As we all know, this past football season came and went without any night games in Lane. I was thinking about pamy favorite night games in Blacksburg and the electricity, fireworks, and memorable moments that come with it.
What are your favorite quotes, plays, or games in general that happened at night in Lane?
It should be quite obvious that I am just trying to bring up happy memories and the input gathered here will definitely not be for a sweet video this off season.
For me, my favorite quote is Corey Moore saying "Welcome to the terrordome" during the 1999 game vs Clemson.
Favorite moment is the David Wilson kickoff return against GT in 2010 and Enter Sandman playing after!
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"He said, 'Give it to me, Roscoe! Give it to me!'"
"These people are losing their minds!"
Yep, there's just something about beating Miami at night in Lane...
The "losing their minds" quote was from a 3:30 game, which I know, feels like a night game after last season....
True, but I give it credit as a night game since the best moments happened at dusk or after dark. And you're quite right, 3:30 feels like night after a year of noon kickoffs...
"Alonzo Tweedy makes the tackle!" "One of the greatest games I ever saw."
"These people are losing their mind. This is beautiful!" No truer words spoken.
VT vs. Clemson - 99
Same. Cory took that game over with his sack strip recovery TD.
Coming off the field after the pregame show of the Miami game in 2003...I literally couldn't hear myself think. I've never heard Lane Stadium -- or anywhere -- so loud.
That game will probably never be topped outside of a national championship.
I remember walking to Lane before the game and everything just felt different that night. Colors were more vivid, sound was sharper, air was crisper, and we were definitely louder.
Darren Evans' huge truck of the Maryland guy has to be included
You mean this?
Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. Such an awesome game for my first Thursday night game as a freshman...
The announcers reaction makes that.
Also, can we PLEASE bring back the maroon painted letters and logo on the field?! That was truly #ALLMAROONEVERYTHING. Im looking at you, Whit.
Am I the only one that gets excited when I see a discussion posted by BillDozerVT??
I loved the David Wilson return for a touchdown as well!
Nope. Sure not.
I was still in high school in 2010, but my sister got us tickets to the GT game that year. I got to skip school that day and hang with her on campus, and it was such a fun time. The game was a blast the entire time, but I'll always remember the one play that night. I was so excited when David Wilson ran that kick off back for a touchdown. I asked my mom right before it happened, "Wouldn't it be awesome if he ran it all the way back?"
TL; DR - I have magic powers to help the players score touchdowns.
Your hired. Please report to football game-day operations immediately.
Wayne Ward making The Block against WVU
Clemson & Syracuse '99
Texas A&M Hurricane game
Miami '03
Clemson in 2006?
I'd also say FSU in 2007. It was a 3:30 start but the second half (when the good guys pulled away) happened after dark.
2002 vs Marshall. First game in lane stadium and first experience with Hokie football. Was there in green and white but never forgot that game (thrashing). My first VT game as a student was vs Marshall as well
Who knows what would have happened that game if Byron Leftwich could actually be mobile? He still put up like 500 yards through the air.
"Roc Carmichael with a pick in the endzone!"
Also, the 2009 Miami game - ended up drenched but ecstatic. Great game.
The 2011 GT game - "3rd and 7? Just outside of QB sneak range."
The Roc pick was awesome. 3rd & 7 in 2011 was @ GT & '09 rain was an afternoon game.
Oh yeah, forgot about the Lane limitation, just remember that being awesome. And the '09 Miami game was so dark it might as well have been a night game.
Thought the "Terror Dome" was after the Syracuse game and we played @ Klempson that season.
I know this was a 3:30 game but it was still freaking awesome and it ended around 7 or so.
OMFG!!!! We need to get back to these type of games ASAP!!
The first ever overtime game in Lane was pretty cool. GT 2012.
MY first night game!
This is the one I was going to mention. That was my first game ever at Lane Stadium, and the only night game I've been to. Definitely a memorable one.
i dont know how it didnt pour rain on us during that game, i just remember looking at the radar and it was raining everywhere but blacksburg
I just remember checking the radar and seeing the clouds split right over the stadium. I think Lee Corso's quote still applies.
That's not the only game that has happened.
OMG...that game went right in so many ways for me.
It was my only game for that year, since my son was born three weeks later. (So, I'm a little worried that he might decide to take Labor Day a little literal and come out early.) We planned a guy's night trip -- my father-in-law, brother-in-law, buddy, and me.
I got tickets through the Corps, but there was a mix up on letting me know to pay for them, so I had several frantic phone calls the week before, plus mailing a check overnight to Blacksburg. I got that mess settled, so the tickets were waiting at Will Call...and then I woke up on Monday morning to a downpour.
