The 2011 Discover Orange Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Stanford Cardinal on Monday, January 3, 2011, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 40–12. The game was part of the 2010–2011 Bowl Championship Series of the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the concluding game of the season for both teams. The game, the 77th edition of the Orange Bowl, was televised in the United States on ESPN and the broadcast was seen by an estimated 8.23 million viewers.
Virginia Tech was selected to participate in the Orange Bowl after an 11–2 regular season that culminated with a 44–33 win in the 2010 ACC Championship Game. Stanford was picked as the other half of the matchup following an 11–1 campaign that included the school's best-ever regular-season record. That performance earned the Cardinal a No. 4 ranking in the BCS Poll and the automatic bid to a BCS game that accompanies a top-4 ranking of a second school in a conference other than the champion. In the weeks before that game, media attention focused on both teams' turnarounds from historical difficulties and the performance of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. The game also was the first Orange Bowl not sponsored by FedEx in 21 years, ending the longest-running title sponsorship deal among the major bowls.
The game kicked off at 8:39 pm in warm weather, and Stanford scored first, a touchdown, with its third offensive possession. Virginia Tech briefly took the lead with a safety followed by a touchdown of its own, but Stanford restored a 13–12 advantage before halftime. In the second half, Stanford pulled away from Virginia Tech as it scored 13 points in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth while holding the Hokies scoreless.
In recognition of his performance during the game, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was named the game's most valuable player. He set a Stanford bowl-game record for touchdowns, and threw three of those scores to tight end Coby Fleener, who set a Stanford and Orange Bowl record with 173 receiving yards. Both teams made coaching changes after the game, as Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh left the team to coach the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers and Virginia Tech replaced several assistant coaches. Players from each team were selected in the 2011 NFL draft.
Team selection The Orange Bowl is one of five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games that have been played at the conclusion of every college football season since 2006.Between 1998 and 2006, there were four BCS games. As defined by contract, the bowl matches the champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) against an at-large pick chosen by a special committee.Kilgore, Adam. "ACC, Orange Bowl Make a Deal", The Washington Post. December 16, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2011. On December 4, 2010, the Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Florida State Seminoles in the 2010 ACC Championship Game, thus winning an automatic bid to the 2011 Orange Bowl.The Associated Press. , ESPN.com. December 4, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
The at-large spot in the Orange Bowl was filled via a round-robin selection procedure defined by the other Bowl Championship series games (the Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose bowls) and the automatic bids."BCS Selection Procedures," BCSfootball.org. April 26, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011. If a game's automatic bid team is selected for the BCS National Championship Game, it is allowed to select a replacement team. In the 2010 season, teams otherwise designated for the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl were picked for the national championship game."BCS selections history: 2010–11 Games" , BCSfootball.org. December 16, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011. Following the two compensatory selections are the at-large picks. The order of at-large selections rotates annually among the BCS bowls.
For the January 2011 games, the Sugar Bowl selected first, followed by the Orange Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. The Sugar Bowl picked Ohio State, which left the Orange Bowl to decide between two teams contractually bound to appear in a BCS bowl game. These were Stanford, which was guaranteed a BCS bid by its No. 4 national ranking, and Connecticut, champion of the Big East Conference. Favoring Stanford's potential to draw a large television audience, the Orange Bowl selected the Cardinal, leaving Connecticut to the Fiesta Bowl.Degnan, Susan Miller. "Auburn, Oregon in BCS title game; Stanford-Va. Tech in OB", The Miami Herald. December 6, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
Stanford
The Stanford Cardinal began the 2010 season after going 8–5 in 2009 under freshman quarterback Andrew Luck."Stanford Cardinal Schedule – 2009", ESPN.com. Retrieved February 15, 2011. The 2009 season saw the Cardinal defeat eighth-ranked Oregon and No. 9 USC en route to breaking a seven-year bowl game drought with an appearance in the 2009 Sun Bowl against Oklahoma.The Associated Press. , ESPN.com. December 31, 2009. Retrieved February 15, 2011. Stanford changed several position coaches and its defensive strategy in the offseason, and though the Cardinal returned 17 of 24 possible players from the previous year's starting lineup, few believed the Cardinal would be among the best teams in the country.Miller, Ted. "Opening camp: Stanford", ESPN.com. August 9, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011.FitzGerald, Tom. "Stanford to rely on a whole lot of Andrew Luck", The San Francisco Chronicle. August 9, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. In the annual preseason poll of media members covering the Pacific-10, Stanford was picked to finish fourth in the 10-team conference."Oregon tabbed to win Pac-10 in preseason media poll" , The Pacific-10. July 29, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. Nationally, Stanford appeared in the "also receiving votes" categories of the preseason polls. In the AP Poll, the team was 27th; in the coaches' poll, the Cardinal was 32nd."2010 NCAA Football Rankings – Preseason", ESPN.com. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
