Sweet As Sugar

     After an amazing day of bowls (and some pretty good picking [4-2]!), the Sugar Bowl is upon us. As many of you know, it pits the Michigan Wolverines (10-2) and the Virginia Tech Hokies (10-2). There is no doubt in my mind that there will be plenty of offense in this one as Denard Robinson and Logan Thomas try to out duel each other. As many of you know, I am not very fond of this match up, but now that the time has come I have to put both of their unimpressive schedules behind me and dig for the facts.
     The key player for Michigan is obviously Denard Robinson. His 2056 yards in the air and 18 touchdowns are the heartbeat of this offense. Robinson has really impressed me with his development from last season. He is now willing to pass before the run and has been able to stay healthy all season. Shoelace still lacks the discipline of a big time QB though. He has thrown 14 interceptions this year and has had some key fumbles. If he's able to keep those to a minimum, I expect him to flourish in this one. The Michigan X factor has to be their defense. They are 7th in points allowed averaging  17.2 a game. Previously the Wolverines were ranked 102nd in the nation, but with some coaching from Greg Mattison it is a totally diffrent story.
     On the Hokies side, the key player is Logan Thomas. Thomas is 6 feet 6 inches and 254 pound in size and has been punishing defenses since day one. His 2799 yards and 19 TDs have been some of the best in the ACC and the 10 rushing touchdowns are most by a QB in the 25 year tenure of Frank Beamer. Why is that impressive? That includes Micheal Vick. Yeah, this Thomas guy is good. He will be able to abuse the Michigan D and create a lot of scoring chances. The X factor for Tech is the running back David Wilson. Wilson has the 5th most rushing yards in the nation with 1,627 on 266 carries. The scary stat for Wilson is that he has failed to reach 100 yards in only three games this season. If this guy gets started early, Michigan better watch out.
     The key to this game for both teams will be the defense. They will need to stop the run and if they don't, both teams could score a whole lot. Michigan's D has really improved, but was exposed in their meeting with Ohio State. As for Va Tech's D, they are very young and if they can't keep their composure they will have a long night.
     So who wins? It is hard for me to gauge both teams because I feel like neither has faced a team like they will tonight. Michigan has played in more key games than Virginia Tech and I believe that give them the edge. Meeeeeechigan wins a very competitive game 24-20. Go crazy guys!

Thanks for reading !