2006 ORANGE BOWL PICK

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The college football bowl season continues tonight with Penn State at Florida State in the Orange Bowl. This is the last game of the entire Bowl schedule outside of USC and Texas in the national championship game. Check back with VIPsports Edge every day for continuing bowl coverage.

Bet Now: Penn State (-10) at Florida State

Penn State is 10-1 on the year and 7-1 in the Big 10. Their only loss of the year was a last second defeat at Michigan, 27-25. This team could easily been undefeated.

Overall though, it was a magical year for long time Coach, Joe Paterno. Penn State was 7-16 the last two years, and there was a big whispering campaign to get him to quietly retire. Heck, there is even a “Fire Joe Paterno” website which must be getting a lot fewer hits these days.

How did Paterno turn his team’s fortunes around? The Nittany Lions are led by quarterback, Michael Robinson (no relation to this columnist). Robinson is a dual threat at signal caller, throwing for over 2,000 yards, but rushing for 785. He, along with Tony Hunt combine to give Penn State the 13th leading rush offense in the country.

One down-note for Penn State is wide receiver Derrick Williams is doubtful with an arm injury. Williams was one of the most exciting freshmen in the country for the first seven games before he got hurt, and their receiving core is not the same without him.

Florida State was 8-4 on the year and 5-3 in the ACC. That included a three game losing streak in November that saw them lose to NC State, Clemson and Florida. The Seminoles were able to salvage their season by sneaking into the ACC championship and upsetting Virginia Tech, 27-22.

Bobby Bowden’s team is an enigma, as they have a pair of talented running backs, but have had major trouble getting the running game going. Red-shirt freshman quarterback, Drew Weatherford threw for almost 3,000 yards this year, but he also tossed 17 interceptions to go along with his 17 touchdowns.

Florida State must try to establish the running game, as Weatherford is likely to throw a couple of interceptions if he is forced to throw 40 times. The Penn State secondary is very good, and the heat will also be on from the pass rush.

This is the battle of the old time coaches as Bowden is 76 and Paterno is 79. There is a little concern that since this is a night game, Paterno and Bowden might not be able to stay up this late due to their advanced age.

The one “given” in this game is that Florida State will have trouble scoring points, most likely finishing around 17. The question is whether the lighting fast Florida State defense can hold Penn State under 27 playing in front of a Florida crowd in the Orange Bowl. The prediction here is yes.

2006 Orange Bowl Pick: Florida State

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