By Bud L. Ellis
Lane Kiffin is pretty pleased with Tenneseee’s preparations for its Chick-fil-A Bowl matchup with Virginia Tech.
So much so, the first-year Vols’ coach decided Monday that practice on Tuesday wasn’t necessary.
Kiffin told his happy player Monday that they were getting an extra day off, as the Vols get ready for the matchup with the Hokies, on New Year’s Eve at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Worried about the risk of injuries in trying to squeeze out one more practice, and happy with the progress the Vols have made were the two factors Kiffin cited in canning Tuesday’s workout, according to published reports.
Tennessee, a surprise runner-up to Florida in the SEC East, will resume practice on Saturday at a suburban Atlanta high school. Virginia Tech will work out at ACC rival Georgia Tech. Both teams then move into the Georgia Dome next week to get acclimated with the facility where they will meet on Dec. 31.
The Vols haven’t played since a 30-24 overtime win at Kentucky on Nov. 28, a victory that allowed Tennessee to conclude the regular season with five wins in its final seven contests. A bowl victory over Virginia Tech would be a huge springboard into recruiting season, especially with the game in Atlanta, an area Kiffin publicly has stated more than once where he hopes to make inroads on the recruiting trail.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 8:34 pm by bud
Tags: Chick-fil-A Bowl, Florida, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Lane Kiffin, SEC, Tennessee, Virginia Tech
By Bud L. Ellis
It’s the ninth-oldest bowl game, and has worked its way from an outdoor game that drew just a little bit of attention into a New Year’s Eve college football tradition.
The Chick-fil-A Bowl has changed names (it was known as the Peach Bowl) and venues (it was played for years at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium), and it has grown in statue and importance through the years.
The first Chick-fil-A Bowl, then known as the Peach Bowl, was held on Dec. 30, 1968. LSU knocked off Florida State 31-27 in front of 35,206 fans at open-air Atlanta Stadium. The bowl purse for the inaugural game: $460,000.
My, how things have changed.
Now held at the Georgia Dome and beamed from coast-to-coast on the final evening of the calendar year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has drawn 68,000 or more fans in 11 of the past 12 years. Last year’s game, in which LSU beat Georgia Tech 38-3, drew 71,423 to the Georgia Dome, the two teams splitting a $6 million purse.
LSU, which appeared in that inaugural Peach Bowl way back in 1968, didn’t appear in the game again until 1996. Starting with that 10-7 win over Clemson on Dec. 28, 1996, the Tigers have been back four times and are 4-0 (5-0 overall, counting its win in the inaugural game). Last year, the Tigers jumped all over Georgia Tech and the Yellow Jackets’ vaunted triple-option attack.
The two previous Chick-fil-A bowls were nail-biters. In 2007, Auburn edged Clemson 23-20 in overtime. The year before that, Georgia thrilled the Atlanta crowd with a 31-24 win over Virginia Tech.
The Hokies are back this year, meeting Tennessee on Dec. 31 at the Georgia Dome. It figures to be another great game, writing another chapter in what’s been a great story of growth for the bowl game that started 41 years ago.
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 10:05 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Auburn, Chick-fil-A Bowl, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, LSU, Tennessee, Virginia Tech
By Bud L. Ellis
The reports last week were true, and two of the South’s most storied football programs will conclude their season in the Georgia Dome on New Year’s Eve.
The Chick-fil-A Bowl will feature Tennessee from the Southeastern Conference and Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference in Atlanta on Dec. 31, a matchup of two teams that look to head into 2010 on an upswing in the final hours of 2009.
Virginia Tech definitely won’t have to ask for directions to Atlanta. The game marks the third time this season the Hokies will play in Georgia’s capital city. Virginia Tech opened the season with a 34-24 loss to eventual BCS national championship game qualifier Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic at the Georgia Dome Sept. 5. Six weeks later, the Hokies were back in Atlanta as the fourth-ranked team in the nation, losing an ACC Coastal Division showdown to then No. 19 ranked and eventual ACC champ Georgia Tech in heartbreaking fashion. 28-23.
But after losing to unranked North Carolina 20-17 on Oct. 29, the Hokies have found their stride. Virginia Tech comes into the Chick-fil-A Bowl riding a four-game winning streak. In those four wins over East Carolina, Maryland, N.C. State and Virginia, the Hokies have outscored the opposition 132-35.
Tennessee’s season didn’t start as strong as the Hokies, but the Vols have mirrored Virginia Tech’s strong closing kick.
Under first-year head coach Lane Kiffin, the Vols dropped three of their first five games, losing by 10 to then-No. 1 ranked Florida on Sept. 19 in Gainesville, and a bitter 26-22 loss at home to Auburn on Oct. 3. But after blowing out Georgia 45-19 on Oct. 10 for Kiffin’s first SEC victory, it’s been mostly smooth sailing for the Vols.
Tennessee narrowly missed upsetting Alabama on Oct. 24, losing 12-10 on a blocked field goal attempt at the finish. But the Vols regrouped and closed the season with four victories in their final five contests, topping 30 points in all four victories to finish second in the ultra-tough SEC East.
The Chick-fil-A Bowl matchup is just the second time since 1937. The Vols downed the Hokies 45-23 in the 1994 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. All told, the teams have faced each other seven times, the first six meetings coming between 1896 and 1937 (UT leads the series 5-2).
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Monday, December 7, 2009 at 9:34 pm by bud
Tags: ACC, Alabama, Auburn, Chick-fil-A Bowl, East Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Maryland, N.C. State, North Carolina, SEC, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech
