PHOENIX - Virginia Tech seems a bit disappointed to be in the Insight Bowl. California hardly could be more thrilled.
The Hokies have grown to expect better than this mid-level bowl played tonight in a baseball park.
"We may be disappointed not playing in a BCS bowl game, but we are playing in a great bowl game," said coach Frank Beamer, who added he was unsure if his players will approach the contest with the intensity they might bring to a bigger bowl.
Six games into the season, Virginia Tech was unbeaten and No. 3 in the country. Even after a loss at West Virginia, the Hokies' beat Miami to climb to No. 5.
Then things fell apart with losses to Pittsburgh, Boston College and Virginia. The lone win down the stretch came in overtime against lowly Temple.
"The reason we lost four out of the last six is because we weren't playing together," linebacker Vegas Robinson said. "Everybody was out there doing more than they were supposed to do. Guys were out of position. I feel like we're calmed down now. We're level headed. We're ready to get back at this thing."
Despite having just nine returning starters, Cal finished tied for third in the Pac-10 and was the only team to beat conference champion and No. 1-ranked USC (34-31 in triple overtime).
The game could be a shootout, with Cal's high-powered offense facing a Hokies offense that features running back Kevin Jones, who set school season records for yards rushing (1,494) and 100-yard games (eight).
Cal is balanced, averaging 254.7 yards through the air and a Pac-10 leading 170.8 on the ground behind running back Adimchinobe Echemandu. Echemandu, who did not play the past two seasons because of academic problems, earned all-conference honors with 1,161 yards.
"Stopping the run and the pass - (the Bears) have them both," Robinson said. "It's going to be a challenge for us, but I feel like we're very capable of going out there and beating them."
Motor City Bowl
DETROIT - Among MAC quarterbacks, Bowling Green's Josh Harris got less recognition than Miami of Ohio's Ben Roethlisberger.
Still, Northwestern coach Randy Walker is wary of facing Harris and the Falcons in today's Motor City Bowl.
"Josh is a great player - he's too good for us to believe that we can stop him," Walker said. "All we can do is contain him and try to keep him from going crazy."
Harris threw for a school-record 3,427 yards and 24 touchdowns this season and led conference QBs with 762 rushing.
"We know just how important Josh is to our team," coach Gregg Brandon said. "If you look at our season and the games we won, he played great. When he didn't play great, we lost. Luckily that only happened twice."
The Motor City Bowl gives Harris a chance to play in an NFL stadium. Though he's expected to be selected in the top two rounds of the NFL draft, he is trying not to think about making a habit of playing in such arenas.
"You don't want to start thinking about the future and playing at the next level until you are done with this one," he said.
Harris has the Wildcats' respect. In 2001 the then-sophomore threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more in a 43-42 upset of Northwestern.
