After playing in consecutive Orange Bowls as the Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the 2009 Tennessee and Virginia Tech bowl game could probably be considered a bit of a disappointment for Virginia Tech. After all, they were used to playing in bigger bowl games. The Hokies certainly had higher expectations after consecutive conference championships. On the other sideline, Tennessee was more than happy to return to the bowl picture after sitting out in 2008. The fact that they were playing in Atlanta helped too. It was a short drive from their Knoxville campus, giving their fans a good bowl game to attend. It did not make a difference for the Volunteers though. Virginia Tech controlled this game throughout and cruised to a relatively easy 37-14 win.
Tennessee only truly showed up for the second quarter of this game. After falling behind 14-0 thanks to a pair of short Ryan Williams touchdown runs Tennessee was able to answer with a couple of scores of its own. Montario Hardesty, one of the nation’s top running backs, scored on a four yard run with 6:43 left in the period. Tennessee then tied the game on its next possession when Denarius Moore caught a short touchdown pass from Jonathan Crompton. That touchdown was scored with only 18 seconds left in the half, so it looked as if the game would be tied 14-14 at halftime. Virginia tech had other ideas.
Tyrod Taylor made an astonishing 63 yards long pass to Jarrett Boykin which he easily took down to Tennessee’s four yard line two seconds of the game remaining. This saw Virginia Tech regain control of the game through a short field goal as well as a 17-14 lead at the end of the game. Virginia Tech continued to dominate the second half which saw them secure themselves an easy win.
First, Virginia Tech dominated the second half on defense. The Hokies pitched a second half shutout, recovered a fumble, and never allowed Tennessee to have even a chance to score. It was a virtuoso performance from a group that has been dominant all season long. The Hokies also controlled the game offensively thanks to Ryan Williams. Williams had a dominant season when he wasn’t even the projected starter early on Darren Evans went down with a knee injury, however, and Williams responded with 1, 655 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns for the season. He finished this game with 117 yards and two touchdowns to have a very good freshman season.
Tyrod Taylor and David Wilson each had short touchdown runs in the second half as the Hokies pulled away. Taylor also had a solid game passing with 207 yards through the air. The defense did a great job of containing Tennessee’s hardest, who was central to the Volunteers’ success this year. Hardesty ran for over 1,300 yards this year, but Virginia Tech held him to a season low 39 yards. Hardesty did manage to catch four passes for 79 yards, so his effectiveness was not totally limited by Virginia Tech.

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