Virginia Tech Brings Experience Into Orange Bowl
posted 11:46 am Tue January 01, 2008 - Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Virginia Tech has been on the big stage before.
Oh, sure, the Jayhawks have reached the Orange Bowl before. Most recently, 1969. So that won't exactly provide Kansas much help when trying to determine how best to handle the atmosphere and pressure that can accompany a Bowl Championship Series game.Meanwhile, the Hokies were in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game last month, have as many bowl trips over the past 10 years - 10 - as Kansas has in its first 117 seasons of football, and are in a BCS matchup for the fifth time since 1995.
But will any of that matter?
The 8th-ranked Jayhawks (11-1) don't think so, and the 5th-ranked Hokies (11-2) essentially agree.
"This is the Orange Bowl," Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. "You don't get to the Orange Bowl without being a great football team and having a great season. So we've got to respect our opponent, and that is the one thing we've always preached at Virginia Tech."
Finding Virginia Tech in Miami this week is no big surprise.
The same absolutely cannot be said about Kansas, perhaps the nation's biggest surprise in 2007.
Virginia Tech entered the season as a popular pick to win the ACC and earn the automatic Orange Bowl berth, and it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that the Hokies could have found themselves in the BCS title game.
Kansas, though, was barely bowl-eligible last year after finishing 6-6 - the Jayhawks were not chosen for a postseason game - and entered this season tabbed by many to finish toward the bottom of the Big 12 North standings.
Shows how much those preseason rankings are worth.
"Most people haven't expected this from a Kansas football team," offensive lineman Cesar Rodriguez said. "Most people thought our basketball team was pretty good but nobody expected us to be here."
The numbers show exactly how the Jayhawks got here.
Kansas set a school record with 11 wins, scored 43 points or more eight times in its 12 games, climbed to No. 2 in the national polls, averaged a video-game-esque 6.4 yards per play. And maybe most impressively, the Jayhawks finished the regular season ranked second nationally in scoring offense with a gaudy 44.3 points per game and are fourth in scoring defense (16.0).
"Just look at the stats ... this is a really good football team," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said.
With a resume like theirs, the Jayhawks think they can dismiss the big-game intimidation theory.
"It really doesn't matter how big the game is," Kansas fullback Brandon McAnderson said. "At Texas A&M, they have 90,000 cadets going crazy but, no matter what, at the end of the day it's just a game. No matter how big the stadium is and how crazy the venue, it's just a game."
That's exactly the approach Kansas coach Mark Mangino wants his team to take.
"This is a very mature team," Mangino said. "Our players understand when it's time to work and when it's time to have fun. They've been able to do that all season long and this won't change."
Virginia Tech is aware of the qualms about Kansas' weak schedule, the hubbub over the Orange Bowl committee choosing the Jayhawks over Missouri - which beat Kansas - and the notion that a lack of big-game experience will somehow benefit the Hokies.
They don't believe a word of it.
The ACC champions insist they're treating this game like the biggest challenge of their season.
"I don't think it'll be a factor at all," Hokies offensive lineman Duane Brown said. "I think Kansas, not being in this position before, it makes them a little more excited anticipating that day. I'm sure they're preparing as hard as they can. We've got to match that. Being too comfortable can get you in trouble."
Added Virginia Tech tailback Kenny Lewis Jr.: "At this level, everybody can play."
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