How appropriate was it for this year's season finale to occur at Thanksgiving? Very appropriate, since Hokie fans everywhere have much for which to be thankful. First, our freshman quarterback exceeded everyone's expectations, garnering the Big East Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year honors. Then, our All-American stud defensive end lived up to our expectations and put in yet another head-turning year.

We should count ourselves lucky as well since the path to the Sugar Bowl contained plenty of obstacles. Each opponent who could have possibly kept the Hokies from Bourbon Street folded up as if following a script prepared by a Blacksburg screenwriter. As the opposition fell, media pundits made comparisons to Kansas State and blasted Tech for its admittedly weak schedule.

A few prognosticators made bold early predictions of an undefeated Hokie record, but most waited until season's end before revealing that VT was indeed deserving of a National Championship berth. So, be very thankful that Coach Beamer added some heavy-duty shocks to our bandwagon this year to accommodate all the recent passengers.

And finally, we should be thankful that instead of worrying about strength of schedule components and conspiracy theories, we all fully enjoyed the wonderful ride provided by the Orange and Maroon gridiron stalwarts. Whoops! I guess that's one area most of us screwed up. Well, here's your chance to make up for it. Here's a condensed version of this year's dream season. Remember, the journey should be just as enjoyable as the destination, so this time, slow down and smell the roses along the way!

Close your eyes, and drift back to summertime. Ah, Preseason. The late-season frustration created by 98's lack of offensive output is forgotten with promises of newfound firepower. The noise surrounding Vick is deafening, and the hype is capped off with VT's first ever first-place vote in the AP Poll. Michigan sportswriter Jack Ebling says our new QB is the missing puzzle piece to match up with our stifling defense. Although he researches his case before stating his opinion, he is called a "blithering idiot" by his peers for not taking the poll seriously and throwing away his vote like that. ESPN's Lee Corso confounds the media even more when he predicts a matchup between Virginia Tech and Florida State for all the marbles at season's end. His ramblings are dismissed as more lunatic ravings, though.

JMU: The season opener is a sellout, as the stadium fills with onlookers hoping to get a glimpse of this new kid in action. Vick gives them just what they were asking for in the first quarter and a half, astounding everyone with his fleet feet and rushing for 3 touchdowns, and the play that will live on forever - the Vick flip. The last TD leaves everyone worried, reminding them of Al Clark's injuries last year. Coupled with Nathaniel William's injury, the prevailing thought was 'uh oh, not again.'

UAB: Beamer asks for fans to pack the stands, and his call is answered with another sellout. Dave Meyer takes the helm, completing 12-of-21 passes for 144 yards, but was also picked off three times in the first half. The defense steps up their play and holds UAB to a meager 63 yards of total offense! "I've had all I want of Virginia Tech," Blazers coach Watson Brown said. "I've played them all through the years, and this is the toughest one. They're the best I've played and that includes Nebraska, Tennessee and Arizona."

Clemson: Following an off weekend, the Hokies moved up to their highest position ever in the polls at #8. Clemson pulled out all the stops against the team that humiliated them in Death Valley the previous year, and made this game a thriller. ESPN had been carrying out a Hokie lovefest all night long, and Corso in particular was touting Moore as the best defensive player in the country. Said Corso, "Give him the Outland Trophy now!" With less than a quarter to play, the game was still a toss-up, but Corey would have none of that. He pressured Streeter into his only interception (which Ike Charlton returned 47 yards for a touchdown) and then forced a fumble on the ensuing series, which he scooped up and ran into the end zone himself. Vick worked the clock like a seasoned veteran, but also showed some freshman jitters, throwing 3 interceptions. Stith picked up the slack though, rushing for a workhorse-like 162 yards on 28 carries

Virginia: The battle for the Commonwealth Cup took place in UVa's Scott Stadium this year, although you wouldn't know it listening to the crowd. The cheers had an Orange and Maroon flavor to them, even though the Hokies were only allocated 5000 tickets. The loudest cheers came in the first quarter when Vick completed his first passing touchdown of his college career: a perfectly thrown 60-yarder to Andre Davis. He would go 7-of-9 for 222 yards in the game, silencing the fans that jeered him at the game's outset. After the weekend, the Hokies gain their first ever top 5 ranking, thanks to other top teams losing. UVa players create some fallout after the game, stating to the press that VT isn't all that good and that they weren't impressed. The Richmond Times runs a beauty of a cartoon showing VT flattening UVa with a steamroller, and the Cavs stating 'I'm still not impressed.'

Rutgers: Terry Shea joked before the game that his game plan was to win the coin toss so he could keep VT's offense off the field for a little while... how right he was. The Michael Vick show continued as he threw a 74-yard TD strike to Davis on the first play of the game. He only played in the first half, but completed 11-of-12 for 248 yards, tying a school record with four touchdown passes as VT rolled to a 49-14 halftime lead. Although the game is only shown on ESPN regional (thanks to a deal worked out by Weaver... he da man!!), the Vick hype grows as his quarterback rating reaches an astounding 208 passing efficiency!

