With the start of the 2022 campaign just a few days away, the thought crossed my mind, what was the best opener we've had in the last decade (omitting 2021, for recency bias). In my definition, best means the best product put on the field for game 1. When are we clicking the best, outcome be damned? We just looked good.
In chronological order, we have
2011: v App State 66-13 W
2012: v Georgia Tech 20-17 W (OT)
2013: (n) Alabama 35-10 L
2014: v William & Mary 34-9 W
2015: v Ohio State 42-24 L
2016: v Liberty 36-13 W
2017: n West Virginia 31-24 W
2018: @ Florida State 24-3 W
2019: @ Boston College 35-28 L
2020: v NC State 45-24.
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Had a ball at that WVU game so that's my vote. I specifically remember all of these games except the 2020 game vs NCSU. For the life of me I have no recollection of that win.
I vote for the 2018 game at FSU since I was there. Doing the chop mocking the Seminoles in their own house was priceless!
I made the cover of the Roanoke Time doing their war chant and the tomahawk chop! Definitely vote 2018 as well especially since our uber driver told us she'd been to blacksburg in 2000 and said our tailgates were lame. HA
App St game was probably the best product on the field. Unfortunately the only one of these i can vividly recall was the OSU loss. I was still a season ticket holder then. Just seems like yesterday.
Not really sure why we are excluding the 2021 UNC game. That atmosphere was electric and it was so awesome to be back in Lane after 2020. That would be the top of the list for me, WVU would be #2 when we finally overcame the FedEx field curse.
2018 vs FSU I thought we looked dominant against a strong opponent. it turned out we played average against a mediocre opponent, but for those days after that game, I was feeling pretty good about our team.
NC State is my vote, that's definitely the most hype I've been in any of these games. just pure domination all game long. Was at a fraternity house at State rooting for VT which was fun.
Also correction, the score to the Alabama game was actually 14-10 thank you very much
WVU was the best team we beat so thats the best win, followed by the media darling anOSU as the 2nd best team we beat.
For 2 weeks after the FSU game, I was convinced we were going to the playoffs, so 2018 FSU has my vote
Also I'm biased, I spent that whole weekend in Tallahasee and it was an absolute blast.
WVU - Great game, renewed the rivalry
FSU - Punched them in the mouth after their stupid sway at kickoff
NCSU - COVID game, had some friends over right after buying a house to watch in backyard. And it was nice to beat State while living in Raleigh
GT - That was a good game. OT winner where Thomas marched us down the field so Journell could kick a tying FG ass time expired to tie after GT took the lead with 45 seconds left. Interception in OT pretty much decided it.
Who cares about the rest. Bunch of losses and wins over who cares opponents.
I've only been to that Techmo opener from 2012. I thought that meant we'd have a great season, as we toughed out the W. Oh well.
Took my '68 Keydet Father, and it turned out the niece of his Rat sat right behind us. She saw my Pop's VMI cap, and took our pic in front of the 50yd line.
That anOSU win was so awesome. We had just moved out of Columbus and it was great to just start texting everyone back there when Riley pick sixed them. Then ECU happened.
(that win wasn't a season opener though, Week 2 in 2014)
2018 FSU is #1. 2017 WVU is #2. Then every other win, then every other loss.
That FSU game was like the entirety of the hope and promise of the Fu era all poured into one giant powder keg and exploding at once. I have never seen the team look more aggressive or dialed in during his tenure. Then after that the bottom fell out (ODU loss) and it was all downhill.
I feel the same way. This whole place and everyone else around Blacksburg was buzzing after that game. It sure didn't feel like a high water mark
for me, OSU is #1. I was at that game and some snobby OSU fans in our section asked us if VT was from Vermont before the game (acting like they had never heard of us). They were pretty quiet by the end of the game. Having the only win over the eventual Champs was pretty neat, even if we lost to ECU the following week.
After that, WVU is #2 - retaining the BDT, renewing the rivalry, beating them on PrimeTime. And that was a decent WVU team, too.
FSU is a close #3. It looked like a great win at the time. They were hyped all TF up, and we smashed them on their home field in PrimeTime after they did that ridiculous swag-sway. Then both teams fell off so that win lost luster pretty quickly.
After that, it's kind of a pick-em
I believe you're thinking about the game at OSU?
The home opener vs OSU had a fantastic 2nd quarter and the rest of the game we don't speak of.
We beat OSU in 2014 for the second game of the season. I'll give it to you though its the only thing I remember about that season too
oh, oops. I was thinking of the wrong OSU game. I was pretty sure that was the only time we played them :P
Soft spot for 2012 GT. Great team that didn't live up to their talent.
2017 WVU, 2018 FSU, and 2020 were all great openers. 2020 felt great considering we fielded half of a team due to Covid and still crushed.
I also liked the 2012 GT game because I believe it may have been Corey Fuller's best game as a Hokie - maybe not statistically speaking but he had some clutch catches down the stretch plus a key downfield fumble recovery. Very Fuller-esque performance.
Side note: I was also totally on board for "the Demetri Knowles era" after that game. Unfortunately it turned out to be his only TD of the season, but it was a great catch.
A. We beat Ohio State if Brewer doesn't get hurt and you can't convince me otherwise.
B. Only 100% correct ranking is 2013 Alabama in last place because of the rec league looking jerseys I had to watch us play in that whole game.
You are correct. We had the osu on the ropes until their de put the body slam on brewer. They were out of sorts just as they were in the first matchup. We became one dimensional after brewer went out, and game,over
2013 Bama game, I was in the bathroom in the Georgia Dome when Trey ran the kick back. So I was forced to go back every time we were on offense.
Same for OSU in 2014, but at home. Went to the head near the end of the 3rd and we scored. I got locked in till the game was over.
I'm not sure if you need to inflate the size of your bladder or we need you to pee for 6 straight months so we go undefeated
I'm not so sure VT beats OSU with a healthy Brewer in the 2nd half, but if Kendall Fuller had been healthy too...
See that one where we beat an opponent by 50+ that we were supposed to beat by 50+? The one where App St didn't even want to come out of the locker room at halftime? Yeah, that one. I hope we do that to ODU in a few days.
Gimme FSU. I talked so much shit, despite attending with an FSU alum with her FSU alum parents, and for once the team bailed me out. They left early, I stayed out till 3 am getting absolutely shithoused, and the next day's ride back to Jacksonville was the most insufferable I have ever been.
And then 3 weeks later we lost to ODU and I never heard the end of it, so the moral of the story is don't be too much of a jackass during the good times, or the bad times will be so much worse.
I'm picking FSU. Even though Fuente tanked the team 3 weeks later at ODU, it was a really good feeling for a couple of weeks to see all the finger salutes with my hokie magnets on the car. And it never hurts to have playful bragging rights with the wife...
I don't really have an attachment to any of them. But I'll say I thought FSU and the reactions after was the scariest. And people here still remember it fondly. There were obvious, glaring holes in that team. Farley had his picks, but otherwise didn't have a stellar game in coverage. It worked out that he improved; I'm glad. But otherwise, all the signs were there of the pain to come for that team. But, everyone was blinded by the score over that particular opponent. Then we found out that opponent was trash, our season didn't go all that well, and we see the slide start.
At least FSU saw the writing on the wall and shit canned their drowning coach after that season, maybe not the best move financially but it is F$U
I'll go NC State in 2020 - that game was straight up therapeutic. Obviously, COVID was going on, and life was pretty restricted. Getting football back was the first thing that had felt 'normal' in the past 6+ months. Beyond that, I genuinely thought that VT/Fuente was back where we needed be, and at that time still believed that 2018 was a one-off down year, and that the future was bright.
For a runner up, I'll say GT 2012. I thought GT was going to be really good that season, so I thought that was a hard fought win over a good conference foe. I was quite wrong.
OSU 2015 would have been #1 if Brewer could have stayed healthy. But he didn't.