The Cardinal opened the season by defeating Football Bowl Subdivision team Sacramento State,The Associated Press. , ESPN.com. September 4, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. then beat conference opponent UCLA in the first Pacific-10 game of the season.The Associated Press. "Andrew Luck, No. 25 Stanford batter UCLA to end Rose Bowl skid", ESPN.com. September 10, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. The win over Sacramento State pushed Stanford to No. 25 nationally, and the win over UCLA raised Stanford to No. 19, the rank it held when it defeated Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest 68–24 on September 18.The Associated Press. , ESPN.com. September 18, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. The following week, Stanford defeated Notre Dame as the nation's No. 16 team, and the win raised the Cardinal to No. 9.The Associated Press. , ESPN.com. September 25, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011."2010 NCAA Football Rankings – Week 5 (Sept. 26)", ESPN.com. September 26, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
On October 2, No. 9 Stanford played No. 4 Oregon. The game was touted as a matchup between two of the top offenses in college football and was nationally televised. Stanford led 21–3 after the first quarter and 31–24 at halftime, but the Cardinal allowed 28 unanswered points in the second half and lost to Oregon, 52–31.The Associated Press. "Darron Thomas scores four TDs as Oregon beats Stanford ", ESPN.com. October 2, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. Oregon later went on to play in the BCS National Championship game, and the defeat was Stanford's only one of the season."Stanford Cardinal Schedule – 2010", ESPN.com. Retrieved February 15, 2011. The loss dropped Stanford to No. 16 in the polls, but the team rebounded the following week to defeat USC on a last-second field goal, 37–35.The Associated Press. , ESPN.com. October 9, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
The victory over USC began a winning streak, the best in Stanford football history since the time of the Korean War. The week after beating USC, Stanford defeated Washington State, moving to a 6–1 record for the first time since 1970.The Associated Press. "Andrew Luck tosses 3 TDs as Stanford handles Washington St.", ESPN.com. October 23, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. The Cardinal rose to No. 13 nationally and defeated the University of Washington on October 30.The Associated Press. "Andrew Luck keys Stanford rout as Jake Locker fails to impress", ESPN.com. October 30, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. Against No. 15 Arizona, Stanford matched its previous season's win total.The Associated Press. "Andrew Luck puts on a clinic as No. 13 Stanford handles No. 15 Arizona", ESPN.com. November 6, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. On November 13, Stanford defeated Arizona State in a closely fought 17–13 win that brought the Cardinal football team to 9–1 and its best record since 1951.The Associated Press. "Andrew Luck, No. 6 Stanford fight through feisty Arizona State", ESPN.com. November 13, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. The following week, Stanford beat traditional rival California in The Big Game by a 48–14 score. It was the largest margin of victory in the rivalry since 1930.The Associated Press. "Andrew Luck leads Stanford to scores on all his possessions", ESPN.com. November 20, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011. Stanford's final regular-season game was against the Oregon State Beavers, and Stanford won the contest convincingly, 38–0. The No. 4 and No. 5 nationally ranked teams had lost earlier the same day, lifting Stanford in the polls and in position for a Bowl Championship Series game berth.The Associated Press. "Stanford pushes for BCS berth as Andrew Luck sets school TD record", ESPN.com. November 27, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech Hokies entered the 2010 season after a 2009 campaign that saw the team finish 10–3, including a season-ending win in the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl against the Tennessee Volunteers.ESPN.com. "Virginia Tech Hokies Schedule – 2009", ESPN.com. Retrieved February 1, 2011. Because of that season-ending victory and the Hokies' general good performance during the 2009 season, Virginia Tech was ranked No. 10 in preseason national polling.ESPN.com. "2010 NCAA Football Rankings – Preseason", ESPN.com. Retrieved February 1, 2011. The Hokies' first game of the season was a nationally televised contest against then-No. 3 Boise State at FedExField near Washington, D.C.. Because the game was the first of the season to feature two top-10 teams, it received large amounts of media coverage.Teel, David. "85,000 expected vs. Boise", The (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press. August 27, 2010. Page B1.Berman, Mark. "Party Crashers?", The Roanoke Times. August 29, 2010. Page CF7.Berman, Mark. "Fans flocking to Va. Tech's season opener", The Roanoke Times. August 29, 2010. Page A1. During the game, Virginia Tech fell behind 17–0 in the first quarter, but rallied to take a 21–20 lead early in the third quarter. The two teams traded the lead, alternating scoring drives until Boise State scored a touchdown with 1:06 remaining. Virginia Tech was unable to reply one final time, and Boise State earned a 33–30 victory.The Associated Press. , ESPN.com. September 6, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2011.