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Virginia Tech football history

2000 Virginia Tech Football: The Season-Long Narrative

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In 1999, Virginia Tech had produced its greatest football season ever. A program that had been gaining steam for several years–a major bowl victory in 1995 and another appearance in a marquee bowl a year later—had gone to the next level when dynamic freshman quarterback Michael Vick arrived on campus. Vick got the Hokies to the national title game in ’99 and a fourth-quarter lead in that game before ultimately coming up short. The 2000 Virginia Tech football team was on track to at least match that performance before Vick suffered an injury at the worst possible time.

Vick’s numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet—54 percent completion rate, 7.7 yards per attempt and an 8-6 TD/INT ratio. What the numbers—even his 617 rush yards—can’t quantify is how much his ability to both run and throw was unique at the time and how much difficulty it caused opposing defensive coordinators.

Lee Suggs was the most direct beneficiary of Vick-induced anxiety from opposing coaching staffs. The Hokie running back won Offensive Player of the Year honors in the old Big East football conference, rolling up over 1,200 yards at better than five a pop. Andre Kendrick was a good change-of-pace back, also getting over five yards a carry and totaling nearly 550 yards for the season.

Vick had a big-play target in Emmett Johnson, who caught 34 passes at nearly 17 yards per catch. Andre Davis averaged over 13 yards per reception and made an even bigger contribution as a kick returner, where he got All-American mention.

It all added up to an offense that was fourth in the nation for points scored. Where Virginia Tech had some vulnerability in 2000 was a defense that was losing a terrific pass-rusher in Corey Moore. The Hokies still had ball hawkers in the secondary, with Willie Pile and Ronyell Whitaker combining for 11 interceptions. But the VT defense as a whole ranked a mediocre 45th nationally for points allowed.

There was a lack of respect for the Hokies nationally. Even with Vick coming back, and even having come so close to a national title, they were only ranked #11 in the preseason polls. They opened up with a 52-23 home win over Akron, then followed it up by winning 45-28 at East Carolina. These weren’t dynamic opponents by any means, but both would finish 2000 with winning records and East Carolina went to a bowl. Pollsters nudged Virginia Tech to #8.

Events elsewhere, combined with a 49-0 blowout of lowly Rutgers a week, later vaulted the Hokies to #4. They went on the road to face a respectable Boston College team. Both the strengths and weaknesses of this Virginia Tech team were on display in a 48-34 win. They easily beat subpar Temple 35-13, then coasted past an average West Virginia squad, 48-20, on a Thursday night in Blacksburg. As the calendar moved to late October, the Hokies were ranked #2 in the nation.

That meant they controlled their own destiny, but the Big East was tougher this year than had been the case in 1999. Miami, after a few years out of the national spotlight, was also in the top five. The Hokies and Hurricanes were on a collision course to meet on the first Saturday of November in the old Orange Bowl Stadium. If they could hold serve, everything from the conference to a shot at the national title would be on the line.

First things first. Virginia Tech had two games to win. They went to Syracuse, facing a team that would go 6-5 this season and won 22-14. An even stiffer challenge came the following week at home against bowl-bound Pitt. This Panther team had Antonio Bryant, a future NFL wide receiver and an offensive shootout unfolded.

What VT had that Pitt didn’t was a running game. The Hokies rolled up a 283-24 advantage in rush yardage, with 164 yards coming from Suggs. That was the difference in a 37-34 win. But in the meantime, a worst-case scenario had gone down.

Vick was forced to leave with an ankle injury. Backup Dave Meyer performed admirably, going 7/13 for 114 yards and keeping the undefeated season alive. But the Miami game was up next week and Vick’s condition was now in serious doubt.

The sophomore quarterback tried to go against the ‘Canes, but it was no use and he had to leave early. Turning the game over to the defense might have worked a year earlier when the difference-making Moore was in the lineup, but his year the offense had to carry the load. Without Vick it wasn’t going to happen and this anticipated showdown turned into a somewhat anticlimactic 41-21 loss.

Virginia Tech fell to #8 in the polls, but responded by going to seven-win Central Florida and winning 44-21. That set up the season finale at home with their archrival, a bowl-bound Virginia team. Major bowl bids were still on the line.

Vick was back in the saddled and played well, going 16/23 for 202 yards and no mistakes. The running game continued to dominate, to the tune of 259 rush yards, with both Suggs and Kendrick having big days. The Hokies won it 42-21 and completed an solid 10-1 season.

