"Ironic" Military Bowl Showcases Common Threads Linking Hokies and Bearcats

In a sign of just how insular the college football world can be sometimes, Virginia Tech's Military Bowl matchup with Cincinnati contains more common threads than might meet the eye.

Beyond the game's obvious status as the "Babcock Bowl," pitting VT athletic director Whit Babcock's current and former schools against one another, these two programs are intertwined pretty deeply for a pair of programs that don't share the same conference.

Take, for example, the last time these two teams played each other back in 2012. The location seems awfully familiar.

"It's kind of ironic that the last time we played Cincinnati was up in D.C. two years ago," said associate head coach Shane Beamer. "It was a tough loss for us."

The Hokies were indeed playing in FedEx Field for that one, a painful 24-27 loss to the Bearcats that was emblematic of that particular squad's struggles.

"We felt like we had that game won, then they made a heck of play on a deep ball to beat us in the corner of the end zone. I can still see it like it was yesterday," Beamer said. "It was a different staff, obviously Coach (Tommy) Tuberville wasn't there at the time but we had a lot of respect them."

That respect seems to have lasted through the start of Tuberville's tenure two years ago. The Hokies were even gracious enough to invite the Bearcats' defensive staff to Blacksburg this spring.

"Coaches are thieves," Tuberville said. "We steal things from other people and our defensive coach went over and visited with Bud Foster and staff, and Bud's one of the best coaches whether it's high school, college or pro in terms of defense."

Tuberville's a former defensive coordinator himself, and credits Foster with teaching him plenty over the years during his time as an assistant with Miami (1986-93). Now, the programs' shared history with Babcock have made the process of sharing information even more streamlined.

"They went over, Whit was there, and you try to learn as best as you can," Tuberville said. "There ain't no secrets in this business."

Surely part of that collaboration was spurred by the fact that the Hokies didn't think they'd be facing the Bearcats anytime soon, but bowl season can make some strange things happen.

"If we'd have known that, I'm not sure the visit would've taken place, but it's ironic how those things happen, those guys were here for a couple days and now here we are playing them," Beamer said.

Tuberville and company might be plenty familiar with the Hokies on the offensive side of the ball as well, given their experience with Tech's starting quarterback.

"Michael Brewer, heck, I recruited him at Texas Tech, so it's kind of ironic that I now have to coach against him," Tuberville said. "I'm proud of Mike and I'm looking forward to visiting him and coaching against him."

Yes, it would seem that there isn't much that isn't "ironic" about this bowl matchup.

Consider as well the fact that the Hokies were the last team to face the best team Tuberville's ever coached. Tuberville's Auburn Tigers were a perfect 13-0 after beating the Hokies in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.

"That was a great team that Virginia Tech played down in New Orleans, I remember that," Beamer said. "I was an assistant coach at Mississippi State, they'd already beaten us and beat us soundly. And then VT had a hard fought match with them as well. Auburn belonged in a bigger game than that that night, to me, they were the best team in the country that year and played like it that night."

But while Auburn's exclusion from the title game that year likely still stings for Tuberville, his memories of coaching against the elder Beamer are a bit fonder.

"Frank Beamer's been a friend of mine for 30 years," Tuberville said. "This is the 10th anniversary of us playing VT when we were at Auburn, so I'm looking forward to coaching against Frank."

While Shane doesn't have much experience with Cincinnati's head man, he knows his dad spent plenty of time with Tuberville as the two came up together during the burgeoning days of the VT-Miami rivalry.

"He's always had respect for Coach Tuberville, going back to when Coach Tuberville was an assistant with Miami and my dad and the staff was trying to get the program going in the late 80s, I know they matched up against each other a few times," Beamer said. "I know my dad considers him a friend and has a lot of respect for him."

But there's no guarantee Frank will take the field to face Tuberville on December 27. He had minor throat surgery this past weekend, and while the Hokies are confident Beamer will be ready for the bowl, it's still a bit of a complication for the team.

"He's doing well and eager to get back out on the field," Shane said. "Most of you guys know him, you know how tough he is and what a fighter he is, and going forward (coaching in the bowl is) the plan right now."

Luckily, the Hokies have a little bit of time before Beamer's needed once more.

"We're three weeks away, we've got some time this week," Shane said. "All of our coaches are out on the road recruiting this week so it's not like we're missing much bowl prep because we're on the road this week anyway, so we'll get back in here on Thursday morning and Friday night we'll have practices before a big recruiting weekend."

The bowl game will serve as a bit of a recruiting effort in itself. The Hokies spend plenty of time chasing high school prospect in the greater D.C. area, and the bowl will put them right in the backyard of some of their biggest targets.

"It's a huge recruiting area for us, so many great players have come out of that area that are on our team, along with guys that we're recruiting right now from the D.C., Baltimore, Northern Virginia area," Beamer said.

But mostly, the staff seems excited about the huge number of VT alumni in the area that should make Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium a very welcoming venue.

"We all know the strong alumni base we have in that area and we're really counting on seeing Hokie Nation pack that stadium," Beamer said. "We know it's a 34,000 seat stadium and we expect it be full of maroon and orange. We're coming to you and our players are excited and we hope our fans are as excited as we are."