The Comedy of Errors: How VT descended from the Mountain to the Valley

If you are like me and you have been a Virginia Tech football fan for the better part of two decades, you may have found yourself asking this question numerous times: "How did we get here?"

It is no secret. What was once a great program competing for championships is now a laughingstock. We are not even at the bottom of the totem pole - we are the lowest part of the wood that is submerged underground.

Virginia Tech's absolute mountaintop can be pinpointed to one moment: leading 29-28 at the end of the third quarter in the 2000 Sugar Bowl for a national title. For a hauntingly brief second, VT was the top team in the country. 

From there, VT has strayed further and further from that, sliding all the way to the point of getting blown out by Vanderbilt at home on Saturday, likely looking at making its third head coaching change in the last 10 years.

While the decline has not been steady - there have been some moments where the Hokies have briefly headed back towards the mountaintop - the overall process has been a descension.

Let's take a look at the entire timeline of how Virginia Tech football in the 21st Century has descended from greatness to disarray. 

(Disclaimer: while the memories in this article are almost entirely negative, I am fully aware there have been numerous joyful moments as Hokies during this time. I have loved every single one of them!)

In the National Championship game, Virginia Tech finishes the third quarter leading 29-28. The defense falters, and the offense stalls out. The Hokies are outscored 18-0 and lose the game to Florida State.

An undefeated VT team looking to go back to the Natty travels to Miami with a severely limited Michael Vick (ankle sprain). The offense sputters with Vick hobbled and Dave Meyer rotating in, and the defense is no match for Miami’s elite offense. Hokies lose 41-21 and miss out on a very winnable Natty against Oklahoma.

Vick departs for the NFL, and the Hokies’ succession plan at QB is one year behind. True freshman Bryan Randall is not ready to take the mantle, so the Hokies turn to Grant Noel, who struggles mightily. The offense scores a combined 21 points in back-to-back midseason losses to Syracuse and Pitt. Hokies finish 8-4 and completely out of the national title picture. OC Rickey Bustle leaves and is replaced by Bryan Stinespring.

With Randall now at the helm, the Hokies begin the season with three huge, ranked wins against LSU, Marshall and Texas A&M. At their peak, they make it all the way back up to no. 3. But inconsistency on both sides of the ball leads to three straight losses against Pitt, Syracuse and WVU. Another 4-loss regular season.

Most of the team comes back for the 2003 season, and Marcus Vick also makes his debut. Once again, the Hokies get ranked as high as no. 3. Well-documented disciplinary issues cause the season to sputter, and the team loses five of their final seven games.

After the Hokies win the ACC in 2004, Vick is back following a yearlong suspension and is finally the starting QB. Hokies come out at a blistering pace and get up to no. 3 AGAIN before suffering a debilitating loss on November 5 against Miami. Vick turns the ball over six times.

Hokies recover by pummeling UVA and UNC, making the inaugural ACC Championship game. With a chance to play in the Orange Bowl against Penn State on the line, the heavily favored Hokies lose to an unranked Florida State, 27-22. 

Hokies instead play Louisville in the Gator Bowl. Vick stomps on Elvis Dumervil’s leg. Four days later, he is kicked off the team ahead of what could have been an historic 2006 season.

With Vick gone, the Hokies are forced to turn to Sean Glennon. His poor play costs them two games in a row against GT and BC, both of whom would have been beatable with Vick. A potential 12-0 season becomes 10-2. Perhaps Beamer’s best chance to get back to the Natty is squandered.

Ahead of the 2007 season, a handful of key pieces leave on defense, and Tyrod Taylor enters as a true freshman. A QB battle commences with Frank Beamer determined to maintain Taylor's redshirt status. Hokies get demolished in Baton Rouge against LSU, 48-7. Both QB’s struggle mightily as Beamer quickly burns the shirt.

The Hokies go on to dominate a lot of games but lose a heartbreaker to Matt Ryan and Boston College, ending their hopes of making the Natty in the most chaotic season of college football ever.

A lethargic Hokies team loses the Orange Bowl to a Kansas team treating it like their Super Bowl.

Knowing this year is likely a rebuilding year with 12 starters gone, Beamer decides again to try and redshirt Tyrod. Glennon is left on his own to start week one in Charlotte against ECU. On a day pulled from the very depths of Hell itself, the Hokies lose on a blocked punt. A once-elite program shows its vulnerability against a Group of Five program. Taylor’s redshirt is eventually burned again, but the plucky, flawed Hokies manage to secure their second straight ACC Championship and an Orange Bowl win.

