| 2006 Gator Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Alltel Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Virginia Tech was selected as a participant in the 2006 Gator Bowl following a 10–2 regular season that included wins over 15th-ranked Georgia Tech and traditional rivals Virginia. A loss to Florida State in the inaugural ACC Championship Game had given Tech a bid to the Gator Bowl instead of the more prestigious Bowl Championship Series-run Orange Bowl game. Facing the 12th-ranked Hokies were the 15th-ranked Louisville Cardinals, who had gone 9–2 during their first season in the Big East Conference. Louisville had won its last five games before the Gator Bowl and had participated in the Liberty Bowl during the previous season.
The 2006 Gator Bowl was played on January 2, 2006 at 12:30 p.m. EST in Jacksonville, Florida. Louisville led for much of the game, beginning with an 11-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter by quarterback Hunter Cantwell. Tech was only able to answer with a field goal while Louisville was able to add another touchdown before the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, Virginia Tech fought back and narrowed Louisville's lead to a single touchdown. At halftime, the score was 17–10 in Louisville's favor.
In the second half, Virginia Tech's offense began to have success. Tech earned the only points of the third quarter—a 28-yard field goal from kicker Brandon Pace—to narrow Louisville's lead to 17–13. In the fourth quarter, however, the game fully turned in the Hokies' favor. Though Louisville scored a touchdown early in the quarter, the Hokies' scored 22 unanswered points in the final 13 minutes of the game to take a 35–24 lead and earn the win.
The Hokie win was marred by excessive penalties and unsportsmanlike conduct that resulted in the ejection of one player. Following the game, Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick was released from the team as a result of several incidents of misconduct, including a stomp on Louisville defender Elvis Dumervil's leg during the game.
Read more about this topic: List Of Virginia Tech Hokies Bowl Games, Game Capsules
Famous quotes containing the word bowl:
“It seemed a long way from 143rd Street. Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Dancing with the Duke of Devonshire was a long way from not being allowed to bowl in Jefferson City, Missouri, because the white customers complained about it.”
—Althea Gibson (b. 1927)