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Virginia Tech has a chance to make a statement on Saturday night when they take on Nebraska in Lincoln. They are playing a team with a national reputation from another BCS conference. The Hokies have struggled in those types of games recently, but this is a big chance to grab a win that would be similar to the victory at Texas A&M in 2002.

The following table lists each out-of-conference BCS team the Hokies have played since 1998, the first year of the BCS. Virginia, Clemson and Florida State are included as out-of-conference teams before ACC expansion, with West Virginia an out-of-conference team after ACC expansion. The results include bowl games.

The Hokies are 15-10 against out-of-conference BCS opponents since 1998. Tech has had some great wins over the years, such as routing Alabama in the Music City Bowl, and beating LSU and Texas A&M in 2002. However, wins over teams with their type of reputation have been harder to find recently.

Since 2003, Virginia Tech's record has been 5-7 against out-of-conference BCS teams. Tech's 10-3 mark from 1998 through 2002 was outstanding, with two of the three losses coming to Florida State in bowl games. However, the last few years haven't been as successful against quality out-of-conference competition, despite the success the Hokies have had in the ACC.

Let's take a look at the individual wins and losses over the past few years. Tech's five wins have come against a Texas A&M team that finished 4-8, and four Big East teams. The Hokies knocked off West Virginia twice, in 2004 and 2005, beat Louisville in the Gator Bowl, and defeated Cincinnati in 2006.

All four of those wins over Big East teams were against bowl teams. West Virginia made the Gator Bowl in 2004 and won the Sugar Bowl in 2005. In fact, Tech's 34-17 win in Morgantown in 2005 was WVU's only loss of the season. The win over Louisville came in the Gator Bowl, and the Cardinals were 9-2 heading into that game. The 2006 victory over Cincinnati was a better one than people think, as the Bearcats went 8-5 and earned a trip to the International Bowl.

So the Hokies have knocked off some solid out-of-conference teams in recent years. However, let's be realistic. None of those teams were as talented as Virginia Tech. None of them were even matchups, and none of them carry the national respect of some of the opponents Tech knocked off in the past.

Tech's out-of-conference losses since 2003 came against Virginia, Cal, USC, Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Kansas. It's probably fair to throw out the losses to UVA and Cal in 2003, as that season was an anomaly. Instead, let's focus on the last five teams on that list. Each of those losses occurred from 2004-2007.

The Hokies were only run off the field once, against LSU. Those other four losses were very good games, and they could have gone either way. So what was the common denominator in all four losses? Tech couldn't produce enough offensively to win the game.

In those last five losses against BCS conference opponents, Tech averaged just 262.6 yards per game, and a measly 15.6 points per game. Back-to-back performances against two SEC teams (189 yards vs. Georgia, 149 yards vs. LSU) were particularly bad.