Why this win matters so much

Hokienation.

Context:
I grew up in PA in a B1G family, Mich, MSU, Minn, and PSU. Fully immersed in the legends of JoePa, Schembeckler, Carr, horseshoe, and B1G football. I didn't even know who VaTech was until they recruited me to swim there. My parents asked if it was a 4 years degree, ha! Showed up to school in '99 and scoffed at this "JV team" led by a flashy QB named Vick. After a few games, numerous blocked punts, a few Vick flips, Moore sacks, and Engleberger body slams I realized how wrong I was about the "JV" part and was hooked. Hokies played amazing team football and found ways to coach coach-up walk-ons to an elite level and they were crushing people.

In the early 2000's, we impacted special teams and defensive play similar to the way Oregon's uptempo offense impacted college football recently. We were the NEW thing, media loved us, and teams had to adapt. And they did, slowly teams started to figure out how to neutralize us on special teams and games became closer. We had some good runs in the BE and then the ACC, and even eclipsed FSU, but the question remained could we continue to win with 3 star talent.

We had arrived, but it seemed every time we were on the national stage against 5 start talent we found ways to beat ourselves. Slowly the media fell-out of love with us and we became the good ACC team that didn't have the coaches or talent to actually win the big one. Our coach wasn't a media darling, and neither were our QB's, (e.g Mccarron, Newton, Manziel) and it was easy to overlook VT. Maybe even easier to talk about the day when FSU/Miami would rise again from the ACC. We had always been out recruited but now Clemson and FSU were playing tough football again. Sexy coaches, sexy recruits, and the media was all over it.

The ways we used to win, 3 star recruits, superior team play, special teams, defensive turnovers, and 1-2 amazing offensive playmakers seemed to be a thing of the past.

Enter #8 OSU and Urban Meyer(turd):

OSU vs VT endowment - $2.5b and ~$800m
Shoe vs Lane - 108k and 65k
OSU NC's vs VT NC's - 5 and 0
OSU recruiting vs VT recruiting class past 3yrs - Top 5 and 25th-30th
Urban pay vs Beamer pay - $4M and $2.5M

In the words of Bud Foster, "We've been doing this winning thing for 20 years they've been doing it for 100 years"

Why this win matters so much:

Adaptation to change: This win was so enjoyable to watch because it was an infusion of "new" into a team I've loved watching for so long until recently. We took the things that made us so much fun to watch and so easy to cheer for a la, aggressive defense, coached up players, special teams, and added the missing elements - offensive scheming, good QB play, sometimes uptempo (esp the last drive), and even a return to the 46 defense. Until last night, the reality was that we needed change, we needed to adapt, and I wasn't sure Beamer was that guy. But Beamer is that guy. He made the right moves on the coaching staff and it paid off last night. They did all the things I loved about early 2000's VT, even the new defense, and added the missing pieces we've all been desperately waiting for on offense. In winning this game we proved that we can adapt to change and stay relevant in the college football landscape against top talent and coaches.

How fing fun was it to once again watch a better coached team outplay a talented team. THANK YOU BUD and LOEFFLER.

Beamer is a good person: Growing up in B1G land I heard a lot about classy programs and the coaches that ran them. Integrity, morals, and values were thrown around quite a bit. But when you look at things in terms of NCAA violations its a different story. Frank's program has never been hit with a sanction preventing bowl play yet I never really hear him bragging about his program's integrity. Frank is a humble man who let's his actions speak louder than words. That's how I knew we had a shot with OSU. Frank said, "i really like where this team is headed". I knew right there that Frank's humility was stretched to the max and what he meant was, "this squad is dangerous, FU OSU".

In summary, we proved that we're able to adapt to change and thus able to stay relevant in an ever changing college football landscape. We did it with the same level of talent we've always had just different coaches and schemes. We also got a huge win for a good man who runs a clean program we should all be proud of.

LET'S GO!