Only five weeks ago, Virginia Tech was thoroughly enjoying life in college football's penthouse. The Hokies owned a spotless 8-0 record, were ranked third in the country, and still entertaining serious hopes of somehow playing for a national championship.

My, how times have changed since.

Four games later, Tech finds itself 10-2 and sick to its stomach. The pain comes from squandering not one, but two chances to win a second straight ACC title and claim another BCS bowl berth.

Now that Tech has fallen short of accomplishing its major goals, the question is how will the 12th-ranked Hokies react to a return trip to Jacksonville, Fla., for a second-level bowl assignment that neither they nor their legion of fans can be overly excited about -- a Jan. 2 Gator Bowl date with No. 15 Louisville (9-2).

"We can't let this loss determine what we're going to do in the bowl game," said senior linebacker James Anderson following the Hokies' crushing 27-22 loss to Florida State in last Saturday's ACC championship game at Alltel Stadium.

"We have some time off before the bowl so we've got to watch film and look at our mistakes. We need to come back in that game and play the kind of football this team usually plays. We can't go out like this."

The Hokies have no one to blame but themselves for their predicament. If they had beaten a reeling FSU team and won the ACC title, even a loss to No. 3 Penn State in the Jan. 3 Orange Bowl wouldn't have been such a big deal. But now, especially considering their past history of late-season collapses, the Hokies desperately need to beat a team that couldn't even win the Big East to avoid further embarrassment on the national level.

Tech wins and finishes 11-2? Well, it's OK. Tech loses and finishes 10-3? Well, everybody is going to want to know what happened again in Blacksburg?

While the deflated Hokies must find a way to get pumped to play one more game, the Cardinals sound like they're ready to play today. A Louisville club that averages 45.2 points a game and has been held to 30 or less points only once all season views its matchup with Tech as an opportunity to gain national credibility.

"I know Florida State and Miami are up there, but to me, Virginia Tech was the best team in the ACC," Cardinals star defensive end Elvis Dumervil told the Louisville Herald-Courier. "To me, I wanted to play the best possible team in the Gator Bowl, and I think that's what we've got."

Missing a major piece

In what should be a break for Tech, Louisville will be without star quarterback Brian Brohm for the Gator Bowl.

Brohm, a sophomore, underwent surgery Monday for a torn right ACL he sustained Nov. 26 against Syracuse.

In 10 games, Brohm completed 207 of 301 passes (68.8 percent) for 2,883 yards and 19 touchdowns, with five interceptions. Redshirt freshman walk-on Hunter Cantwell started last Saturday's 30-20 season-ending win at Connecticut, completing 16 of 25 passes for 271 yards and a touchdown.

Michael Bush, the Cards' standout tailback who had missed two games with a bruised foot, returned against UConn, running for 121 yards and three TDs. Bush has run for 1,049 yards and 23 TDs in nine games.

Healing period

Tech QB Marcus Vick suffered a sprained right knee and cornerback Roland Minor sustained a sprained neck in the FSU loss. Both are expected to be OK for the bowl game.

The same can't be said for backup guard Brandon Gore, however. Gore underwent surgery Sunday to repair a broken right ankle and ligament damage and faces a long recovery and rehabilitation period.

Gator bites

Seventeen penalties for 143 yards -- both season-high numbers -- cost Tech dearly against FSU. Hokies assistant coach Billy Hite said he sent a video clip including approximately 20 plays to Tommy Hunt, the ACC's director of football officials. "We normally send in about three plays," Hite said. "We had a lot of questions and just want an explanation." ... Other than a couple of Saturday workouts, the Tech players will concentrate on exams until starting practice for the bowl game Dec. 18. The team will practice five times before the players go home for Christmas. The team will reconvene in Jacksonville on Dec. 27 for the start of on-site preparations. ... For the 13th time in as many games this season, Tech will hit the field as the favorite. The Las Vegas oddsmakers opened Tech as a 10-point favorite last Sunday. However, the number was down to 7¹₂ by Thursday afternoon.