When West Virginia faces Clemson in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4, the Tigers will deploy weapons all over the place on the offensive side of the ball.
Quarterback Tajh Boyd completed 60.5 percent of his passes this season for 3,578 yards and 31 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions, making him one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Running back Andre Ellington eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark with 1,062 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 5.0 yards per carry.
To top it off, wide receiver Sammy Watkins put up huge numbers, too, catching 77 passes for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Needless to say, the Mountaineers coaching staff is putting in some extra work in preparation for the game, as the Associated Press reports.
"You don’t have to watch a whole lot of film to understand they’ve got playmakers all over the place," said West Virginia defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. "Obviously, they’re very, very talented — and deep — and they’re guys that can run. We’ll have our work cut out for us. That’s the bad thing. Sometimes it can ruin your holidays getting ready for these type of games. It’s going to be a challenge trying to defend them."
One way to stop the Tigers might be forcing Boyd to turn the ball over. Five of his 10 picks came in Clemson's three losses this season. If the Mountaineers can have that kind of success, it should invigorate their defense and help the offense out with field position, too, putting West Virginia in good position to take down the ACC champs.
We'll have coverage of the Orange Bowl up to and through the big game in this StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Tigers blog Shakin' The Southland and Mountaineers blog The Smoking Musket.