2008 Orange Bowl
The 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Kansas Jayhawks on January 3, 2008, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by three points, but in a game dominated by defensive and special teams play, Kansas defeated Virginia Tech 24–21. The game was part of the 2007–2008 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the concluding game of the season for both teams. This 74th edition of the Orange Bowl was televised in the United States on FOX and was watched by more than eight million viewers.
2009 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
This was the first time Nebraska had met the Florida Atlantic Owls, who, in 2008, finished 6–6 (4–3) for a 3rd place tie with Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference and finished with a 24–21 victory in the 2008 Motor City Bowl against Central Michigan. Nebraska entered the contest with a 4-game winning streak after defeating Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Nebraska decisively defeated the Howard Schnellenberger-led Owls, 49–3. Nebraska's Roy Helu Jr. rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns, while Zac Lee, in his first start as quarterback at Nebraska, threw for 213 yards and two touchdowns, along with one interception. The FAU offense did produce good yardage, gaining 122 yards rushing and 230 yards passing. However, they were unable to score a touchdown, with their only points coming from a 21-yard field goal by Ross Gornall in the second quarter. A large part of this was because of 5 turnovers by the Owls. This win extended the Cornhuskers season-opener win streak to 24 games, the nation's longest.
Cornhusker QB Zac Lee passed for over 340 yards and four touchdowns as the Cornhuskers had little trouble defeating Arkansas State in Lincoln 38–9. Nebraska's defense struggled for consistent performance but still managed to hold the Red Wolves out of the end zone except for a single touchdown and field goal, while the Cornhusker offense was consistently able to gain yardage. This was the first time Nebraska had met the Arkansas State Red Wolves, who finished the 2008 season 6–6 (4–3) for a 3rd place tie with Florida Atlantic in the Sun Belt Conference, although they were not invited to a postseason bowl game.
The Huskers fell to 2–1 against the Hokies in the final seconds, having split the series with a 41–21 Nebraska victory in the 1996 Orange Bowl and a 30–35 Nebraska home field loss in non-conference play in 2008. Nebraska was poised to win its first touchdown-free game since 1937 on PK Alex Henery's career-high five field goals, but Virginia Tech escaped the home loss when Hokie QB Tyrod Taylor found a receiver on 3rd and goal from the 11 with just 21 seconds remaining to play. Statistically Nebraska outperformed the Hokies on offense, as Virginia Tech was held to just 11 first downs, only 4 first downs after the first quarter, pinned Hokie QB Taylor to -22 yards on the ground, and outgained Virginia Tech 343–278. 112 of the 278 Hokie yards were acquired on just three key plays.
This was the first time Nebraska had met the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, who finished 6–6 (5–2) for a 2nd-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference in 2008. This game was also Nebraska's 300th consecutive sellout of Memorial Stadium (an ongoing NCAA record), and the Cornhuskers wore 'throwback'-style uniforms based on the team's 1962 appearance from when the NCAA-record streak began, to commemorate the milestone.