This is What Being a Hokie is Supposed to Feel Like
This is What Being a Hokie is Supposed to Feel Like
Surrounded by friends and family, I watched Virginia Tech's drubbing of Tulane in the Military Bowl thinking that things might be finally turning around in Blacksburg.
I might’ve walked out of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last week soggy and freezing, but I walked out a happy man.
Being a Virginia Tech fan is tough. The Hokies have given naysayers and critics plenty of reasons to hate over the years — losing our only National Championship Game, choking big games away against various opponents, losing to James Madison in 2010 and more. Going 3-8 in Brent Pry’s first season didn’t flip that script either.
But Tech’s rout of Tulane in the Military Bowl felt what I think being a Hokie fan should feel like. It isn’t ever perfect, but you wouldn’t want it any other way.
Last Wednesday’s game was soggy, cold and at times hard to sit through. Virginia Tech gave up a quick score in the third quarter as Tulane tied it at 17-17, and I could feel myself getting sick. But that was temporary, even if the worsening rain was not.
Watching Virginia Tech win the Military Bowl by three touchdowns felt cathartic. All of the frustrating losses that had accumulated over the last five years disappeared. All that remained was a legitimate ray of sunshine on a very dreary day.
The 2023 season was all about proving that Brent Pry’s system was working. Not that it had reached the pinnacle, but that it was heading in the right direction. And by most accounts, it’s certainly doing that now.
The Military Bowl was the moment it all came together. Virginia Tech fans overwhelmed Green Wave supporters in almost every section of the stadium. Despite the soggy conditions, Hokies came out in droves to watch an otherwise nationally irrelevant bowl game.
Being a part of that was special. I spent the day with many Hokies I consider to be important — my Hokie Hangover co-hosts Mike McDaniel and Andrew Alix, friends and fellow alums Stephen Newman and Franklin Heinzmann, former VTTV partner Grayson Wimbush, the unofficial First Couple of Blacksburg — Clark Ruhland and Izzy Post — and many more.
Together, we watched Tech play like it was the mid-2000s. The Hokies rushed for an incredible 362 yards and averaged 7.2 yards per rush. The defense held Tulane to just 252 yards of total offense and two third down conversions on 10 attempts. After a fumble to start the second half, Virginia Tech scored on four consecutive possessions and never looked back.
It was an incredible experience. Sharing it with friends and family made it that much sweeter.
Ending 2023 on such a high-note will surely elicit some overly optimistic predictions for 2024. To be fair, Virginia Tech has lots of starters returning next season and with some potentially impactful transfer additions, the Hokies could be one of the more complete teams in the ACC.
Normally, I’d caution folks about getting too confident in the future. But after experiencing a win like that, it’s hard not to feel that way myself.
Instead, I’ll say this — dream big. Every successful program starts somewhere. Maybe the March to Annapolis was the beginning of a new era of Virginia Tech football.
All I know is that I walked out of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium a happy man. And given all we’ve been through, Hokies deserve to be happy.