But for the Virginia Tech Hokies, this was strictly a business trip. And the objective was simple: make amends for last year's disappointment.
They had plenty of stakeholders, too. Most importantly, the entire Atlantic Coast Conference -- whose bowl ineptitude was no mystery. The league had dropped its previous eight Bowl Championship Series contests.
Even more critical was Tech's own reputation of post-season game struggles.
"We got on a bad streak here lately and it's time to get off of it," said head coach Frank Beamer.
For the time being, both were solidified with the Hokies' 20-7 triumph over Cincinnati on New Year's Day in the 75th edition of the Orange Bowl at Dolphin Stadium.
Tech's serious nature was noticed even before it made the trip down south.
The practices were more frequent and more intense. When the team landed in Florida, the curfew was set earlier. Beamer and his coaching staff made sure that his players didn't deviate from the task at hand.
Message sent. Message received.
The quick opening strike by Cincinnati -- one that resulted in a touchdown pass from quarterback Tony Pike to wide receiver Mardy Gilyard -- could have adversely affected the Hokies.
A sense of "here we go again," recalling memories of a 17-0 hole against Kansas in last year's Orange Bowl instead might have been motivation to make sure that déjà vu would not be the theme of this game's plot.
"We had to relax a little bit," senior cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris said. "It's a lot on the line. We had a lot of younger guys out there ... We just had to settle down and find our chemistry together because there were a lot of new faces out there."
Instead, the main characters who most affected the outcome of the game were in white, orange and maroon.
One of those was Darren Evans -- the redshirt freshman running back who was participating in his first bowl game. Not a bad opening act.
He finished with 153 yards, including the six-yard, fourth quarter score that sealed the victory.
Evans is just one of many players -- 18 from Thursday's starting lineup -- returning to the Lane Stadium field next season. And for those players, this win did not only serve as a culminating event for an improbable season -- it also set the tone for an even better campaign in 2009.
And the one player who could be ready to establish himself in the new year will by quarterback Tyrod Taylor. His effort against Cincinnati showed his usual running ability when he scampered 17 yards on a third down situation to find the end zone.
"It was a designed pass," Taylor said of his touchdown run that tied the game at 7-7. "I had a lot of pressure on the field on the right side, moved up the pocket and I tried to make a play with my feet."
He also showed good accuracy throwing the ball. Still, he must learn and avoid the mistakes, such as the second quarter interception -- a pass made into double coverage.
Nevertheless, over his past three games -- against Virginia, Boston College and Cincinnati -- Taylor is finding out what it'll probably be like in 2009. It's his team, with nobody sharing the snap load. And as the lone ranger, he's improved and, more importantly, matured.
Taylor had plenty to do with the success this year, one that ended in Tech's first Orange Bowl win as well as the program's fifth consecutive year of 10-plus victories (only Southern California and Texas can share that honor).
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