2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE - HokieSports

2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE
BOWL HISTORY
2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl
Georgia 31, Virginia Tech 24
ATLANTA — Virginia Tech jumped out to a
21-3 halftime lead, but the Hokies’ second-half
turnovers proved costly as Georgia scored 28
straight points in the final 30 minutes to knock
off Tech 31-24 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in front
of a record crowd of 75,406
fans at the Georgia Dome on
Dec. 30, 2006.
The loss snapped Tech’s
six-game winning streak
and ended the Hokies’ bid
at becoming just the fourth
team in school history to
win 11 games in a season.
Tech finished its season with
a 10-3 record, while Georgia
finished its 2006 campaign
with a 9-4 mark.
The Hokies jumped out to that 18-point
halftime lead thanks to two 1-yard touchdown
runs by tailback Branden Ore and a 53-yard
pass from receiver Eddie Royal to tight end Sam
Wheeler on a trick play. But Tech turned the
ball over four times in the second half — all
by quarterback Sean Glennon — and three of
those turnovers led to 18 Georgia points.
The Bulldogs cut the lead to 21-6 on a
51-yard field goal by Brandon Coutu early in
the second half, and then head coach Mark
Richt made a decision that helped turned
the game around. Richt decided to go for an
onsides kick, and the Bulldogs recovered. That
ended up leading to a 6-yard touchdown pass
from Matthew Stafford to tight end Martrez
Milner that cut the Tech lead to 21-13.
94 VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL 2007
A Glennon interception on Tech’s next
possession led to 3-yard run by Gregg Lumpkin
with 12:39 left in the game. Georgia went for
two points and got it when Stafford hit Milner
in the back of the end zone. That tied the game
at 21.
A Glennon fumble on
the first play of Tech’s next
possession led to a 28-yard
field goal by Coutu that
enabled the Bulldogs to
regain the lead, 24-21, with
10:42 remaining. Glennon’s
interception on the Hokies’
next possession ultimately
led to a 1-yard touchdown
run by Brannan Southerland
with 7:30 to go that gave
the Bulldogs a 31-21 lead.
The Hokies cut the lead to 31-24 on a field
goal by Brandon Pace with 3:41 remaining and
actually got the ball back with 1:25 to go. But
they couldn’t muster a first down, with the
fourth-down play ending when a Glennon pass
fell incomplete.
Glennon, a 6-foot-4, 221-pound redshirt
sophomore from Centreville, Va., suffered a
nightmarish game in the season finale. He
completed 13-of-26 for 94 yards, with three
interceptions and a fumble.
Royal caught four passes for 45 yards, and
Ore ran for 42 yards on 20 carries to pace the
Hokies. Tech finished with just 189 yards of
total offense.
December 30, 2006 • Atlanta, Ga.
Georgia Dome • Att: 75,406
Georgia 3 0 10 18 — 31
Virginia Tech 0 21 0 3 — 24
GA (10:49 re 1st) - FG Coutu 39
VT (14:07 re 2nd) - Ore 1 run (Pace kick)
VT (6:45 re 2nd) - Ore 1 run (Pace kick)
VT (4:36 re 2nd) - Wheeler 53 pass from Royal (Pace kick)
GA (6:10 re 3rd) - FG Coutu 51
GA (1:52 re 3rd) - Milner 6 pass from Stafford (Coutu kick)
GA (12:39 re 4th) - Lumpkin 3 run (Milner pass from Stafford)
GA (10:49 re 4th) - FG Coutu 28
GA (7:30 re 4th) - Southerland 1 run (Coutu kick)
VT (3:41 re 4th) - FG Pace 28
Team Statistics UGA VT
First downs 9 9
Rushing yds. 31-71 26-42
Passing yds. 129 147
Return yds. 44 53
Passes 9-21-1 14-27-3
Punts-avg. 7-37.7 4-48.8
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yds. 4-31 8-78
Time of poss. 30:23 29:37
Sacks by 3-14 2-15
Individual Leaders
Rushing — UGA, Lumpkin 12-39, Ware 6-24,
Southerland 6-5, Stafford 7-3; VT, Ore 20-42, K. Lewis 2-5,
Glennon 4-(-5).
Passing — UGA, Stafford 9-21-1-129; VT, Glennon
13-26-3-94, Royal 1-1-0-53.
Receiving — UGA, Milner 3-49, Massaquoi 2-18,
Southerland 1-27, Raley 1-24, Durham 1-11, Ware 1-0; VT,
Royal 4-45, Ore 4-11, Morgan 2-14, Wheeler 1-53, Boone
1-10, Clowney 1-8, Harper 1-6.
Tech’s defense, ranked No. 1 nationally
going into the game, struggled in the second
half, though it was often put in difficult
situations. Georgia amassed 153 of its 200
total yards in the final 30 minutes. Stafford,
a true freshman, completed 9-of-21 for 129
yards, with a touchdown and an interception.
Linebacker Vince Hall (above) made 13 tackles against Georgia to finish the season with an ACC-high total of 128.
Tight end Sam Wheeler (left) hauls in a 53-yard pass from receiver Eddie Royal to give Tech a 21-3 lead.