The 2012 Chick-Fil-A Bowl picks are going to be difficult to make, as the LSU Tigers and Clemson Tigers are set to do battle with one another in a SEC vs. ACC battle. Check out our Chick-Fil-A Bowl predictions and the keys to the game for LSU vs. Clemson.

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2012 Chick-Fil-A Bowl: LSU Tigers vs. Clemson Tigers
2012 Chick-Fil-A Bowl Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2012 Chick-Fil-A Bowl Date/Time: Monday, December 31st, 7:30 p.m. (ET)
2012 Chick-Fil-A Bowl Television Coverage: ESPN, Watch ESPN

Key #1: LSU has to figure out how to get over last year’s debacle
The Tigers were the undefeated No. 1 team in the country last year when they laid the biggest egg of the season when they were beaten 21-0 by the Alabama Crimson Tide. Head Coach Les Miles has done remarkably well in bowl games historically, and the team is 11-4 since 1995 in bowl games. Last year’s loss was a blip on the radar, though a big blip at that, knowing that it cost the team a shot at winning the whole enchilada, and it came against an arch rival. This year’s game against Alabama was also lost, and the moniker is starting to build that this team can’t win the biggest of the big games. Though a number of the players on both sides of the ball that are gone from last year’s team, but there are plenty that are still here as well. There has to be a chip on the shoulder of this team, knowing not just that it was beaten last year, but that it was left out of a BCS bowl game this year as well in spite of its 10-2 season.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
LSU Tigers -6
Clemson Tigers +6
Over/Under 59
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Key #2: Tajh Boyd needs to come up big in the big time game
We have already spoken about what LSU has to bring to the table in this one and the chip that it is carrying on its shoulders, but there is probably even more weight on the shoulders of QB Tajh Boyd as well. Boyd had a great senior season, throwing for 3,550 yards and 34 TDs and rushing for 492 yards and nine TDs. However, when you look back at the last three games that he has played against SEC teams, the results haven’t been pretty. In those three games, two of which were lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks and one that was won against the Auburn Tigers, Boyd completed 52.8 percent of his passes for an average of 158.0 yards per game with three touchdowns and four picks. He also had 61 rushing yards and a TD in those games as well. The bottom line for the Clemson quarterback though, is that he only averaged helping his team put up 18.7 points per game in those outings, and that just isn’t good enough at any level. For a man that put up such remarkable stats over the course of his career, it’s shocking that he has really never beaten a big time team. In the last two years, he has two losses to South Carolina, a bad loss to Florida State in which the offense pulled every gimmick out of the books, and a 70-33 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Orange Bowl. If there is a man that needs a win to validate his career, Boyd is the man.

Key #3: The Bayou Bengals have to be careful with their special teams
It’s not all that often that you say that a punter is the man that might be the difference in a game, but with P Brad Wing, that clearly has to be the case. Wing has been sent home from Hot ‘Lanta, and that takes away one of the best special teams weapons in the entire country. Wing averaged 44.8 yards per punt this year, and he uncorked just a ton of huge bombs. On top of that, he also rarely gets punts returned against him, if reserve P Jamie Keehn can’t do the same, there are going to be some openings for WR Sammy Watkins and WR Adam Humphries, both of which have the ability to be tremendously explosive return men. Even if the defense does the job and the offense gets some points on the board, it could be frightening for the Tigers to have to punt the ball without Wing out there.

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