Paul Petera

Virginia Tech-Maryland: A Short History of a Strange Series

When VMI Was Virginia Tech’s Biggest Game

On a ballfield in Richmond, Virginia in the mid-70s, a group of friends and their spouses convened for an annual tradition: a softball game. Mostly, it was an excuse to drink some beers, reconnect and trade good-natured jabs with one another. The underlying connection? VMI and V…

D'Amour Shaping Hokies Softball into a Modern Contender

The Virginia Tech softball team, currently 28-4 on the season, appears to be on its way to another 40+ win season under head coach Pete D’Amour. In his eighth season in Blacksburg, D’Amour eclipsed the 300-win mark as a Hokie last weekend, but what’s truly remarkable is how he’s…

Ranking 50 Years of Hokie Quarterbacks: A Four-Part Series (Part IV)

We’re back for the final installment of our four-part series ranking Virginia Tech starting quarterbacks of the past 50 years. In the first three parts, we ranked the 25 quarterbacks who started for at least a year. In case you missed them, or would like to refresh your memory: …

Ranking 50 Years of Hokie Quarterbacks: A Four-Part Series (Part III)

We’re back for Part III of a four-part series ranking Virginia Tech starting quarterbacks of the past 50 years. Today, we complete our ranking of the 25 full-season starting quarterbacks in Tech history by celebrating the Top 5. In case you missed the first two installments of t…

Ranking 50 Years of Hokie Quarterbacks: A Four-Part Series (Part II)

We’re back for Part II of a four-part series ranking every quarterback who has started for Virginia Tech in the past 50 years. This week, we continue our countdown of the 25 quarterbacks who started at least a season’s worth of games for the Hokies. This series is meant to be a …

Ranking 50 Years of Hokie Quarterbacks: A Four-Part Series (Part I)

Every Virginia Tech fan has their quarterback. The one who made them a Tech fan. The one who took snaps just as they were old enough to care. The one whose highlights are forever burned into memory, even if the stat line has faded with time. In Blacksburg, we've seen the quarter…

Five Great Moments from a Quarter Century of Dominance

The Hokies and Cavaliers meet for the 106th time this Saturday. The Hokies lead the all-time series 62-38-5. Since 1953, Tech has an even more pronounced 49-18-1 advantage. And in the last 25 contests, the Hokies have taken 23 of them. Before we get started, here’s a rundown of …

A Program-Changing Win: The 1995 Miami Game

Fans flocked to the field after the Hokies unexpectedly knocked off Miami in 1995 (courtesy: Paul Petera) There are big wins, and then there are program-changing wins. This is a story about the latter. On a cool, damp afternoon in Blacksburg, the Hokies leveled up in a way that …

The Day the Hokies Finally Beat Bobby Bowden

Bobby Bowden had his way with the Virginia Tech Hokies, to put it nicely. Historically speaking the legendary coach had no peer when it came to facing the Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange. For context's sake, in 133 seasons of football, Virginia Tech has faced 17 coaches at least…

Full Circle Moment: Jeff Brohm's Cardinals Finally Return to Blacksburg

Believe it or not, this is Louisville’s 12th year in the ACC. If it's hard to believe, it's because we rarely see them. In that dozen years, the Hokies have faced 14 non-conference schools as many or more times than they’ve faced the Cardinals. Despite being conference mates sin…

One Hot Mess: Revisiting a Wild 2003 Season & Insight Bowl vs Cal

Virginia Tech and Cal face each other for just the second time ever on Friday night, and the first time since the Insight Bowl in Phoenix 22 years ago. It would have been hard to fathom that night, or frankly as recently as two summers ago, that these schools would be ACC confer…

Battle of the Techs Has Been a Crazy Series

For a series that’s only 20 games long, the Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech matchup has created more than its share of moments. With the exception of 1990, the entirety of the series has taken place since the Hokies’ arrival to the ACC in 2004. Virginia Tech leads the series 12-8, an…

Hokies vs Deacons: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A pair of old foes meet again in Blacksburg as Wake Forest pays a visit to Lane Stadium for an early afternoon affair. The schools do have a few things in common. One is proximity. At just 115 miles away, Winston-Salem is the closest ACC town to Blacksburg; it’s a shame the scho…

Memories Aplenty in Hokies-Wolfpack Series

Virginia Tech enters conference play this weekend in Raleigh, NC, against a familiar foe in North Carolina State. This will be the 53rd matchup between the two schools, with the Hokies leading the series 28-20-4. The teams played each other frequently from 1900 to 1964, but didn…

New Approach Needed for Tech's Next Football Coach

Now that the Virginia Tech Hokies are in the market for a new head coach, expect to be inundated with lists of potential candidates. While the conjecture can be entertaining (if often unserious), it's important to understand that the landscape of college athletics, football in p…

The Hire That Changed College Football Forever: Dutch Baughman, Frank Beamer and a Lasting Legacy

On a Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia, a long-awaited game between Virginia Tech and South Carolina will kick off. When it does, the Beamer family will sit squarely at the center of it all. Gamecock coach Shane Beamer will patrol the sideline against his alma mater, the team…