2008 Orange Bowl
In the wake of the Hokies's defeat, Virginia Tech chose to start a new quarterback and a new offensive plan. Behind freshman Tyrod Taylor, the Hokies rolled to five straight victories, including a win over No. 22 Clemson by 18 points. During the winning streak, Sean Glennon, who had started at quarterback for the Hokies during the first two games of the season, returned to alternate possessions with Taylor in an unusual two-quarterback system. On October 25, the Hokies had a chance to make up for their early-season loss to LSU when they faced No. 2 Boston College on a Thursday night in Blacksburg, Virginia. Though the Hokies dominated for most of the game, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan managed a late-game comeback to win the game 14–10 with 11 seconds remaining.
2007–08 NCAA football bowl games
In addition, the following teams had coaches that either resigned or retired from their teams, but continued to work for their bowl games:In the first bowl game of the season, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on December 20 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, the Utes of the University of Utah from the Mountain West Conference defeated the independent (no conference affiliation) United States Naval Academy Midshipmen, 35-32. Each team got $750,000 payouts, as the Utes' share was divided amongst the members of their conference, while Navy kept the entire amount.At the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl held December 21 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Florida Atlantic University Owls of the Sun Belt Conference, in their first FBS appearance as conference champions, defeated the University of Memphis Tigers from Conference USA, 44-27. Both conferences got $325,000 in payouts in the first of three post-season games to be played in the Crescent City.The Papajohns.com Bowl at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama on December 22 featured the University of Cincinnati Bearcats of the Big East Conference and the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles of Conference USA. This was the last game for 17-year coach Jeff Bower of Southern Miss who made his coaching debut at Southern Miss at Legion Field against Alabama. However, the Bearcats won the game 31-21, earning their first 10 win season in over five decades. Both conferences were paid $300,000 for the contest.The New Mexico Bowl on December 22 was contested by the University of New Mexico Lobos of the Mountain West and the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack of the Western Athletic Conference. On their home field of University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Lobos shutout the Wolf Pack, 23-0, to win their first postseason win since 1961. For the Wolf Pack, it was the first shutout they suffered since 1980. Both conferences got a stipend of $750,000 for each school's participation in the season's fourth bowl game.The Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl was played on December 22 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada. In the only regular season rematch of the season, the Cougars of Brigham Young University, the Mountain West Conference champions, escaped with a 17–16 victory over the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins of the Pacific-10 Conference. The conferences each divided up checks for $1 million as receipt for their teams playing. The game was not decided until Eathyn Manumaluena blocked Kai Forbath's game-winning 28-yard field goal attempt as time expired, avenging a 27–17 loss back on September 8 at UCLA's home field, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, saw the East Carolina University Pirates of Conference USA defeat the WAC's Boise State University Broncos, 41-38. Boise State came back from a 38–14 third-quarter deficit, tying the game when Marty Tadman returned a Pirates fumble for a touchdown with 1:25 left. The Pirates answered with a game-ending 34-yard field goal from Ben Hartman to win their first bowl game since 2000. The conferences of both schools received a check for $750,000 apiece.