10:43 p.m. - Virginia Tech adds a field goal to make the score 37-14.  

10:32 p.m. - David Wilson's touchdown makes the score Virginia Tech 34, Tennessee 14. Tennessee fans head for the exits. The curse of the Georgia Dome lives on (0-6 since 1998 SEC Championship game).

10:26 p.m. - Three most overrated fan features of football: Witty posterboard guy; holding up four fingers at the start of the fourth quarter; being shown on the jumbo-tron.

10:23 p.m. - Tennessee runs a draw on third-and-impossible. The orange-clad fans are unhappy. Accordingly, they boo to show thier frustrations. And Virginia Tech fans love it.

10:19 p.m. - Denarius Moore's dropped touchdown pass makes it look more like never. Tennessee's drive is somehow still alive.

10:13 p.m. - Virginia Tech field goal makes the score Virginia Tech 27, Tennessee 14. It's now or never for the Vols.

10:03 p.m. - Few things in football are as disheartening as the opponent running the ball down your throat. And that's exactly what Virginia Tech is doing. Even when Ryan Williams - the Hokies heartbeat of offense - goes down, Virginia Tech reloads with a combination of Tyrod Taylor and Josh Oglesby. The Hokies are driving - again.

9:55 p.m. - The light at the end of the tunnel is becoming less and less.A somewhat sustained drive ends after a Crompton sack and an incompletion on third-and-15. Tennessee has no fluidity on offense. Even the scoring drives have been sporadic.

9:44 p.m. - Eight plays, 74 yards and a lot more Ryan Williams than Tennessee could handle makes the score Virginia Tech 24, Tennessee 14. Williams had seven carries for 73 yards on the drive. The only time he didn't touch the ball was Tyrod Taylor's quarterback sneak for the score.

On the drive, Williams broke Kevin Jones single-season rushing record at Virginia Tech. Something tells me he may add to that record before the end of the night.

9:38 p.m. - Virginia Tech running back has NFL-acceleration. And he's only a redshirt freshman. Yikes. Hokies riding Williams into the red zone.

9:06 p.m. - The first half comes to an end in the same slug fest fashion that filled the first two quarters. Tyrod Taylor connected with Jarrett Boykin to the two-yard line (seemingly the 4th time a Hokie receiver has gotten behind Tennessee coverage), but the clock was at 0:00 when the ball was spotted. Wisely, Lane Kiffin tried to get his team off the field as quickly as possible (even the band was on the field; Stanford-Cal, anyone?). The play was reviewed and ruled that one second should have been remaining because the clock stops in college football to move the chains. Virginia Tech took a timeout and converted a 22-yard field goal. Virginia Tech 17, Tennessee 14.

Tennessee fans continue to boo, but the right call was made.

9:01 p.m. - A two-yard Johnathan Crompton play-action pass to Denarius Moore ties the score at 14-14. A screen pass to Montario Hardesty set up the touchdown. Good thing I've been complaining about Tennessee running screens the whole game.

8:58 p.m. - I'll take the blame for that one. After complementing Tyrod Taylor's arm, he throws an interception. Not a bad pass. Just a good read and a good break on the ball by Tennessee's Janzen Jackson.

8:54 p.m. - Rico McCoy announces his return to the game with a sack of Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor. The sack takes the Hokies out of field goal range for the time being. I've been overly impressed with Taylor's arm early in the game. His legs are the first things defenses account for when facing the Hokies, but Taylor's arm is more than capable of hurting you.

8:37 p.m. - Wow. Tennessee shows signs of life. Somehow the Vols string together a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown run capped by a second-effort touchdown run by Montario Hardesty. The drive consisted of a bomb completed to Denarius Moore, a should-have-been interception by Virginia Tech's Jayron Hosley and what may the catch of the year for Tennessee made by Gerald Jones at the four-yard line.

8:32 p.m. - Six screens later, the Vols still refuse to believe the screens aren't going to work.

8:25 p.m. - The Virginia Tech lead grows to 14-0 after Ryan Williams' second rushing touchdown of the first half. The Hokies are running when they need to and throwing successfully when they need to. Tennessee can do, and has done, nothing right thus far. Virginia Tech 14, Tennessee 0.

With the touchdown, Ryan Williams sets the ACC single-season record with 22 touchdowns.

8:15 p.m. - Virginia Tech winning the turnover battle. Virginia Tech winning the field position battle. And Virginia Tech winning the points battle. Best thing to happen for Tennessee in the first quarter: it ended.

