The View from Opposite Sides of the Mountain

Tech fans, you completed your assignment. Lane Stadium finally felt like Lane Stadium again. Unfortunately, the ending felt like Virginia Tech again, too. It was hard not to be taken back to New Orleans on January 3, 2012.

“It was a catch!” has served us well for the past decade-and-a-half. It was a coping mechanism, a rallying cry, a temper tantrum, an old friend. Danny Coale, you can rest now.

Yes, on the surface, Friday night’s loss to Pitt feels a lot like the 2012 Sugar Bowl following the 2011 season.

Maybe even more than we care to think.

The parallels are almost eerie. In the Sugar Bowl, Tech outgained Michigan 377–184 and still lost 23–20. Against Pitt, Tech outgained Pitt 499–295 and still lost 35–33. Both games featured a controversial late officiating decision that Hokie fans can obsess over forever. Both featured a missed field goal at the end. And in both cases, blaming the officials exclusively lets Virginia Tech off the hook: the Sugar Bowl team had two turnovers, costly penalties, terrible red-zone efficiency and special-teams mistakes; Friday's team turned it over four times, committed 82 yards of penalties and repeatedly gave Pitt opportunities it hadn't earned. 

I actually believe the phantom interception late in the first half was the far more egregious officiating error in a night full of them. But it doesn’t erase all of the other mistakes that contributed to the final result.

As much as I hate to say it, I’m going to say it. Michigan didn’t beat Virginia Tech because Danny Coale’s catch was overturned, and Pitt didn’t beat Tech because John Love’s kick was ruled wide. Those calls mattered enormously; neither call should have mattered as much as it did.

But there’s one enormous difference between those two nights.

We know what happened next. The 2011 team was the eighth consecutive Hokie squad that won double-digit games (and the eleventh in 13 seasons). And while in the moment it felt like a frustrating chapter ending for a nationally-relevant program, it was basically the end of that version of Virginia Tech football.

What followed was fourteen seasons of mostly wandering in the wilderness: a 92-86 overall record (.517 winning percentage) and one ten-win season. Frank Beamer retired. Investment in the program flatlined. Three coaches and two interim coaches came and went. And eventually, it all bottomed out on Worsham Field last September.

That is where Friday becomes strangely encouraging.

We don't know what happens after Pitt. But for perhaps the first time in years, it feels reasonable to believe we're watching the other end of the cycle.

Don’t mistake that for brushing aside or even celebrating a loss. Moral victories have no place in a program with nationally-relevant aspirations. The game against Pitt was absolutely a game the Hokies should have won. But losses contain information, too.

Yes, Virginia Tech played badly enough to lose. It turned it over four times. It couldn't consistently run the football. It committed damaging penalties. It surrendered a 14-point lead. And yet against a 4–0 Pitt team, it generated nearly 500 yards, got 434 passing yards from Ethan Grunkemeyer, came back from 35–24 in the fourth quarter and drove to the 18 with a chance to win. 

The 2012 Sugar Bowl contained information we didn't recognize at the time: the program's margin for error was shrinking.

The Pitt game may contain the opposite information: Virginia Tech's margin for error appears to be growing again.

At the 2012 Sugar Bowl, Virginia Tech was standing near the summit. We just didn't know we were about to start heading down.

Now after spending years in the valley, Virginia Tech appears to finally be climbing again.

The games themselves look remarkably alike from a distance. But the direction we’re traveling couldn't feel more different.

Fourteen years ago, Virginia Tech walked out of the Superdome believing it had been robbed of a win. But we didn't know that one of college football's most consistent programs was about to begin its long descent from national relevance.

Friday night, Virginia Tech walked out of Lane Stadium with many of the same grievances. A controversial call. A kick. Turnovers. Penalties. Missed opportunities. A game it should have won.

But inspect this from a distance and this time, things feel different. There is more talent. There is real investment (literal and figurative). There is an energy around the program that hasn’t existed in years. And there is leadership and coaching in place that give us reason to believe all of that can turn into something meaningful.

Maybe the heartbreak feels familiar because Virginia Tech is finally playing games that matter again.

Fourteen years ago, we stood near the top of the mountain without realizing we were about to begin the long walk down.

This time, the view is different. This time, we’re looking up.