This year’s Orange Bowl features a match up between a heavily favored 11-1 Louisville team that snuck into the BCS with a late season Rutgers loss, and the surprising 11-2 Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. While both these teams enjoyed plenty of success within their respective conferences, their styles of play could not be any more different.
The Louisville Cardinals come into the January 2nd showdown boasting the 3rd ranked scoring offense in the nation. Led by likely first round pick quarterback Brian Brohm, the Cardinals thrive off of big plays in the passing game. They are not one dimensional, however, as tailback Kolby Smith has done admirably filling in for an injured Michael Bush. After watching this Louisville team several times this season I am very impressed with their ability to pile up points in a hurry. That being said, the defenses they have faced in the Big East could not stop my 8 year-old cousin and his third grade friends.
The Demon Deacons, who captured their first ACC title this season since the Nixon administration, have relied on their defense to keep them in games all year long. Led by an emotionally charged Jon Abbatte at middle linebacker and NFL-ready safety Josh Gattis, this defensive unit has created turnovers and forced field goals all year long. Cornerbacks Alfonso Smith and Riley Swanson have been solid game in and game out playing their aggressive man to man coverage. This secondary knows how to make plays. They will undoubtedly have their work cut out for them in this game with Harry Douglas and the other Cardinal receivers. If they are not careful, they will have memorized the last names and numbers of the Louisville receivers by the end of the night.
On the other side of the ball, young yet poised freshman quarterback Riley Skinner has done well managing games for a Wake Forest offense that prides itself on ball control. I have seen Skinner a lot this fall, both on the field and in the quad, and I am very impressed by his maturation. Wake uses misdirection and a variety of ball carriers to keep defenses off balance. AP coach of the year Jim Grobe will have his hands full keeping the Louisville offense on the sidelines. If up early, the Cardinals may never look back.
Prediction: The Wake Forest secondary just might be up to the task of containing the Louisville passing attack as they did Georgia Tech and Calvin Johnson in the ACC Championship game. Look for the Demon Deacons to capitalize on turnovers and use standout kicker/punter Sam Swank to win the special teams battle. I have never been so impressed by a kicker or punter in my life. Call it bias, but this sports writer finds the Big East to be as over-rated as Angelina Jolie. Yeah, I said it. The clock will not strike midnight for Cinderella in this game. Deacs win, 27-24.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I did not write that, and may this coward reveal his name.
Maybe sir, if your blog wasn't linked to Lebron's blog I would have known it wasn't you artz, but sadly unlike the real Alex, me, you are weak minded
Post a Comment