What: Orange Bowl
Who: No. 5 Virginia Tech (11-2) vs. No. 8 Kansas (11-1)
Where: Dolphin Stadium, Miami
When: Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
WagerWeb.com line: Virginia Tech -3 (51)
The Big 12's Kansas Jayhawks, who had the nation's No. 2 offense in the regular season, face the Big East champion Virginia Tech Hokies, who had the nation's No. 2 scoring defense, for the first time in football.
The surprising Jayhawks are one of only three teams with one loss (following Hawaii's bowl defeat). And no other Division I program ranked among the nation's top five teams in both scoring offense and scoring
defense. In fact, Kansas ranks among the nation's top 10 teams in turnover margin (first), scoring offense (second), total offense (sixth), scoring defense (fourth), total defense (sixth) and pass efficiency defense (eighth), sacks (sixth), kickoff return average (third) and tackles for loss (10th).
Sophomore QB Todd Reesing showed he is a future Heisman candidate, completing over 62 percent of his passes, for 3,259 yards, with 32 TDs and just six interceptions - a big reason the team averaged 44.3 points per game. In all, the team committed just 13 turnovers all year.
Yet many experts still question whether Kansas belongs in a BCS game after losing to MissouriOklahoma or Texas. The 11 teams that lost to Kansas this season have a combined record of 53-83."I don't think at this point in the season we have to prove ourselves any more," Reesing said. "We won 11 games this year. How many other teams in the nation can say that? Not many. So you can point to our schedule, but we play in the Big 12. That's a damn good conference."
Virginia Tech allows 15.5 points per game, second-best in the nation behind Ohio State, but may be without a vital defensive cog tonight. Linebacker Vince Hall injured his left knee during a jet-skiing outing organized by the game's host committee earlier this week and will be a game-time decision.
The Hokies rank fourth in the nation in pass efficiency defense and have collected 21 interceptions while allowing only nine touchdown passes, so they make things tough on Reesing.
On offense, Branden Ore leads the Hokies with 876 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, but he will sit out the first quarter as a punishment for arriving late to a practice.
The Hokies have a two-QB system, with Tyrod Taylor (97 carries, 431 yards) the better runner, and Sean Glennon (10 TDs, only 1 INT in past seven games) the pocket passer.
Kansas makes its 11th all-time bowl appearance, going 4-6 overall in postseason play. This is the team's third trip to the Orange Bowl, losing to Georgia Tech in 1948 (20-14) and to Penn State in 1969 (15-14).
Virginia Tech is making its 21st postseason appearance and is just 7-13 all-time in bowl games, including losses in three of its last four outings. Last season, the Hokies dropped a 31-24 decision to Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Prediction: Kansas is a nice story, but it hasn't played a defense of this caliber. Virginia Tech 24, Kansas 17.
More College Fotball Trends. late and with such a soft schedule during the regular season - the Jayhawks benefited from a schedule that didn't include games with Big 12 heavyweights
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