Mountaineers all over Clemson in the Orange Bowl (AKA, the Runover Bowl)

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The No. 23 West Virginia Mountaineers heated up Miami’s Sun Life Stadium Wednesday night in the Orange Bowl, nearly running over No. 15 Clemson in a 70-33 defeat.

The first quarter began as we all predicted it would, conjuring thoughts of the Alamo Bowl. However, after WVU safety Darwin Cook returned a fumble for a 99-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the Mountaineers took off to set a bowl scoring record of 70 points.

WVU’s quarterback Geno Smith threw for 401 yards and six touchdowns, tying the touchdown passes record for any bowl game. Receiver Tavon Austin recorded 117 yards and four touchdowns on 11 catches, while Shawne Alston rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd completed 24-of-46 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Junior running back Andre Ellington contributed 116 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, while receiver DeAndre Hopkins posted 107 yards and one touchdown on 10 catches.

The first quarter of play was dominated by back-and-forth touchdowns until Clemson kicked a field goal to take their only lead of the game, 17-14, to close the quarter.

West Virginia opened the second quarter with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Austin and Cook’s 99-yard fumble return in just five minutes.

“I always envisioned making great plays,” Cook said to ESPN. “If you think it will happen, it will happen.”

Clemson put up three more points with just five minutes left in the half, but three more touchdowns by WVU ended the first half with a 49-20 lead.

With feelings of unfinished business, the Mountaineers returned after halftime with two touchdowns by Stedman Bailey and Austin to
stretch the lead to 63-20. Clemson responded with a 24-yard pass from Tajh Boyd to Hopkins with just a minute and a half left in the third quarter to trail the Mountaineers 63-26.

WVU finished its scoring streak in the final quarter with a touchdown pass from Smith to Willie Milhouse to lead 70-26. With just one
minute left to play, a four-yard run by Clemson’s Roderick McDowell finished the game, giving the Mountaineers a 70-33 victory.

“We’re a better team than we played tonight,” coach Dabo Swinney told ESPN. “Just too many mistakes. But we’ll be back.”

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