The last time the Hokies lost a game before October was back in 1996, when they dropped a 52-21 decision at Syracuse's Carrier Dome. Since then, Virginia Tech is 26-0 in the months of August and September. A lot of the games have been forgettable blowouts, but there have been some big victories in there, too. Here are the Top 5 August/September wins in the 26-0 streak.

Recap and Box Score
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Coming off two straight Alliance Bowls, the Hokies had lost a ton of talent and were traveling to New Jersey to play a Rutgers team that had given them fits in the early/mid-90's. Hokie fans figured they would win, but they thought they might be in for a dogfight. After all, in the previous season, the Orange-Bowl bound Hokies had only beaten Rutgers 30-14 at home, behind Jim Druckenmiller and company.

No big deal. The Hokies jumped on Rutgers early and often, with everyone from new starting QB Al Clark to diminutive wideout Marcus Gildersleeve getting in on the act. The Hokies absolutely blew Rutgers off the field, and Hokie fans had cause to believe that perhaps the VT program hadn't been a flash in the pan behind Druckenmiller and company, and maybe the VT program had moved to the next level, after all.

(Okay, so no one new it was just as much a case of Rutgers moving down to the next level. Not at the time.)

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After fading badly in late 1997, the Hokies opened the season against a usually-tough ECU squad, wondering what to expect. What happened is that the Hokies destroyed the Pirates. Statistically, the game was pretty even, but the Hokies' special teams and defense were opportunistic and made this one a blowout on the scoreboard.

After this home victory to open the season, the Hokies were still facing road games against Clemson and Miami, but this was an important one to have "in pocket" before playing those other two games.

Recap and Box Score
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This was one game that you can argue should have made the top 5 and didn't. A 1-0 VT team that was coming off the just-mentioned victory over ECU ventured into Death Valley to take on 72,000 fans and a Clemson team that, on paper, was its equal.

The result was a blowout of such massive proportions that it was unfathomable. Tech's Al Clark was just 7-of-26 passing on the day (including an almost-comical 4-of-20 in the first half), but his seven completions were good for 171 yards and a TD, as the Hokies bombed away on offense and shut down the Tigers on defense. A 31-0 second-quarter outburst that ended in a 53-yard Shayne Graham field goal as the first-half clock expired put this game away.

For most of the game, VT defensive ends Corey Moore and John Engelberger played "meet you at the quarterback," as they harassed Clemson's Brandon Streeter all game long and held Clemson to 102 yards of total offense, 17 of which came on their first offensive play of the game.

The win was just Tech's second ever against Clemson, and the Hokies found themselves thinking for the first time that maybe they had a special team in 1998.

Recap and Box Score
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Whereas VT's recent 43-0 victory over JMU was forgettable in every way (except for Demetrius Shambley's late push of Kevin Jones), their 47-0 victory over JMU to open the magical 1999 season was memorable.

This game was the long-awaited collegiate debut of Michael Vick, who rushed for three touchdowns, the third of which will be forever known as "The Vick Flip." Michael's foolish vault over a JMU defender that resulted in a season-long ankle injury was ill-advised, but it was also one of the signature plays of Vick's brief Tech career, and it signaled the dawn of a new era in Virginia Tech football.

Recap and Box Score
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On a Thursday night early in Michael Vick's sophomore season, the Hokies made a trip to Greenville, North Carolina to face a pumped-up ECU program on national TV. With the entire college football nation watching to catch a glimpse of Vick, the Hokies instead carted out dominant special teams and defense.

Tech scored two touchdowns directly from the special teams on a blocked punt return by Cory Bird and an 87-yard punt return by Andre Davis. The Hokie offense was also set up for two other short touchdowns when ECU muffed an early punt snap and when defensive tackle Chad Beasley intercepted an ECU pass deep in Pirate territory. Tech led the game 31-0 at half time and coasted to the win.

All of this came with Vick accumulating just 106 yards passing and 13 yards rushing.

An overemotional ECU team fell apart at the seams, and VT sent a message to everyone watching: we're more than Michael Vick. The Hokies would peak at 8-0 and a #2 ranking before falling to Miami in the Orange Bowl.

Recap and Box Score
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The Hokies traveled into College Station, Texas to take on a Texas A&M team that hadn't lost a home out of conference game since 1988, a string of 29 straight home victories against OOC opponents.

Tech took the field with a team that had just bumped off Arkansas State, LSU, and Marshall at home, but was going on the road for the first time. With a young, rebuilding defense and an inexperienced quarterback in Bryan Randall, the Hokies didn't know what to expect.

What they got was an incredible effort from the defense and a sterling 10-of-11 performance from Randall. He missed his first pass but then connected on ten in a row for 119 yards, no TDs, and no INTs. Defensively, Tech held Texas A&M to 156 total yards, with the Aggies' longest drive being just 31 yards.

