Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Tennessee's Montario Hardesty (2) escapes the grasp of Virginia Tech's Cordarrow Thompson (95) for a touchdown in the second quarter of the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Jarrett Boykin (81) catches a Tyrod Taylor pass in front of Bryce Brown (11) to set up a field goal at the end of the first half on Thursday in Atlanta.

ATLANTA -- Virginia Tech's football team successfully exorcised a lot of demons Thursday night in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Serving up what amounted to an Orange crush, the Hokies rode the strong legs of record-breaking tailback Ryan Williams and a stout defense to a 37-14 pounding of Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Williams, who never ceases to amaze, carried 25 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns to lead a Tech offense that rolled up 438 total yards. Williams finished the season with 1,655 rushing yards, breaking the school's single-season rushing record of 1,647 yards set by Kevin Jones in 2003, plus set ACC single-season records for touchdowns (22) and rushing TDs (21).

"I just saw green [today] and when I see green I take advantage of it," said Williams, who left the game late in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle. "I love football so there's really nothing you can do to keep me off the field.

"This was the ankle that I hurt during the summer. I've been dealing with this ankle all year ... I was ready to hit the field again but Josh Oglesby and David [Wilson] ran the ball so well there was really no need."

Vols coach Lane Kiffin, a former NFL coach, was impressed with No. 34. "He's a big-time back. I would imagine if the rules were different this guy would be ready to go to the next level right now."

Moreover, the victory enabled the Hokies to snuff out a string of past trends that had haunted them for years.

First, it marks the first time in Frank Beamer's 23 years as head coach that Tech has won back-to-back bowl games. Tech improved to 8-9 under Beamer and 9-14 all time in bowls.

Secondly, the win snapped Tech's run of futility vs. Southeastern Conference teams. The Hokies had lost four straight times to SEC teams.

Next, it ended Tech's hex in domes. The Hokies had been 5-14 all time when playing inside, including 2-11 under Beamer.

And last, but not least, it enabled Tech (10-3) to produce its sixth consecutive double-digit win season. Texas, which has turned the trick nine straight years, is the only other Division I-A team in the nation with a longer streak.

"We proved to a lot of people outside of this Virginia Tech program," Williams said.

Leading 17-14 at halftime, the Hokies sucked down the Vols like shots of Tennessee whiskey in the second half. Tech outscored the Vols 20-0 in the final 30 minutes to finish the season with five straight wins.

Williams inflicted most of his damage on Tech's first series of the second half, the most critical drive of the game. Williams carried seven times for all but one yard of Tech's thrust down field. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor got the TD on a 1-yard sneak to push Tech to a 24-14 cushion with 8:42 left in the third quarter.

"Ryan was something," Beamer said. "Especially starting that second half, he was something. He's for real, I think he's a great player, when you can make a guy miss, you can run away from them, he's got the whole package."

The Hokies keep pounding from there. They cruised home leaving the Vols in their wake.

Taylor finished 10-for-17 passing for 209 yards. His arm has never looked better.

"They stuck to their same strategies that they have all year, and we had a long time to prepare for it," Taylor said.

Said Kiffin: "Their quarterback played phenomenal today. He was on the money almost every time. He threw some ropes. I realized he was good running, I realized he was good throwing -- I didn't realize he was that good throwing the ball. He was really accurate today. And their receivers really came up big. There were a lot of contested balls .. and the receivers made a lot of good plays."

The contest was so lopsided that some of the UT contingent, whose orange dominated the crowd of 73,777 fans at the Georgia Dome, was filing to the exits by midway in the fourth quarter. Tech coach Frank Beamer got the traditional Gatorade bath -- courtesy of tight ends Greg Boone and Andre Smith -- with 2 minutes left.

Tech's defense was led by senior linebacker Cody Grimm, who had seven tackles, including three for loss, and a sack. The Hokies held a fifth straight foe to less than 300 total yards.

The Hokies started out like they were going to blow the Vols out of the building.

Set up by Rock Carmichael's sixth interception and 3-yard return to the UT 44, Taylor got the Hokies moving with a 20-yard strike to Jarrett Boykin. Six plays later, all involving Williams, they were in the end zone. Williams took care of honors, plowing behind tackle Ed Wang and guard Sergio Render for a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:56 left in the first quarter.

Two possessions later, the Hokies, thanks to their defense, started again in excellent field position at the UT 46. Taylor, throwing the ball on the money, then hit wideout Danny Coale, who made a sweet, over-the-shoulder catch for a 42-yard play to the Vols' 4. Taylor was sacked for a 11-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 4, but the Hokies were bailed out with a face-mask penalty on Vols defensive end Ben Martin.

Given a reprieve, Williams cored two plays later when he submarined into the end zone from 3 yards to make it 14-0 Tech with 11:56 left in the second quarter. At that point, Tech had outgained UT by an overwhelming 136-11 in total yards.

The Vols gave their throng on hand some renewed hope when they rallied to score a pair of touchdowns in a span of 6:25 in the latter half of the second quarter. The Vols, who managed only 240 total yards in the game, got their scores on tailback Montario Hardesty's 4-yard run and QB Jonathan Crompton's 2-yard pass to Demarius Moore.

The Hokies managed to break the tie just before halftime, when with :09 left on the clock, Taylor dropped back from his 33-yard line and heaved the ball 63 yards in the air. The ball hit Jarrett Boykin in stride. Boykin was tripped up at the UT 4. It appeared time had run out for the half, but officials upon review ruled that Tech had called timeout before time had expired. The officials put :02 on the clock, and Matt Waldron came on drilled a 22-yard field goal to send the teams to the locker room.