We leave Chesterfield, and stop for lunch in Lynchburg. Raining all the way, and a total downpour during lunch.
I don't think it stopped raining until we hit 460 coming up on campus. I remember looking up from the parking lot, watching the clouds move away, with my poncho packed in my side pocket, hoping I wouldn't need to pull it out.
Then, we're at the game, with no rain, and GT goes up by 7. I stood there thinking "there is no way I went through all of this mess to see us lose."
All to be topped off by OT.
Side note -- I've taken my brother-in-law to three VT games...the last two GT night games (2010, 2012), and the last Miami (2011). Not only is Tech 3-0 with him in attendance, they are three of our most impressive games.
TKP needs to take up a collection for him so he has VT season tickets for the rest of his life!!
Well, in terms of overall team effort I respectfully disagree that it was one of our more impressive efforts (since it had to go into OT). Also, defensively, the '11 was one of our lesser impressive efforts. But still, good story.
Technically not a night game because it was a 3:30 kickoff but it is was dark by the time they put Sandman on the PA and we recorded and earthquake in Lane then very next play "ALONZO TWEEDY MAKES THE TACKLE AND VIRGINIA TECH WINS!" Accompanied by Logan's best game as a Hokie and his game winning run when it was almost fully dark. I was in Lane for that one I can still hear in my head the Lane Stadium announcer screaming "AND THATS THE END OF THE GAME THE FINAL IS VIRGINIA TECH 38 MIAMI 35!
I grew up watching the Hokies and loving them but being at this game took my love for Hokie football to a whole new level and three months later I joined TKP and its just been growing ever since.
I. Will Never. Forget. This Game. Ever.
Most exciting game I have ever been to. EVER.
Got my parents to come down for that game. Neither of them went to big football colleges (UCSB & UNM) so I was extremely excited for them to witness such a great game in person. They've been to other college football games, but goodness the atmosphere in the stadium for that game was absolutely ridiculous.
FUCK I ACCIDENTLY DOWNVOTED THIS HOW TO I UNDO IT?!?!?!?!
It's OK I just upvoted it and it went away. PHEW!
The Thurs night game against UMD where Darren Evans went off was pretty fun. Very very cold, if I remember correctly.
Andre's Davis' 3rd quarter vs. Weet Virginia in 2000 was one for the ages. His 3 touchdowns in the span of a few minutes set Lane on fire.
Forgot about that game. That's up there too.
It wasn't a night game, but my memory includes when it was dark out. So I count it.
As an 11 year old spending his first day in Blacksburg my first memory ever was the BC game in 99 standing on the wooden southendzone bleachers watching Frank Beamer and Michael Vick getting carried off the field right in front of us, the students taking down the goal posts right in front of us, and me asking my dad, with concern that they were going to fall back on us "Where are they going to take those goalposts"?
DOWNTOWN!
I was hanging from the crossbar when the first goalpost fell. Great memories.
After the game I was walking on the drillfield with my dad and brother and about 15 students came up to us holding half a goal post so we could touch it. I think I was 7 at the time and my brother was 5. One of my favorite Tech football memories.
i remember a mob walking down college ave (i think) with a section of the post. traffic was completely stopped, cars were blaring their horns, people were just everywhere, the cops were just letting it happen. i remember thinking to myself, "this place is awesome."
The old police chief had a plan. As long as people where just celebrating and having fun he would eat the overtime for his officers. Once anything destructive happened, he moved in and shut things down. Good plan.
I upvoted all of these. Just fricking Awesome!!!
THIS. I remember being behind the BC bench and watching Sugar Cubes rain on a mud soaked sideline.
That used to be my Wall paper for the longest time.
Every night game, even the ones we lost, were amazing. I've been to other stadiums at night (granted not LSU or Bama), but Lane is ridiculous at night.
If I were to pick one, the Miami 2003 game. They were ranked pretty high. We beat them soundly. After the game, Main Street Blacksburg was WILD!
"Folks, we go to noisy stadiums all across the country....And I am not sure we have ever seen a situation like this. Fans are jumping, their loud....And its been this way for the last 30 minutes....And here they come...." Ron Franklin, before the Miami 2003 night game.
I believe that was the great Ron Franklin on the call and not Fowler.
Thanks for the correction.
If we're talking memorable night games, this one has to be included. I'll never forget it even though it turned out to be no game at all. There was so much energy in the stadium, the teams were lined up for the opening kickoff and then...