The Hokies earn a commitment from QB Logan Thomas. While he was ranked as the 2nd-best QB in Virginia, questions existed about his passing ability, and some wondered whether he would be better suited as a TE. Later, the no. 1 QB in Virginia, Tajh Boyd, removes the Hokies from his list of potential destinations and chooses to go out-of-state to Clemson. Boyd would go on to shatter ACC records in yards and touchdowns, while Thomas eventually became a TE in the NFL. Could they both have played for the Hokies with Boyd throwing passes to the potentially unguardable Thomas?

The fourth-ranked Hokies are flying high, right back in the national championship mix. But back-to-back losses against GT and UNC suck the air right out of that. A dominating bowl win over Tennessee shows just how much untapped potential this 2009 team had.

The big one. The game that made my father decide to stop buying season tickets. Five days after getting their hearts ripped out by Boise State, the Hokies absolutely fall on their faces against JMU, who was an FCS team at that point. Virginia Tech would go on to put together a tremendous 11-game winning streak, but the season that many hoped would get VT back in the title mix is gone before it begins.

After what would be their final ACC Championship, the Hokies head back to the Orange Bowl, where they are completely obliterated by no. 3 Stanford in Tyrod’s final game, 40-12. VT is outmatched from the start, and it becomes clear that the team was probably never good enough to contend beyond a weak ACC.

Two monumental losses to Clemson signify the passing of the torch in the ACC. VT is no longer the top power. Thomas is vastly outdueled by Boyd. The VT offense is suffocated for eight quarters against a defense that went on to give up 70 (!!) to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl. After one game in Blacksburg and one in Charlotte, the Tigers outscore the Hokies 61-13.

The day it all ended. The last time we ever watched a nationally relevant VT football team play. The worst replay review known to man. Nothing else to say but Danny Coale Caught That Ball.

Missouri and Texas A&M officially join the SEC. Why is this significant? Rumors have abounded that VT was a preferred target for the SEC over Missouri. But VT was not interested as brass had always sought to be in the ACC. The Hokies miss out on a Golden Ticket to the right side of CFB history.

Our first indicator that things were different - in a bad way. The Hokies get dismantled in Pittsburgh. They would lose five of their next seven before a late rally to keep the bowl streak alive.

Is this the worst football game ever played? It’s certainly possible. The Hokies take down Rutgers 13-10 in OT in the Russell Athletic Bowl, capping off a lethargic season that had become so foreign to a Beamer-led team. Young Robert Irby goes on a rageful tirade on Facebook.

Frank Beamer hires Scot Loeffler as Offensive Coordinator. While many fans lauded Beamer for finally removing Stinespring from the position, Loeffler’s offenses would still feature an archaic playing style in an era when spread offenses were taking over the sport. VT’s offenses would largely remain vanilla for the rest of Beamer’s tenure.

Once again, how far we have fallen. Four years after remaining competitive as a top ten team in this exact game against this exact opponent, the Hokies are absolutely dismantled by Alabama in Atlanta, 35-10. And in the worst uniforms imaginable. Another mediocre season would follow.

One week after quite possibly the biggest win in school history against Ohio State in Columbus, the Hokies lose at home to ECU. A glimmer of hope that the Hokies might be making their way back to relevance is squashed.

Virginia Tech is obliterated by Miami at home, 30-6. Miami would finish 6-7, yet the Hokies still were embarrassed in what was once a rivalry with national stakes.

The Meme Heard Round the World. Frank Beamer - whose elated reactions were once reserved only for the biggest of games - holds up both hands in victory as a “0-0” scorebug flashes on the TV screen in front of him following a missed field goal by Wake Forest as time expired in regulation. The Hokies would lose 6-3 in overtime. 

The Hokies lose a heartbreaker to Duke at home in 4OT, 45-43, bringing their record to 3-5. Eight days later, Beamer announces his retirement.

Virginia Tech defeats UVA in Charlottesville, 23-20. While the win is celebrated and Beamer carried off the field by his team, news breaks mid-game that the Hokies have already identified his successor: Justin Fuente. The shine of Beamer’s moment is tarnished by a premature news cycle.

Despite denying the rumors hours earlier, Babcock and Virginia Tech announce Fuente as their new head coach.

Of the many shortfalls of Fuente’s career at VT, one of them was his inability to beat Georgia Tech when coached by Paul Johnson. Fuente went 0-3 against the Triple Option Guru, continuing a longtime tradition of the Hokies losing against that God-forsaken offense.

The first majorly disappointing loss of the Fuente era. The Hokies were flying high at 4-1, having won their last three games by a combined 117 points. This included a massive win over defending Coastal champs UNC in a hurricane. But for the first time, Fuente led a team into the Dome Where Dreams Go To Die, and Syracuse had their Devil Magic in full tilt. From the first drive of the game - a 58-yard touchdown pass by Orange QB Eric Dungey - the Hokies were outclassed. Any delusions they had about making the CFP were gone immediately.

The Hokies have finally made it back to the ACC Championship, and they are facing the cream of the crop: Clemson. The Hokies are significant underdogs, and they hang in until the very end. With four minutes left, VT has the ball down a touchdown with a chance to tie. They make it all the way to the Clemson 23-yard line but fail to convert on fourth down. What could have been a program-redefining upset, another ACC Championship and a NY6 bowl appearance all slipped from their grasp.

Bucky Hodges, Isaiah Ford and Jerod Evans all declare for the 2017 NFL Draft. Instead of running it back for their senior seasons with what was perhaps Bud Foster’s last great defense, the trio goes in the 6th round, 7th round and undrafted, respectively. The 2017 Hokie offense is left depleted.

After a 4-0 start, the Hokies are ranked 12th and are set to host the defending national champs. College GameDay returns to Blacksburg for the first time since 2007. An astounding 150 recruits are on campus. Virginia Tech has a chance to establish itself back on the national stage, both for that season and the future. But the Hokie offense is severely outmatched, and Clemson pulls away late.

Some of those recruits included names such as: KJ Henry, Alim McNeill, Dax Hollifield, Rasheed Walker, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Tayvion Robinson, Darnell Wright, Bryan Hudson, Brandon Smith, Howard Cross III, Nick Cross, Devyn Ford, Bryan Bresee, Julian Fleming, Chris Tyree, Desmond Evans, Blake Corum, Tyler Warren, Jalin Hyatt, Keandre Lambert-Smith and Tony Grimes.

The Hokies squander another opportunity for a win against a top 10 team with GameDay in attendance. VT’s offense struggles mightily on the road against Miami, losing 28-10. A chance to get back to the ACC Championship is lost.

Co-Defensive Coordinator Galen Scott resigns from his position at VT due to alleged extramarital affairs. Reports surface that he "used hotels paid by Virginia Tech football" for his affairs. A rising coach who was largely seen as the future Bud Foster successor is gone.

After almost the entire 2017 defense departs, putting numerous freshmen in crucial positions, the unfathomable occurs. The Hokies go on the road and lose to Old Dominion after giving up 28 points in the fourth quarter. Future Pastor Blake LaRussa throws for 495 yards. Star DE Travon Hill is kicked off the team after the game following a postgame locker room incident.

The Hokies drop four games in a row by an average of three touchdowns. What was once a promising tenure for Fuente is coming apart at the seams.

One day after falling to 4-6 and with one game remaining, Virginia Tech shamelessly schedules a 12th game against Marshall for the same day as the ACC Championship to keep their famed Bowl Streak alive. 

A mass exodus of transfers occurs in the first offseason of the NCAA Transfer Portal, a sign of things to come.

Lauded WR coach Holmon Wiggins leaves Virginia Tech to take the same job at Alabama. Wiggins would go on to coach the likes of DeVonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie, Jameson Williams and Isaiah Bond. His replacement, Jafar Williams would see…very different results.

NCAA denies transfer C Brock Hoffman’s request for immediate eligibility. While Hoffman and his family would go on to spark an anti-NCAA social media flurry that even caught the attention of ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd noted the Hokies likely filed the wrong type of waiver. Instead of pursuing a standard transfer waiver for “mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete's control,” such as his head coach at Coastal Carolina retiring, VT decided to file a Family Hardship waiver, which the NCAA determined Hoffman did not meet the criteria for. The Hokies were without a future NFL center for a pivotal season for Fuente.

College football reporter Ross Dellenger publishes an exposé of Virginia Tech’s toxic locker room situation during the 2018 season, with sources claiming older players were losing games on purpose and threatening to fight underclassmen for scoring touchdowns.

The Hokies go down to FCS Furman 14-3 at halftime. VT would win the game, but the level of play was clearly low. Culminating in…

On a night in which Virginia Tech chose to honor the 20th anniversary of that 1999 team that held the 29-28 lead in the National Championship, the Hokies are absolutely humiliated at home by Duke, 45-10. A video surfaces of the College GameDay crew dumbfounded by just how far this program has fallen from glory. If they only knew.

After righting the ship by turning to Hendon Hooker at QB, Virginia Tech loses to UVA for the first time since 2003. With a trip to the ACC Championship on the line, the Hokies turned the ball over four times and allowed UVA QB Bryce Perkins to amass 475 yards and 3 TDs.

Despite very little coaching experience, Justin Hamilton is promoted to Defensive Coordinator to replace the retiring Bud Foster. Rumors persist that Fuente wanted to hire current Purdue head coach Barry Odom, but he was denied adequate funding by the athletic department. 

The Hokies are suckerpunched (literally) before and (figuratively) during the game by converted-WR-to-QB Lynn Bowden and the Kentucky Wildcats in Bud Foster’s final game. 

After widespread rumors that Fuente was going to leave Virginia Tech to take the same job at Baylor, he decides to stay. Fuente would tweet "2020 -- Let's go!" with a painfully forced staff photo akin to Kevin Bacon screaming “ALL IS WELLLL” at the end of Animal House.

Despite a respectable 3-1 start in a bizarre season heavily impacted by COVID-19, the Hokies lose an extremely winnable game at Wake Forest, 23-16. Hooker throws three interceptions, all to walk-on safety Nick Andersen.

Another local G5 team gets the best of the Hokies as Liberty nails a 51-yard field goal as time expires. The Hokies lose 38-35.

Three more losses immediately follow. The Hokies lose a heartbreaker at home to Miami, 25-24, before getting manhandled by Pittsburgh and Clemson. The season is yet another disaster. The Hokies also decide not to play in a bowl game, ending the nation’s longest bowl streak.

Shane Beamer is hired by South Carolina, causing some fans to wonder if the Hokies missed the boat on bringing their legend’s son home.

On the day in which Justin Fuente’s contract buyout drops by $2.5 million, Babcock calls for a press conference. By all accounts, this press conference is to announce Fuente’s firing. Instead, Babcock shocks media and fans alike by instead doubling down on Fuente as the coach, sharing infamous “Year One” comments and blaming Fuente’s lack of success on the transition from Beamer and Foster.

Hendon Hooker enters the transfer portal. He would go on to have two very successful seasons at Tennessee, finishing fifth in Heisman voting in 2022.

No. 18 Virginia Tech falls short in comeback attempt against West Virginia in Morgantown, 27-21. This would mark the final time Virginia Tech would ever be ranked in the top 25.

Following two more losses, the Hokies faced Syracuse at home. Tensions are as high as ever between Fuente and the fan base. When Syracuse QB Garrett Shrader completes a 45-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left to beat the Hokies, Lane Stadium erupts into a chorus of boos and “Fire Fuente” chants.

Justin Fuente is fired by Virginia Tech. JC Price takes over as interim coach, going 1-2 down the stretch. Babcock notes in a press conference that the Hokies are looking for a candidate with previous head coaching experience, among other qualities.

Virginia Tech hires Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry to be the team’s next head coach. Rumors persist that Pry was chosen over then-Texas A&M DC Mike Elko, who went on to go 16-9 as Duke’s head coach before going back to A&M as the head whistle in 2024. In three-plus years at VT, Pry is 16-23.

Virginia Tech hires Tyler Bowen and Chris Marve as offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively. Much like Pry, both had questionable credentials before landing the jobs, and the results would turn out to be worthy of the concern.

Maryland drops a tactical nuke on Virginia Tech in the Pinstripe Bowl, winning 54-10. While being interviewed during the game, Pry declared the Hokies were going to bring back the Lunch Pail Defense as Maryland was scoring a 70-yard touchdown behind him.

Brent Pry participates in the Cadets v. Civilians Snowball Fight on VT’s campus, prompting a hoard of fans to declare that “He gets it” before he had coached a game (guilty as charged).

Whatever hopes fans have of an immediate turnaround under a new regime implode immediately and dramatically. Hijinx ensues. The Hokies lose to ODU for the second time. A group of coaches gets stuck on an elevator at halftime. Fans break into the VT locker room and steal personal items.

It’s difficult to pinpoint one moment in this season. Pry’s decisions to hire inexperienced coaches and bring in only five transfers results in a 3-8 season, the worst since 1992. The Hokies go 1-4 in one-score games.

ESPN’s Andrea Adelson publishes a story detailing the dysfunction within the VT athletics department and much of the disconnect between Fuente and Babcock. Numerous skeletons are brought out of the closet.

Hokies lose three games in a row to historically bad programs - Purdue, Rutgers and Marshall. During that time, Kyron Drones takes over as QB over Grant Wells. Two more one score losses.

The Hokies defeat a depleted Tulane in the Military Bowl, 41-20. This caps off a successful end to the season, causing optimism for the program to be its highest in years heading into the off-season.

ESPN’s Pat McAfee puts Virginia Tech in his first CFP prediction as ACC Champions. Other media personalities do the same. The hype is out of control.

And just like that, all playoff hope is gone. The Hokies are absolutely stunned by Vanderbilt in Nashville. Another one score loss.

The Hokies lose to Rutgers again, this time at home, 27-21. A team with playoff aspirations can’t even beat the worst P4 programs. Another one score loss.

In hindsight, this may have been the game that sucked out whatever life was left in the program. The Hokies play their most complete game of the Pry regime against undefeated Miami and future no. 1 pick Cam Ward. Drones has arguably his best game, too. The storybook ending is set, and the Hokies complete a Hail Mary at the end of the game to knock off a top ten opponent for the first time since 2021. But the replay booth says otherwise. Another one score loss.

After three straight wins and some flashes of the potential everyone saw in the off-season (including Bhayshul Tuten setting the school record for rush yards in a game), the Hokies blow a fourth quarter lead in the Carrier Dome (or whatever it’s called now) and lose to Syracuse in OT, 38-31. Another one score loss.

The Hokies squander an opportunity to upset Clemson at home with a 7-0 lead at half. Despite a severely banged up Drones, Bowen decides to give him 11 carries and the entire RB room 4. Mansoor Delane whiffs on a sack attempt on Cade Klubnik, leaving a wide-open man in the end zone for Klubnik to find, swinging the momentum.

Kyron Drones is shut down for the season. Pop Watson gets his first game action for the Hokies against Duke, but it is not enough. The Hokies squander opportunities to tie or take the lead. Another one score loss.

A downright pisspoor showing from the Hokies occurs in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Pry makes it clear his intention was never to win the game as freshmen and walk-ons are thrust into game action against a physical Minnesota team that wanted it more. A 24-10 loss caps off this wet fart of a season.

The Hokies hire Sam Siefkes and Philip Montgomery to replace Marve and Bowen at the coordinator spots. While each had their own reasons for optimism and pessimism, reporting suggests neither was close to a top option.

Babcock makes a presentation to the VT BOV, detailing how severely behind the times the Hokies are in their resources. He pleads for more funding/support from the university. 

With a meager amount of hope among the fan base for the newest season, the Hokies travel to Atlanta to face South Carolina and Shane Beamer. Frank Beamer is in attendance, wearing a South Carolina quarter-zip with a VT pin on it. The Hokies offense gives a pathetic showing while the defense hangs tough. South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers gives the elder Beamer the game ball. All ties to the Beamer days are officially dead.

The most recent blunder (to date). After taking a 20-10 lead into halftime, the Hokies are completely boatraced by Vanderbilt and QB Diego Pavia, getting outscored 34-0 in the second half. Meanwhile, SC struggles mightily against South Carolina State, needing three non-offensive TDs to pull away. Sellers finishes with a 20.1 QBR against the FCS team, proving that week one VT performance may not have been as impressive as it seemed. After the loss, even the staunchest Pry defender admits this is over for both the coaching staff and the AD.

If you've made it this far, I simultaneously commend, pity and fear you. I strongly recommend doing what I did while compiling this piece: drink a beer. 

The road has been long and bumpy for our Hokies. Who knows whether this valley is still deeper yet, but I leave you with this: