BCS Bowl Games 2012: Geno Smith and Players Due for a National Breakout

Have you heard of Geno Smith before?

The No. 23-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers may not be the most deserving of BCS teams, but they won their conference and earned their BCS bid to the Orange Bowl to face No. 15 Clemson thanks in large part to the play of Smith.

The junior signal-caller was absolutely sensational this season and his numbers speak for themselves: 3,978 passing yards, 25 TDs and only seven INTs with a 65 percent completion percentage and 8.24 yards per attempt.

His last-minute drive engineered against South Florida was Heisman worthy and Smith is the reason WVU is in a BCS game. Expect him to exploit a Clemson defense that ranks 62^nd in points allowed.

Here are two other guys that should become household names by the end of the bowl season.

Tajh Boyd, QB: Clemson Tigers

The sophomore from Hampton, Virginia has exploded onto the scene in his first year as a starter, yet few outside of ACC country have really heard much about him…until now.

He has thrown for 3,578 yards, 31 TDs and 10 INTs while adding another five TDs on the ground. So let’s do some quick math…36 total TDs times six points per TD=216 points.

He has scored 216 points out of a possible 430 points for his team. He’s facing a Mountaineer team that is susceptible to mobile quarterbacks and has allowed 26.3 points a game—a less than stellar 63^rd in the nation.

Expect him to collect another three to four TDs under the bright Orange Bowl lights as we are treated to an absolute shootout between Boyd and Smith.

David Wilson, RB: Virginia Tech

The Hokies may be the least deserving BCS bowl recipient, but they do have one of the most explosive and powerful runners in the entire country in Wilson.

The 5'11", 200-pound back has rushed for 1,627 yards on 266 attempts with nine TDs as the key cog in the Hokies offense.

He rushed for at least 100 yards in 10 of 13 games and averaged 6.1 yards per carry with his ability to break tackles in the trenches and outrun linebackers and safeties.

He’s a complete back and should do some major damage against a Michigan team that has padded its numbers against an incredibly soft schedule, yet still gave up 34 points to a Ohio State team that made the forward pass look incredibly difficult to pull off all the way up until the last game of the season.

Wilson will have a field-day and finally get the national attention he deserves.