NORFOLK Old Dominion University has signed its eighth junior college football player, adding J.J. Williams from Garden City Community College.   The 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker expects to play a variety of positions for the Monarchs, who will begin competing in Division I-AA football this coming fall. 

MIAMI Before all eyes and minds inevitably flash forward to Sept. 5 and the mega-match-up with Alabama that opens the 2009 season, to expectations that are already soaring right past conference titles and on up to the big one... a brief pause to take in Virginia Tech's surprising run in 2008.

By Aaron McFarling MIAMI The dream seemed so real. There were the Cincinnati players, cloaked in black. There was line coach Curt Newsome on the sidelines, screaming profanities. There were his Virginia Tech teammates in the huddle, waiting to see if he could get the job done.

By JEFFREY McMURRAY MEMPHIS, Tenn. Ventrell Jenkins scooped up a fumble and barreled his 285-pound frame 56 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, helping Kentucky win a program-best third straight bowl game with a 25-19 victory over East Carolina on Friday in the Liberty Bowl.

MIAMI There’s a danger on nights like Thursday, nights when an impossibly young football team polishes off an improbably magical season with an enormous win for a program that desperately needed one.

By Jeffrey McMurray Memphis, Tenn. Bear Bryant's brief and successful tenure as Kentucky football coach hasn't been matched since his departure 55 years ago. The Wildcats have occasionally reached a bowl or two in the decades that followed, but never three straight. That was territory only Bear's boys reached.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Sometimes, a game is just a game. Sometimes, a bowl loss is simply a minor disappointment after an otherwise successful season. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, though, has made it clear that tonight's Orange Bowl is not just another game, that a loss to No. 12 Cincinnati would be, in fact, a bitter disappointment.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. The cynics, who have seen far too many greedy, entitled, arrogant athletes in recent years, will no doubt grouse if Kam Chancellor forgoes his senior season at Virginia Tech in favor of an NFL paycheck. The cynics, however, never saw the way Chancellor ate lunch in middle school, stuffing his face in the cafeteria because he was unsure how much food awaited him at home.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. If the Hokies are nervous about the two redshirt freshmen who will make their first career starts against Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl, no one is showing it. Barquell Rivers will replace injured fifth-year senior Brett Warren (injured knee) at linebacker. Rivers has played 28 career snaps on defense.

FORT LAUDERDALE, fla. Opposing coaches like to laud Tyrod Taylor for his athleticism. They frequently fear his feet, his ability to turn nothing into something with an unexpected, electric scramble.