2002 Gator Bowl
| 2002 Toyota Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Alltel Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP |
WR Javon Walker (FSU) WR André Davis (VT) |
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| Favorite | Virginia Tech by 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Lee Greenwood | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | David Witvoet | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 72,202 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$3,212,364 (both teams) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, and Chris Wragge |
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| Nielsen ratings | 6.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2002 Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Florida State Seminoles at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on January 1, 2002. The game was the final contest of the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams, and ended in a 30–17 victory for Florida State.
Virginia Tech was selected to play in the 2002 Gator Bowl with an 8–3 regular-season record despite having just played in Jacksonville at the end of the previous year. The selection of Virginia Tech over the Syracuse Orangemen (now just the "Orange") despite losing head-to-head and Syracuse having better conference and overall records was controversial.Florida State, who had failed to win at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference title for the first time since joining the league in 1992, and who had played in all three BCS National Championship games held to that point, was selected as the opponent.
The 2002 Gator Bowl kicked off on January 1, 2002 at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, exactly one year since the Hokies had last played in the game. The game's early going seemed promising for the defense-minded Hokies. In the first quarter, Tech held Florida State scoreless despite only managing a single field goal on offense. In the second quarter, however, Florida State began to find gaps in the Hokie defense and scored 10 points. At halftime, Florida State held a 10–3 lead.
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