The third of the six traditional New Year 's Day contests played on January 2 , 2006 was the '' ' Gator Bowl ' '' at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville , Florida . Having left the Big East two years earlier to join the ACC , Virginia Tech defeated Louisville , which was playing in its first year of Big East membership , 35 – 24 . In spite of the difference in their styles ( Louisville entered the game with the nation 's third-ranked offense and Virginia Tech brought the third-ranked defense ) , each team entered the game with a similar goal : successfully finishing a season marred by the disappointment of exclusion from the BCS bowl games ( Louisville was widely expected to claim the Big East crown and thus an automatic bid , and Virginia Tech was heavily favored to win the ACC championship game , which was played at ALLTEL four weeks earlier against Florida State ) . Starting just his second game for the Cardinals after the injury of Big East passing leader Brian Brohm , Louisville quarterback Hunter Cantwell excelled early , driving his team 77 yards in 3:59 and hitting freshman wide receiver Mario Urrutia , his top target on the day ( six catches for 95 yards ) , for an 11-yard touchdown . After Brandon Pace made a 36-yard field goal for the Hokies , Cantwell led another long drive , this one 80 yards , and connected with wide receiver Joshua Tinch for a 39-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals an 11-point lead . After neither offense sustained progress for much of the second quarter , the Hokies pressuring defense ( Virginia Tech sacked Cantwell four times on the day ) forced a turnover as cornerback Roland Minor intercepted Cantwell near midfield ; Virginia Tech took advantage , as quarterback Marcus Vick hit wide receiver Justin Harper for a 33-yard touchdown , cutting the Hokies ’ halftime deficit to seven . In a third quarter marked by defensive toughness , only the Hokies managed to score , taking the ball on their own one-yard line and driving 88 yards , largely behind running backs Brandon Ore and Cedric Humes , who combined to gain 166 yards on 32 carries , before a Louisville defensive stand forced them to settle for another Pace field goal . In a span of 66 seconds early in the fourth quarter , each team scored a touchdown , as Gary Barnidge caught a 29-yard Cantwell pass and Humes ran 24 yards before the Hokies added a two-point conversion to cut the Louisville lead to three points . An opportunistic Virginia Tech defense contained Louisville back Michael Bush in the fourth quarter ( he gained 94 yards on 16 carries for the game ) and took advantage of Cantwell 's inexperience , forcing a fumble ( off of which Vick threw a two-yard touchdown to Jeff King , finishing his day with 11 completions in 21 attempts for 204 yards ) and then recording an interception which James Anderson returned 40 yards for a touchdown to give Virginia Tech the 11-point margin by which they would eventually win ; the defense sealed the victory with a third interception of Cantwell ( who finished the game having completed only 42 percent of his passes ) and , behind Humes , the Hokies ran out the clock . After the game , video showed Vick , ostensibly intentionally , stepping on the leg of Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil ; though none of the Big 12 officiating crew saw the play as it happened , the head referee , upon seeing a replay of the play , indicated that he would have ejected Vick had he seen the play . On January 6 , Hokies coach Frank Beamer announced that Vick had been dismissed from the team ; Vick later announced that , in lieu of transferring to another Division I-A school , after which he would have had to sit out one year , or to a Division I-AA , II , or III school , whereupon he could play immediately , he would forgo his senior season , declaring his eligibility for the 2006 NFL Draft
Big East
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
2005–06 NCAA football bowl games