Orange Bowl: West Virginia 70, Clemson 33

MIAMI, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A 99-yard fumble return by Darwin Cook in the second period Wednesday ignited West Virginia to a 70-33 rout of Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

Clemson was trailing 21-17 with 11 minutes left in the half, but was on the verge of taking the lead. Andre Ellington fumbled the ball away on first down at the Mountaineers' 1-yard line and Cook turned it into a game-changing play.

West Virginia wound up scoring five touchdowns in the second period to take a 49-20 lead at halftime en route to the largest point total in Orange Bowl history. The Mountaineers broke the record of 61 set by Alabama in a victory over Syracuse in 1953.

Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith threw for 401 yards and six touchdowns in the most one-sided victory of the current bowl season. The most lopsided win to date had been Boise State's 32-point victory over Arizona State in the Maaco Bowl.

Three of Smith's touchdown passes came in the second half after the contest had been all but decided. He completed 30-of-41 passes in helping West Virginia close out its 10-3 season with four straight victories. Clemson wound up 10-4.

Clemson's Tajh Boyd was 24-of-46 passing for 250 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Ellington gained 116 yards on 16 carries, but his key fumble turned out to be pivotal.

Wednesday's game continued the offensive trend that has been established during this year's run of bowl games. There have been 16 games in which teams have combined to score more than 50 points.

Eleven of those contests have had more than 60 points produced and six of them have had more than 70, including Baylor's 67-56 victory over Washington in which the teams combined for 1,394 yards. Total offense for the Orange Bowl amounted to 1,037 yards.

Teams from the ACC went 2-6 in bowls this season. The Big East Conference is 3-1 with one game remaining.