10 Memorable Virginia Tech Victories
May 07, 2021 03:00 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - With the resumption this fall of the Virginia Tech series at Milan Puskar Stadium, I thought it would be interesting to revisit some of the more memorable West Virginia football victories over the Hokies through the years, dating back to when the two schools first began playing in 1912.
In all, the two have played 52 times with the Mountaineers holding a 28-23-1 advantage in series play, the lone tie coming in 1966. West Virginia and Virginia Tech played annually from 1973 until 2005, one year after the Hokies joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The two rivals have only played once since, in 2017 at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, when the 21st-rated Hokies held on for a 31-24 win over the No. 22 Mountaineers.
For decades, Pitt was always the top target in the gun sights of Mountaineer fans, but that began to change when Frank Beamer got things rolling down in Blacksburg in the mid-1990s. By the end of the decade, many younger West Virginia fans considered Virginia Tech to be Public Enemy No. 1, simply because the Hokies were enjoying far more success than the Panthers.
Whichever rival you despise more, there is no doubt West Virginia-Virginia Tech games have long captured the interest and attention of local grid fans, going all the way back to their days playing together in the Southern Conference when we used to call them VPI, and they referred to themselves as the Gobblers.
So, without further delay, here are 10 memorable West Virginia victories over Virginia Tech:
1953 – West Virginia 12, Virginia Tech 7
The 1953 contest was a classic definition of a “trap game” for seventh-ranked West Virginia when it faced Virginia Tech in a Nov. 7 matchup at Mitchell Stadium in Bluefield, West Virginia. The Mountaineers were coming off an emotional 20-19 upset victory at Penn State, and had a key game looming against ACC foe South Carolina in Morgantown on Saturday, Nov. 14. An overflow crowd of 12,300 watched Virginia Tech score first on a Billy Anderson 9-yard touchdown reception and lead the heavily favored Mountaineers 7-6 heading into the fourth quarter. Then, with less than five minutes remaining in the game, fullback Tommy Allman finally put West Virginia ahead with a 39-yard touchdown jaunt. WVU outgained Tech 311 to 38 on the ground, including Allman’s career-high 139 yards, but turned the ball over seven times to the Hokies that afternoon.
1958 – West Virginia 21, Virginia Tech 20
This WVU-Virginia Tech contest played in the Tobacco Bowl in Richmond, Virginia, featured three Mountaineer fumbles in the first 12 minutes of the game that helped Tech to a 20-8 lead. But WVU quarterback Dick Longfellow engineered an 83-yard scoring drive right before halftime, and the Mountaineers added a Mel Reight 6-yard scamper in the third quarter to overtake the Gobblers. Afterward, Tech bitterly complained about what they felt was an illegal two-point conversion play West Virginia had used following its opening score, which turned out to be the deciding points in the game. On the controversial play, Longfellow stumbled and dodged his way past Virginia Tech tacklers before flicking a pass to Charleston fullback Noel Whipkey, who was standing wide open in the back of the end zone. Tech claimed Whipkey was an ineligible receiver; lead official Paul Vennari said he wasn’t, and West Virginia’s 26-game Southern Conference winning streak remained intact.
1974 - West Virginia 22, Virginia Tech 21
Running back Artie Owens and defensive back Marcus Mauney scored long touchdowns, but the game boiled down to a pair of missed chip-shot field goals by Virginia Tech kicker Wayne Lattimer that probably saved coach Bobby Bowden's job at West Virginia. Perhaps feeling the pressure that came from having an underachieving football team staring at an eighth loss of the season, Bowden uncharacteristically got two unsportsmanlike penalties called on him during Tech’s final drive. This occurred after WVU had scored the go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion with just 1:28 to go. The 30 yards walked off against Bowden were added to the initial 15-yard penalty he complained about, putting Virginia Tech at the Mountaineer 6-yard-line for a game-winning field goal try. Lattimer’s first attempt was blocked by West Virginia’s Charlie Miller, but the play was waved off because of a Hokie dead-ball procedure penalty. That gave Lattimer another opportunity to win the game with seven seconds remaining, but this time his kick sailed left of the goal post and Bowden managed to keep his job for the ‘75 season.
1975 - West Virginia 10, Virginia Tech 7
This was one of the rare instances when Bowden needed his defense to bail out his high-powered Mountaineer offense. West Virginia turned the ball over five times, leaving Bowden speechless afterward (an amazing feat in itself!). The coach labeled Greg Anderson and Bill McKenzie the game’s two heroes, Anderson for returning a Hokie punt 61 yards to set up West Virginia’s only touchdown, and McKenzie converting the PAT and kicking a 20-yard field goal to provide the game's deciding points. For McKenzie, a walk-on kicker from Warwood who earned fame later that season for his game-winning field goal against Pitt, it was the first field goal of his young career and the first by a Mountaineer kicker all season long. Virginia Tech had a chance to try a game-tying field goal with the ball at the WVU 25 with less than three minutes remaining, but coach Jimmy Sharpe chose to go for it on fourth and inches. West Virginia linebacker Ray Marshall knifed through the line to stop Tech running back Roscoe Coles behind the line of scrimmage, and the Mountaineers held on to snap their two-game midseason losing streak.
