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.
2008 Orange Bowl
The block neutralized all the Virginia Tech momentum that had been gained with the punt-return touchdown and kept Kansas in the lead. After the block, however, Kansas failed to gain a first down on offense. Though forced to punt the ball away, punter Kyle Tucker's 42-yard kick was helped by a 10-yard illegal blocking penalty against Virginia Tech that pinned the Hokies at their own 25-yard line. Branden Ore picked up a first down with two rushes, but the Tech offense failed to gain another first down and the Hokies were forced to punt the ball again.
Kansas took over at its own 12-yard line after the punt. On the first play of the drive, Reesing completed a 37-yard pass to Dexton Fields, putting the ball near midfield. Three straight incomplete passes later, Kansas faced a fourth-and-ten and a punt. Instead of punting the ball away, however, Kansas elected to try a risky fake punt-pass. Instead of snapping the ball to the punter, the ball was snapped to running back Brandon McAnderson, who threw the ball 22 yards downfield to Micah Brown for a first down. On the very next play, Reesing, having returned to the field, connected on a 28-yard pass to Dexton Fields, who was pushed out of bounds just short of the goal line. With a first-and-goal from inside the one-yard line, a Kansas touchdown seemed inevitable. On the first play inside the red zone, however, Kansas fumbled the ball. Though the ball was recovered by a Kansas player, the play lost four yards. On the next play, Kansas committed a 15-yard personal foul penalty. The personal foul was followed by a 10-yard holding penalty, and Kansas was pushed entirely outside the Virginia Tech red zone. In an effort to push back, Reesing threw a pass deep downfield. Instead of being completed, however, the ball was intercepted by Virginia Tech's D.J. Parker. With 39 seconds left in the quarter, Virginia Tech had stopped Kansas from gaining a point despite the Jayhawks penetrating inside the Virginia Tech one-yard line.