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The 1998 Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Tar Heels from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on January 1, 1998. The game was the final contest of the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams, the 53rd edition of the annual Gator Bowl game, and ended in a 42-3 victory for North Carolina. Virginia Tech was selected to play in the 1998 Gator Bowl as a reward for a 7–4 regular season. Facing the unranked Hokies were the No. 7-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. The Heels had gone 10–1 during the regular season and were ranked seventh in the Associated Press poll heading into the game. North Carolina narrowly missed an at-large selection to a higher-prestige Bowl Alliance postseason game and was playing under new head coach Carl Torbush for the first time. Torbush had taken over for former head coach Mack Brown on December 8 after Brown announced that he was departing to take the position of head coach at Texas. The game kicked off on January 1, 1998 at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. From the opening kickoff, North Carolina dominated every aspect of the game. In the first quarter, the Tar Heels scored 16 unanswered points, including a defensive touchdown. North Carolina added six points in the second and third quarters before Tech scored its first points of the game—a 40-yard field goal by kicker Shayne Graham. The Tar Heels rounded out the game by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels set school records for largest bowl game margin of victory, most points scored in a bowl game, and most touchdown passes in a bowl game. The eventual 42–3 loss was Virginia Tech's largest bowl loss in school history. Quarterbacks Chris Keldorf and Nick Sorensen were named the most valuable players of their respective teams, and each team saw multiple players selected in the 1998 NFL Draft, which followed the game. == Team selection == During the 1997 college football season, the Gator Bowl selection committee held contracts with both the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conferences. In exchange for guaranteeing to pay a total of $3.2 million to the participating teams,〔The Gator Bowl. ("Year-by-Year results" ), Gatorbowl.com. Accessed January 10, 2009.〕 the committee held the right to the second pick of bowl-eligible teams from each conference.〔Hickman, Dave. "Bowl picture unclear for WVU", ''The Charleston (W.V.) Gazette''. December 1, 1997. Page D1.〕 Each conference's champion was awarded an automatic spot in a Bowl Alliance game, and it was expected that the Gator Bowl would select each conference's second-place team unless other circumstances arose.〔Cherry, Mike. "Pastilong's best guess is Gator", ''The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail''. December 2, 1997. Page B1.〕 Prior to the final week of the regular season, it appeared that circumstances might indeed throw that plan into confusion. North Carolina, the ACC's second-place team, had risen to No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the Associated Press college football poll, and was considered to be a candidate for an at-large Bowl Alliance selection.〔Fairbank, Dave. "Posturing for bowls under way", ''The (Newport News) Daily Press''. December 1, 1997. Page D1.〕 If North Carolina was selected for a higher-tier bowl game, the door would be opened for Notre Dame to play in the 1998 Gator Bowl—a circumstance provided for if neither the first nor second-place ACC team was available to play.〔The Associated Press. "Now Irish fans are waiting", The St. Petersburg Times. December 1, 1997. Page C5.〕 In the end, however, ACC runner-up North Carolina was bypassed by Bowl Alliance officials, leaving the team available for the Gator Bowl. Facing the Tar Heels were the Virginia Tech Hokies, second-place finishers in the Big East Conference.〔Johnson, Dave. "Bowls make their picks - Tech faces UNC; Cavaliers left out", ''The (Newport News) Daily Press''. December 8, 1997.〕 Gator Bowl officials considered inviting Big East third-place West Virginia due to its reputation for bringing large numbers of fans to bowl games,〔Hickman, Dave. "Gator Bowl looks like West Virginia vs. UNC", ''The Charleston (W.V.) Gazette''. December 6, 1997. Page B4.〕 but decided against inviting the Mountaineers out of recognition that North Carolina and West Virginia played each other in the 1997 Gator Bowl.〔King, Randy. "Tech to face North Carolina on January 1 in Gator Bowl", ''The Roanoke Times''. December 8, 1998. Page B1.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1998 Gator Bowl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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