Here are three quick-hit observations from Stanford’s 40-12 rout of Virginia Tech in the 2011 Orange Bowl.

1. Will this be Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck’s final hurrah at Stanford?
If it was, they certainly went out with a bang. Luck completed 18-of-23 passes for 287 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in the win, while Harbaugh left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he can coach in big games, small games or sandlot games. If Luck, a redshirt sophomore, were to declare for the NFL draft he would be the No. 1 pick in April. The Panthers aren’t going to pass on taking a quarterback, but Luck said last week that he’s leaning towards staying for his junior year. Harbaugh, on the other hand, is probably moving on. He’s gone as far as he can go at Stanford and if he wants to coach his alma mater, I doubt Michigan would think twice about telling Rich Rodriguez to shove off in order to make room for him. If Harbaugh wants to go to the NFL, the 49ers have already expressed interest and I’m sure the Panthers will/have as well. Harbaugh says he won’t rush any decision, but I’m sure one is forthcoming.

2. What a bad night for the entire Virginia Tech program.
The Hokies kicked a field goal right before halftime to cut Stanford’s lead down to 13-12 and then they forgot to come out for the second half. Their offense couldn’t sustain drives, their defense couldn’t limit the big plays and after the Cardinal went up by two touchdowns late in the third quarter, VA Tech completely checked out mentally (even though there was still a quarter to go). Tyrod Taylor made a couple of great plays with his arm and legs, but struggled keeping drives alive because he was always in third-and-long thanks to his running game (or lack thereof). Give credit to Stanford’s defense – they came to play.

3. You’re right BCS, this is way better than a playoff.
Three BCS bowl games are in the books and two of them were blowouts. The TCU-Wisconsin game had an exciting finish, but the Oklahoma-UConn game was a dud (as expected) and the second half of the Orange Bowl was like watching Stanford scrimmage against its scout team. The BCS obviously can’t control what happens after the opening kickoff, but they hype these five games as if they’re the best five games fans will see all year and so far they’ve been lousy. The title game and the Sugar Bowl can still save the action but the BCS can’t look anyone in the eye and say this is better than a playoff. Maybe VA Tech and UConn would have been blown out in a playoff game too, but at least Stanford and Oklahoma would be moving on to the next round. At least we’d still have more football to enjoy instead of: Stanford 40, Virginia Tech 12 – hey, thanks for coming out!

Entering the Virginia Tech-Cincinnati Orange Bowl matchup Thursday night, the ACC hadn’t earned a BCS victory since 1999 and some media outlets were even suggesting that the conference champion should lose its automatic BCS bid. Making matters worse, the conference was just 3-6 in non-BCS bowl games this year, further adding to the embarrassment.

But Frank Beamer’s Hokies put an end to the ACC’s drought with their convincing 20-7 win over the Big East Champion Bearcats. Tech held Brian Kelly’s dynamic offense to just 239 passing yards and picked off Cincy quarterback Tony Pike four times.

Offensively, Hokie frosh running back Darren Evans did most of the damage, rushing for 153 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor added 47 rushing yards and a score. As a team, Tech rushed for 259 yards, which was their third 250-yard rushing game of the year.

Maybe this win will breathe some life into the ACC, which certainly has some talented programs, but inconsistency seems to be the conference’s major drawback.

VA Tech always has one of the more talented defenses, but poor quarterback play doomed them for most of the year. Georgia Tech’s triple option was impossible to stop at times, but LSU’s 38-3 rout in the Chick-fil-A Bowl proved that the Jackets still have a long way to go to compete for a national title. Boston College, NC State and Maryland have some great young talent, but once again, inconsistency doomed those three programs throughout the year.

With players like Evans, Taylor, Da’Rel Scott and Russell Wilson, the ACC will feature some of the best young talent in college football heading into 2009. So hopefully the ACC can turn their BCS misfortunes around and produce a legit title contender next year, instead of being the conference that’s best known for its underachieving.