Through some groggy early morning sleep I recalled lowlights from Virginia Tech's 2002 loss to Pitt. (Pitt football really is nightmare fuel.) Anyways, for those of you that recall the Hokies were 8-0, ranked No. 3, and hosted the 6-2 Panthers on a Saturday night in Lane. As a naive sophomore, I was certain Tech was going to roll Pitt. (Both the parking lot bourbon and trash talk flowed pregame.) Unfortunately for Tech (and my liver), Larry Fitzgerald, Kris Wilson, and Brandon Miree were all sorts of unstoppable. The 21-28 loss was a harsh wakeup call that 2002 would not be a special season for the Hokies after an impressive trifecta of wins over ranked non-conference teams.
What about you TKP, what's a game you thought Tech would win but lost? And let's ignore the loss to JMU in 2010 because that probably shocked us all.
Comments
Well this thread ended quickly. Next question.
My first thought as well. Can never quite erase that one.
^This. I never thought we would ever lose to WF. But worse home game for me was Duke 2013. I never thought we would ever lose to Duke either.
ECU in 2014. I had just won a healthy sum betting on Tech keeping it within the spread against anOSU. So of course I put it all down on Tech handily beating the purple pirates...
The first Duke loss.
GT in Brewer's
lastfirst year. And this past year.I think most of us can do this all day...
That Duke loss sticks out to me as well. That started a three year slide
We did defeat GT in Brewer's final season.
Edited. Good catch.
Mumble mumble....Temple grumble mumble...
Maryland in 2013. Im pretty sure they were starting a linebacker as their QB...
Yes.
That one really stung. It was a sign that the program was really slipping.
They actually did that against clemson. They had an actual QB against us, he just turned out to be quite the runner...
This. Other than the JMU debacle, I don't think I've ever been as pissed leaving Lane Stadium. I had brought several friends with me who had never been to a VT game and had a really great experience tailgating and walking them across campus to the stadium. Then that absolute garbage game unfolded. Really embarrassing.
Damn, that's like receiving a hot karl without the "protection" of the plastic sealant wrap.
2005 Miami. Call me crazy, but I felt great about that game. We had taken down #2 Miami my Freshman year, beaten them in 2004 to win the ACC, and with all the trash talk coming from Miami before the 2005 game, I was sure our guys would bring it. Lane Stadium, under the lights, on a beautiful night (60 degrees or so at kickoff in November).
That was a gut punch to see it all collapse so epically.
Honorable mentions:
2007 Chick-Fil-A Bowl to Georgia (how that one slipped away still annoys me)
2008 Orange Bowl to Kansas (it was freakin' KANSAS)
Arghh the Chic-fil-A bowl vs UGA.... the drive home was brutal after that collapse..
The Marta ride back to my parents house was also rough.
Freaking 2006 Chick-fil-A bowl against Georgia. Almost put my foot through the TV. At the time I worked with an annoying UGA fan, I thought I'd never hear the end of it.
Being in that stadium was surreal....
Kansas. Fucking .... Kansas
Syracuse, last year.
Syracuse last year. We were picked to when greater than 90%, we had come off some real impressive wins, and landed flat on our face.
No way. I will never expect a win in that God-forsaken building.
2000 Sugar Bowl
see also: 2011 Sugar Bowl
Dividing this into two different groups. Games I thought before the game Tech would win, games at halftime I thought Tech would win.
Temple 1998
#14 VT in Lane on Homecoming against a Temple team that was in the middle of a 0-26 streak in Big East play. After going up 17-0 early in the first half the wheels just fell off and we ended up losing 28-24 in an ugly, ugly debacle in what has since been named one of college football's all time biggest upsets. Also worth noting that pretty much that same roster went undefeated and to the National Championship Game the next season.
The one game we had in the bag at halftime and blew it? Georgia in the CFA Bowl. That was a mess from halftime onwards. Part of the reason I try not to rag on Arkansas too much (outside of the sig line) is because I remember that feeling walking out of the Georgia Dome in 2006.
+1
Temple '98 is the most shocked I have ever been regarding any of my teams in any sport. I think the only reason JMU isn't at the top is because I lived through Temple '98 first.
It was like a stadium full of zombies exited Lane.
I know we're ignoring the JMU game but I remember getting on the Metro after the game and telling my dad I felt bad for JMU because they were going to be facing a pissed off Tech team on Saturday. Needless to say I don't feel bad for them anymore.
I was the complete opposite leaving fed ex that night. I neverrr would've thought we would lose to them, but I knew on short rest after such an extremely taxing game that it wouldn't be easy.
