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   Welcome to TSLMail #185 - Friday, July 22, 2005    
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   Tech Sports News

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by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com

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Up and Down the Polls in the Beamer Bowl Era
 by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

The Hokies have been one of the top teams in the nation in the Beamer Bowl Era in both wins and Top 25 rankings. Virginia Tech has been a fixture in the national polls since 1993, almost always earning a spot in the rankings. And since the Michael Vick era, VT has spent a lot of its time ranked in the Top Ten.

The Hokies are known for overachieving, and for the most part, this table supports that theory, showing that the Hokies generally end the season ranked higher than they started.

 

Season

Preseason Rank

Highest Ranking

Final Ranking

AP

Coaches

Ave.

AP

Coaches

Ave.

AP

Coaches

Ave.

1993

NR

NR

NR

22

20

21

22

20

21

1994

22

19

20.5

13

10

11.5

NR

24

NR

1995

24

NR

NR

10

9

9.5

10

9

9.5

1996

16

15

15.5

10

9

9.5

13

12

12.5

1997

NR

25

NR

14

12

13

NR

NR

NR

1998

NR

NR

NR

14

10

12

23

19

21

1999

13

14

13.5

2

2

2

2

3

2.5

2000

11

10

10.5

2

2

2

6

6

6

2001

9

9

9

5

4

4.5

18

18

18

2002

16

16

16

3

3

3

18

14

16

2003

9

10

9.5

3

3

3

NR

NR

NR

2004

NR

NR

NR

9

9

9

10

10

10

Note that seasons where VT ended higher in the rankings are shown in orange, and seasons where VT ended lower in the rankings are shown in maroon.

Here are a few notes about the trends that stand out in the rankings.
  • Virginia Tech has been ranked in the Top 20 in the Coaches’ Poll at some point during the season every year of the Beamer Bowl Era.
  • Virginia Tech has been ranked in the Top 25 in the AP Poll at some point during the season every year of the Beamer Bowl Era.
  • Virginia Tech has been ranked in the Top Ten in at least one poll for at least one week of every season, except for 1993 and 1997.
  • Virginia Tech has finished the season ranked in the Top Ten four times in the Beamer Bowl Era.
  • Virginia Tech failed to finished ranked by both polls only twice in the Beamer Bowl Era, in 1997 and 2003.

Now, let’s look at each specific season.

1993: Virginia Tech was coming off a 2-8-1 season, and many fans were fuming that Frank Beamer was still coaching in Blacksburg. However, the Hokies surprised everyone by finishing 9-3 and winning the Independence Bowl, and they have never looked back. The Hokies broke into the national rankings in 1993 on October 24 with a #24 ranking in the Coaches' Poll, following a 49-42 win over Rutgers. The Hokies were out of the rankings only once more the rest of the season.

1994: The Hokies began the 1994 season ranked in both polls. They started 4-0 and climbed to #10 in the Coaches’ Poll on the backs of two big wins, one at Boston College and a nationally-televised Thursday night game against West Virginia. Tech later lost at Syracuse and at Miami, and then the wheels fell off after an embarrassing 42-23 home loss to Virginia in which Tech turned the ball over eight times. Tech then got blown out by Tennessee in the Gator Bowl, and barely hung on to a #24 ranking in the Coaches’ Poll.

1995: The 1995 team began the season ranked #24 by the AP Poll. The Hokies proceeded to lose the first two games of the season at home to Boston College, 20-14, and Cincinnati, 16-0. But you know what happened after that. The Hokies got it together, beat Miami 13-7, running the table, and finishing the season 10-2 with a Sugar Bowl win over Texas. The Hokies didn’t break back into the Top 25 until they beat Syracuse on Nov. 4 to go to 7-2, but they finished in the Top Ten in both polls.

1996: Tech was ranked fairly high in the preseason in 1996 and started the season 3-0. They went to Syracuse on September 28 ranked #18 by the AP, got run out of the Carrier Dome 52-21, and dropped out of the AP rankings. Tech hung on to a #23 ranking in the Coaches’ Poll, and stayed there the entire season, though it would take three weeks to return to the AP rankings. VT went on to beat East Carolina, Miami, West Virginia and Virginia to end the season. Tech went to the Orange Bowl and lost to Nebraska.

1997: The 1997 Hokies were ranked #25 in the Coaches’ Poll to begin the season. This team looked pretty good at first, beating Syracuse 31-3 in Blacksburg, part of a 4-0 start that led to a #12 in the Coaches’ Poll. VT then fell in a home upset to Miami of Ohio. Quarterback Al Clark was banged up, wideout Shawn Scales got hurt, and the Hokies limped to the finish line, finishing unranked after getting crushed 42-3 by North Carolina in the Gator Bowl.

1998: The Hokies had their mojo back in 1998, playing great defense and excelling on special teams, despite an offense that didn’t produce that much. Tech started unranked and rose to #10 in the Coaches’ Poll on the strength of a 5-0 start. They would have risen higher as well, had they not run into the buzz-saw (sarcasm alert) that was Temple on October 17. Al Clark was hurt, and Temple rallied from a 17-point deficit for the victory. Tech also lost in the final seconds to Syracuse and Virginia, but finished on a high note in the Music City Bowl by beating Alabama 38-7. Tech finished in the Top 25 in both polls.

1999: The 1999 team didn’t begin as highly ranked as they should have, but we’ll forgive the voters on this one. No one knew what college football was getting with Michael Vick. Tech blew out almost everyone they played, got some last minute heroics from Vick and Shayne Graham at West Virginia, and lost to Florida State in the National Championship game in the Sugar Bowl 46-29. The Hokies finished #2 in the AP and #3 in the Coaches' poll that year.

