Highlights of the Hokies 38-7 victory over Alabama in the 1998 Music City Bowl. A big thanks to VTPhreak4evr for his 130 Games in 130 Days series. Enjoy:
This was a classic Beamerball performance that featured blocked punts, interceptions, a powerful running game and a dominant defensive performance (led by Mr. Welcome to the Terror Dome, Corey Moore). Hopefully well see similar results on August 31st. Be sure to check out the irate Alabama fan at 11:24 who gives the middle finger to his own team after a turnover on a punt return.
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Lee Corso - Alabama win? LOL
I went to this game. It was freezing and raining and we sat in the middle of a bunch of pom pom waving Bama fans. They kept asking "What's a hokie?" and "What conference are you guys in?" 38 - 7 beat down was well worth it
What's a Hokie? 38-7 bro!
A Hokie is any one of the individuals who is currently standing over your quarterback as he peels himself off the turf. Alternate definition - the group of fearsome people who made your punter crap himself every time he came onto the field.
Geez...forgot how much of a beast Jamel Smith was! In the backfield every snap
Yeah, we need BeamerBall back! Gameplan: Offense- Score TDs, Defense- Score TDs, and Special Teams- Score TDs!
Still the best Maroon Effect Shirts:

At 11:52, ESPN gives an update of Dick Vitale reveals his most surprising and then the video cuts to the next frame. The suspense is killing me. What was so surprising Dickie V? America needs to know.
Wow, that was fun to watch! The D and Special Teams were relentless. I know it's easy when you're whipping a team, but the entire team seemed to be enjoying themselves out there. Here's hoping we see a little more of the same in 33 days.
The Alabama fan wasn't mad. He was depicting who recovered the fumble by flipping the Cory Bird.
Yea biggest thing you see is the tenacity and energy the defense had. It hasn't been like that since '08. We just haven't had the dominating and smothering defense that instilled fear into the other team since then. Cody Grim is the only player that comes to mind that had that mentality where he 'could make a play at any time'. Maybe Jayron during his sophomore season, but really just interceptions, he wasn't very physical. I'm thinking this new era brings the energy back and we get back to our old ways.
Agreed. I think when Foster made the defensive change for the FSU game, it brought back a simple blue collar approach that can win games for us. I think the stale-ness is gone but it will come down to if the offense can score. It will be hard to get defensive points against bama and especially special teams. For those who want to see more blocked punts it is as simple as this:
Teams finally caught on to Tech's prowess in blocking punts and as a result a new formation developed. 5 on the line that make a backwards c. 2 wide outs to prevent a return, or come in to prevent a block. Then three people between the line and punter. That line of 3 men prevents almost any rush at the punter making it increasingly more difficult to get to the punter and NOT get a penalty. It takes the angles away so blocked punts are harder to accomplish.
that being said, I want to see the energy shown in this video. That was the biggest thing I saw missing...remember the cincinatti game this season? During the transition from the third to fourth quarter, cinci was running and pumping fists in the air for the fourth and we were just meandering our way down to the end zone. I remember when the roles were reversed and it is time to have that back in blacksburg.
Do those adjustments to prevent blocks make it easier to get good returns? Yeah I want to see that nasty swarming defense again. You can't keep up that tempo though unless your offense can hold on to the ball and eat clock.
Not really. The punt formation is called the spread or shield, depending if the gunners are split out or tight. Essentially, with the rules in college, the three upmen can block or head downfield, depending on the punt rush. You can read more here.
After seeing this, I simply want one thing, and just one thing.
BRING BACK THAT NASTY, HIGH INTENSITY, ANGRY-BUD-FOSTER-GLARE DEFENSE! BRING BACK THAT CRUSHING OFFENSE THAT DEMORALIZED THE OPPONENTS!
And if it's not too difficult,
BRING BACK BEAMERBALL!
Blocked kicks fill my soul with happiness.
My freshman year son!! Man it's good to be a Hokie...