8:10 p.m. - Four unsuccessful screens later, Tennessee refuses to believe the screens aren't going to work.

8:02 p.m. - Tennessee's Dan Williams and Gerald Williams just combined to tackle Virginia Tech's Ryan Williams. It's a family affair. No relation. 

7:56 p.m. - Tennessee linebacker Rico McCoy was taken to locker room under his own power after being injured during the Hokies scoring drive. If there's one thing Tennessee cannot afford to lose, its linebackers. Three and out for the Vols.

7:52 p.m. - Points off turnovers are what wins football games. One Tennessee turnover equals seven Virginia Tech points. Virginia Tech 7, Tennessee 0.

7:45 p.m. - Virginia Tech strikes the first blow with an interception of what appears to be September's version of Jonathan Crompton. The Hokies are driving.

I have no idea what Crompton saw, or what he thought he saw. The pass was floated (possibly addrenaline?) and thrown directly to the waiting arms of a Virginia Tech defensive back. Time to get Crompton out of the pocket.

7:27 p.m. - Kickoff minutes away. Kudos to the kid sitting in front of the press box wearing a number 93, John Randle Minnesota Vikings jersey. More kudos to the kid if he has his face painted like Randle used to.

Note: The words Chick-fil-A only mentioned once during the pregame prayer.

7:16 p.m. - A few last-minute thoughts before kickoff: this is an interesting matchup any way you look at it. Virginia Tech will give the Vols all they can handle, but Lane Kiffin's Vols have become known for showing up in big time games (refer to the 23-13 loss to then top-ranked Florida, or the 12-10 loss to top-ranked Alabama). Bottom line: National television; New Year's Eve; only college game being played tonight; and what turns out to be an extra month of practice and an extra month for Lane Kiffin and his team to be mentioned in the media.

7:13 p.m. - Tennessee fans love the Pride of the Southland Marching Band. This has been made evident.

7:03 p.m. - This has turned into a de facto home game for Tennessee. Roughly 70 percent Vols in the stands, 28 percent Hokies, and an odd section in the upper left corner of the Tennessee end zone full of (what I assume to be) high school bands.

6:47 p.m. - Tennessee couldn't have been much more fortunate in its bowl game selection. Many assumed Tennessee would land in the Outback Bowl for what seems like the 148th time. Instead the Outback Bowl (ignoring the Monte Kiffin connection) picked Auburn and Northwestern. Combine that fierce football rivalry with an 11 a.m. kickoff (on New Year's Day, not that anyone has anything fun to do on New Year's Eve) and you have a recipe for a full of neglect.

Instead, the Vols get a matchup with a regional opponent. And it's still early, but these two fan bases don't seem to appreciate one another very much. This one could get chippy.

6:43 p.m. - It will be interesting to see how each fan base is represented inside the Georgia Dome. It's a much shorter trip from Knoxville, but Virginia Tech is known to have a large road following. As of now I see more Tennessee orange than Virginia Tech maroon, but its still early.

6:34 p.m. - Rocky top has been played for the first time. And (win or lose) certainly not the last time.

You know your kicking game is in trouble when you see someone in college kicking straight on (a.k.a not soccer style). And Tennessee just did that. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't watching an college game from the '40s. The mysterious straight-on kicker wears number 44, but isn't listed on the roster.

6:30 p.m. - With exactly an hour until kickoff, both team's special teams units are on the field. Tennessee will serve as the home team, wearing orange jerseys and white pants. Virginia Tech is wearing road white jerseys, maroon pants and maroon helmets.

5:45 p.m. - After the three-hour drive and a somewhat confusing trip on Atlanta's Marta transit system, I have arrived at the Georiga Dome for tonight's matchup between Tennessee and Virginia Tech in the 42nd Annual Chick-fil-A Bowl (Enough sponsorship plugs in the previous sentence? Welcome to bowl season).

The Tennessee players are currently leaving the field after taking a short walk around the field in black sweats (black sweats, not black uniforms, before anyone gets too excited). The team circled around the Chick-fil-a Bowl logo painted at center field before returning to the locker room.

Tonight's game is a 'border war' of sorts for the two teams. Back where I come from (did I really just say that?), my house sits exactly 88 miles from Knoxville and 132 miles from Blacksburg, so you're either a Hokie or a Vol. Tonight will go along way towards settling bragging rights between the two fan bases. At least until the two teams are scheduled to meet in the regular season. If that ever happened.