In the final quarter of the game, Nebraska scored 10 unanswered points as the Cornhuskers used their large number of backup players to advantage.
[13] Nebraska's 10–1 record to that point earned it a trip to the first-ever Big 12 Championship Game in St. Louis, Missouri, against the Texas Longhorns.
Though the Hokies lost, 21–52, they recovered to win their final seven games of the regular season, securing a Big East championship and a trip to the Orange Bowl.
The Cougars, who had just defeated a ranked Wyoming team to win the WAC championship and who had also upset then-thirteenth-ranked Texas A&M early in the season, were statistically more dominant than the Hokies and seen by many as more deserving of an Orange Bowl berth.
[24] Nebraska and Virginia Tech were among the winningest seven teams in Division I-A college football during the two seasons prior to the Orange Bowl.
[26] The slow Nebraska sales were largely due to fans who had booked trips to the Sugar Bowl in anticipation of a victory by the Cornhuskers in the Big 12 championship game.
[5] In the months, weeks and days prior to the Orange Bowl, the Virginia Tech football team was affected by multiple criminal incidents.
In the 15 months immediately prior to the Orange Bowl, Virginia Tech players accumulated 22 arrests, six convictions, and four charges dropped.
[30] For Nebraska, linebacker Terrell Farley was arrested for DUI and six related misdemeanors on November 20, his second offense that season after being charged on August 30.
[41] Helping block the way for the rushers was center Billy Conaty, who was named an All-American by the Sporting News and who was playing in a then-school record 48th straight game.
[43] The Hokies were led on defense by All-America defensive end selection Cornell Brown, who accumulated eight sacks, five other tackles for loss, 19 quarterback hurries, and 58 total tackles during the regular season and was named a first-team All-Big East selection, signifying his status as the best player at his position in that conference.
He started every game for Tech during the three seasons immediately prior to the Orange Bowl and was a second-team All-Big East pick in 1996.
[48] In a December 26 practice, Virginia Tech linebacker Myron Newsome suffered an ankle injury that threatened to force him to sit out the Orange Bowl.
Newsome, who had been a starter during the regular season, eventually recovered to participate in the game, but his injury was a point of media interest in the days prior to kickoff.
On the first play inside the Nebraska red zone, Druckenmiller completed a 19-yard pass to Marcus Parker for a Virginia Tech touchdown—the game's first points.
From there, Frost threw an incomplete pass, then Sims ran twice for fifteen yards and a first down, crossing into the Virginia Tech half of the field in the process.
Shyrone Stith and Parker then ran for a combined six yards on the next two plays, picking up a first down with the shortened yardage provided by the penalty.
After that gain, however, Tech lost yardage on a rush by Oxendine, Druckenmiller threw an incomplete pass, then was sacked for a loss of nine yards during the third down play.
Druckenmiller then completed a 24-yard pass to Oxendine, but the play was negated by a holding penalty against Virginia Tech, effectively resulting in a loss of 34 yards and pushing the Hokies back to their 33-yard line.
The Hokies started at their 20-yard line after a touchback, and Druckenmiller completed a 20-yard throw to Bryan Jennings after Oxendine was stopped for no gain on a carry to the left.
Virginia Tech was forced to use a timeout in order to stop the clock from moving and to allow time to plan the third-down play.
Facing fourth down and needing one yard, Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne elected to attempt to gain the yardage rather than punt the ball.
Oxendine picked up three yards on two short runs, then Druckenmiller advanced the Hokies into the Nebraska side of the field with a 19-yard pass to Jennings.
Three more rushes created 10 more yards and another first down, but a bigger loss came to the Tech defense when Hokie All-American Cornell Brown was injured.
Coming out of the timeout, Druckenmiller threw an incomplete pass, but made it up on the next play by rushing for 16 yards, picking up a first down at the 41-yard line of Nebraska.
Sims was stopped for a short loss, Frost ran for eight yards, and threw an incomplete pass, causing a fourth down.
The Hokies' need for quick points was foiled by an injury to Druckenmiller, who left the game after throwing an incomplete pass on the first play of the drive.
Druckenmiller completed a 14-yard pass after the long return, giving Tech a first down at the 11-yard line, but the Hokies were unable to advance the ball much further.
The almost-$4 million payout made Virginia Tech's football team the wealthiest of the 36 schools that participated in bowl games after the 1996 season.
Nebraska had eight players selected: Michael Booker, Jared Tomich, Mike Minter, Adam Treu, Chris Dishman, Jamel Williams, Eric Stokes, and Jon Hesse.