Clemson 33 - 70 W. Virginia (Final)

I love the fact that Clemson scored a touchdown with just a few minutes left in the game.

Well, that was just about the most humiliating end to a season that you can imagine. The poor Clemson fans had really enjoyed this season, except for their loss to South Carolina. They beat Auburn for the first time since the 1950's. They beat FSU. They won the ACC for the first time since 1991. They were back in the Orange Bowl for the first time since the 1981 national championship season. They held the UCFC for most of the year. And they were up 17-14 in this game. Then the roof caved in. There was always something seriously wrong with their defense, and it killed them tonight.

Oh well, Clemson's all-time record in UCFC games falls to 11-10. They provided us a lot of fun this year, and we hope that their fans will be able to remember the good times and to forget this game.

West Virginia takes the crown for the first time since 1926, and they move to 11-7 in UCFC games. This page will be blue and gold for quite a while now, and they certainly deserve the honor. Among other things, they set the record for the most points ever scored in a bowl game.

Because we still don't know which conference West Virginia will play in next year, the Mountaineers' 2012 schedule is still largely up for grabs. From poking around on the Internet, it looks as though West Virginia is currently scheduled to open next season on Saturday, September 1, 2012 in Morgantown against the Marshall Thundering Herd. But that could very well change.

However, we are pretty confident that at some point in the fall of 2012, West Virginia will play somebody in football. And when that happens, we plan to be blogging the action once more.

Clemson 26 - 70 W. Virginia (3 minutes left in 4th Quarter)

By the way, West Virginia has scored the most points in a UCFC game since September 17, 2005, when the Matt Leinert/Reggie Bush USC Trojans beat Arkansas 70-17.

Clemson 26 - 70 W. Virginia (5:37 left in 4th Quarter)

Well, this turned out to be pretty disappointing -- and downright embarrassing for the ACC champions. It's pretty funny to see the Orange Bowl right now. Half of the stadium -- the half where the Clemson fans sat -- is almost completely empty. The other half -- where the West Virginia fans are -- is rocking.

By the way, with this loss the ACC's all-time record in BCS bowls will fall to 2-13.

Clemson 20 - 49 W. Virginia (Halftime)

Sure enough, West Virginia quickly punches the ball in for yet another touchdown -- their seventh of the half. They scored three touchdowns in the last few minutes of the half.

West Virginia has never scored more than 49 points in a bowl game, but I have a feeling that record could fall tonight.

West Virginia hasn't had the UCFC since the 1920's, but that's going to end tonight. Look forward to seeing this page in blue and gold for some time to come.

Clemson 20 - 42 W. Virginia (41 seconds left in 2d Quarter)

Well, now I don't feel so sorry for Tajh Boyd. He fumbles the ball and West Virginia takes over at the Clemson 21.

Clemson 20 - 42 W. Virginia (1:13 left in 2d Quarter)

I should never have taken an ACC team seriously.

West Virginia blasts through the Clemson defense in only a few plays, and Tavon Austin scampers in from three yards out for West Virginia's sixth touchdown of the half.

I feel truly bad for Tajh Boyd, who has gone 17-28 for 170 yards, but who has been completely undone by his terrible defense and that fumble at the West Virginia 1.

Clemson 20 - 35 W. Virginia (2:07 left in 2d Quarter)

Well, this could be it. Tajh Boyd, trying desperately to overcome his team's hopeless defense, throws an interception. West Virginia takes over at the Clemson 32.

Clemson 20 - 35 W. Virginia (2:29 left in 2d Quarter)

Nope, Clemson's defense remains hopeless. West Virginia, looking like they're playing flag football, waltzes down the field in a very easy drive that is topped off by a seven yard run from QB Gene Smith.

It is impossible to overstate how terrible Clemson's defense has been. They have been utterly horrific.

Clemson 20 - 28 W. Virginia (4:49 left in 2d Quarter)

OK, we finally had a little bit of defense. Clemson and West Virginia each had drives that stalled, before the Tigers go 56 yards in 7 plays to get into field goal range. Their second field goal of the game brings the Tigers within eight.

Unfortunately for them, they now have to give the ball back to West Virginia.

Clemson 17 - 28 W. Virginia (11:13 left in 2d Quarter)

OK, this could be a game-changer. Clemson drives straight down the field, and is about to score again, when Andre Ellington fumbles on the West Virginia 1, and Darwin Cook goes 99 YARDS WITH THE FUMBLE! Now Clemson is two scores down, and given their defensive struggles, that is really bad news.