It was a frustrating day offensively for the Hokies. They ventured inside Texas A&M's ten yard line five times but came away with just one TD, plus two short field goals. A 6-3 defensive struggle was broken open early in the fourth quarter when Randall read a blitz, hit Ernest Wilford on a short pass, and Wilford broke the play down to the Aggie 1-yard line, where Lee Suggs crammed it in from there.

This game marked the emergence of Wilford, who would go on to break VT's receiving record for catches in a season. It also marked the end of a tough season-opening four game stretch, and the young Hokies had won all of them to go to 4-0 and fifth in the nation. The season would collapse later on, but at this point, no one knew it, and the Hokies were riding high.

Recap and Box Score
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This was the type of matchup that Hokie fans had been dreaming of. SEC champion LSU visiting a newly-expanded Lane Stadium, and a chance for the Hokies to take the measure of themselves against one of the top programs in the country.

After this season-opening matchup was scheduled, the Hokies got a leg up by scheduling a preseason game against Arkansas State to serve as a tuneup. Once the kickoff of this game occurred, it rapidly became apparent that the Hokies were ready to play, and the Tigers weren't. LSU returned Tech's first punt of the game for a TD, but the play was called back, and it was all downhill for LSU from there.

The Hokies jumped out to a 14-0 lead on the strength of two TD drives of less than 30 yards. The first came after a DeAngelo Hall punt return to the LSU 27-yard line, and the second came when Justin Hamilton blocked a punt and the Hokies recovered at the LSU 29-yard line.

From there, the Hokies coasted to the win on the strength of a stout defense and a sloppy LSU receiving corps that dropped about eight passes. This game featured a spectacular reverse-field 34-yard run by Kevin Jones, and Grant Noel's final game as a starting QB at VT. Noel tweaked his injured knee two series into the game, and Bryan Randall took over. Randall played conservatively, going 5-of-9 for 47 yards and not turning the ball over. He has been Tech's starting QB ever since.

This game isn't ranked higher because it wasn't a particularly well-played game by either team. But it was a high-quality opponent and a landmark victory, so it lands at #4 on our list.

Recap and Box Score
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A Hokie team searching for its identity in the post-Druckenmiller era took the field in the second game of the season to face a Syracuse team that still had its top gun, quarterback Donovan McNabb. 1-0 Tech had defeated Rutgers 59-21 the week before but still didn't know how good it was. Syracuse was off to a typically slow 1-2 start, but this was the team that had dismantled the Druckenmiller-led Hokies 52-21 in the Carrier Dome the year before.

With the Merryman Center construction underway in the shadows of Lane Stadium, the 19th-ranked Hokies demolished Syracuse in a prime-time ESPN game, before a national audience. Tech played a nearly-flawless game before a capacity crowd of 50,137 screaming Hokie maniacs and ran McNabb out of the game with six sacks. The talented, powerful McNabb had just 198 yards passing and 14 yards rushing before giving way to back up QB Keith Downing.

This game was just 14-0 going into the fourth quarter, but the Hokies were in control all the way and blew it open with a 17-3 fourth quarter burst. The Hokies ran the ball 51 times and passed it just 11, and Al Clark, in just his second start, completed five passes for 103 yards, including a 51-yard bomb to Shawn Scales that set up a Ken Oxendine TD run.

The weaknesses that would haunt the Hokies later in this 1997 season -- a weak passing attack and a defense that couldn't pressure the QB without blitzing -- were evident in this game, but they didn't matter. For one night, in front of the nation, the young Hokies were near-perfect and enjoyed one of their greatest victories of the 90's.

This game produced enduring memories among the HokieCentral.com -- as we were called back then -- faithful for two other reasons: (1) it was the first-ever HokieCentral.com tailgate, and we had a blast; (2) a famous overhead photo of Lane Stadium was taken that night, and it was the most popular photo of Lane possibly ever taken, until the famous sunset shot snapped during the 1999 BC game by a Sports Illustrated photographer.

Recap and Box Score
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This Thursday night ESPN game was a lot closer than the final score. The eighth-ranked Hokies led 14-11 early in the fourth quarter, after a Clemson touchdown (off a fake field goal) and two-point conversion. But then Corey Moore exploded, first pressuring Clemson QB Brandon Streeter into an interception that Ike Charlton returned 34 yards for a touchdown. Then Moore hit Streeter on a pass play, causing a fumble that Corey picked up himself and rumbled 32 yards for the game-sealing TD.

(As an aside, though I've never done the analysis, I believe that play by Moore would probably be the highest-scoring defensive play ever in TSL's defensive points system. On one play, Moore would get credit for a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery for 32 yards, and a touchdown. That's 48.4 points on a single play. In the two+ seasons that TSL has been keeping track using the points system, only once has a player scored that many points in an entire game -- Kevin McCadam scored 49.4 points against Boston College in 2001.)

Michael Vick had arguably his worst game as a Hokie in this one, going just 7-for-17 for 88 yards and 3 interceptions. But this game was memorable because it served as a launching pad for Virginia Tech's national title aspirations. Coming off wins over JMU and UAB, no one knew how good the Hokie football team was, and on this Thursday night, Tech hit the national scene, big-time.

