No. 14: Virginia Tech, 1999
June 21, 2010 11:57 AM | General
July 17, 2010
Losing a game on the final play is never easy to swallow, but when it comes against your rival - which also happens to be the No. 3 team in the nation - well, that’s more like a punch in the gut.
Virginia Tech looked like it was well on its way to an 8-0 record when Shyrone Stith scored a 6-yard touchdown to give the Hokies a 19-7 lead over West Virginia with just 4:59 remaining in the game.
But backup quarterback Brad Lewis, in the game for injured starter Marc Bulger, guided the Mountaineers to a pair of touchdown drives in the next 3:44 to give WVU a 20-19 lead.
Boo Sensabaugh put West Virginia in great field position when he scooped up a fumbled kickoff and raced 44 yards to the Tech 39. A personal foul penalty called against the Hokies tacked on 15 more yards to the 24.
Lewis hooked up with tight end Anthony Becht for nine yards on third down to give the Mountaineers first and goal at the four. On the next play, Lewis lobbed a perfect pass in the right corner of the end zone to Jerry Porter for a touchdown to reduced West Virginia’s deficit to 19-14. West Virginia’s defense then came up with a huge play on Tech’s next possession when linebacker Barrett Green stripped the ball from Stith and Greg Robinette recovered it at the West Virginia 32.
Right away, Lewis hit Becht for 17 yards to the 15 and another short Lewis pass moved the ball to the nine. Following a sack, WVU was faced with a third and 13 from the 18 when Lewis stepped up and hit Ivy on a crossing route for an 18-yard touchdown. The PAT gave the Mountaineers a 20-19 lead with 1:15 showing on the clock - more than enough time for fabulous Hokie quarterback Michael Vick.
On first and 10 at the Tech 15, Vick hit Terrell Parkham for 14 yards to the 29. A nine-yard pass to Ricky Hall moved the ball to the 38. Then came the dagger.
Vick went back to pass, couldn’t find an open receiver and chose to take off to his right up the far sideline. It looked like he was going to run out of bounds about 10 yards down the field at the 48, but instead of slowing up, Vick turned on the jets and darted ahead for an additional 16 yards, putting the Hokies well within Shayne Graham’s range at the West Virginia 36 with only 23 seconds left.
“The defense thought I was going out of bounds,” Vick said. “That’s a move I work on all of the time. The defender turned his head too fast. He didn’t know I had about two yards on the sideline where I could get upfield.”
Another nine-yard pass to Hall moved the ball to the WVU 27 where Vick was able to spike the football to stop the clock with five seconds left. Graham, who missed a field goal in a similar situation in 1998 against Miami, calmly hooked the ball inside the right post to give the Hokies a 22-20 win and keep alive their national title hopes.
As Graham was being carried off the field, West Virginia players fell in disbelief; others slammed their helmets to the turf in anger.
“We’re very disgusted,” said WVU defensive lineman Ryan Brady. “We came through for the most part, but we let it slip away.”
“It’s a tough loss because I felt coming into this game we were going to win,” added freshman running back Avon Cobourne, who rushed for 133 yards against Tech’s nationally ranked defense. “They hadn’t really played anybody. I felt we could go out, play hard, and we were dominating them in the first half. It’s a terrible loss. We should have won the game.”
