The Hokie Annual Blog: Another thriller, but is it in the Top 5?
by Chris Colston
After Virginia Tech’s 41-30 victory over North Carolina State, coach Frank Beamer lumped it among the top five wins he’s had with the Hokies.
Maybe he got caught up in the moment after the biggest comeback during his Tech tenure (17 points). Maybe we’ll look back on it and agree with him. But for me, it’s too early to say, because context is important.
If the Hokies go on to win the ACC, which is still entirely possible (and render foolish those who gasped that Tech’s season was “over” after losing to James Madison), then this game could stand as the shining moment of 2010. But I’m not feeling that so much as relief after a horrible first half.
So no, it doesn’t crack my top five under CFB. Those remain:
1. VT 36, Virginia 29, 1995. Coming back from 15 points down at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Hokies showed great gumption against the No. 13 Cavaliers. The win propelled them to their then biggest bowl ever, the Sugar.
2. VT 22, West Virginia 20, 1999. The great Michael Vick-engineered comeback capped by Shayne Graham’s 44-yard field goal pulled it out in Morgantown and kept Tech’s title hopes alive. The Hokies would go on to play in the national championship game.
3. VT 13, Miami 7, 1995. CFB himself has called this game “The turning point in our program.” The Hokies were 0-2 and 9 1/2 point underdogs to the No. 17 Hurricanes. Tech would win 10 in a row including the Sugar Bowl over Texas.
4. VT 16, Nebraska 15, 2009. Just the sheer improbability of it all made this a game no Hokie fan who was in Lane that day will ever forget. The Tyrod bomb to Coale, then the wild TD pass to Dyrell Roberts, and the clinching pick against a quality opponent; what more could you ask for? It gave Tech its sixth consecutive 10-win season and helped it land a Chik-fil-A Bowl bid, where the Hokies beat Tennessee.
5. VT 16, Miami 10, 2004: This road win clinched the Hokies first ACC championship. I’ll always remember Bryan Randall’s deep slant to Eddie Royal on the dead run for the winning score. (Maybe because the slant is such a rarity in the Tech offense?)
Coming up with those five were tough, though. Notice the Sugar Bowl win over Texas isn’t there (probably sixth on my list). Neither is that big Independence Bowl win over Indiana in 1993. The comeback win at Georgia Tech in 2004 when things looked so bleak late. The 62-0 shellacking of Syracuse in ’99. The Orange Bowl win over Cincinnati.
So what’s your Top 5?
I would change #5 to VT 34, Georgia Tech 20, 2004. While I don’t disagree the importance of the Miami game during that season, the Georgia Tech game (specifically the 2nd half, more specifically the 4th quarter with 5:28 remaining in the game) was the turning point of the 2004 season where Tech went on to pull off victories the rest of the season to capture the championship.
The only other one I would say is significant is the 2002 Texas A&M game (13 – 3) where the Hokies fought a nail biter at College Station and snapped the Aggies 14 year non-conference home game winning streak. Huge!!
I agree with Chris the 2004 Miami game has to be on the list. It was the de facto ACC Championship and a BCS game was on the line. It wasn’t just one of a string of games that got us there. Every game that year was close, but this one was for our first ACC title.
I won’t make my own list, but as much as a “feel good” win Saturday was, I don’t even think it would make my top 10. I’d rank it near the 2008 Nebraska game or Gator Bowl win over Louisville. Great wins for our team, but more in the 10-20 range. Besides Chris’s top 5 and honorable mentions, I would put the 2003 Miami game up there. We were home underdogs, we were coming off a really tough week and Miami had an epic regular season win streak. I know nobody in the stands that day will forget the whipping we laid on them. I’ve been to approx 100 Tech games, including most that have been mentioned, and the most memorable for me were 2009 Nebraska & 2003 Miami.
To me, the Sugar Bowl win over Texas announced that Virginia Tech was now playing “Big Boy Football” and were a team and program to be reckoned with. I especially liked the way the team came on stronger and stronger as the game went on. By the end of the game there was NO DOUBT who the superior team was on that night, Virginia Tech.
Roll Hokies
I’m going to have to agree with Pete, I still have a cup from the 2003 Miami game on which I wrote “Best Day of My Life.” I’m not sure it still holds that lofty position, but the cup stands as a monument to the fact that that day was one of the best days I ever had in Lane Stadium. That and the 1999 Syracuse game (…and the 1999 Clemson game…and the whole 1999 season).
I’m surprised to see Chris even includes the Orange Bowl over Cincy in the honorable mention. I mean it was nice to shake off our bowl struggles, but was that really that big a win? I mean its Cincinnati, c’mon.
So many games to think of here. The HU top 5 are all good ones, but since I’ve only been a fan since the 2000 season, my top 5 is a little different. In no particular order:
2003: VT 31 MIA 7. The Walk – ’nuff said.
2004: VT 34 GT 20. Same reasons. That was the game Bryan Randall emerged as the team leader, and he’s been my favorite Hokie ever since. Tyrod’s performace vs. NC State was just as epic.
2007: VT 40 FSU 21. A very satisfying win. Too bad Beamer had to wait until Bowden was 106 years old to finally get that monkey off his back.
2007: VT 30 BC 16. Starting our revenge against the Matt Ryan game. While it still stung (and still does) losing to them in the regular season matchup, beating them in the ACC Championship when it mattered most was a nice consolation prize.
2009: VT 48 BC 14. More revenge against BC. Wounds are still not healed, but that was an exceedingly fun game.
2009: VT 16 NEB 15. Quite possibly my #1 win as a Tech fan. Probably a coinflip between that and the 2003 Miami game. Clearly, this was the more dramatic win, but the whole day for that Miami game was a perfect storm. Both are unforgettable.
2010: VT 41 NCST 30. Again, ’nuff said.
So that’s more than five games, and not all of them are exactly epic, but those rank among the most satisfying wins for me.
ahh the 1995 game against Miami… the first time and only time i’ve gone onto Worsham Field, only to be pepper sprayed while just standing around in a mob!
Miami 1995 nuff said…… First victory vs Miami. Arctic Tundra football. I almost fell down marching onto the field with the Corps of Cadets. AWESOME NIGHT!
YES… The good ole days when students were allowed to rush the field and tear down goal posts, which as usual ended up in the Duck Pond after cruising around drunken Blacksburg most of the night.
I would like to give a shout out to the Cadet who climbed to the top of the goal post in now student endzone. The Cadet disobeyed a direct order by the Commandant and went onto that hallowed field.
The Cadet was dismissed by the Corps of Cadets the following week.
Who ever you are, you are my hero! I would love to buy you a beer, and possibly name my third born after you!
Oh and by the way! For an engineering school, we sucked at tearing goalposts down!
nobody has mentioned the absolute beat-down we put on Clemson about 3 years ago in their home stadium… when we had like 3 or 4 defensive/special teams touch-downs (1 of which was called back by a penalty). But the best part was the absolute defensive beat-down we laid on Clemson… talk about smash-mouth football !! I still have this saved on my dvr – for those off-season, must-have-some-football moments…. love a beat-down on the pussy-cats from clemson. :)
But when was the last time that the Hokies came from behind and put up 41 points on a ranked opponent. As you notice, most of our wins can be attributed entirely to our defense. It was nice to see the offense show up.