In its first BCS bowl game in over a decade, the Stanford football team engineered a blowout of Virginia Tech on Monday night in the Orange Bowl, 40-12. The No. 4 Cardinal (12-1, 8-1 Pac-10) has reached 12 wins for the first time in program history. Meanwhile, the No. 13 Hokies (11-3, 8-0 ACC) fall to 1-27 in program history against teams ranked in the top-5 nationally.

While Stanford eventually won the game by a blowout margin, the score at halftime gave no indication of the eventual outcome. Stanford led the Hokies by a single point, 13-12, and the game looked like it would be a tight matchup to the very end.

Stanford dominated Virginia Tech on both sides of the ball throughout the second half. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, a redshirt sophomore, racked up 201 passing yards and three touchdowns in the half on 9-of-10 passing. Stanford’s running game was also in top form, with running back Stepfan Taylor routinely gashing the Virginia Tech defense for big chunks of yardage. Surprisingly, the team’s leading receiver was redshirt junior tight end Coby Fleener. Fleener had 173 yards on 6 receptions, including two spectacular catch-and-run touchdowns.

Defensively, the Cardinal front seven thoroughly outplayed the Virginia Tech offensive line, putting pressure on star quarterback Tyrod Taylor all night long. Taylor was routinely hurried and sacked by Stanford’s linebackers, especially senior Owen Marecic and sophomore Shayne Skov. The defense also did a good job of containing Taylor’s ability to make plays with his legs, keeping him from scrambling too often.

Check back on StanfordDaily.com later tonight for our full recap of the Orange Bowl, including quotes from the players and head coach Jim Harbaugh.