Virginia Tech has released their "Top 10 Upsets" in school history, following up on the "Top 10 Plays" that we saw last week.
What do you guys think? Did they get it right? Any upsets that they might have missed?
My personal favorite was the where they said LOLUVA was a heavy favorite and at one point in the season were ranked #1, and we still beat them.
Just as a side note, I went and looked on the tracker, and didn't see a post about this. If I missed it, just let me know and we can continue discussions on that thread
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I'd have put the '95 game against Syracuse in there somewhere. McNabb was the freshman phenom, whole nation was abuzz over him. They came into Lane favored to win, I believe. Cornell Brown and JC Price pummeled him. IIRC, the good guys were up 17-7 at halftime. Won going away 31-7, I think. It was something like that and I'm too lazy to look it up exactly. I remember an older Alumni near us at half time yelling how Syracuse was finished, they'd thrown everything they had at our D and had been shutdown. He was right.
Was cold as he!! that night too. I was drunk enough I didn't feel it though. I also remember the oranges and sugar cubes being thrown on the field afterwards and thinking "no way, wishful thinking." I was at the Sugar Bowl just over a month later very happy I'd been wrong!
Wow. I was there for half those games. Awesome.
Nothing beats the OSU game for me. Not just the rank of the team, but the 3 year run they were on and the way they finished.
That 2003 game against MIami was huge, and beating WVU always warms the heart.
Am I the only one wondering who thought it would be a good idea to put a dark yellow silhouette of west virginia at midfield. Looks like a poop stain.
Seems appropriate.
#3 was my first game ever to Lane, #2 was an awesome game to attend!
Hearing the Bill Roth calls in there made me sad.
Don't be sad that it's over, be happy that it happened.
Yeah, be happy that it happened. Be happy this happened also
I think the Texas game should be higher, say 3 or 4. That was our unveiling on the national stage. The 95 Miami game was big, but it wasn't even on tv at the time. I remember seeing the score and thinking it had to be a mistake. So I'd likely drop that game a notch or two.
You beat me to the comment by minutes IET. Being old enough to remember watching the game as an adult, I recall that nobody in the media gave us a chance at beating the Longhorns. When it was all over, VT had become relevant to NCAAF and Beamer's program was officially on the watch as a new force to be reckoned with in the rankings. I would put that game #3 due to the national stage and the name recognition of the 'horns.
I have to agree - should be higher. I watched that game in the lounge of the Roseland Ballroom in NYC while we were on break after setting up for the Blues Traveler New Year's Eve gig that they used to do every year at that venue. Got to watch the game, then the concert....what a night...only thing that sucked was having to work until 5 or 6 in the morning breaking down the show afterwards.
Nice. Got to watch the Texas game at home, then the next year was in MSG for Blues Traveler!
Seeing anything good from the 2002 and 2003 seasons just disappoints me. I thought those teams were 2 of the most talented Frank has ever had, particularly 2003.
2003 was the worst coached team in the 20 years I've been following/aware Tech football. They lost one game, dropped out of Nation Championship contention and just gave up. Gave up. That's a bad attitude and culture within the team and the coaches are responsible for that.
Meangelo????
He didn't get much better in the pros from what I understand.
There were a couple of upperclassmen on that team who did not have the lunch pail mentality. They were trying to win their own individual Nat'l Championship or something.
Not to nit pick, but DeAngelo Hall become one of the locker room leaders for several years with the Redskins.
He had what I'm sure is a well-deserved reputation as a selfish diva in college and his first years in the NFL, but he completely transformed his reputation the 2nd half of his NFL career.
Tough to say if that's the coaches' fault or the players. If your a manager, and the people under you mail it in, there's only so much you can do. You could argue the coaches should've have done a better job recruiting players, or maybe teaching responsibility in the previous years, but I'm not sure you can pin that on the coaches.
*Disclaimer - 2003 season was before my time
From my observations and #sources it was a huge problem within the senior leadership that year, but I look to the coaches to correct that. I know they can't control everything but they have to lead the leaders.
Well they responded very well after getting slaughtered by WVU, beating #2 Miami 31-7. I think the team rose back up to #5 in the polls, but then lost to Pitt. Then the season really hit the fan. They beat Temple by 1 because they missed an extra point in OT, then lost to Boston College, UVA (wasn't that 12 years ago?), and Cal in the Insight Bowl, where Aaron Rodgers infamously laughed at the Hokie defense. Didn't Carter Warley miss like 3 field goals that game or something?
That Temple game wasn't even showing on tv in Bburg. I had to just keep refreshing espn and bang my head against my desk.
How did you end up here 3.5 years later?
Was wondering the same thing - it's basically the off-season, right? Oh wait - it is NSD!
I've been here since tkp evolved from college gameballs
That's one hell of a necrobump
This is how you TKP hard.
That 2003 team was probably the most disappointing Hokies team I've seen, but it wasn't 100% just attitude.
They had some players on defense that just couldn't get the job done physically/athletically, particularly at LB and DE, and Randall was very inconsistent in 2003.
LOL, I just realized this post was 3 years old, before I even joined TKP. I'm a dumb ass. :D
I noticed a theme in almost all of them. Sick defense prevails.
even though the official rankings state otherwise, I do not actually consider the #10 ranked upset as such. I'm curious what others think? Does anyone else agree that they felt we were the stronger team going into that game and the odds should have honestly been (either slightly or heavily) on VT's side? Because I definitely do.
