PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Kevin Jones makes his final appearance for Virginia Tech as the Hokies take on California in the Insight Bowl at Bank One Ballpark.
The star running back announced he would not be back for his senior year and will enter the NFL draft.
"I love it here," Jones said. "I love my coaches and my teammates. But at the same time, I thought it was time to move on."
Projected as a top 15 pick, Jones rushed for a school-record 1,494 yards and set another Virginia Tech mark with eight 100-yard games. He ranks third on the Hokies' all-time rushing list with 3,322 yards, 137 yards behind Roscoe Coles.
Jones will try the send the Hokies out winners in what turned out to be another disappointing season. Virginia Tech got off to a 6-0 start and was ranked as high as third, but the Hokies faded down the stretch for the third straight year.
They dropped four of their last games, including their final two contests to Boston College and Virginia. Virginia Tech allowed at least 31 points in three of those four losses.
The Hokies are making their 11th straight bowl appearance and will be playing in the state of Arizona for the first time in school history. Virginia Tech defeated Air Force, 20-13, in last season's San Francisco.
The Hokies' defense struggled down the stretch and could be tested again by a California offense that features the Pac-10 Conference's leading receiver in Geoff McArthur and second-leading rusher in Adimchinobe Echemandu.
McArthur was named a second-team All-America after a spectacular season in which caught 85 passes for 1,504 yards, the second-highest total in the nation behind Pittsburgh's Larry Fitzgerald.
Echemandu returned from a severe knee injury that caused him to miss all of the 2002 season to rush for 1,165 yards on 225 carries.
The Golden Bears (7-6) continued their resurgence under coach Jeff Tedford, who last year took over a program that went 1-10 in 2001. California went 7-5 in Tedford's first season but it was not eligible for a bowl due to NCAA probation.
This year, California was the only team to defeat top-ranked Southern California, topping the Trojans in triple overtime.
"Our goal is to put California in the position to compete on the national level every year and to be in a bowl game every year," Tedford said.
The Golden Bears are making their first bowl appearance since 1996, when they lost to Navy, 42-38, in the Aloha Bowl in Steve Mariucci's only season as coach.
