Virginia Tech - Cincinnati

the Orange Bowl Thursday, January 1st, 8:30pm Miami, Florida

Virginia Tech (9-4)______ACC______274.79 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 East Carolina 209.48 L, 22-27 2 Furman -413.82 W, 24-7 3 Georgia Tech 287.66 W, 20-17 4 North Carolina 228.73 W, 20-17 5 Nebraska 157.90 W, 35-30 6 Western Kentucky -366.76 W, 27-13 8 Boston College 270.02 L, 23-28 9 Florida State 246.20 L, 20-30 11 Maryland 63.32 W, 23-13 12 Miami (FL) 118.06 L, 14-16 13 Duke -78.05 W, 14-3 14 Virginia 42.51 W, 17-14 15 Boston College 270.02 W, 30-12

Cincinnati (11-2)______BigEast_____331.88 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Eastern Kentucky -489.18 W, 40-7 2 Oklahoma 557.08 L, 26-52 4 Miami (OH) -366.25 W, 45-20 5 Akron -101.75 W, 17-15 6 Marshall -136.98 W, 33-10 7 Rutgers 167.40 W, 13-10 9 Connecticut 116.33 L, 16-40 10 South Florida 118.11 W, 24-10 11 West Virginia 217.96 W, 26-23 12 Louisville -77.32 W, 28-20 13 Pittsburgh 298.63 W, 28-21 14 Syracuse -168.29 W, 30-10 15 Hawaii -18.05 W, 29-24

Not many people are looking forward to this one, but I think it has potential. The Hokies are an exciting team to watch and ended the year strong, while the Bearcats played solid football all year. Both had big wins and a few they should've won, and in looking at their SoS they did well.

Stats Matchup
Team	Virginia Tech	Cincinnati
Points (rank)	274.79 (#15)	331.88 (#11)
Record	9-4	11-2
Opp. Points (rank)	919.23 (#13)	-97.63 (#62)
Opp. Record	84-64	76-72
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	22.2 (98%)	27.3 (106%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	17.5 (71%)	20.2 (77%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	167.9 (128%)	121.2 (79%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	107.0 (77%)	104.0 (65%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	128.2 (64%)	254.1 (126%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	170.1 (93%)	212.1 (103%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	296.2 (87%)	375.3 (105%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	277.1 (83%)	316.1 (85%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	118.7 (97%)	143.3 (109%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	112.8 (90%)	114.2 (88%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	5.2 / 36.1	7.4 / 67.2
TO's / TO Margin	1.5 / +11	2.0 / -5

As usual, Beamer's boys are productive in the TO department, while Cincy plays a bit looser and with less control. Tech will try to get their passing game going, while the Bearcats' best bet is to keep it on the ground. I wouldn't be surprised if Cincinnati won, but the Hokies will be more focused and ready to play this year.

The Line: Virginia Tech +2.5

The Call: Virginia Tech by 7

The Result: Virginia Tech 20-7

Beamer's Boys get it done. Their season might have started off slow, but they got better and better as the weeks went on. It's gonna take a lot to dethrone them from atop the ACC. Cincy had a great run this season too, but they just made too many mistakes in this game. Overall an entertaining contest.