2000: The 2000 team returned an explosive offense, but only three defensive starters. The Hokies rolled over some overmatched opponents early and toughed out a close win over Pittsburgh to overcome an injury to Michael Vick. They then went into the Miami game without a healthy Vick or Andre Davis, and got whipped. But the game featured a lot of hype, as the Hokies were ranked #2 and Miami was #3. However, VT put the loss behind them and won out, beating Clemson in the Gator Bowl to finish 11-1 for the second consecutive season and ending up #6 in both polls.

2001: The 2001 team had a lot of hype surrounding it. The defense was great, but Vick was gone, the offensive line was gutted by graduation, and Lee Suggs tore his ACL in the season opener. The Hokies were a good team, but they didn’t have the horses on the offensive end to stay in the Top Ten. Tech got as high as #4 in the Coaches' Poll before they fell out of the Top Five with a loss to Syracuse, and later lost to Pittsburgh, Miami and Florida State in the Gator Bowl. However, the Hokies still finished ranked #18 in both polls.

2002: This was billed as a rebuilding year for Tech, but the pollsters still had the Hokies at #16 in both polls to begin the year. And VT did a lot to back that up, beating LSU, Texas A&M and Marshall. However, Tech showed their weakness at quarterback, had injuries on defense, and wore down as the season went on. Pittsburgh knocked Tech out of the #3 spot on November 2, and the Hokies lost a total of three in a row. However, they did manage to beat UVA, and knocked off Air Force in the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl to finish 10-4 and ranked in both polls.

2003: The 2003 team was picked by many to compete for the National Championship, and the Hokies looked good early on, rising as high as #3 in both polls. However, a Thursday night trip to Morgantown ended their title hopes in a lopsided manner. VT rallied to crush Miami 31-7, but then fell to Pitt, UVA, and Boston College, as well as Cal in the Insight Bowl. The Hokies finished unranked, tumbling all the way out of the polls after being #3.

2004: Last season was supposed to be another rebuilding year, and it looked like that was going to be the case after NC State used ten sacks to knocked off the Hokies in Blacksburg, dropping VT to 2-2. But the Hokies rallied behind a great defense and the senior leadership of Bryan Randall, finishing the regular season with eight straight wins and a berth in the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to undefeated Auburn 16-13. Tech finished #10 in both polls.

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   TechSideline.com Updates From the Past Week


Trouble in the Trenches Down the Road?
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com, 7/21/05, 3:15 pm
In a little over two years from now, on September 8th, 2007, Virginia Tech will travel to LSU to face the Tigers in what will likely be a nationally televised game on ESPN or CBS. College football fans, bored by the offseason, will have been pointing to this game all summer as the top early out-of-conference matchup of the season. The Hokies will have a chance to make a statement on the road on national television.
in TSL Pass

Q&A With Octagon's Andy Ross
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 7/21/05, 12:15 am
About a year and a half ago, we were contacted by Andy Ross, who works for the Octagon Agency representing football players. Out of the blue, Andy asked if we were interested in doing a "rookie diary" with a new client at Octagon, the recently-graduated Nathaniel Adibi. We jumped on the chance, following Adibi through the NFL Combine, pro workouts, the NFL Draft, his early experiences with the Steelers, and being waived and resigned a few times by a couple different teams.
in TSL Columnists

Status of the 2005 Football Recruiting Class
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com, 7/20/05, 4:40 pm
Virginia Tech signed 25 football players to letters of intent this past February, which is the maximum allowed in one year by the NCAA. Of those players, many have already enrolled at Tech, while others are still waiting to receive word on their qualification status from the NCAA Clearinghouse. Here's an update on all 25 players from that class and their current status.
Also: ACC Bowl News.
in News and Notes

Keys to the ACC Championship, Part 2: NC State, Boston College, and Virginia
by Chris James, TechSideline.com, 7/20/05, 11:50 am
Continuing our Keys to the ACC Championship feature, we’ll take a look at three teams that should be pretty good, but lack either talent or experience at some key positions that will likely keep them from competing for the ACC Championship. But after Virginia Tech’s 2004 season, you never really know. We’ll start with the only ACC team to beat the Hokies last year, N.C. State, and cover Boston College and Virginia as well.
in TSL Pass

VHSCA All-Star Game Report and Scouting Reports
by Phil Martin, 7/19/05, 11:20 am
Led by the Virginia Tech trio of Greg Boone, Elan Lewis, and Victor “Macho” Harris, the East squad raced out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and coasted to a relatively easy 28-20 win. Co-Offensive MVPs for the East, Greg Boone of Oscar Smith HS and Kevin Cousins (Penn State) from Huguenot HS, connected for two touchdown passes. East Defensive MVP Macho Harris, of Highland Springs HS, also played extensively on offense and accounted for the third first-half touchdown, catching a flare pass from Landstown QB Marcus Black and evading several West defenders on a highlight-reel 27 yard run.
in TSL Pass

West Side Construction Photos
by TechSideline.com, 7/18/05, 3:05 pm
These pictures, taken Sunday, July 17th by message board poster HokieDevil, show the new precast arch on the exterior entry that says "Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University." In addition, interior photos show progress being made on the inside.
in Lane Stadium Expansion

The Year of Our Discontent, Part 1
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 7/18/05, 12:20 am
2004-05 was one of the best years ever in Virginia Tech athletics. The Hokies joined the ACC, won the conference championship in football, surprised everyone with a fourth-place finish in men's basketball, and won their first-ever national championship -- two of them, courtesy of Spyridon Jullien. But just 19 years ago, September of 1986 to October of 1987 was one of the worst years in Virginia Tech athletics, as VT lost their football coach, basketball coach, and two athletic directors, and landed on probation in both football and basketball.
in TSL Pass

 
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