Camping World Independence Bowl: Predictions and Poll

It's the final edition of Gobbler Country Football Predictions.  (The heart of Basketball Season will present its own challenges) Without any further comment, or fulminations, we give you the staff guesses for the Camping World Independence Bowl:

Fearless Leader - Roy B. Hatfield

Hokies 31 Tulsa 28. Hokies win it eventually, but it's a contest in the fourth quarter. Beamer is carried off the field and into the history books.

The Cave Man - John Schneider

Hokies 38 Tulsa 30. It's going to be as close to a shootout as we are likely to come to for a while.  The Defense finally get something critical to fall our way, and the offense will do just enough to stay ahead of Tulsa's O.

The Wolf of the Pack - Joshua Schneider

Hokies 28 Tulsa 24. So this is a game of zero defense for Tulsa and a shaky offense for Tech; and a game of okay defense for Tech against a good offense for Tulsa. The wise men of the desert have us as a massive favorite and I want to smack them upside the head.  Since when does this team blow anyone out that convincingly?  I still think they get the win for Frank, but I'm worried that considering there were three suspensions that the whole team might not be taking this as seriously as we all hope.

The Navy Airdale - Jay Johnson

Hokies 35 Tulsa 27. Bowl games are always iffy for the Hokies.  Neither Virginia Tech nor Tulsa have a particularly fantastic record for the season.  But, the Hokies have faced significantly stiffer competition.  The Golden Hurricanes woes on defense will outstrip their capability on offense.  I do not think that VPI blows this one up, but the Hokies win one last game for Frank and send him off with another winning season.

The Man About Blacksburg - Joe Roy-Stewart

Hokies 45 Tulsa 21. As long as the Hokies didn't eat as much as I did this Christmas, they shouldn't have much of a problem against Tulsa.  The Tulsa offense is fast paced and they get the ball out of their quarterback's hands almost as fast as they run to the next play, but the talent the Hokies have on defense should stop Tulsa on most drives.  The Hokie offense should have field day going up against a Tulsa defense that couldn't stop me from getting a third helping of roast beef.  Motivation is high for Tech which can be a problem in bowl games like this.  So, the Hokies should run up the score and give some nice photo ops for Frank and company in the second half.  Gatorade bath anyone?

The Man About Basketball - Jawhar Ali

Hokies win, 37-24. Tech should come out with passion for Beamer's last game. As long as they play with emotion and not let emotion play with them, they shouldn't have trouble with this one. I can see Brewer having a big game as well, since it's his last game too and he's playing a subpar Tulsa defense. This may be a game where Tulsa sort of hangs around early because of a few Tech mistakes (penalties, turnovers), but the Hokies should pull away at the end for a comfortable margin of victory.   (Updated - Someone just woke up.)

The 2015 Gobbler Country Season Pick Champ - David Kistler

David still needs to check in.