MIAMI — If Joe Mortensen would have said anything like this six months ago, everyone would have considered him insane. But after Kansas finished off its first ever 12-win season with a 24-21 Orange Bowl victory against Virginia Tech, the junior middle linebacker’s comments seemed perfectly acceptable.

“Next year, it’s not a step down. We’re not trying to maintain, we’re trying to step up,” Mortensen said. “We are trying to play in a national championship.”

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Kansas Football: Orange Bowl

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Whoa there, Jayhawk. Only three years ago, Kansas was one of the most downtrodden programs in all of college football. It was enduring nine straight losing seasons and no signs of developing a consistent football program appeared in Lawrence.

But the prospects of Kansas becoming a football haven don’t sound so empty now. A magnifying glass isn’t needed to see in what direction an Orange Bowl victory sends the Jayhawks.

“It’s a great place to start, a bowl victory,” sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing said. “We’ve got big shoes to fill next year, we’re losing a lot of great seniors that helped this team out in a lot of ways. But we’ve got a lot of guys back, too.”

And in the Orange Bowl, it was those guys who will be coming back who dominated the statistics sheet. Reesing threw for a touchdown and rushed for a another, junior receiver Dexton Fields caught seven passes for 101 yards and junior linebacker Mike Rivera recorded 10 tackles and a sack. The list could stretch on and on. But the contributions from the young guys made it clear that Kansas has the talent to make it more than a one-year success story.

The biggest plays of the game came from the hands of players who will return. With just more than three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Virginia Tech lined up to attempt a 42-yard field goal that would tie the game at 17. But Mortensen scrapped his way to the backfield, raised his hands and blocked the Jud Dunlevy kick. In a three-point game, Mortensen’s block proved to be the difference.

“We sent an all-out block and we had a good push from the d-line,” Mortensen said. “I just squeezed through there and luckily no one saw me.”

Mortensen might have saved the Jayhawks from a tie game, but sophomore strong safety Justin Thornton’s fourth-quarter interception sealed the victory. Virginia Tech junior quarterback Sean Glennon looked for a big play to receiver Josh Hyman down the seam but Thornton had other plans.

He picked off the softly thrown pass and returned it 30 yards to the Kansas 2-yard line. Reesing rushed into the end zone the next play and Kansas took a 24-14 lead with just less than 11 minutes remaining. Reesing, who single-handedly rewrote the Kansas passing record book this season, finished the game 20-for-37 passing for 227 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Considering Virginia Tech possesses the nation’s fourth-best passing efficiency defense and often blanketed all the Kansas receivers, the numbers were impressive for Reesing.

Another player who could be back in crimson and blue next season who made an impact was junior cornerback Aqib Talib. But Talib is projected to be a first-round draft pick, and in a night where he returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown and garnered Orange Bowl MVP honors, his stock couldn’t have fallen. Of course, Talib was tight-lipped about his future and only stated that he had a decision to make.

Talib or not, Kansas coach Mark Mangino knows an Orange Bowl championship sends Kansas into next season with high expectations.

“It means a lot,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “It’s another step for our program.”

After the victory, Thornton said he thought Kansas had transformed from a pure basketball school to a football school. Yet another statement that would have sounded outrageous six months ago, but one that can’t be mocked after a big night from the returning players.