VS. 
No.11 Virginia Tech Hokies with an overall record of 9-3 and finished 2nd on the ACC Coastal faces Tennessee Volunteers with an overall record of 7-5 and they finished 3rd on the SEC East. Virginia Tech will return to Atlanta for the third time this season, but the Hokies are still looking for their first win in the city after losses to Alabama and Georgia Tech. Tennessee’s rushing defense, which is ranked seventh in the SEC, will have to slow standout rookie RB Ryan Williams, who has had nine 100-yard games this year.
7:30 PM ET, December 31, 2009
Georgia Dome , ATLANTA, GA
ESPN
Virginia Tech Hokies had problems in their last two trips to Atlanta, they lost to Alabama and Georgia Tech and this could be the perfect chance to turn their luck around. Like the Vols, the Hokies feature a standout tailback. RB Ryan Williams rushed for 1,538 yards, eighth-most by a freshman in NCAA history, en route to ACC rookie of the year honors. Williams set a freshman conference record with 20 overall touchdowns. Also in his first season as a full-time quarterback, QB Tyrod Taylor better established himself as a pocket passer and finished with career highs of 2,102 yards and 13 touchdowns while throwing only four interceptions in 226 attempts. He did run for 738 yards as a sophomore in 2008, but also was picked off seven times in 173 passes. Virginia Tech is making its fourth Chick-fil-A Bowl appearance and first since a 31-24 loss to Georgia in 2006. It’s Tennessee’s first appearance since 2003 and fifth all-time. Other players involved in offense will be QB Ju-Ju Clayton, WR Jarrett Boykin and WR Danny Coale but as they did all season long the ball will be handed to Williams to run and may be Taylor can complete some passes to mix the attack a little bit. They are powerful and they have plenty of talented players, anything can happen.
Tennessee Volunteers put aside many off-field distractions to close the season strong, though there’s another one lurking as they wrap up Kiffin’s first season at the Chick-fil-A Bowl against 12th-ranked Virginia Tech on New Year’s Eve in Atlanta. On Dec. 1, 2008, a backsliding Tennessee program turned to Kiffin — fired by the Oakland Raiders four games into the 2008 season. He was hired after Fulmer was forced out, having reached only one SEC title game in his final four years after making five from 1997-2004 and winning a national championship in 1998. Tennessee won 4 out of the last five games of their regular season and their best runner RB Montario Hardesty finished with 1,306 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. Hardesty rushed for 586 yards and six TDs in the final five games, including 179 yards and three scores as the Vols closed the regular season with a 30-24 overtime victory at Kentucky to finish tied for second in the SEC East, that is an impressive effort from the senior and he will be the biggest asset for Volunteers at this bowl. Also in defense S Eric Berry — named the Jim Thorpe Award winner as the country’s best defensive back. The Atlanta native was second on the team with 83 tackles, six for losses, to go with his two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. As a good fact Berry’s 14 interceptions rank fifth in school history and third among active NCAA players. The Volunteers coaching staff has renewed the team, they have fresh ideas on offense and that could be a nice surprise for the Hokies. On offense the Volunteers will have QB Jonathan Crompton, QB Nick Stephens, RB Bryce Brown, WR Gerald Jones and WR Denarius Moore. These will be the key players and they will try to help RB Montario Hardesty to score as much as possible, they can all be very successful if they stick to the game plan and they defend the same way they have done these last 5 games.
GAME ODDS
VIRGINIA TECH -4½
TENNESSEE U 49½
THIS WILL BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR COACH LANE KIFFIN TO RESTART HIS CAREER OUTSIDE THE NFL. MAY BE HE WILL HAVE BETTER RESULTS COACHING ON THE NCAA WHERE PLAYERS LOVE TO PLAY FOR THEIR TEAMS AND THEY HAVE LESS CONCERNS ABOUT THE MONEY TO COME. VIRGINIA TECH WILL NOT MAKE IT EASY ON THEM AND THEY HAVE A BETTER OVERALL RECORD, THAT SITUATION IS ALREADY ON THE VOLUNTEERS MIND. MY PICK WILL BE TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS +4½.
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