The lights were on, the stage was set, and Lane Stadium rocked. In the ESPN booth, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit were almost embarrassing in their praise for Virginia Tech, Vick, and Corey Moore, about whom Corso shouted, "Give him the Outland! Now!" The game was so amazing that even laid-back Roanoke Times beat writer Randy King wrote later about staying up until 3 a.m. to watch his tape of Moore's dominating performance.

In their next three games, the Hokies destroyed Virginia (31-7), Rutgers (58-20), and Syracuse (62-0), and then drove towards the national championship game against Florida State.

It all started here. This game was one of VT's finest hours.

Recap and Box Score
HokieCentral.com/TechSideline.com game analysis

Try to remember back, if you can, a time before Michael Vick and the national championship run. Try to remember even further back, to a time when the Virginia Tech Hokies actually owned the Miami Hurricanes.

Behind Jim Druckenmiller and Al Clark, the Hokies had defeated the Hurricanes three times in a row, and when they marched into the Orange Bowl for their third game of the 1998 season, a 2-0 Hokie team that had demolished ECU 38-3 at home and Clemson 37-0 on the road felt confident but wary.

The Hokies featured emerging talents John Engelberger and Corey Moore at defensive end and quarterback Al Clark, who always saved his best games for the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes were unranked (hard to imagine these days), but they were undefeated at 2-0 and featured such players as tailback Edgerrin James, tight end Bubba Franks, wide receiver Santana Moss, and linebackers Dan Morgan and Nate Webster.

But these were Coach Butch Davis' Hurricanes, and as such, they were prone to mistakes. And it was their mistakes -- a whopping four lost fumbles and an interception -- plus a body count worthy of a Civil War battle that made this game an epic contest.

The Hurricanes jumped to a 13-3 lead early in the second quarter. The Canes blocked Jimmy Kibble's first punt and beat cornerback Anthony Midget for two TD passes, a 47-yarder from Scott Covington to Moss and a 15-yarder from Covington to Reggie Wayne.

The Hokies blocked the second extra point, settled down, and started to battle back, helped by four straight Miami turnovers. The Canes turned the ball over late in the first half, leading to a 14-yard TD pass from Clark to fullback Cullen Hawkins, and the Hokies went into half time down just 13-10, despite being outplayed in the first 30 minutes.

The Canes continued to be generous with the football throughout the third quarter, and the Hokies controlled the ball for most of the quarter. They were only able to come up with one score, a 13-yard keeper by Clark that put them up 17-13 going into the fourth.

From that point on, the fireworks got even more dramatic. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Miami's Reggie Wayne produced a spectacular leaping, spinning, shifting, stumbling 84-yard catch and run that saw at least four Hokies miss tackles at various points on the field, and the Canes led 20-17.

The Hokies drove down to the Miami 2-yard line and settled for a game-tying field goal. After stopping Miami, the Hokies found themselves stopped deep in their own territory, but Frank Beamer made one of the gutsiest calls of his coaching life, faking a punt. Up-man Nick Sorensen took the snap and pitched to punter Jimmy Kibble, who surprised the Canes with his speed and picked up the first down.

Down the field the Hokies roared, eventually lining up for a game-winning 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds left. But Shayne Graham pushed the field goal wide right, and the game went into overtime.

On the second play of overtime, Clark lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone, and junior college transfer Ricky Hall made the catch of his life, out-leaping a shorter Miami defensive back and snaring what would prove to be the game-winning catch.

The Canes lined up for their shot in overtime, but Corey Moore quickly slammed the door on it, sacking Covington on first down, despite the fact that Moore was being completely undressed by a Miami offensive lineman who had a tighter grip on Moore's jersey than a Hokie football groupie.

On second down, Moore, Engelberger and company sacked Covington again, pushing the Canes out to the 45-yard line. One short completed pass and one incomplete pass later, the Hokies had a key overtime victory in the Orange Bowl, their fourth straight win over the Canes.

This game had more twists and turns than a James Bond movie, and it was one of the most physical battles the Hokies ever played. The win cost Tech dearly, as they lost fullback Cullen Hawkins and offensive guard Josh Redding to season-ending injuries. Clark's leg was bent over backwards on a vicious hit early in the game, but Clark, ever the warrior, pulled himself up off the turf and limped his way through the game on one good leg to throw the game-winning TD.

For football fans, this game had it all. It was a seesaw battle, a physical war that saw players being carted off the field and the lead changing hands multiple times. The game showcased the brilliant athleticism of the Hurricanes, the grittiness of the Hokies, and Al Clark's remarkable ability to play -- and produce -- through pain.

Eventually, Virginia Tech came away with a win in one of the toughest, ugliest environments in college football. If you watch Hokie football for another 30 years, you're not likely to see many games better than this one.

And for that, it's #1 in our countdown of the Sweet September wins of the last seven years.

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