This was the first thing that came to my mind. I was there for the Corey Moore game and several of the others mentioned in this thread but the Corso lightning strike will always be a favorite of mine.
I remember Corso being interviewed a couple days after that game about the car incident. He said something like "I will never pick anyone over Virginia Tech again."
Yeah, he referenced how God was obviously on our side or something like that.
Thanks for finding that. +1!!
Ditto, knew it was out there.
This was the greatest non game to ever be not played!!!
Ya'll are wrong. This was by far one of loudest games ever at Lane Stadium on a Thursday night. People were so smashed that it literally sounded the loudest the stadium can get for at least 5 straight minutes into the game...
Close second is Miami 2003 on Saturday night
The best thing for me about that Maryland game was walking into the stadium and passing a Maryland fan. He began screaming "Hell in a shell, Baby!" I loved it. The second best thing was watching the game form one of the suites, the first and only time I've done that at Lane.
I think the 04 Maryland game was so crazy because it was our first ACC game with them and I know we have alot of students who lived in Maryland at that time that just had a huge hatred for that school, (that and the obvious thursday night game). That entrance defiantly made Maryland crap their pants and they sure played like it.
That game was 2 years in the making. We were still peeved about the Wilford drop in the 2001 game, and Miami absolutely ran up the score on us in 2002. Miami came in with National Title aspirations, and we beat the piss out of them. Brock Berlin had the absolute worst game of his career, and we exposed why he would never amount to anything in the NFL. It was every bit the defensive beat down that this year's Super Bowl ended up being.
The only other game I'd put up there...
Clemson came in Top 10, and we were unranked. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY expected us to stand a chance in the game, and Brandon Ore went into beast mode and ran them right out of the building. It was a loss that put Clemson in their place for the next 5 seasons until Bowden was fired and Dabo turned it around.
Clemson 2006 was awesome. Definitely one of the loudest games in Lane I ever attended. The intensity from the fans was epic that night. I spent the entire game running up and down our row (and later our whole section) with a friend of mine, getting people to make more noise. During a time out, people started to quiet down, and I will never forget running up and down the stairs screaming "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THEY'RE PLOTTING AGAINST US! NO MERCY!" Then I got everyone to jump up and down during an entire media time out, just to encourage chaos. It was awesome.
That was the first game I ever brought my mom to at Tech. She had been a longtime TV football fan but had never been to a game in RL.
I'm actually in the the last 15 seconds of that Clemson video!
I am too..actually. One of my friends' dad saw me on TV very briefly when they were interviewing Ore. A couple of guys tried hoisting me up on their shoulders and just behind Ore in the background you see my head pop up like a gopher a couple of times.
gotta go with the clemson game. My first son was born at 4 that morning, and his first thing to watch on tv was the VT vs. Clemson game while my wife slept off the birth ordeal. A great day!
That is truly awesome. God wants him to be a Hokie!
yup, it will happen.
Clemson 06 is the only VT game I've seen live to date, left Liberty that afternoon missing my accounting class, met my dad and my sister in Christiansburg, low-fived Sean Glennon as the players made their way to the stadium, made the long climb about 2/3s of the way up the east stands, bounced to Enter Sandman, screamed til my throat hurt and then screamed a little more, and just had an all around great time.
Apparently a bunch of other people missed that accounting class, so the professor decided to pick two midterm questions from stuff that was only discussed in that class and wasn't in the book, going to the game was definitely worth missing those two questions.
Was this the one that we made Clemson burn all 3 timeouts on the first 3 plays from scrimmage? That was intense! I could feel the concrete humming underneath my feet!
the '06 clemson game is how I fell in love with VT football...the game that got me hooked
The upset over Clemson in 2006 will always have a special place in my heart because it was the very first night game I even went to in Lane.
Another one that I haven't seen mentioned yet. 1995 vs. Syracuse. It was Donovan McNabb's freshman year with the Orange. All the media hype was about him, Syracuse was ranked, we weren't. It was bitterly cold. Which meant you just had to drink more to stay warm. Crowd was loud and rowdy.
We were up something like 17-7 at halftime, and McNabb had been running for his life the whole game. I also think up to that game, we'd knocked every starting QB we'd faced out of the game that season. Cornell Brown was having an absolutely beastly season. They came out in the second half and the defense clamped down even tighter, we cruised to a 31-7 win. It was awesome. There was a rain of oranges and suger cubes onto the field as the game ended because us fans were starting to realize we had a good shot at a major bowl game (and that 95 Sugar Bowl win over Texas is still one of my favorite games I've attended).