Unfortunately, the major bowl bid that should have come, did not. The Fiesta Bowl opted for Notre Dame, who was pretty good, but at 9-2, not as good as Virginia Tech. The result was the #6 team in the polls, with the most dynamic quarterback in the nation, settled for a Gator Bowl bid.

To their credit, the Hokies didn’t sulk and instead went out and made a statement against Clemson. Vick threw for one touchdown and ran for another to stake VT to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. After the Tigers cut the lead to 14-10, Suggs added a TD to make it 21-10 at the half.

In the meantime, the Virginia Tech pass rush was getting home, to the tune of six sacks on the day. Pile and Whitaker each had an interception. Vick finished 10/18 for 205 yards. The ground game won the day to the tune of a 211-88 edge in rush yardage. Virginia Tech pulled away in the second half and won 41-20. They held their #6 ranking in the final polls.

The 2000 Virginia Tech football season was an impressive one. Ten of their twelve opponents had finished with winning records. Their only loss came without Vick, on the road, to the team that ultimately finished #2 in the final polls. Vick went on to the pros after this season, but his two seasons in Blacksburg remain the best for a program that has produced more than its share of good teams over the last thirty years.

The 1999 Florida State-Virginia Tech National Championship Game

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Two electric college football players came to the Sugar Bowl to play for the national championship following the 1999 season. Peter Warrick, a wide receiver at Florida State, might have been in consideration for the Heisman Trophy if not for a two-game suspension earlier in the year. Michael Vick had burst onto the scene with Virginia Tech and the freshman quarterback took what was a good, competitive program and lifted it to new heights.

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Together, Warrick and Vick put on a great show in the Florida State-Virginia Tech national championship battle at the Sugar Bowl.

Florida State opened the season ranked #1 and rolled through the ACC, beating Top 20 teams in Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Miami. The Seminoles won their season-ending battle with Florida 30-23, in large part because of Warrick’s two touchdowns.

Virginia Tech steamrolled the Big East, including dropping 62 points on Miami (it wasn’t until 2004 that VT and Miami joined the ACC) and rose to #2, and a chance to play for it all in New Orleans.

Warrick put his talents on display early with a punt return for a touchdown, a 64-yard-pass for another, and Florida State built up leads of 14-0 and 28-7. Vick then led Virginia Tech on the way back, with a touchdown run, and a big 22-yard scramble that set up another score and by the time the fourth quarter began the Hokies had moved to a 29-28 lead.

It was time again for Warrick. He caught 43-yard touchdown pass that triggered a final Florida State burst, and they pulled away to a 46-29 win. Florida State had the national championship. It was the second title for Bobby Bowden, although his first crown in 1993 was more a media gift than it was earned on the football field.

In either case, the 1999 FSU team was the best in Bowden’s career, and the best to come out of Tallahassee until 2013 and the arrival of Jameis Winston.

Virginia Tech has continued to be a player on the national scene and a respected program, but have also hit a ceiling. Never again have they reached a game of this magnitude, which makes a proper remembrance of this one even more important.

The final score doesn’t indicate how close this game was, nor how well the Hokies controlled the line of scrimmage. Indeed, a friend of mine, a VT fan, who traveled to the Bayou for the game, recalled afterward a Florida State fan offering his hand in congratulations with the words “You guys kicked our asses up front.”

But the ultimate story of the Florida State-Virginia Tech national championship battle was Peter Warrick, with Vick winning the award for best supporting actor. Warrick would never reach his potential in the NFL, while Vick went on to have an up-and-down career, interrupted by a prison stretch for dog-fighting and its final chapter is yet to be written. For one night in New Orleans, back in their college days, they gave the nation an electric show.

1999 Virginia Tech Football & The Arrival Of Michael Vick

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The 1999 Virginia Tech football team was on the rise. The program had made its first bowl game under Frank Beamer six years earlier and subsequently gained entry into the Big East Conference. The Hokies won their new conference in 1995 and again in ’96, winning the ’95 Sugar Bowl in the process. Though Syracuse and Donovan McNabb had displaced them at the top of the Big East the following two seasons, Virginia Tech was still an exciting program with a much anticipated freshman quarterback in Michael Vick as they approached the 1999 college football season.

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Virginia Tech was ranked #11 to start the year, a reasonable ranking for a program that had gone 15-7 over the past two regular seasons. Tech tuned up with wins over James Madison and UAB, as Vick got his feet wet, and the Hokies moved up to #8.

