That old feeling in the pit of my stomach was so familiar.
Same one I’d felt at the beginning of October, when Virginia Tech lost not one, but two straight games on the very last play of the game. Same one I’d felt since falling in love with the Hokies well over 50 years ago, the feeling you just knew in your bones that said Virginia Tech teams will bring you a lot of joy in your life but in the end, there’s a very high probability they will break your heart.
It was 4th and 1 at the Clemson 5-yard line. Death Valley. Score and win, or go home with another loss. Mentally I was braced for a play that got into the end zone, but then a flag would be discovered in the backfield, the touchdown would come off the scoreboard, then Clemson would sack the quarterback on the next play to end the threat.
It never happened.
Ethan Grunkemeyer calmly took a few steps back, waited for tight end Luke Reynolds to clear the defense, then threw the ball to him like most of us play a game of catch in the backyard. Reynolds grabbed it and immediately negated the sum of all Hokie fears with the touchdown that gave his team a 20-16 win.
Immediately I heard the ghost of Bill Roth from back in the day during a game against Nebraska saying “They did it Mikey! They did it!”
It wasn’t over, as Clemson still had just enough time to break Hokie hearts around the world. But just as the incredibly porous offensive line managed to find its mojo and not allow a sack in the 4th quarter, the equally second-half struggling defense tightened up and brought a “W” home to Blacksburg.
“I can’t believe what I just saw” I said aloud to my dog Maggie, who didn’t understand what it meant, but did notice she was being rewarded with a handful of treats for something she must have done.
Call it a statement game. A turning point. A program-defining victory. A time when for the last decade, the football team that seemed to always find a way to lose in these tight games against tough opponents, instead found a way to win.
Grunkemeyer and Reynolds probably didn’t have a clue about all the past struggles in Blacksburg. They just went out and made a play when a play was desperately needed.
Without having any idea just how desperately Hokie fans NEEDED to see it.
You see, it’s one thing for James Franklin to talk about those two tough losses and say the team is learning from them. It’s another thing entirely to show the world that these are not just words, and they learned from the games with Pitt and California how to put that knowledge into practice on a Saturday night in Clemson, SC.
The timing couldn’t have come at a better time. While people noticed the Hokies’ hiring of Franklin and the announcement of increased spending on football, they’ve still been relegated to the kids table in the kitchen when it comes to the contenders in the Atlantic Coast Conference. And with Franklin being in only his first year with the Hokies, that’s more than expected.
But consider the events of this week as it relates to recruiting in the Mid Atlantic region of the country. Maryland fired its coach at the beginning of the week. N.C. State fired its coach Saturday. Virginia lost to Duke Friday night and now doesn’t have a winning record. North Carolina lost to Syracuse in overtime just moments after the Tech game. And the Hokies just beat Clemson. At Clemson.
Plus Penn State – the school that kicked Franklin to the curb and has historically been a huge recruiting thorn when it comes to blue chip recruits – is now 3-4 and in the midst of a four-game losing streak.
If you’re a young athlete looking to go to a program on its way up, seems like one team in orange and maroon is now standing out a little more than the others.
By doing so, the team is 6-2 and now bowl eligible with still four games left to play. Plus the team has a bye this week, allowing the coaching staff to hit the road and go see all those recruits who may have initially committed to Maryland, N.C. State, Penn State, Virginia, etc. and ask “so…how’d your school’s week go?”
Who knows how this will all end up long term. In Justin Fuente’s first season, he went to Notre Dame and captured a similar win, and we all know how that turned out.
But this one felt different. After starting October with such disappointment, they got off the ground and fought back to beat Georgia Tech. Last night they went into the valley of the shadow of Death Valley. And feared no evil.
Which is why I still can’t believe what I just saw 😊
Beating Clemson anytime is a good thing. Beating Clemson at the home base of late coach Frank Howard who called my UVA team “white meat” is a great thing. Congratulations!
Thanks! And I remember when Frank Howard said that…