This season, pick who you think will win the Champs Sports Bowl Game of the Week and WIN! Answer the question on the Champs Sports Bowl Facebook page before Saturday’s game. If you pick correctly, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win two tickets to the Champs Sports Bowl on December 29, 2011!
Clemson leads series, 17-12-1 (Last meeting: Oct. 6, 2007: Virginia Tech 41, Clemson 23)
No. 15 Clemson takes its undefeated record on the road this week to face off with fellow-unbeaten No. 10 Virginia Tech in a rare ACC battle of top-15 teams. Thanks to quality wins against Auburn and Florida State, the Tigers continue to climb the polls after beginning the year unranked. The Hokies were pegged as a darkhorse national title contender early on, despite the loss of four-year starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor to graduation.
Clemson and Virginia Tech have not played since 2007, a matchup in which the Hokies and head coach Frank Beamer displayed their patented “Beamer-ball” approach by scoring touchdowns on both a kickoff and punt return. Tech also held former Clemson star running backs James Davis and C.J. Spiller to a mere 12 yards rushing in the 18-point victory.
Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd added to his Heisman résumé last week, helping dispatch the No. 11 Seminoles, 35-30, in Death Valley. The redshirt sophomore threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for a score. True freshman receiver Sammy Watkins continued his stellar play, reeling in eight catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He now has six scores through four games and leads the conference in receptions and receiving touchdowns.
Virginia Tech was a preseason favorite to win the ACC, but the Hokies have flown a bit under the radar in their first few games, having yet to play a team from a BCS conference. Mistakes prevented Tech from pulling away late against Marshall last week, a theme that has repeated itself in all but one of the Hokies’ wins thus far. Beamer will rely heavily on junior David Wilson and a running game that has scored 11 of the team’s 17 touchdowns this season.
Extra Points:
*Although Clemson has not beaten Virginia Tech since 1989, the Tigers owned a 16-2 record in the series dating back to 1935.
*Clemson won the Florida Citrus Bowl in both the 1987 and 1988 seasons. The Tigers have since appeared in an Orlando bowl twice more, in 2002 and 2005.
Expert Picks
 |
Michel Champagne currently serves as Chairman of Florida Citrus Sports, where his duties include leading Team Selection Committee. He is the Vice President of Operations and General Manager, Orlando Region for Bright House Networks. |
| Pick: Clemson Season Record: 3-1 |
 |
Greg Warmoth spent 11 years as the weekend sports anchor for WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando before switching to the news desk in 1997. He currently anchors Eyewitness News Daybreak, Eyewitness News This Morning on TV-27 and Eyewitness News at Noon. |
| Pick: Virginia Tech Season Record: 3-1 |
 |
Marc Daniels hosts The Beat Of Sports on ESPN 1080 AM in Orlando every weekday morning from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Daniels has over 20 years of experience on the air and is most well known as “the Voice of the UCF Knights” for all football, men’s basketball and baseball games on the UCF ISP Sports Network. |
| Pick: Virginia Tech Season Record: 3-1 |
 |
Jerry Greene spent 33 years as a sportswriter at Florida Today, the Pensacola News Journal and the Orlando Sentinel before retiring in 2009. He now co-hosts The Beat of Sports with Daniels and contributes to ESPN.com’s Page 2 section. |
| Pick: Virginia Tech Season Record: 2-2 |
