The Virginia Tech Hokies football team is Virgina Tech’s college football program and is one of the most successful college football teams in the country. It competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the NCAA Division I-FBS. The Hokies play their home games at the Lane Stadium, one of the loudest stadiums and has one of the best home-field advantages in the nation. Following the 2006 season, the Hokies have a career record of 198-105-4. Their head coach, Frank Beamer, is considered to be the third coach with the most number of wins in the Division I-FBS. He ranks behind Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. The Hokies also have a consistent record in the bowl games, participating in the postseason every year since the 1993 season. They also have the third longest streak of bowl game participation in the country, behind Michigan, Florida, and Florida State. In college football program history, the Hokies ranked in the Top 10 four times, won six conference championships, and played for the national championships. However, they lost in the 2000 Sugar Bowl to Florida State University by 46-29.
The first football game the Hokies ever played was in October 21, 1892 against the Radford, Virginia school St. Albans Lutheran Boys School. At that time, Virginia Tech was known as the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. They won their game with a score of 14-10 but eight days later, when they returned to Ratford for another game, they were defeated 10-0. For decades, the Hokies was a mediocre independent program, winning and losing games here and there. But in 1987, when head coach Frank Beamers was hired, the Hokies worked its way up to the top 20. In the 1995 Sugar Bowl, the Hokies, ranking at 13th, defeated he Texas Longhorns, which ranked at 9th.
The best season for the Hokies was probably the 1999 season. Led by freshman quarterback Michael Vick, the Hokies went through the regular season with an 11-0 record. They defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers in a last minute drive and winning field goal ending in a 22-20 victory. That game came to be known as the “Miracle of Morgantown.”
In the following seasons, the Hokies had a fair share of success, making it to the 2000 Sugar Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles defeated them however 46-29. The next season was better as the Hokies once again played for the national championship. While they lost in the Sugar Bowl to the Miami Hurricanes, they won the 2001 Gator Bowl, defeating the Clemson Tigers 41-20.
The 2007 season was a solemn season for the Hokies due to the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings which shocked the entire world. Still, the Hokies prevailed in an emotional game against the East Carolina Pirates with a 17-7 score. The team went on to play against the LSU Tigers but managed only 149 yards as opposed to the Tigers’ 598 yards. In their match up against Boston College, they had a 10-0 lead but later lost at the last minute 10-14. Still, Virginia Tech managed to win the rest of the regular season and claim a Coastal Division Crown.