Clemson 17 - 21 W. Virginia (13:25 left in 2d Quarter)

I knew Clemson would regret settling for that field goal. For the third consecutive possession, West Virginia marches straight down the field for a touchdown. This time, the Mountaineers scored on a 27-yard pitch and catch to Tavon Austin, who looked like an 8th-grader running through a field of 6th-graders.

Can even Tajh Boyd keep pace with this type of offense?

Clemson 17 - 14 W. Virginia (End of 1st Quarter)

Why couldn't Virginia Tech score against Clemson? To me, that is the single biggest mystery of this whole season.

Clemson 17 - 14 W. Virginia (45 seconds left in 1st Quarter)

Well, Clemson's offense didn't get it done that time. The Tigers' offense stalls for only the second time tonight, and they are forced to settle for a 42-yard field goal.

This is officially the highest-scoring first quarter in Orange Bowl history.

Clemson 14 - 14 W. Virginia (2:49 left in 1st Quarter)

Well, that didn't take long. We have a fourth TD drive in the quarter as the Mountaineers race down the field, topping things off with an 8-yard run by Tavon Austin.

The radio announcers say that we're seeing basketball on grass, and they're not far wrong.

Clemson 14 - 7 W. Virginia (5:27 left in 1st Quarter)

But, of course, Clemson's offense knows that it's defense only plays well against Virginia Tech, so they quickly shake off the West Virginia score. Andre Ellington breaks free for a 68-yard run up the middle of the field, and the Tigers re-take the lead.

Clemson 7 - 7 W. Virginia (8:04 left in 1st Quarter)

Oh, well. Same old same old for Clemson, as they allow West Virginia to march 72 yards in 8 plays to tie the score on a four-yard run by Shawne Alston.

Clemson 7 - 0 W. Virginia (10:22 left in 1st quarter)

Clemson games usually feature a heavy barrage of scoring, and this one appears to be no exception. The Tigers go 62 yards in 9 plays, topping things off with the usual: a 27-yard pass from Tajh Boyd to Sammie Watkins, two names that are very familiar to UCFC fans. A good start for the Tigers.

Clemson v. West Virginia

The mountain folk of West Virginia and the upstate farmers of South Carolina have not always agreed. In 1860, South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, while the West Virginians left the Old Dominion rather than break with the United States. For more than a century after that, West Virginia tended to vote with the big industrial states of the North, while South Carolina was the most conservative state in the South. But since Ronald Reagan made the GOP into a haven for white working-class voters, West Virginians and South Carolinians have been more likely to work together than to oppose each other.

Of course, that still doesn't mean that they see eye-to-eye on the football field, and we should see a spirited game tonight as two of the angriest fan bases in America meet head-to-head. The Tigers and the Mountaineers have met only once before, when Clemson beat West Virginia 27-7 in the 1989 Gator Bowl. They have never met for the UCFC.

Whoever wins this game will get to keep the title until next August, and will set the table for next year's UCFC battles. So this is a very important game for all of us who care about the UCFC. Vegas has made Clemson a three-point favorite, and that sounds about right to me. But both of these teams have been all over the place this year, so we won't know what to expect until the game gets started.

West Virginia

West Virginia University was founded in 1867, only a few years after the Mountaineer State seceded from the Old Dominion during the throes of the Civil War. For most of their history, West Virginia has struggled to find a home within the college football universe. They didn't get into the SEC, the Big 10, or the ACC. Eventually, they got into the Big East -- only to see their most natural rivals (Pitt and Virginia Tech) flee that conference for the ACC. They are currently on their way to the Big 12 -- although it is not clear exactly when that will happen. West Virginia also suffers from the demographics of being in one of the smallest states in the Union, population-wise, and it's not exactly the easiest place to recruit outsiders.

But despite these difficulties, the Mountaineers have a long and proud football tradition. They have rarely reached the heights of their more privileged neighbors in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but they have had their moments -- in 1988, for example, they went undefeated in the regular season, losing only to Notre Dame in a national championship showdown. According to Wikipedia, they have an all-time record of 700-457-45, which makes them the winningest school never to claim the national championship. They also won the 2006 Sugar Bowl (over Georgia), and the 2008 Fiesta Bowl (over Oklahoma).

They have an odd history in the UCFC. On November 8, 1924, Syracuse lost the UCFC to West Virginia Wesleyan, which lost the title to West Virginia on October 24, 1925. The Mountaineers defended their title nine more times -- beating a variety of schools, from Penn State to Davis & Elkins -- before losing the crown to Missouri 27-0 on October 30, 1926. Since then, West Virginia has played in only six UCFC games, and they've been thoroughly dominated on all six occasions. Their last appearance in the UCFC took place on October 26, 2002, when Miami (Florida) crushed them by the score of 40-23. Thus, their all-time record in UCFC play is 10-7.