Tennessee last year, around the middle of the first quarter at least...
Yep. Felt as strongly about winning this as I did that we'd lose the Belk Bowl at halftime.
kansas....the game i lost all faith in steinspring. Brandon ore was consistently crushing them for yardage, and yet.....we decide to bring in glennon and chuck it deep to josh morgan...which ya know is fine and all except when a first round corner is covering him deep EVERY DAMN TIME. NOTE STEINY DO NOT THROW THE BALL AT AQIB TALIB
also of note the BC game....biggest sports gut punch of my life. i will never forget that evening which was made worse by the fact that i was hugging a trash can and sick with the flu
You just had to mention Matty Ice. Seriously though, both of those games were coaching failures that I wish I could forget. All right, launch the inevitable f-bombs.
#FUCKMATTRYAN
to this day i still drink to forget it....and i just cant. is this what a scarring horrible childhood memory is? still think we beat osu for the natty that year if we win that game
The repeat pain of the final BCS coming out with us in 3rd really twisted that knife.
fuckmattryan
That night was the only time I've ever really blacked out. Like, honestly have no recollection from shooting jaeger (blllaaaach) at the tailgate until we punted out of the field goal formation. Then the wheels fell off, and I realized I was just dangerously cold and wet and had wrecked my phone.
fuckmattryan. as a Broncos fan I really hate the patriots, but watching fuckmattryan choke that one away in SB51 felt great.
Pitt in 2012 sticks out in my mind. At that point I was still in the mindset that VT would always be a force to be reckoned with. We got smacked and never really had a shot to win the game. To me, that loss began the 4 year downward slide...
There were warning signs in the cupcakes we ate that season leading up to that game, but that really was the first game in what became the twilight of Beamer's career.
Yeah you're right. I do remember beating Austin Peay (with the god awful hokie track helmets) like 41-3 or something and feeling like we should've won by much more. At least i think i have my seasons straight
Let's Go Peay!
Let's Go Pea!
Let's Go Pee!
Yep, this game was the beginning of the end of the CFB era, although none of us knew it at the time
Syracuse last year. Now that Fuente is HC, his record is mainly what matters (though there are a select number of teams that I wish to exact revenge uponst from the Beamer era, that I have listed previously). The moral of it all is that we absolutely HAVE to beat the teams and win the games we are expected and capable of doing to move to the next level as a program.
I agree. Great wins don't help you as much as bad loses hurt you. Beating OSU didn't help us in contrast to losing to ECU. Like you said we have to win the games we are expected to win. No more losses to teams like 'Cuse and ECU. I though this year's stomping of both BC and ECU demonstrated what "should be" with respect to a program that has high aspirations.
In 2007 against BC, not only did I think we would win, I thought we DID win.
About 8 beers + a fairly boring game meant I
fell asleeppassed out on the couch late in the 4th quarter, with Tech up 10-0. When I woke up, it must have been at least 10 or 15 minutes into Sportscenter, so they had apparently already showed highlights of our win. I turned off the TV and walked back to my bedroom, where the radio was playing Bill and Mike on the postgame show. I decided to leave the radio on so I could bask in our rare top-5 win, and just as I was slipping back to sleep I heard Mike ask Stinespring how disappointing a performance like this was. My eyes popped wide open and I sat up and said, "WHAT?!?"Went back to the living room and sat there dejected as I watched the highlights of the 2 touchdown passes that I had missed. I almost literally couldn't believe it.
This one has to be it for me as well. I will never forget how certain victory seemed with only minutes left, and then it was ripped away. The sense of dejection while trudging back to my apartment was significant. To top it all off the weather was atrocious that night adding insult to injury. Being cold and wet is tolerable when you are winning. It quickly becomes much less palatable when it is coupled with a crushing defeat.
2004 NC State. Was so hung over/possibly still drunk from the night before, I thought the final field goal was good. Was in the south end zone... had a very good look at it.
Actually, to this day I am sure of what I saw.
Damn booze.
Ohhhh, you had to remind me of that blasted NC St game. I too was there in that end zone and true enough, that ball looked good all the way to the goalpost & then somehow missed wide. My elation turned to depression in that split second. I will say the NC State fans were pretty classy as we dejectedly walked out of Lane and the drinks at PK's were strong enough to dull the pain but that did hurt.
That was the first game I ever went to and actually paid attention to what was going on. I learned the game of football that day. I was a first grader. After Pace missed that field goal, I asked my dad who we played next, and he said West Virginia. Nnot knowing about how much we hated them, I said, "Well it's okay if they win because we live in West Virginia." He said, "Oh no. You do not want that."
