Smith's effort was just one of several records to fall on a
chilly Florida night, with the Mountaineers setting a new mark for the highest
scoring half in a bowl game by leading 49-20 at halftime.
West Virginia piled on five touchdowns in the second
quarter, including three in the final 2:29. One of them came when safety Darwin
Cook had a comic coming together with the Orange Bowl mascot Obie.
That came when Cook made the pivotal play by returning a
fumble 99 yards for a touchdown to break the game open.
"I always envisioned making great plays," Cook
said. "If you think it will happen, it will happen." Tavon Austin
also tied a record for any bowl game with four touchdown receptions.
Smith completed 31 of 42 pass attempts, and had 401 yards
passing to break Tom Brady's Orange Bowl record. Smith also ran for a score,
helping West Virginia break the bowl record for points, which was established
just six nights earlier when Baylor beat Washington 67-56 in the Alamo Bowl.
"Never could we imagine we'd put up 70 points,"
Smith said.
The Mountaineers (10-3) won in their first Orange Bowl
appearance and improved to 3-0 in Bowl Championship Series games.
"The guys wanted to come in and make a statement, and
the only way you can do that is if you play well on all three sides of the
ball," coach Dana Holgorsen said.
Clemson (10-4) lost playing in its first major bowl in 30
years.
"We're a better team than we played tonight,"
coach Dabo Swinney said. "Just too many mistakes. But we'll be back."
Smith and Austin combined on scoring passes of 8, 27, 3 and 37 yards, and
Shawne Alston scored on two short runs for West Virginia, which totaled 589
yards and 31 first downs. Smith was chosen the game's outstanding player.
Clemson couldn't keep up, although Andre Ellington did score
the game's first points on a 68-yard run. First-team All-Americans Sammy
Watkins and Dwayne Allen combined for only seven catches for 87 yards.
Amid the flurry of points, it was a defender who came up
with the key moment.
Clemson was on the verge of taking the lead in the second
quarter when Ellington ran up the middle and disappeared into a heap at the
1-yard line. A teammate signaled touchdown, but the ball had come loose and
Cook grabbed it, then took off with no-one between him and the end zone.
"I saw the ball come loose," he said. "I
grabbed it. I didn't hear a whistle, so I ran." After Cook crossed the
goal line, he gleefully leaped on mascot Obie, a smiling orange, and they both
tumbled to the turf. Obie rose unhurt and resumed her duties.
Cook and Obie met on the field after the game and shared a
hug.
"I didn't know you were a girl," he told the
mascot. "I apologize." That potential 14-point swing seemed to take
the wind out of the Tigers, who had moved the ball almost at will to that point.
"It was a pretty big moment," Swinney said.
"They hadn't really stopped us. That was huge. Then it snowballed
quickly." The Tigers' hopes of a comeback were doomed when quarterback
Tajh Boyd committed subsequent turnovers on consecutive plays.
After Smith ran 7 yards for a 35-20 lead, Pat Miller
intercepted Boyd's pass. Smith flipped a 1-yard touchdown pass to Austin and, on
the next play, a call was overturned, with the replay official determining Boyd
had lost a fumble.
Alston then ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 4 seconds left
in the half.
Defensive woes were nothing new for the Tigers, who won
their first Atlantic Coast Conference title in 20 years but gave up at least 30
points in six regular-season games.
Clemson kept pace for a while, leading 17-14 after one
period. It was the highest-scoring first quarter and first half in Orange Bowl
history.
West Virginia went ahead for the first time early in the
second period on an 80-yard touchdown drive capped by Austin's 27-yard catch,
making the score 21-17. Cook's takeaway touchdown came next, and the
Mountaineers were off to the races.
"You don't score 70 points by being good on
offense," Holgorsen said. "You score 70 points by being good on all
three sides of the ball."