Syracuse: The Orangemen rode a good defense to rankings of #15 (coaches' poll) and #16 (AP poll), with their sole loss a close one at the hands of Michigan. ESPN brought the GameDay crew to Blacksburg for the matchup, and the Hokies came out in droves, setting a new GameDay record of 13,000 fans. Syracuse's star linebacker, Keith Bulluck, states that VT needs to take the Big East title away from them (the Orange), and that's something they won't allow. He goes on further to state that Vick is "no Donovan McNabb." Bulluck is lucky he didn't buy any lottery tickets that day, because his prognostications couldn't be further from the mark. Tech avenges last season's last-second loss and humiliates Syracuse in the process by whipping them 62-0: the largest shutout of a ranked team in the history of the AP. The nation finally believes VT is for real, and Corey coins the phrase "Welcome to the Terror Dome!"

Pittsburgh: After losses to two key players in the secondary (Midget and Charlton), Sophomore Quarterback David Priestley burned the nation's top defense for 406 passing yards, continually picking on Ronyell Whittaker. The youngster's valuable game experience came without costing the team a loss thanks in part to Andre Kendrick, who had the best game of his career rushing 16 times for 162 yards. After the game, Vick stated, "We needed to play a team like this. We can't keep blowing out our opponents. We needed this game to show our team's character."

West Virginia: If the Pitt game showed the team's character, this game solidified it. Just prior to kickoff, the Hokies' national championship hopes were buoyed with news of #2 Penn State losing to Minnesota due to a last-second field goal. Bulger was knocked out of the game, but his backup played solidly and Freshman Avon Cobourne had a big day for West Virginia, carrying 27 times for 133 yards and did something no other team had been able to do all season; they took a lead. The Mountaineers controlled the momentum through the end of the fourth quarter and seemingly had the game in the bag. With only 1:16 remaining in the game and no timeouts, Tech took over on its own 16-yard line. The freshman quarterback led the most memorable drive of his young career as he first connected with two receivers, then took off down the sideline for what seemed to be a short scamper, but instead turned into a streaking 26-yard gain. Vick then threw a pass over the middle to Ricky Hall just short of the first down. With the clock ticking away, Vick spiked the ball with only 5 seconds remaining, setting up a 44-yard field goal attempt for Graham. Shayne would split the uprights for his first game-winning score and ride off the field on the shoulders of his teammates. "Our kids really played their hearts out," said West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, whose team rallied from a 12-point deficit. "I really feel bad for them. They really bled for this game. I've got a lot of sick guys in that locker room."

Miami: ESPN had such a good time on their previous trip to Blacksburg, they decided to bring the GameDay crew back to campus, and the attendance record fell once more as 15,000 fans packed the stands. Hokie fans can partially thank the BCS and Tennessee for Tech's ferocious approach to this game. With UT passing Tech in the BCS poll the previous week, Tech was mad and once again felt like the underdog. With the Hurricanes coming to town, they were provided with someone on whom to vent their anger. Poor Miami. The only way they could figure to retaliate was with an eye-gouging and groin-punching display of mythic proportions, oh my! Reminiscent of last year's contest, the Hokies forced six turnovers and tossed Miami's quarterback around like a rag doll. Anthony Midget tied a school record with 3 interceptions and fellow cornerback Ike Charlton recovered 3 fumbles, returning one of them 51 yards for a touchdown. The Hokies' lead was only 20-10 going into the fourth quarter before wide receiver Ricky Hall opened the floodgates, returning a punt 66 yards for the score. "It doesn't take a whole lot of explanation," Miami coach Butch Davis said. "We got beat by a good football team. They played very well and deserve a tremendous amount of credit. They beat us in every phase."

Temple: Temple achieved its highest attendance record of the year thanks to droves of Tech fans who drove up to Philly to witness the revenge wreaked upon the Owls for last year's upset. Temple started out strong, scoring on their first possession, but then VT scored 62 unanswered points to seal the game. The most outstanding plays came once again from Vick and his unearthly scrambling ability. "We blitzed him and had him for a sack," Bobby Wallace explained. "Any other quarterback gets sacked. He runs 75 yards for a touchdown. He's a great player. What can you say?" Ben Taylor made ESPN's plays of the week clips with two bone-crunching hits on Temple receiver Greg Muckerson on consecutive plays.

Boston College: Tech amassed a total of 555 yards of offense behind a trio of long touchdown passes by Vick as he completed 11-of-13 passes for 290 yards. His 69-yard bomb to Davis traveled 65 yards in the air and caused Tom O'Brien to comment that he thought it might bring rain since it was up in the sky so long. "He's the difference-maker," O'Brien said. "He was the difference in the first half. We couldn't contain him. He's the wild card factor. He's playing at a level that Charlie Ward and Donovan McNabb did their third and fourth year." After the game, rabid fans stormed the field to tear down the goalposts while Beamer capped off the perfect season as he uncharacteristically asked the crowd, "How many of y'all are going to join me in New Orleans?"

Ahhh, don't you feel much better now? As we head into the pre-bowl lull, there is one more thing to be thankful for: Jerome Lemelson. No, he's not a football recruit. He's the inventor of the VCR, and thanks to his creation, we can all still sit down on Saturdays in the off-season and revel in this year's Hokie highlights.