ATLANTA — Ryan Williams capped a brilliant first season with a record-setting game, running for two touchdowns to power Virginia Tech past Tennessee 37-14 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Thursday night.
The Hokies (10-3) took the lead with a field goal in the final seconds of the first half and outscored Tennessee 20-0 in the second half on their way to a sixth straight 10-win season.
The only team with a longer active streak is Texas with nine.
Williams, a redshirt freshman, had 117 yards rushing to become Virginia Tech's single-season rushing leader with 1,655 yards. Williams also set Atlantic Coast Conference records with 21 rushing touchdowns and 22 total touchdowns this season.
Tennessee's star running back, Montario Hardesty, could not keep up with Williams. The Volunteers' senior had 18 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown. The Hokies outrushed Tennessee (7-6) 229-5.
Tennessee was hurt by two turnovers which led to 10 points for Virginia Tech, and a dropped pass that cost them a touchdown.
Rashad Carmichael intercepted a pass by Jonathan Crompton in the first quarter to set up Williams' first touchdown run. Crompton fumbled when sacked by Nekos Brown late in the fourth quarter. John Graves recovered at the Tennessee 13 to set up Matt Waldron's third field goal, a 22-yarder.
Virginia Tech players dumped a cooler of water on coach Frank Beamer seconds later. Virginia Tech fans in the sellout crowd of 73,777 cheered, and Beamer raised his fists in response.
Williams sat out the fourth quarter after an apparent left ankle injury. Virginia Tech fans cheered when Williams left the trainer's table and ran on the sideline, but Beamer gave the fourth-quarter carries to Josh Oglesby and David Wilson.
Wilson had a 3-yard touchdown run with 5:14 remaining.
Williams needed 109 yards rushing to pass Kevin Jones' school-record record 1,647 yards in 2003.
North Carolina's Don McCauley held the ACC marks with 19 rushing touchdowns and 21 total in 1970. Clemson's C.J. Spiller matched the total touchdown mark this season. Georgia Tech's Robert Lavette also rushed for 19 touchdowns in 1982.
Williams passed Jones with his seventh carry of an eight-play touchdown drive in the third quarter. He had long runs of 21 and 32 yards in the drive before setting the record on a 6-yard run to the 3.
Tyrod Taylor scored from the 1 for a 24-14 lead. Taylor completed 10 of 17 passes for 201 yards with an interception.
Crompton completed 15 of 26 passes for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Waldron, who had a 21-yard field goal at the end of the first half, added a 46-yarder — the longest of his career — to push the lead to 27-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Tennessee's had a chance to get back into it, but wide-open Denarius Moore dropped a deep pass from Crompton on the Vols' next drive.
Williams' third-down run from the 1 gave the Hokies a 7-0 lead. Williams scored again, this time from the 3, to push the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter.
Tennessee then took the momentum.
Hardesty ran through 301-pound defensive tackle Cordarrow Thompson's tackle for a 4-yard run to cap an 80-yard drive.
Janzen Jackson's interception set up Crompton's 2-yard touchdown pass to Moore with 18 seconds remaining in the first half.
Instead of running out the clock, Taylor threw from his 33 to Jarrett Boykin, who was stopped inside the Vols' 5 as the clock apparently expired. Tennessee players left the field but were summoned back as a video review showed Boykin's knee hit the ground with 2 seconds remaining.
Waldron's 21-yard field goal gave Virginia Tech a 17-14 halftime lead.
The Hokies, who won the Orange Bowl last season, have back-to-back bowl wins for the first time in school history.
Sun Bowl
OKLAHOMA 31, (19) STANFORD 27: At El Paso, Texas, Ryan Broyles set a Sun Bowl record with three touchdown receptions and Landry Jones passed for 418 yards to lead Oklahoma past Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart and No. 19 Stanford.
Broyles finished with 156 yards receiving and set Oklahoma's single-game record with 13 receptions in front of a Sun Bowl record crowd of 53,713. Jones completed 30 of 51 with one interception and connected with Broyles on TD strikes of 30, 13 and 6 yards.
Gerhart, who led the nation with 1,736 yards rushing, ran for 135 and scored two TDs in the first half.
Oklahoma (8-5) rallied with 14 straight points in the third quarter, then held on after Patrick O'Hara missed a 32-yard field goal try with 3:19 remaining. Stanford (8-5), making its first bowl appearance since the 2001 season, got a final opportunity but turned it over on downs.
Gerhart found the running tough against the nation's No. 7 rushing defense. He carried 32 times, averaged 4.2 per attempt, and his longest run was a 26-yard gain in the fourth quarter.
Texas Bowl
NAVY 35, MISSOURI 13: At Houston, Ricky Dobbs ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns and Navy manhandled Missouri with its triple-option offense.
Dobbs, who set an NCAA record for touchdown runs by a quarterback this season, also threw a touchdown pass to Bobby Doyle and Marcus Curry ran for a score as the Midshipmen (10-4) rushed for 385 yards against Missouri's 12th-ranked run defense. Navy won time of possession by nearly 22 minutes and ran 81 offensive plays to only 57 for the Tigers.
Blaine Gabbert threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Danario Alexander on Missouri's second play from scrimmage, but the Tigers mustered only 298 yards the rest of the game — largely because they only had the ball for just over 19 minutes.
Insight Bowl
IOWA STATE 14, MINNESOTA 13: At Tempe, Ariz., Alexander Robinson ran for 137 yards, and Austen Arnaud threw for one touchdown and ran for another as Iowa State defeated Minnesota 14-13 in the Insight Bowl on Thursday night, capping the Cyclones' first winning season since 2005.
The Cyclones (7-6) overcame four turnovers by Arnaud, who threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
Iowa State won for the third time in 10 bowl games — and the second in Arizona.
Minnesota's Adam Weber threw for 261 yards and a score, and Kyle Theret picked off two passes for the Golden Gophers (6-7), who became the first three-time Insight Bowl loser.