The 2017 Orange Bowl on December 30th, which odds at BetNow.eu favor the Wisconsin Badgers to win, will be the Miami Hurricanes’ 10th, but their first since 2004, and their second at what is now Hard Rock Stadium, which has been the Canes’ home stadium since 2008.
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“I think that both teams have such a huge background and history with our fan base as well. We’re very similar they travel very well. This is basically a home game for them. It’s going to be very fun and the excitement in that stadium is going to be unreal,” Wisconsin linebacker TJ Edwards said.
The Badgers completed a 12–1 (9–0) undefeated regular season but lost the Big Ten Championship game 21-27 to Ohio State.
“You know we definitely want to prove that this team is resilient and tough and we’re going to bounce back. That’s one thing the senior class has showed, how to bring the guys together and bounce back after a tough loss,” running back Jonathan Taylor, who had just 41 yards on 15 carries, but who has averaged 218.3 rushing yards in games after he was held to fewer than 100, said.
Additionally, quarterback Alex “Hornibrook missed throws, the offensive line lost the battle up front, wide receivers struggled to get separation, linebackers missed gaps and defensive backs were beat in coverage,” as Jason Galloway of the Wisconsin State Journal points out, and that’s not even delving into his evaluation of left tackle Michael Deiter’s non-performance. On defense, Wisconsin allowed Ohio State 449 total yards.
UW could struggle again against Miami, which has one of the strongest defensive fronts in the nation, not that it did the Canes a lot of good in the ACC Championship Game, which they lost in humiliating fashion to Clemson, 3-38. The Hurricanes had previously seen their hopes of posting an undefeated regular season for the first time in Zeus knows how long dashed with a 14-24 loss to Pittsburgh the week prior.
Miami’s offense gained fewer than 250 yards and scored just 14 points or fewer on both of those occasions. On the plus side, the Canes went 7-0 at Hard Rock Stadium this season, where they have averaged 36.8 points per game while allowing just 18.8.
Then again, Wisconsin’s defense has little to envy that of Miami, or of any other program for that matter, what with it being the top defense in the country. All things considered, both schools, while playing very different brands of defense, have held opponents under 20 points per game this year.
Therefore, the Orange Bowl could very well come down to a war of attrition between two tight defenses. As a matter of fact, and this is something gambling aficionados might want to keep, if they don’t already have it, in mind, the total has gone under in the Badgers’ last three games, while the Canes have let the total go over just two times. The total for the Orange Bowl is, at the moment, 45 points.
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