1979 – West Virginia 34, Virginia Tech 23
Doing its best Keystone Kops imitation, West Virginia gifted Virginia Tech 21 points in a span of just 51 seconds, which has to be some sort of record, and trailed the Hokies 23-6 at halftime. Quarterback Oliver Luck fumbled on a 3-yard-line, leading to Tech’s first score. Next came Curlin Beck misplaying the ensuing kickoff and the Hokies’ Jeremiah Thomas recovering the ball deep in WVU territory, resulting in a second gift touchdown. An identical misplay on Virginia Tech’s next kickoff led to a third TD. Following intermission, the Mountaineers finally gained their composure with Luck hooking up with Cedric Thomas for a 25-yard touchdown pass and then calling his own number on a 13-yard TD run, igniting a 28-point rally. Afterward, Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley called the loss “a bitter pill to swallow.”
Game Book
1984 – West Virginia 14, Virginia Tech 7
Virginia Tech outgained West Virginia 339 to 240, but made five turnovers – three interceptions and two fumbles – in a game Hokies felt they should have won. West Virginia safety Anthony Daniels picked off two passes, including one in the end zone to give WVU its second successful goal-line stand of the season. The Mountaineers were forced to use some trickery to score the first of their two touchdowns. Following an Eddie Hunter fumble, tailback John Gay gained 20 yards on five plunges before flipping a 13-yard option pass to tight end Rob Bennett for a touchdown. WVU’s other score came five minutes later in the first quarter on fullback Ron Wolfley’s 1-yard plunge. The reason West Virginia struggled so mightily to move the football against Tech’s defense that afternoon was because the Hokies had a guy named Bruce Smith patrolling the middle of the football field.
1993 - West Virginia 14, Virginia Tech 13
This victory required some tough Mountaineer defense to hold off upset-minded Virginia Tech 14-13 and snap Tech’s two-game winning streak at Mountaineer Field. The 25th-rated Mountaineers used a third-quarter safety and a fourth-and-goal touchdown plunge from fullback Rodney Woodard with 4:08 remaining to pull out the one point victory. Virginia Tech had a chance to win the game with 1:10 to go, but kicker Ryan Williams’ 44-yard try sailed wide right. Tech’s powerful ground attack came into the contest averaging 316 yards per game, but managed only 130, while West Virginia’s explosive offense committed five turnovers for the game. “If anyone would have told me we would have turned the ball over five times and won, I would have sent them off to the funny farm,” a relieved West Virginia coach Don Nehlen joked afterward. The victory propelled West Virginia to its second undefeated, untied regular season in a span of five years.
1997, West Virginia 30, Virginia Tech 17
West Virginia limited Virginia Tech’s Big East-leading ground attack to just 66 yards and sacked Hokie quarterback Al Clark five times in this impressive 30-17 victory over the 19th-rated Hokies at Mountaineer Field. Amos Zereoue ran for 153 yards, sophomore quarterback Marc Bulger passed for 217 yards and receivers Shawn Foreman and Khori Ivy combined to catch 11 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, but it was the Mountaineer defense that took center stage. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak to the Hokies in which West Virginia was outscored 92-20, including a 27-0 shutout loss to Tech in Morgantown in 1995. “Every time I saw the guys get excited or losing their focus, I reminded them about the Virginia Tech game in ’95 when they stuffed it down our throat,” Mountaineer defensive tackle Henry Slay said afterward. “That was embarrassing to me, and it was embarrassing to our defense.”
Game Book
2002 - West Virginia 21, Virginia Tech 18
West Virginia scored its biggest victory of second-year coach Rich Rodriguez’s tenure with this heart-stopping, 21-18 triumph that wasn’t decided until Virginia Tech’s final possession of the game. WVU ran for 263 yards against the Hokies’ fifth-rated run defense, and the Mountaineer D came up with an incredible goal-line stand after Tech had the ball first and goal at the WVU 1 late in the game. Four times Virginia Tech tried to muscle the football into the end zone and four times West Virginia’s defense held its ground. On second and fourth down, Lee Suggs, who broke an NCAA record earlier that evening by scoring a touchdown in his 24th straight game, tried to cross the goal line and both times he was denied. West Virginia’s defense also came up big on the Tech’s last possession when Brian King intercepted Bryan Randall’s pass in the end zone with 12 seconds left. When Randall threw his game-ending pick, the television cameras caught Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer throwing down his headsets in disgust.
2003 - West Virginia 28, Virginia Tech 7
How memorable was this 28-7 victory for West Virginia? The Mountaineers produced a DVD of the game afterward and sold it for a hefty profit; that’s how big it was. Police used pepper spray to fend off students attempting to tear down the goal posts and local police and fire departments spent an eventful Thursday morning tending to the mayhem that followed in Sunnyside. WVU jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and never allowed the third-ranked Hokies to cross midfield in the second half. Tech’s lone score of the game was a gift touchdown that was botched by the Big East officiating crew. During the game’s waning moments, with the outcome already decided, WVU students chanted “ACC!” in reference to Virginia Tech’s decision to leave the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference in the summer of 2004. The win over No. 3 Virginia Tech remains the highest-rated team West Virginia has ever defeated on the gridiron.
Season tickets for the 2021 football season, including West Virginia’s Sept. 18 date against the Hokies in Morgantown, are on sale, as well as the Mountaineers’ five other home games against LIU on Sept. 11, against Texas Tech on Oct. 2, against Iowa State on Oct. 30, against Oklahoma State on Nov. 6 and against Texas on Nov. 20.
Call the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or log on to WVUGAME.com to order yours today.
