Over the first 10 years of ACC divisional play, the winner of the Coastal was named Something Tech nine times. Virginia Tech won the division six times; Georgia Tech won it three. And the collision of the Techs was invariably one of the better games of the conference season. Ah, those were the days, my friends. We thought they’d never end. But they did.
Virginia Tech arrived at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Thursday night tied for fifth in the seven-team Coastal. Alone in seventh place were the Yellow Jackets, who not so long ago capped an 11-3 season by beating Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl. VPI — as us old folks used to call it — was 4-5; the team representing the Georgia Institute of Technology was (gulp) 3-6. A duel of the titans this wasn’t.
Still, there was much happening at the Flats this lovely night. G-Tech’s 1990 UPI national championship team had reconvened and was saluted at halftime. V-Tech’s venerable coach Frank Beamer, who’s retiring at season’s end, was recognized before the game. And some nice folks from Ireland showed up to invite G-Tech fans to come to Dublin next September — the Jackets will play Boston College there — and announced that beer will be served inside Aviva Stadium. Indeed, there was a challenge issued as to which set of fans could consume more. As they say on the Emerald Isle, “Erin Go Brewskie.”
As for the game itself: One Tech started hot. The Jackets scored touchdowns on their first possession (four plays, 75 yards) and their third (after a V-Tech fumble). Given the Hokies are nothing special on offense, you might have thought 14 points would be a comfy cushion. You’d have been wrong.
V-Tech got rolling (or as rolling as it’s apt to get) and tied the score at 14-14 just before halftime. By then, the visitors seemed the more talented side. They outgained the Jackets 223 yards to 162 over the first 30 minutes, and Michael Brewer — the quarterback whose three interceptions handed the game to G-Tech when last these teams met — wasn’t throwing the ball to the wrong team.
To the second half: The Hokies took the kickoff, and Brewer reverted. On third-and-10, he threw a pass that hit linebacker Brant Mitchell in the solar plexus. A grateful Mitchell returned his gift 32 yards to score.
The Hokies drove to a field goal. Broderick Snoddy fumbled a late Justin Thomas pitch, giving V-Tech a chance to take the lead. G-Tech held. Then it punted. V-Tech missed a makeable field-goal attempt. And right about here, the thought occurred: Neither of these teams has had much of a season — and often we could see why — but this had become a pretty entertaining game.
Into the fourth quarter, G-Tech leading 21-17. The Jackets’ offense had slowed to an ooze, mustering only five first downs since the first quarter, but the Hokies were drawn offside on fourth-and-1 at the G-Tech 49 — the old A-back in motion feint worked for the first time in years — and the Jackets moved inside the V-Tech 40. Then Snoddy fumbled again. Then the Hokies went three-and-out. A lot was happening, but nobody was scoring.
Then somebody did. The Jackets’ Marcus Allen fumbled on first down. (The entertainment had taken the form of slapstick.) The Hokies took the ball at the G-Tech 18 and, with the aid of a pass-interference call on third down, scored to nose in front. Then — more slapstick — Joey Slye missed the PAT. V-Tech led, but only 23-21.
Allen dropped a pass that would have given the Jackets a first down near midfield. V-Tech went three-and-out. Full credit to Ted Roof’s defense for hanging tough despite all the turnovers. Not much credit to Scot Loeffler’s offense for making so little of them.
Inside four minutes, Jackets with the ball, two points down. Thomas had steered G-Tech to a last-gasp victory in Blacksburg last season. But an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty on guard Errin Joe pushed the Jackets back across midfield with 57 seconds remaining. Thomas was sacked on third-and-20, and his fourth-and-27 pass was incomplete. V-Tech had won. G-Tech is 3-7. Holy mackerel.