Also after beating #16 Syracuse 62-0 in 1999...Troy Nunes wondering after the game how it was 62-0 and no fans had left, and were just as loud at the end as at the beginning.
I miss those days. I need more cash so I can go to more games and be part of bring Lane back to it's former self.
This. The wonderful days of Tech football, where fans were in the stands the entire game, no matter the score.
Yup, back in the day when you couldn't watch what ever game was going on anywhere in the country.
Was that the one where the Syracuse QB said something to the effect of "I don't like playing there, the fans think they're part of the team"?
November 1st, 2003.
I was thirteen years old. Perhaps one of my proudest Hokie moments in my life. DeAngelo Hall rips Roscoe Parrish deep in Miami territory and takes it to the house. We destroyed Miami in that game, and no game since then has ever been so loud. Lane Stadium was an impenetrable fortress then, a place where opposing teams were humiliated and beaten into the ground. Cheers to the new AD bringing back the swag of lane stadium.
My name is Alec.
Alec, Smart Mr.
Whit Babcock.
please, Read. This. Thread.
This must return!
FTFY. The Terrordome has been a bit less terror-inducing in recent years. Get with the program, Hokies!
Hear! Hear!
The loudest moment I can remember was 2001 with #1 Miami in town. When we blocked that kick and returned it against them. That moment was the loudest I can ever remember Lane. I think that moment registered as an Earthquake as well. That was the game that Wilford dropped the 2pt conversion and Grant Noel had his 5 turnovers. We had that team beat that went on to win the NC.
Same here. And that was with no North end zone seating at all due to the construction. The block/scoop and score was deafening.
It was just an explosion of noise. I watched the tape of the game after I got back and almost none of the noise translated to the TV broadcast. But it was there.
Explosion is a great desrciption.
This is the kind of excitement that needs to return to Lane Stadium. This thread is awesome, let's all pass on the excitement and get the rest of Hokie nation back to this level. Let's drown out all the negativity from a small portion of the fan base I see on other sites and BRING BACK THE TERROR DOME!
Pretty much every night game being discussed here is included in this video. FTR, this video was the most fun ever to make.
The UNC game in 2011 was the best intro ESPN has ever done for us. Fun fact - my roommate shot the opening footage of the lights in Lane. Pretty cool that ESPN borrowed it.
Whenever someone asks me what it's like for a game in Lane, I always show them this video, and the 2011 Miami game. They're always amazed.
"The windchill feels about 20 degrees, that's not the reason I have goosebumps right now."
THIS
They need to get the person that did the video editing for this back. I've not seen any other game on ESPN with this kind of intro. This...is...fantastic...
http://youtu.be/ibsrs1a-nbk?t=4m55s
I wore shorts to this game.
I screamed the whole time.
Best
-03' Miami-Self explanatory
-04' Maryland- As someone said above i think the whole North Endzone was at the top of its game here
What could have been
-05'Miami-so much electricity leading up and at kick off then the air was let out
-07' BC- no comment
Also what could have been: FSU '12. I literally dropped when the receiver crossed the goal line.
Meh
Those other games, we had National Title aspirations. We beat FSU, we make the ACC title game. Doubt we beat a team of that quality 2 times in a row. Likely get slotted to the CFA Bowl where we'd be playing an opponent way over our heads. Not sure 'what could have been' really applies to that game, as much of a missed opportunity it was.
I might get flak for this but I think its a good thing we didn't pull it out against FSU and make the ACC title game in 2012 that alone might have made Beamer give O'cain, Sherman, and Newsome another shot then were would we be. Thank goodness for Loeffler, Moorehead, and Grimes/Searels.
Ouch, but you have a point. +1
It wasn't a night game, but the 2013 Maryland is in my list of "could-of-been's" The crowd was great, it was loud, everyone stayed for the whole game, the weather was perfect...but all that was lost in the embarassment of losing to a bad, and heavily injury-depleted Maryland team. Probably the toughest loss I've had to stomach in person.
Duke of last year ranks up there as well. We manhandled on defense all game and the offense kept turning over the ball.
So many "could-of-beens" from the past two seasons. FSU, Duke, and Maryland were all heartbreakers.
Thanks for the reminder [sarcastica]
And in 2014 we will have Miami on a Thursday night in ALL Maroon and it will be my first game in Lane Stadium.
they have games at night there? (uber sarcastica)
2006 Clemson. My first night game in Lane.
It's got to be cool watching a game by yourself in Lane Stadium. I assume it was being shown on the JumboTron?
You're hysterical. It was a typo.
Sorry. I couldn't help myself. It's all good.