I agree with you. I fully expected to win that game.
An upset over Cincinnati is 10, but Nebraska isn't even on the list? Were we that heavily favored to beat Nebraska?
I think we were favored by a field goal or something. Hard to consider a 1-pt win by #13 over #19 at home an upset. Crazy, awesome game for sure, not an upset.
It was a crazy, awesome last few minutes of the game, by my memory. Until that point, I recall that game being less than amazing.
Accurate.
Ok. Thanks. I didn't bother to look it up and I don't remember much about that game except the last few minutes. 13 vs 19 is definitely not an upset.
Definitely less than amazing.
I didn't remember us being underdogs in that game. I wonder what the betting line for that game was. I'd bet too close for this list. Still, a game they score first possession and never again was Foster at his best scheming.
The clemson game I didn't think we would lose. I remember that I felt they were over-rated and wouldn't be able to handle our defense. Adibi and Hall crushed that team. Great LB duo.
We should have put more points up on Cincy. I was still pissed from the Kansas game.
Those jerseys for game #7 though. Bring them back! #allmarooneverything
Been there, tried that....
Didn't go so well
Because the jersey determines the outcome of the game.... /s
Regardless of the score, we looked a lot better than anything we've worn that was predominantly orange
Since you asked...
Uni combos and records in those combos
NOooooo...the ghost of Duke Johnson still haunts Lane. If not for knocking himself out of the game running into a bench, he could have rushed for 300 yards.
Seeing Fuller take it to the house off the blocked kick and then pick it off later just reminds you to soak in the 11-13 games we have left with the last of the Fullers.
15 games
Kendall doesn't leave and we go back to back.
I was at that game in the student section. I thought my ear drums were going to explode.
OSU #1 - Easily.
#2 - 1995 vs. Texas. This win never gets enough respect. Shutdown of BMW.
#3 - Clemson. Complete domination over a team that the pundits thought would crush us.
That Clemson game was the first game I brought my parents to see at Tech. Fond memories.
#1a will be when we upset OSU at Lane!
Definitely got #1 correct.
On another note, when I watched the VT goalposts come down after the UVA victory it reminded me of when VT fans tore down the UVA goalpost in Scott Stadium (1983 I think).
There may or may not be part of that goalpost here in Blacksburg as a bar foot railing... Ahem...
Oh wow. I need to know what bar that is.
May or may not be NOT in a bar.
Yes, please share...
I agree with most of it except Cincy and Clemson.
How in the actual fuck is the '95 Sugar Bowl only 9th? That was a program defining win, boosted us into the national spotlight, and set the foundation for the rest of the Beamer era. I. Call. Shenanigans.
I think we have reached a consensus on that opinion. Rankings were likely done by 20-somethings with no memory of life before the internet.
Edit: apologies to 20-somethings and younger crowd, us old guys get grumpy sometimes when we feel the past is neglected.
Since this thread got bumped...
I'd like to point out the #4 upset on the list. 2004 - VT 19, #9 WVU 13. We were actually favored in that game by a field goal.
Commentator is completely wrong when he say LSU was the first win by VT over an SEC opponent since 89.
We beat Alabama black and blue in 98.
Before 2002, bowl games didn't count towards anything official.
#16 seed UMBC winning against overall #1 seed UVA in the 2018 NCAA tournament
I don't think we've added to the list since this video was released. We've had a few upsets, such as Duke and UVA this year, and while the UVA upset was huge for giving us the chance to continue the bowl streak, neither game really has the same feel or impact as any of the other games on the list.
I will say that I'm a bit surprised, and slightly disappointed, that the hurricane game wasn't an "upset" since we were favored by 2.5 as the #25 team in the #17 team's stadium, but then I remember that we own that stadium.
The biggest upset (by point spread) we've had since this video was beating FSU 24-3 as 7 point underdogs in this year's opener.
I disagree with 2 games being classified as upsets. I do not think number 10 the orange bowl game against Cincy was an upset, and number 3 is ridiculous, it is never ever an upset when VT beats UVA, only when UVA beats VT can that game ever be considered an upset.
Eh... Now, maybe. At the time, we only led the series by 4 (35-31-5), and UVA had won 3 straight. Also, they were ranked, and we were far from it. So, upset.
Since this thread is up again, let's talk about upsets that actually meant something in the grand scheme of things. 2003 Miami and 2014 Ohio State were great upsets at the time, but we completely tanked after those games. I think the greatest upset in the history of the program was beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl. This propelled us to national relevance. I think second would be the 2004 WVU game. I know earlier in the thread that we were actually favored in that game, but I'm not sure how. We were 4-7 in our last 11 dating back to 2003 and unranked. WVU was 10-1 in that span, was co- Big East chants with Miami (Miami took the tiebreaker), and was ranked 6th. We went on to win 7 more after that.
Sugar Bowl over Texas
If you're going to look at the '95 Sugar Bowl as the biggest upset in VT history when accounting for context, #2 is probably going to be the Miami game from early that season. We were 0-2, with losses to Boston College and Cincinnati. Not only did we take down the #17 team in the nation to start a winning streak that lasted until September of 1996, but that was our first ever win over Miami after 12 straight losses to start the series.
I thought about mentioning that game but didn't want to list 2 games from the same season. You're right though. That was Butch Davis' first season and began and five game winning streak over the Canes.
I disagree about the Cincy Orange Bowl game. Even though they were technically favored, I never really felt like we were going lose (unless the team ROYALLY screwed up).