Brady Hoke and the Michigan Wolverines take the Virginia Tech Hokies tonight at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Kick off is scheduled for 8PM ET from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Michigan makes their first BCS appearance since 2007 when they lost to USC 32-18 in the Rose Bowl. Michigan is also looking for their first bowl win since 2008 when they beat Florida 41-35 in the Capital One Bowl and their first BCS bowl win since 2000 when they beat Alabama 35-34 in the Orange Bowl.
Michigan also enters tonight’s game sitting at 10-2 and making great strides under head coach Brady Hoke’s first season with the team. After implementing a new system many questions arose as to whether or not players like Denard Robinson would be able to adapt to the pro style after playing under Rich Rodriguez’s spread offense the past few seasons.
Virginia Tech Player to Watch: David Wilson, RB
The Atlantic Coast player of the year, Wilson has rushed for 100 or more yards in 10 games, is averaging 125.2 yards and has nine TDs. The Wolverines may want to take a page from the Clemson playbook as the Tigers limited the Hokies to only 32 yards.
Still, Greg Mattison and the Michigan defense will have to game plan for the ground attack that Wilson will present.
Michigan Player to Watch: Denard Robinson, QB
Even though his numbers have been down this past season, Robinson ended the season very strong showing that he is very capable of running Brady Hoke’s pro style offense. Questions will remain though pertaining to whether or not Robinson can continue to improve and show up on the big stage.
Not to mention a strong performance could potentially raise Robinson’s draft stock even though he’s said that he fully expects to be back with the Wolverines next season.
Be careful of the Virginia Tech secondary
Despite Robinson looking better towards the end of the regular season, the fact of the matter is he still isn’t the best passer in college football. With that mind, Robinson and the Michigan receivers are going to have to be very careful of the Virginia Tech secondary. The Hokies have two good defensive backs in S Antone Exum and CB Jayron Hosley. Hosley has three INTs and Exum has an INT and 10 breakups.
Spread the ball out
Unlike past Michigan teams where the focus could be solely put on Denard Robinson, Michigan has two threats in the backfield that will give opposing defenses fits. In addition to the ground attack that Robinson possesses, Fitz Toussaint has been a very nice complement to Denard enabling his passing game to evolve further. Michigan must continue to take advantage of this very useful asset, especially given that Virginia Tech is dealing with injuries to three key players on defense.
Predictions
Both defenses will be under the gun tonight as Virginia Tech and Michigan have running attacks that could break the game wide open. However Denard’s improving arm and the seemingly break out year from Fitz Toussaint should give the Wolverines enough to put them over the top. Michigan wins 35-24.
Ref: Detroit News, ESPN.com, iSportsWeb.com (image)