By Nick Cafferky, News Editor

 

With kickoff just a few short hours away the term “X-factor” has become a huge buzzword of every analysts vocabulary.

Just about every aspect of the game has been dissected as to why it will be the reason one team wins over another.

But out of all of them being thrown around, the experience factor could be the most intriguing.

When talking Michigan football, the word “inexperienced” is seldomly used. After all, we are talking about the same team that has 11 national championships and is one of the most distinguished programs in the history of college football.

However, that history means nothing, and the inexperienced label is a perfect fit for this Wolverine team. And that inexperience starts at the top.

First-year coach Brady Hoke has yet to be on this kind of stage before, as his previous jobs at Ball State and San Diego State never put him in games that had this kind of magnitude.

In comparison, this is the Hokies sixth BCS bowl game with Frank Beamer since the system started in 1998.

Hoke isn’t denying the gap in experience between himself and Beamer, but he was quick to point out that his staff isn’t exactly a collection of neophytes.

“We are a pretty seasoned staff,” Hoke said, “when you look at us from guys who have coached in a lot of Bowl games, a lot of different teams. So we always have great input on preparation and are we doing enough or are we not doing enough and those kind of things.

“But I would think that there’s something to having those years of experience and the quality of coach that Coach Beamer is.”

Hoke isn’t the only one that is stepping into new territory for Michigan though, as his team hasn’t seen lights quite this bright either. Michigan’s last BCS bowl was the Rose Bowl in 2007, which means that no one on this roster has played in a big bowl game.

In fact, last year’s loss in the Gator Bowl was the only bowl experience for these players because they failed to win the six games needed to qualify for bowl season in 2009 and 2010.

On the flip side, the seniors at Virginia Tech are playing in their third BCS Bowl of their careers and have been in bowl games all four seasons.

Unfortunately for Beamers squad, experience is only one of dozens of factors. Sometimes it is a huge advantage, sometimes it isn’t. The Hokies had that same advantage in the 2008 Orange Bowl, but still went home with a loss to Kansas. Then again, experience was a huge advantage the next year when Tech beat Cincinnati to claim its first-ever victory in a BCS bowl.

“We’ve had some great wins and we’ve done a great job getting (into BCS bowl games),” Beamer said. “But now we need to take that next step and get our share of the BCS wins. And that’s, I think, the challenge to Virginia Tech and to the ACC right now is that not only get here, but get a win.  And that’s what we’re going to try like heck to do.”

No one will know how much — if at all — experience will matter in this year’s Sugar Bowl. But if the Hokies are lucky, they could be playing the proverbial deer in the headlights.

 

Follow Nick on Twitter at @NickCaffCT