The first big test of the season was a Thursday night game with Clemson, in front of the home crowd in Blacksburg. While Vick had given Tech’s offense a new dimension, defense was still the calling card, as it is today.

Beamer had two elite defenders who would each make All-American by season’s end in defensive end Corey Moore and corner Ike Charlton. Both would play decisive roles against Clemson. With VT clinging to a 17-11 lead in the final five minutes, both Moore and Charlton produced defensive touchdowns and Virginia Tech won going away, moving them to up #6 in the polls.

The “Commonwealth Cup” goes to the winner of the Virginia Tech-Virginia game each year and the previous two seasons had seen the Hokies on the wrong end of the rivalry. ESPN2 was on hand for an early evening kickoff in Charlottesville when the schools faced off on October 2. Vick threw a 60-yard touchdown pass and the team’s meal ticket at running back, Shyrone Stith, ran for three touchdowns in an easy 31-7 win that put the Hokies back on top of the state. And after they mauled Rutgers a week later, they were in the top five nationally, sitting at #4.

One year earlier, Virginia Tech had lost at Syracuse in one of the most gut-wrenching defeats of the Beamer era. In a game to decide a conference title and Fiesta Bowl bid, McNabb beat the Hokies on a desperate fourth-down throw across his body and across the field for a touchdown that won the game, 28-26. It had been a long offseason of wanting revenge, and now the Orange were in Blacksburg for another early evening kickoff, 6 PM EST, to suite ESPN.

The national championship trophy was on the sidelines for the battle with the 16th-ranked Orangemen, but Vick and the defense made the night about as anticlimactic as you could imagine. They trashed Syracuse 62-0, the largest shutout of a ranked team in the history of the AP poll. It was within one point of the largest victory margin.

Virginia Tech was ranked 3rd after that game, although their ability to move up by style points was pretty much gone. Florida State and Penn State, with the game’s two legendary coaches in Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, held the top two spots and the nation anticipated a potential national championship battle between the two in New Orleans. Virginia Tech would have to keep winning and get a break.

This writer was living in Pittsburgh in 1999 and I was out at Pitt’s old on-campus stadium on the final Saturday night in October to watch Moore play a dominating game defensively and VT to beat Pitt in a 30-17 game that was more decisive than it sounds. A week later was when Tech got their scare. They coughed up a 19-7 lead with five minutes to go at West Virginia and found themselves sitting on their own 15-yard-line late in the game.

Vick helped build his legend, with a series of clutch throws, a 24-yard scramble and he set up the game-winning field goal by Shayne Graham with five seconds left. All the heartache, Hokie fans endured this day would be worth it though—because Penn State blew a lead at home and lost 24-23 to Minnesota, and the door was open for Beamer and his troops to play for the national championship.

Miami was the next opponent up. By this time next year, the Hurricanes would be a formidable foe and be the only team to defeat Virginia Tech in Vick’s sophomore year. If we’d have turned the clock back a few years, they’d have been the power of the Big East. But in 1999, Miami was mediocre, even with a #19 ranking in mid-November. Playing at home, Virginia Tech rolled the ‘Canes 43-10 and then torched Temple 62-7.

Only one more game stood between Virginia Tech and the Sugar Bowl bid to play Florida State. There were faint rumblings that third-ranked Nebraska, sitting with one loss, but more national respect, might get enough momentum to move into #2. But those were never more than rumors and Virginia Tech didn’t give skeptical voters any excuse.

They took on a decent Boston College team, ranked #22, on Black Friday and kept their foot on the gas. Stith capped off an 1100-yard season with an early touchdown. Vick threw two long touchdown strikes to Andre Davis in the second quarter and all of Blacksburg was on a Hokie High, as the 38-14 win capped the undefeated season.

Virginia Tech had arrived as a true national championship contender. The Sugar Bowl date with Florida State didn’t go as they’d hoped. The Hokies fell behind early, rallied to take a 29-28 lead after three quarters, but then saw FSU’s star receiver Peter Warrick go crazy in the fourth quarter. The final score of 46-29 doesn’t reflect how competitive the game was.

The 1999 Virginia Tech football team made a big splash for an emerging program and introduced the nation to a quarterback whose career would run a wild gamut of highs and lows. It was a fun year to be in Blacksburg or to be a Hokie fan.