Almost 13 years later, I hope we beat the living shit out of them.
I was at this one, and yeah. Do nothing against a pretty damn good Wolfpack defense most of the day, then all of a sudden Randall gets the O moving downfield at the end, only to miss that kick. Nobody where I was standing really reacted. We all just kind of stood there for about 10 minutes before slowly shuffling out.
Nobody is saying it, so I'll say it. (OK, someone did mention it...)
JMU. It was an inexcusable, bone-marrow-sucking letdown game.
Again, it's one of these:
I don't remember us playing JMU. I do remember a red flash, though.
I think that morning some swamp gas reflected off of Venus. That's all I remember.
ECU 2008 was pretty bad. As a 5th grader at the time who had only watched football from 2004-2007, I didn't quite understand the magnitude of how young we were. I also didn't pay attention to how good other teams were and my predictions were off of name recognition. ECU was a CUSA team and we were coming off an ACC Championship. That ride home SUCKED.
That was my first game as a freshman at Tech... damn you for making me feel old!!
christ that was during my victory lap.
Second year of grad school. Someone please one-up me now. Please?
2008? First year of my marriage.
Me too! Cheers.
Got married 06/07/08 and we didn't plan it just was open date at church.
2008? My 43rd year as a human being. Top that! And the "Fuck Matt Ryan" posts always give me a chuckle when I am still on the "Fuck Donovan McNabb" train.
That McNabb pass is the reason we are cursed at that dome. I get the whole Ryan thing, but we got him back in Championship games. McNabb still haunts me when we have to go to the dome. My Orange friend says it's Karma for when Moore wrecked their ranked team at Lane, but after last season, I'm saying we're paid up, may the best team win.
I think there are a lot of players that stick out over time. We could have a thread dedicated to that. I remember Tech going up against Larry Fitzgerald and thinking the was unstoppable.
My dad still hates donovan mcnabb. Whenever I bitch about fuckmattryan he reminds me about donovan mcnabb.
2005 ACC Championship Game vs Florida State. Tech gave WVU their only loss and beat a good BC team. We had the #1 defense in the country. FSU came in stumbling, losing 3 straight to end their year. Their defense couldn't stop a nosebleed at the end of that season. And we found ourselves down 27-3 after 3 quarters as a 2 TD favorite? How'd that happen?
I didn't see that one coming.
Stinespring.
This can never be proven, but I've always "believed" that because FSU had sealed their division already in 2005, they had nothing to play for in the last few games.
Winning the ACCCG was their main focus for close to a month.
Boise State in 2010. Leading towards the end of the 4th quarter and the announcers started talking about our win/Boise loss (always a bad sign), but I had faith in our team. That led into the game a few others have mentioned.... JMU. :(
So much this...
or really *almost* any big game Beamer has coached in, unfortunately. It certainly feels that way.
Michigan
Georgia
Boise St.
At least one Alabama game (besides the music city?)
Kansas
Clemson ACC last year
etc...
I was in Italy this year during the Arkansas game, it was midnight, and I remember thinking, "Here we go again". Then a miracle happened. Hoping it's the start of "Watch Out!: VT can win the big game!"
How 'bout them apples?
Sadly, I don't think anybody would consider that Belk bowl to be a "big game". While Bristol was one, I'm not sure if that follows the Beamer trend since we were such big underdogs. Hoping to officially reverse the trend in September.
2006 - UGA, still can't quite believe it
2007 - Kansas, weird wet towel ending to an otherwise enjoyable season. I will admit, after we got revenge on BC and barely missed the NC, I kind of felt like the season was over though. Getting revenge on BC felt like the more fitting end.
2008 - ECU
2009 - UNC
2010 - eh nevermind
2013 - Duke, this one really irked me. Also Maryland.
2014 - WF, ECU
2015 - ECU, we went up 14-0 quick and they looked hapless the first few drives, then everything blew up.
2016 - Syracuse, GT, Tenn. first two were just blatantly inferior teams that we choked against offensively, and Tennessee had the great start before the... fumbles
Haven't seen it mentioned and I don't wanna remind us all but I do remember one game that stings the most to me, remember that time Danny Coale caught that touchdown pass in the end zone to beat Michigan?
Umm because Tech didn't lose that one duh.
Temple, fucking temple '98. Sophmore year homecoming, it sucked badly
JMU...I was so confident I went to the beach. I remember sitting on the beach in disbelief every time I looked at the score.
I've been a VT fan since I was six. 2010 was my freshman year, JMU was my first time ever in Lane. I broke a nalgene "unbreakable" water bottle that day when Evans fumbled.
