The most exciting college football games take place in the mountains of Blacksburg, Va. This is the home of Lane Stadium and Virginia Tech football. One can expect almost every wild Hokie fan from the mountains of southwest Virginia to come storming into Blacksburg and raise bloody hell for their team. Visiting teams fear the wrath of Lane Stadium. Even the slightest mention of the word brings tears to their eyes. Many sports announcers have called Lane Stadium the biggest home field advantage in college football. That place gets loud.
I have been a huge Virginia Tech fan ever since I can remember. My father and grandfather went to school there so my whole family has a lot of pride in the school, but more importantly its football team. I went to my first Virginia Tech football game when I was 8 years old. I was shocked at how huge the stadium was and how loud the crowd roared. Even the old grandpas were screaming and high fiving each other. The whole scene truly amazed me. As I grew older, I continued to make the two hour drive up to Blacksburg to watch the Hokies play. I quickly developed a passion for Virginia Tech football. The atmosphere at Lane Stadium cannot be beat. The tailgates are amazing; there is always plenty of beer and fried chicken to go around. The fans are extremely friendly as well. You can’t walk more than a few feet without someone inviting you to join their tailgate. The whole Virginia Tech football experience is something I always look forward to.
This is how it all began. The Virginia Tech football program officially started in September of 1891. It took a lot of effort to get the program going and the process was very slow. The football program was finally put in place due to hard work of two college professors and two cadets. Professor Anderson, as he was known, played right tackle on the team. The rules for college football were obviously much different at the time because only students are allowed to play in games these days. The other professor, E.A. Smith, served as the team’s coach. The two cadets, H.B. Pratt and J.W. Stull, also served as players on the team. Getting a team together was a struggle for these four entrepreneurs. They had go into the dorms and beg players to come out to the field for practice and games. Those who did not make the starting roster almost always quit the team which made things very difficult. Despite all the troubles the four men experienced in their quest to start a football team, they managed to get a team together and play their first game just a year later. On October 21, 1892, Virginia Tech played its first football game against St. Albans from Radford. The game resulted in 14-10 victory for Virginia Tech. Professor Anderson scored the first ever touchdown for the team. Professor Smyth coached the first game in Tech history and would eventually become known as the father of modern football at Virginia Tech.
The Virginia Tech football program went on to be a great success, but it never could establish itself as a top program in the country. In fact, for most of the twentieth century the team was not very well respected at all. From the emergence of Virginia Tech football in 1892 to the 1987 football season, the team only managed to reach six bowl games. That is an extremely low number considering that the first bowl game was played in 1902 and they were played continuously from 1916. The success of the Virginia Tech football team was very low in all those years. The fans for Virginia Tech had long awaited a hero to emerge and lead their team to victory. Their hero finally came in 1987, when Frank Beamer signed on as the head coach for the team. None of them imagined that he would lead them to become a dominant college football program. Beamer was a former player at Virginia Tech and was thrilled to become the coach of his former team. Beamer played cornerback for Virginia Tech from 1966 to 1968. He played during probably the most successful years of Virginia Tech football. Over a span of 95 years, Virginia Tech only earned only six bids to bowl games. Beamer played in two of these games during only a three year period. He wanted to reestablish the respect for Virginia Tech football in which he had experienced as a player on the team.
Turning around the program was no easy task for Coach Beamer. He endured some long seasons of failure and defeat on his way to the top. In 1992, his team only won two games. The years after that season seemed to be a different story. In 1993, after five years of hard work, Beamer had finally put together a team that consisted of only players in which he had recruited. Working with some talented personnel is an important key to the success of a football coach. By the 1993 season, beamer no longer had to use the player recruited by previous coaches. He could now call the program entirely his own work.
The 1993 season was Coach Beamer’s break out year. Rising from out of the ashes of the 1992 season, the 1993 team was a different story. The Hokies posted an 8-3 record and went on to defeat Indiana in the Liberty Bowl. It was this season that marked the emergence of greatness for the Virginia Tech football program. From this season on Virginia Tech would attend a bowl game every year. From the 1993 season until present, the Hokies have amassed a record of 17 straight bowl game appearances. Their record of 17 straight appearances ranks third among all college teams. Virginia Tech earned its most prestigious honor when it earned a spot in the 1999 national championship game. The Hokies went on to lose to Florida State, in that game. Despite the loss, the reaching of a national title game was a huge boost to the program and it has only led more success in the years after.
