Orange Bowl 2011: Stanford and Virginia Tech, Facts You May Not Know

After an exciting New Year’s day of college football, the attention of fans everywhere turns to Miami, where Virginia Tech will take on Stanford in the Discover Orange Bowl.

Both of these teams have been incredibly hot at the end of the season, and there is no doubt that both teams are deserving of a BCS bowl game, especially after Michigan State got blown out.

Most people have heard of Andrew Luck and Tyrod Taylor and have seen them play in at least one game this season. If you haven’t, check out this video for just a glimpse of these two amazing athletes, as well as highlights from the rest of the teams.

The Rose Bowl lived up to its hype, and the Orange Bowl will hopefully do the same. To get you ready for the game, here are some facts that you may not know about Virginia Tech and Stanford.

Click this link for the live blog.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stanford is ranked fourth in the BCS and fifth in the AP poll. This is the first time they have been in the top five since 1940.

Virginia Tech is the first team in history to win 11 straight games after losing their first two. The Hokies won ten straight after losing their first two games in 1995. They beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl that year.

Stanford’s Owen Marecic is one of the only players in college football who plays on both sides of the ball. He is a fullback and a linebacker and actually scored a touchdown from both positions in the same game earlier this year.

Tyrod Taylor has only thrown four interceptions over the course of his 13 game season. He is one of three quarterbacks to do so with 275+ attempts. The other two are Ricky Stanzi and Dan Persa—Stanzi threw two picks against Missouri and Persa did not play in his teams’ final three games.

Riley Dodge and Ryan Tannehill, each of whom have three interceptions, haven’t started every game this year unlike Taylor. In simpler terms, Tyrod Taylor has the best interceptions per game ratio in the entire country.

Taylor and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick are the only active quarterbacks to have passed for over 6,000 yards and rush for over 2,000. He is also the record holder in a number of quarterback categories at Virginia Tech, including wins, yards passing, rush yards and rushing touchdowns as a QB.

Sophomore linebacker Shayne Skov leads Stanford with 71 tackles, including six for loss and four sacks. He did all of this without playing the first two games of the season with a leg injury.

Sophomore cornerback Jayron Hosley leads Virginia Tech and the country with eight interceptions this year. He picked off N.C. State’s Russell Wilson three times and UNC’s T.J. Yates twice. Hosley is the sole cause of over a fifth of their combined interceptions.

Speaking of interceptions, Andrew Luck has only thrown seven interceptions this season; however, against the two best pass efficiency defenses on the Stanford schedule—Notre Dame and Oregon—he threw three touchdowns and four interceptions for an average passer rating of 125.32, a full forty points under his season average.

That could be the downfall for Stanford, considering Tech’s pass defense. The Hokies rank eighth nationally in pass efficiency defense and have 22 interceptions on the year, tied for second along with Florida and Alabama, and Hawaii has 23. No team has intercepted more passes than Virginia Tech in the past decade.

But don't think Tech is the only team with an opportunistic defense. Stanford ranks fourth in the country in turnover margin.

This likely means Stanford will be running the football a lot. Despite the departure of Toby Gerhart, the Cardinal averages 211 yards per game on the ground. The next best is Virginia Tech, with just less than 209 yards per game. Stepfan Taylor went over a thousand yards against Oregon State and is the first Stanford sophomore to do that since the 70s.

Despite Virginia Tech's stable of running backs, no player has over 1,000 yards rushing or receiving. Darren Evans leads the team with 817 yards and 11 touchdowns, while the leading receiver is Jarrett Boykin with 763 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Boykin's hands are so large that they burst out of 3XL gloves on a regular basis.

Stanford's offensive line is one of the best in the country in both pass protection and run blocking. They allow less than half a sack per game.

Virginia Tech offensive lineman Greg Nosal actually got the top of his pinkie finger ripped off against Central Michigan. Rather than sitting out for the rest of Tech's big win, Nosal demanded to return to the field and finished the game before getting his finger reattached.

Taylor’s abilities could pose real problems for a Hokie run defense that hasn’t exactly impressed this year, allowing over 148 yards per game. The linebackers have improved over the course of the season but will be without starter Lyndell Gibson for the Orange Bowl.

Jack Tyler will take his spot with Tariq Edwards and Barquell Rivers rotating in as necessary. Tyler’s only major playing time came in the ACC championship game, where he had seven solo tackles in relief of Gibson and Bruce Taylor. Rivers was the starting middle linebacker last year.

There are no players academically ineligible for the game, but running back David Wilson and defensive back Antone Exum will miss the first quarter of the game for missing curfew. Neither are listed as starters but Wilson is the Hokies’ top kick returner.

Six other players who have not been named, but are not on the two-deep depth chart have been sent home for breaking team rules. Virginia Tech will hope to win the coin toss and defer to the second half.

Stanford has played three teams averaging 30+ points per game: USC, Arizona St. and Oregon. They gave up 35, 17 and 52 points, respectively. Virginia Tech has played four: Florida St., N.C. St., East Carolina and Boise State. They gave up 33, 30, 27 and 33, respectively. The Hokies are averaging just over 19 points allowed per game, while the Cardinal is averaging just under 18.

Conversely, Stanford has played two teams allowing under 21 points per game: Notre Dame and Oregon. They scored 37 and 31, respectively. Virginia Tech has played four: Miami, Florida St., Boston College and Boise State. They scored 31, 44, 19 and 30, respectively. The Hokies are averaging 35.5 points per game and the Cardinal is averaging 40.3.

This will be Virginia Tech’s third trip to the Orange Bowl in four years, losing to Kansas and beating Cincinnati. Stanford hasn’t been to a BCS bowl since the 2000 Rose Bowl, where they lost to Wisconsin. The Cardinal has not won a bowl game of any type since 1996.

The Monday Night Football crew will be announcing what is sure to be a great game between two teams that are evenly matched, yet pose unique challenges. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 pm EST on ESPN.

The Bleacher Report live blog, done by yours truly, will begin at 6:30 pm EST. A link will be posted in this article at that time and can also be found on the college football main page. Hope to see you there!

For up-to-date news and analysis on Virginia Tech, the ACC and national college sports, follow me on Twitter @VT_CaceClosed.