Florida State were put on opposite sides of the conference for a reason. The ACC Championship was originally placed in Florida for a reason. After exceeding expectations in the ACC for 8 years, we raise our expectations to another level – BCS Bowl Victories National Championships. That’s fine. That’s our right as we spend our money and time rooting for this program.

But, be realistic. Before the season, we predicted that this Hokie team would have a down year. Starters Ryan Williams (RB), Darren Evans (RB), Tyrod Taylor (QB), Andre Smith (TE), Beau Warren (C), Stephen Friday (DE), Davon Morgan (DB), Rashad Carmichael (DB), Chris Hazley (K), and Brian Saunders (P) all moved on. That’s a LONG list. That’s 10 starters, if you didn’t feel like counting. With all of the new guys moving in, did anyone expect Virginia Tech to go 10-2 and get an at-large bid to the Sugar Bowl? If you had predicted that to me, I would have scoffed at you.

Frank Beamer exceeded all preseason expectations this year. He didn’t become an idiot in one day. The “Fake Punt” that everyone was mad about was actually a roll-out option where Danny Coale was told to see if there was room to run, and if not, to Rugby-Punt it. It was NOT an all-out fake. The 4th and 1 quarterback sneak was effective ALL year. You KNOW you were screaming “Go for it!” So, shame on you for calling it a bad call.

Virginia Tech lost because they didn’t execute the 4th down quarterback sneak. The special teams roughed the punter, fumbled a return, and didn’t execute the punt-option. Denard Robinson repeatedly chucked the ball up for grabs and the secondary was unable to make the play on the ball in either touchdown for Michigan. They didn’t lose because Frank Beamer got “old” and “stupid” overnight.