sacks, and one interception. For his accomplishments during the regular season, Simon earned consensus first-team All-America honors. Despite his accomplishments, Simon was not the Seminoles' leading tackler. That honor went to linebacker Tommy Polley, who accumulated 67 tackles during the season. Fellow linebacker Brian Allen contributed five quarterback sacks, the most in that statistical category for Florida State. Virginia Tech defense In the important category of scoring defense, the Hokies were the top-ranked defense in the country, allowing only 10.5 points per game. The team was ranked No. 3 in the country in both total defense and rushing defense. On average, Tech allowed just 247.3 total yards and 75.9 rushing yards per game. Tech's pass defense was No. 7 in the country, allowing an average of 171.4 passing yards per game. The Hokies permitted no more than 226 passing yards to any team during the regular season, and no opposing player earned 100 receiving yards. Tech defenders also accumulated 58 sacks during the season. Virginia Tech defensive end Corey Moore was the top performer on the Hokie defense. Moore accumulated 55 tackles and 17 sacks during the regular season, and was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year and to the Associated Press All-America team. In the first week of December, Moore was awarded the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given to the best defensive college football player in the country. Tech's other defensive end was John Engelberger, who earned seven sacks, six other tackles for loss and 16 quarterback hurries. Engelberger was projected by pro scouts to be the first Tech player selected in the 2000 NFL Draft. Game summary The 2000 Sugar Bowl kicked off at 8 p.m. EST on January 4, 2000, at the Louisiana Superdome, in New Orleans. A crowd of 79,280 people attended the game in person, and an estimated 18.4 million people watched the game's television broadcast on ABC, earning the broadcast a television rating of 17.5, the third-highest rating ever recorded for a BCS game. ABC estimates were higher, speculating that at least 54 million people watched at least a portion of the broadcast. Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson, Lynn Swann, and Jack Arute were the television commentators for the event, and Ron Franklin, Mike Gottfried, and Adrian Karsten provided commentary for the ESPN Radio broadcast of the game. In exchange for their performance at the game, Virginia Tech and Florida State each received more