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	Interests : College Football : Greatest Moments in VT Football

Greatest Moments in VT Football History

Virginia Tech was my unlikely selection for a future alma mater; I turned down offers from Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and the US Naval Academy, along with full rides at WVU, Marshall, and Concord College to attend the nearby Virginia Tech in 1993.

The Hokies had just come off one of the worst seasons in their history, a 2-8-1 affair that included an ugly loss to Rutgers. But things were about to take a change for the better as Virginia Tech began its march to the top of the college football world, running off eight impressive wins and a trip to the Independence Bowl.

1993 Independence Bowl: Beamerball!
My freshman year marked the turning point for Virginia Tech football and their emergence onto the national scene. Having gone 2-8-1 the previous year, Tech turned it around and finished a solid 9-3, losing to 11-0 WVU, 9-2 Miami, and 9-2 BC (all outstanding teams; BC, for instance, beat #1 Notre Dame and lost only to WVU and Miami). Up 14-10 with about a minute and a half left in the second quarter vs. Indiana in the Independence Bowl (a team Lee Corso once coached and said with which we had no business even being on the same field), Tech turned the game into a blowout. First came an interception for a TD... and then as time ran out in the half, Indiania's coach screamed for a timeout to kick a long field goal... which Tech blocked and turned into ANOTHER TD to go up 28-10. In the immortal words of Bill Paxton, "Game over, man!"

1995 Hokies Celebrate First Win over Miami
After an awful 0-2 start that had many believing VT had returned to its proper mediocrity, the juggernauts of "the U" came to town to ensure another loss. Yet the Hokies would prove how far they had come with a 13-7 win that signalled the beginning of a ten-win season and a decade of dominance over the Hurricanes. And to think I missed the game with an awful case of strep throat and had to watch it on TV!

1995 Sugar Bowl: The Lost TD
The 1995 Sugar Bowl marked another instance of "Tech doesn't even deserve to play Team x," with Team x being the top-10 Texas Longhorns. Although down 10-0 just before the half (and I having to endure ragging from a cousin's UT-alumnus husband), VT turned it around with a punt return for a TD to end the half and never looked back. The play I call the "Lost TD" was the result of a great sack--so great the camera men focused on the pileup and the commentators went on and on about such a great hit only to suddenly say, as the camera panned to the far end zone, "Wait a minute... there's a Hokie in the endzone dancing around with the football!" Tech went on to win 28-10 and finish in the top 10 for the first time in history.

1999 Miracle in Morgantown
With Penn State losing, VT stood to move to second and put itself into the Sugar Bowl for the title vs. #1 Florida State. WVU managed to take a two point lead with less than a minute left against an uncharistically lackluster defensive performance by the Hokies; Michael Vick's amazing run up the sideline put Tech into position to kick a game-winning field goal behind Shayne Graham and keep the title drive alive.

1999 Syracuse at the Terror Dome
A 14th ranked Syracuse team came into Blacksburg and Tech's first ever visit by ESPN's Game Day crew as many pundits' upset special. By the time the night was over, Tech had delivered the worst beating to a top-15 team in history, 62-0, backing up Corey Moore's dubbing of Lane Stadium the "Terror Dome."

2000 Wayne Ward Puts WVU in the Hospital
Wayne Ward's block on an Andre Davis punt return could have been captioned, "ICU ... like a Hospital." The impact could be heard throughout the stadium and is to date one of the most crushing hits I have ever seen. Andre Davis also scored three times in six minutes on two long TD catches and a punt return. Nice!

2003 The Walk Over #2 Miami
Though not the 2-vs-3 matchup to determine the Sugar Bowl visitor many had believed it would be (thanks, WVU ... I hate you), Virginia Tech blasted away Miami for their biggest win in history, defeating the second-ranked Hurricanes 31-7 after ten thousand Hokies showed up to buoy the team's spirits at the pre-game "Walk" and providing a special moment for FARKers everywhere with Miami's dropped wide-open pass on a fake punt.

2004 Vengeance Is Sweet: VT Ends WVU's Title Hopes
After an embarassing loss that basically ended VT's run at a second title appearance in 2003 in Morgantown (aka "Morganhole" if you're a visiting fan) and a year of putting up with ribbing from every WVU alumni I know (plus a number of people who don't have GEDs, much less a college education), Tech proved that vengeance is sweet and payback's a bitch in derailing WVU's waltz to the Orange Bowl by dominating the new "beast of the east" in a game that could have easily been 56-6.

2004 Pour Some Sugar on VT: ACC Championship at the Orange Bowl
Picked to finish from 6th - 8th in their first season in the ACC (and laughed at by many a UVA fan with, "See how tough it is in a REAL conference!"), Tech finished off an improbable dream season at the unofficial ACC Championship game in the Orange Bowl by beating Miami 16-10 to take sole ownership of first place, a BCS bid to the Sugar Bowl, and to extend their dominance over Miami (7 of the last 10!) Hokies danced to the tune of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" all night long.

2007 End of the Free Shoes Curse: VT 40-FSU 21
The Hokies should have beaten the boys from Free Shoes U. three times during my time at Tech ('99, '01, '05), yet each and every time the Hokies found a way to lose. Was it a curse? Would Frank Beamer ever defeat Bobby Bowden? On November 10, 2007, the Hokies did just that, and even if the 'Noles had a tad bit less luster than in the past, the victory was just as sweet.