From The AJC
There was shame heaped on the ACC all season, from Miami’s collapse after a terrific start, to Virginia’s defeat at the hands of William and Mary, to Georgia Tech’s breakdown against Georgia, to Florida State’s shunning of Bobby Bowden, and on and on. The basketball-first conference, which has not had a team get a sniff of the national championship game since 2000, has had to listen to endless blather about how the SEC is superior. Virginia Tech (10-3) finally, mercifully, put a plug in the noise and abuse. The Hokies erupted in the second half Thursday night for 20 consecutive points and ran away from Tennessee (7-6) to win the Chick-fil-A Bowl 37-14 in the Georgia Dome before 73,777.
“The ACC needed something like this,” Virginia Tech flanker Danny Coale said. “The ACC gets underestimated sometimes, so this is great for us and the conference. I know we hadn’t done well in the bowls so far as conference before tonight, so this is pretty good.”
Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech’s redshirt freshman running back, rushed for 117 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns and was named the game’s outstanding offensive player. He became the ACC’s all-time single-season leader in touchdowns with 22, but could not add to the total after suffering a sprained ankle in the second half.
Tennessee managed only 5 yards rushing against a Virginia Tech defense that controlled all the gaps. The senior linebacker Cody Grimm was named the game’s outstanding defensive player.
Tech opened the season with a loss to an SEC team, Alabama, and returned to Atlanta in the regular season only to lose again, to Georgia Tech. The Hokies also were on a four-game losing streak to SEC teams.
“If we lost tonight, we weren’t coming back,” Tech coach Frank Beamer joked after his team posted its sixth consecutive 10-win season.
Tennessee, meanwhile, finished a tumultuous season under first-year coach Lane Kiffin. There is an NCAA investigation in process, and the Vols’ coach has been castigated for a string of secondary violations, but he has also revved up the Tennessee fandom with his passion.
The game’s culture was supposed to be rock-em, sock-em, with blocking and tackling and the run game, and, of course, it was just the opposite in the first half. The defenses were going to be bullies near the line of scrimmage against the featured running backs — Tennessee’s Montario Hardesty and Tech’s Williams — so the two offenses got things accomplished through the air.
Taylor completed 5 of his first 7 passes against press coverage as the Hokies grabbed a 14-0 lead just three minutes into the second quarter.
Williams, who was averaging 128 yards per game, had only 38 yards rushing in the first half. Hardesty found the sledding even rougher: 11 carries, 15 yards.
Tennessee, meanwhile, got itself together after three series without a first down to start the game. Crompton completed 5 of 6 passes for 118 yards in the second quarter, and the Vols fought back to a tie, 14-14.
Tennessee, however, lost all momentum at the end of the half. Taylor completed a 63-yard pass to Jarrett Boykin, who inexplicably got behind the Tennessee defense with two seconds left on the clock. Matt Waldron kicked a 21-yard field goal to make the score 17-14.
When the third quarter started, Virginia Tech wasted no time establishing Williams. The Hokies ran their star seven times, using misdirection and quick snaps, and he carried them down the field in 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
Williams burst for runs of 21 yards and 32 yards — 78 yards on 7 carries — as the Hokies zipped from their 26-yard line to a touchdown. Taylor scored from the 1 and Tech led 24-14.
Tennessee was down 27-14 with 12:46 to play in the fourth quarter when it let a chance to get back in the game slip away. Wide receiver Denarius Moore got behind the defense and was wide open at the Tech 20, but dropped a pass from Crompton.
The Vols never recovered.
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