I have been a huge Virginia Tech fan ever since I can remember. My father and grandfather went to school there so my whole family has a lot of pride in the school, but more importantly its football team. I went to my first Virginia Tech football game when I was 8 years old. I was shocked at how huge the stadium was and how loud the crowd roared. Even the old grandpas were screaming and high fiving each other. The whole scene truly amazed me. As I grew older, I continued to make the two hour drive up to Blacksburg to watch the Hokies play. I quickly developed a passion for Virginia Tech football. The atmosphere at Lane Stadium cannot be beat. The tailgates are amazing; there is always plenty of beer and fried chicken to go around. The fans are extremely friendly as well. You can’t walk more than a few feet without someone inviting you to join their tailgate. The whole Virginia Tech football experience is something I always look forward to.
This is how it all began. The Virginia Tech football program officially started in September of 1891. It took a lot of effort to get the program going and the process was very slow. The football program was finally put in place due to hard work of two college professors and two cadets. Professor Anderson, as he was known, played right tackle on the team. The rules for college football were obviously much different at the time because only students are allowed to play in games these days. The other professor, E.A. Smith, served as the team’s coach. The two cadets, H.B. Pratt and J.W. Stull, also served as players on the team. Getting a team together was a struggle for these four entrepreneurs. They had go into the dorms and beg players to come out to the field for practice and games. Those who did not make the starting roster almost always quit the team which made things very difficult. Despite all the troubles the four men experienced in their quest to start a football team, they managed to get a team together and play their first game just a year later. On October 21, 1892, Virginia Tech played its first football game against St. Albans from Radford. The game resulted in 14-10 victory for Virginia Tech. Professor Anderson scored the first ever touchdown for the team. Professor Smyth coached the first game in Tech history and would eventually become known as the father of modern football at Virginia Tech.
The Virginia Tech football program went on to be a great success, but it never could establish itself as a top program in the country. In fact, for most of the twentieth century the team was not very well respected at all. From the emergence of Virginia Tech football in 1892 to the 1987 football season, the team only managed to reach six bowl games. That is an extremely low number considering that the first bowl game was played in 1902 and they were played continuously from 1916. The success of the Virginia Tech football team was very low in all those years. The fans for Virginia Tech had long awaited a hero to emerge and lead their team to victory. Their hero finally came in 1987, when Frank Beamer signed on as the head coach for the team. None of them imagined that he would lead them to become a dominant college football program. Beamer was a former player at Virginia Tech and was thrilled to become the coach of his former team. Beamer played cornerback for Virginia Tech from 1966 to 1968. He played during probably the most successful years of Virginia Tech football. Over a span of 95 years, Virginia Tech only earned only six bids to bowl games. Beamer played in two of these games during only a three year period. He wanted to reestablish the respect for Virginia Tech football in which he had experienced as a player on the team.
Turning around the program was no easy task for Coach Beamer. He endured some long seasons of failure and defeat on his way to the top. In 1992, his team only won two games. The years after that season seemed to be a different story. In 1993, after five years of hard work, Beamer had finally put together a team that consisted of only players in which he had recruited. Working with some talented personnel is an important key to the success of a football coach. By the 1993 season, beamer no longer had to use the player recruited by previous coaches. He could now call the program entirely his own work.
The 1993 season was Coach Beamer’s break out year. Rising from out of the ashes of the 1992 season, the 1993 team was a different story. The Hokies posted an 8-3 record and went on to defeat Indiana in the Liberty Bowl. It was this season that marked the emergence of greatness for the Virginia Tech football program. From this season on Virginia Tech would attend a bowl game every year. From the 1993 season until present, the Hokies have amassed a record of 17 straight bowl game appearances. Their record of 17 straight appearances ranks third among all college teams. Virginia Tech earned its most prestigious honor when it earned a spot in the 1999 national championship game. The Hokies went on to lose to Florida State, in that game. Despite the loss, the reaching of a national title game was a huge boost to the program and it has only led more success in the years after.
I enjoyed your post on VT football! It is such an exciting part of our college experience and I think we are so fortunate to have a respectable football team! Nice job!
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