The folks at Gobbler Country have posted that ESPN’s Monday Night Football announcing crew will handle the duties for the 2011 Orange Bowl on January 3. When the Stanford Cardinal and Virginia Tech Hokies meet, the MNF crew of Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will be dissecting every little bit about this game.
This game occurs on the Monday after Sunday’s Week 17 matchups in the NFL. There is no Monday Night Football scheduled because of the playoffs beginning the following week. Thus, the MNF crew will have a normal week of preparation to get ready for the Orange Bowl. Additionally, they’ll have been in Atlanta the week before so it’s a quick trip down. No jet lag or especially long flights means they’ll have maximum preparation time for the game.
One aspect of this coverage that should be intriguing for Cardinal fans is the fact that Jaworski and Gruden will get a week to break down the film of Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Jaworski is a beast when it comes to breaking film, and when you throw a big name QB into the mix it only heightens his awareness. Hokie fans may not enjoy hearing Jaws salivating all over Luck, but for Stanford fans and NFL fans, it will be interesting to hear his take on the young QB.