Wow, reading through this thread has really ripped the bandaid off some of these losses. Still looking back in hindsight, it's almost unfathomable to me that our offense was allowed to become such an absolute train wreck for so long. Coupled with all the roller coaster ups and downs that some of our teams had. You could almost count on that really disappointing loss every season.
You rip the bandaid off but the scar is still there (until you exact revenge).
2011 ACC Championship vs. Clemson. We were ranked 5th in the country, had won 3 of the last 4 ACCCGs, and Clemson had throttled us in Lane earlier in the season before we won the rest of our games. I was certain we would get our revenge, but boy was I wrong.
me coming into this thread: i can handle it
me after a few reads: abort abort abort
Y U DO THIS TO ME JOE?
Oh jeez let's see
Syracuse last year--I thought Fuente would overcome the Dome
Tennessee last year--I definitely thought in the 1st quarter we were gonna hang a fifty burger on them
2009 UNC--RMFW's one bad mistake
The 2011 regular season Clemson game--I just thought we'd whoop em that game, my gut knows nothing
2012 Cincinnati--I still can't explain this one
2012 FSU--Given how badly our season had gone up till that point, I thought we were gonna put it all together against the Noles, and we nearly did
2013 Duke--ugh
2014 Georgia Tech--double ugh
2015 UNC--Frank's last home game, of course I thought we'd have it
and for some older games: 2001 vs Syracuse. My 4th grade self didn't give a second thought to this game, but SU got some breaks early, and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with turnovers. Also the day I knew for sure Grant Noel was a pretender.
Pretty much every loss from 2003. There was no reason I could think of at the time why we'd lose a single game that year. But especially the LOLUVA game. I never go into that one thinking we'll lose. Ever.
BC 2007 vs Matt Ryan. That finish was awful. The Hokies had shut BC down all game long and then went prevent D late in the game. Stupid Ryan drives them 90+ yards and then Beamer Ball gives up an onsides kick. I remember being on company travel watching in my hotel room and wondering what the hell I just saw.
If it wasn't for that loss, VT probably plays in the title game, or at least has some BCS game controversy.
There were probably more shocking losses overall but that BC game was in the bag. We shut them down for 55 minutes. Grrr.
I was in Europe at the time. Stayed up very late to experience that disappointment.
Didn't the onside kick go off Josh Morgan's leg? Josh Morgan who was a senior and was drafted into the NFL and played for at least a few years?I would have put $1000 on him catching that ball.
He went to his knees and it hit him in the chest I believe. I remember being dumbfounded that such a sure handed guy would be the one to drop the inside kick. Everything about the end of that game felt like a cruel Greek destiny being fulfilled.
I don't remember the 2003 season very well, but I have to think that WVU game was pretty shocking. Ranked #3 after demolishing Syracuse and getting smashed in Morgantown. With the exception of the Miami game, that game was the beginning of the end of that 2003 team. If you could create a team with the talent of that team with the heart of the 2004 team, they're winning a National Championship.
I went with a big group of people on a charter bus to that game. That drive home in the middle of the night absolutely sucked.
For me, the three losses to Pitt from 2001-2003. Somehow, each year my BSA troop scheduled a camping trip that weekend, and each time I asked my dad how we did in the game. First two times, I thought he was lying to me, first because there was no reason we should have lost, much less by 31, and the second time because I was sure we'd exact revenge at home. Third time was more "disgust" than "surprise", but still counts.
Definitely Syracuse and GT this past season. You've got a three headed monster at WR and STATISTICALLY the best QB in VT history ... and you come out flatter than a single sheet of loose leaf paper.
Both trap games, though. Syracuse came right after beating UNC's ass in Chapel Hill. GT came when we found out we won the ACCC pending a win over GT or UVA.
Unfortunately, those two games make complete sense when you look at Evans' weaknesses. I consider them both shocking because I wouldn't have expected those defenses to be the ones to capitalize on our weaknesses and make them so glaringly obvious. I really loved Evans, but those two games are great examples of why numbers do not = better at the QB position.
2007 against BC and Matt Ryan. With two minutes left in that game, I thought we had it in the bag.
Welp, thanks for that trip down memory lane. I hope we all got it out of our system, because I forgot just how many of them there really were.
But I suppose at the end of the day, it pays to know where you've been when you're on your way somewhere else.
VT vrs. Cincinnati in the Sun Bowl.
Gotta let it go, Man.
It's 8:51 am on a Tuesday and I'm irrationally depressed. Thanks, Joe.
2009 vs Alabama
2004 vs USC
2010 vs Boise