Hokies gobble up Cincy
Darren Evans had 28 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown, Tyrod Taylor rushed for a score and No. 20 Virginia Tech joined Southern California and Texas as the only schools to win 10 games in each of the past five seasons after beating No. 12 Cincinnati 20-7 in the Orange Bowl in Miami.
The Hokies (10-4) forced Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike into a season-high four interceptions. Pike, who wasn't even on Cincinnati's depth chart at the start of the season before blossoming into an all-Big East quarterback, threw for 239 yards and a touchdown, but had his night marred mightily by the picks and getting stopped on a fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter.
Mardy Gilyard had 255 all-purpose yards (158 receiving, 97 returning) and a touchdown catch for Cincinnati, which saw its six-game winning streak snapped. The Bearcats (11-3) came in as slight favorites over the Hokies, who lost this game to Kansas a year ago.
So this one was especially sweet for Virginia Tech.
Really, for the entire Atlantic Coast Conference, too.
The Hokies became the first ACC team to win a BCS game since Florida State — ironically, perhaps — beat Virginia Tech, then a Big East member, for the national championship to close the 1999 season.
<b>No. 16 Georgia 24 No. 19 Michigan State 12</b>At Orlando, Fla., Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the second half.Ranked No. 1 early this season, the Bulldogs (10-3) gave coach Mark Richt his sixth bowl win in eight tries.Stafford was just 6-for-14 and an interception in the first half. After that, he looked more like the quarterback that NFL teams covet — if he decides to pass up his senior season — in going 14-for-17 and the three scores in a span of 18 minutes.Stafford was picked as the game's MVP, completing his performance by showing a nice touch in threading a 21-yard TD pass to Moreno late in the fourth quarter. Stafford set a single-season school record with 25 touchdown passes.The expected showdown between star running backs Javon Ringer and Moreno never materialized. Moreno ran for 62 yards on 23 carries; Ringer had 47 yards and a TD on 20 carries for Michigan State (9-4).
<b>Nebraska 26, Clemson 21</b>At Jacksonville, Fla., Joe Ganz threw for two touchdowns, Alex Henery kicked four field goals and Nebraska beat Clemson.Nebraska (9-4) ended the season with a four-game winning streak, including a victory against rival Colorado, won six of its final seven games and had success in a January bowl game for the first time in nine years.It capped quite a turnaround for the Cornhuskers, who hired Pelini to replace fired coach Bill Callahan after missing the postseason in 2007. The former defensive coordinator at LSU, Oklahoma and Nebraska led the Huskers to just their fourth New Year's Day bowl in the last 11 seasons.Clemson (7-6) was hoping to maintain its late-season momentum under new coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers had won four of their last five games after a 3-3 start that prompted longtime coach Tommy Bowden to resign.
<b>Iowa 31, South Carolina 10</b>At. Tampa, Fla., Shonn Greene rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Hawkeyes trounce South Carolina.Greene finished with school single-season records of 1,850 yards and 20 TDs.Iowa (9-4) won for the sixth time in seven games since losing three straight to fall to 3-3. South Carolina (7-6) lost three straight down the stretch while being outscored 118-30.South Carolina's Stephen Garcia, a highly regarded recruit from Tampa, turned the ball over four times in the first half and went 9-for-18 for 79 yards before being replaced.
