2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE - HokieSports

2003 Insight Bowl
California 52, Virginia Tech 49
PHOENIX — It wasn’t New year’s Eve, but
the Virginia Tech Hokies and the California
Golden Bears certainly blasted off more than
their fair share of fireworks. Unfortunately for
the Hokies, Cal got to fire off the final round.
Cal kicker Tyler
Fredrickson, who came into
the game having made
just 14 of 29 field goal
attempts all season, drilled
a 35-yarder at the final horn
to lift Cal past the Hokies
52-49 in a thrilling Insight
Bowl game played in front
of a record crowd of 42,364
fans at Bank One Ballpark in
Phoenix.
Trailing by seven
at halftime, Cal scored
touchdowns on its first four possessions of the
second half, taking a 49-35 lead on a 13-yard
run by Vincent Strang with 6:26 left in the
game. Strang’s touchdown capped a 65-yard
drive that ate 7:09 off the clock.
But the Hokies rallied, scoring 14
unanswered points themselves. After Strang’s
touchdown, Tech went 80 yards in less than
two minutes and quarterback Bryan Randall
found Chris Shreve for a 28-yard touchdown
that cut the Cal lead to seven, 49-42, with
4:28 left.
Tech forced the Bears to punt on Cal’s next
possession — Cal’s only punt of the second
half. Tech punt returner DeAngelo Hall got the
ball and tied the game at 42 when he took
that punt 52 yards for a touchdown with 3:11
remaining.
But on the ensuing
kickoff after Hall’s
touchdown, Tech’s
Brandon Pace kicked the
ball out of bounds, giving
the Bears the ball at the
35. Cal marched 47 yards
on seven plays, reaching
the Tech 18 before
calling a timeout with
two seconds in the game
to set up Fredrickson’s
heroics.
The loss overshadowed a brilliant game
by Tech’s offense, and most notably, Randall,
who completed 24-of-34 for 398 yards and
four touchdowns. He also scored a touchdown
rushing, thus accounting for five of Tech’s
seven scores. Keith Willis, Ernest Wilford and
Shreve also enjoyed huge games in their final
contest as Hokies.
Willis became the first Tech player ever to
catch two touchdown passes in a bowl game
and Wilford broke Antonio Freeman’s career
mark for receptions. Shreve caught three passes
for 93 yards and the
touchdown. Kevin
Jones, also playing
his final game as a
Hokie before heading
to the NFL, rushed
for 153 yards on 16
Bryan Randall (above) completed 24-of-34 passes for 398 yards and four
touchdowns as Tech put up 551 yards of total offense. Ernest Wilford
hauled in eight passes for 110 yards in his final game as a Hokie.
BOWL HISTORY
December 26, 2003 • Phoenix, Ariz.
Bank One Ballpark • Att: 42,364
California 7 14 21 10 — 52
Virginia Tech 21 7 0 21 — 49
CAL (9:56 re 1st) — Rodgers 1 run (Fredrickson kick)
VT (7:18 re 1st ) — Randall 2 run (Warley kick)
VT (2:44 re 1st) — Willis 3 pass from Randall (Warley kick)
VT (0:50 re 1st ) — Vick 36 pass from Randall (Warley kick)
CAL (9:10 re 2nd) — Lyman 33 pass from Rodgers
(Fredrickson kick)
VT (5:16 re 2nd) — Jones 11 run (Warley kick)
CAL (0:30 re 2nd) — Arrington 13 pass from Rodgers
(Fredrickson kick)
CAL (10:16 re 3rd) — Manderino 3 run (Fredrickson kick)
CAL (5:59 re 3rd) — Echemandu 9 run (Fredrickson kick)
CAL (0:48 re 3rd) — Rodgers 8 run (Fredrickson kick)
VT (13:35 re 4th) — Willis 22 pass from Randall (Pace kick)
CAL (6:26 re 4th) — Strang 13 run (Fredrickson kick)
VT (4:28 re 4th) — Shreve 28 pass from Randall (Pace kick)
VT (3:11 re 4th) — Hall 52 punt return (Warley kick)
CAL (0:00 re 4th) — FG Fredrickson 35
Team Stats CAL VT
First downs 27 27
Rushes-yds. 41-136 26-153
Passing yds. 394 398
Return yds. 14 53
Passes 27-35-0 24-36-0
Punts-avg. 4-39.8 2-41.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yds. 4-25 6-40
Time of poss. 37:15 22:45
Sacks by 2-18 2-11
Individual Leaders
Rushing — CAL, Arringon 11-37, Echemandu 13-34,
Rodgers 10-30, Strang 4-24, Manderino 3-11; VT Jones
16-153, Vick 3-5, Humes 1-3, Randall 6-20.
Passing — CAL Rodgers 27-35-0-394; VT Randall
24-34-0-398, Vick 0-1-0-0, Johnson 0-1-0-0.
Receiving — CAL Toler 6-84, Lyman 5-149, Arrington
5-38, Hall 3-62, Echemandu 3-28, Manderino 3-23, Rust 1-7,
Gray 1-3; VT Wilford 8-110, Vick 4-82, Jones 4-25, Shreve
3-93, Johnson, R. 2-55, Willis 2-25, Imoh 1-8.
carries and scored a touchdown. Tech finished
with 551 yards of total offense.
The Hokies, who were playing in their
11th-consecutive bowl game, finished the
season 8-5 overall.
2007 VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL 91
2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE