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 10 times. 

Against every coach but Bowden, Tech has at least a .500 record and a combined .681 winning percentage. Against Bowden, 1-16 (.059). He had our number.

But today, we’re talking about the one: November 10, 2007. Blacksburg, Virginia.

When the Hokies stepped onto the Worsham Field playing surface that day, Bobby Bowden had faced Virginia Tech 15 times. And fifteen times, Bobby Bowden had won (three at West Virginia, 12 at Florida State). 

In a thrilling, physical game with elite talent all over the field, the Hokies exorcised demons with fourth quarter heroics en route to a 40-21 victory.

The Hokies entered the game with one of the toughest defenses in college football; in fact, Bud Foster’s squad would end the season #3 in the country in scoring defense and #4 in total defense. 

This group was led by arguably the best linebacker duo in Tech history in Vince Hall (who missed this game due to injury) and Xavier Adibi. Around them were stars aplenty: Kam Chancellor, Brandon Flowers, Macho Harris, Chris Ellis and more. In all, nine defensive players on this team ended up in the NFL. And in the nine games coming into this contest, Tech had given up more than 14 points just twice – at #22 Clemson in a 41-23 win and a 48-7 loss in week two at #2 LSU.  

That loss at #2 LSU early in the year was pivotal for the offense, as it was in that game that coach Frank Beamer elected to pull the redshirt off of true freshman QB Tyrod Taylor. The electric young star, who just months earlier was walking the halls of Hampton High School, found himself thrust into a quarterback controversy. Incumbent junior starter Sean Glennon was the more polished passer, but the super athletic Taylor was inserted to take advantage of his legs. 

After LSU, Taylor got the majority of snaps against Ohio, William & Mary, UNC and Clemson. But after a high ankle sprain against Duke sidelined Taylor, Glennon was reinserted as starter. He shook off the crushing loss to Matt Ryan and #2 Boston College to throw for 296 yards passing in a blowout of the Yellow Jackets leading into this game. Tech entered the game 7-2 and ranked 11th. 

Meanwhile, the Seminoles were having a maddening, enigmatic season. They entered the game 6-3 and unranked. But amid losses to Miami, Wake Forest and Clemson, they also managed to beat #22 Alabama and, in the week prior, defeated the same Matt Ryan-led Boston College team that had ripped the Hokies’ hearts out a week before that. 

This was Florida State’s first year with Jimbo Fisher as the offensive coordinator. He left the same position at LSU to become the head coach in waiting to Bowden. Unbeknownst to the general public, Bowden underwent treatment for prostate cancer earlier in 2007 and over a six-month period had managed to eradicate it.

Sean Glennon and Drew Weatherford started the game for the Hokies and Seminoles, respectively. Neither made it to halftime due to concussions. Enter Taylor (finally healthy) and freshman Christian Ponder for Florida State.

Before leaving the game, Glennon paired with Taylor in a mix-and-match scenario, but it was evident Taylor was on a heater. It wasn’t just his legs. It was Taylor’s work in the passing game, too. His early 31-yard touchdown to Justin Harper gave him legitimate dual threat credibility for Bowden and defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews to account for. 

Once Glennon was knocked out (two plays after Taylor’s legendary 38-yard run on 3rd and 31), this was Taylor’s team for the rest of the day. Taylor found Josh Morgan on a fade in the end zone, then set up a Brandon Ore touchdown with a beautiful throw and catch to Harper at the four, and the Hokies took a 20-6 lead into the halftime locker room.

Every great movie plot has some adversity to overcome, and this game’s adversity came in the third quarter.

Three plays after Gary Cismesia caromed a 50-yard field goal off the right goal post to cut Tech’s lead to 20-9, Dekoda Watson picked off a deflected Tyrod Taylor pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. The Hokies went three-and-out, then Ponder hit De’Cody Fagg for six more to make it 21-20 Florida State. 

Despite statistically leading this game, the Hokies were down one entering the final 15 minutes.

The thing you need to understand is that the Hokies had been here so many times before with coach Bowden. Their series with the Seminoles was riddled with games where Tech was competitive, even leading the game late and somehow, Bowden would get the best of them.

Today was different.

Taylor reclaimed the lead with another spectacular throw and catch to Harper at the one followed by a three-yard scramble for a TD. Then, the Hokies rode their defense to a fourth quarter onslaught seen in many of their great wins. Similar to 1999 wins against Clemson and Miami, Foster’s unit got ornery and took the game into their hands. Florida State’s last four possessions of the game went like this:

• Fumble recovered by Cam Martin. Led to a Jud Dunlevy field goal.
• Intercepted by Chris Ellis, returned five yards for a touchdown.
• Intercepted by Brandon Flowers, returned 11 yards.
• Safety, D’Vontrey Richardson tackled in the end zone by Kam Chancellor and Xavier Adibi. 

The 20 fourth quarter points the Hokies scored were their most in one quarter ever against Bowden. 

On the defense: "They were flying around. When Florida State had the football, it was a really violent game. Because our guys were like missiles," Tech play by play announcer Bill Roth recalled to The Athletic. Indeed, the hitting was ferocious, and several of them made the highlights in the video below.

On Taylor: “I didn’t expect to see the second coming of (Michael) Vick,” Bowden said. “We couldn’t tackle that guy.” Taylor finished 10-15 for 204 yards and two touchdowns, and another 92 yards rushing with a TD.

And that in a nutshell is how the Hokies finally got the Bowden monkey off their back.

The 2007 Hokies won out in the regular season and exacted revenge on Matt Ryan in the ACC Championship Game before losing a heartbreaker to #8 Kansas 24-21 in the Orange Bowl. It would be Tech’s fourth of eight consecutive seasons winning at least 10 games (2004-2011)

As they did the previous season, Florida State ended 2007 with a 7-6 record. Bobby Bowden faced the Hokies once more, in 2008, winning 30-20 in Tallahassee. He retired after the 2009 season, ironically ending his career with a win over his former school, West Virginia, in the Gator Bowl. Fisher took over in Tallahassee and won a national title in 2013 before heading to greener pastures at Texas A&M. 

Bowden passed away on August 8, 2021, just weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 91. He won two national championships and 12 ACC titles. Bowden also guided Florida State to a record 14 straight finishes in the Top 5 of the AP Poll, from 1987-2000. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.