1995 Sugar Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Texas

The 1995 season started the same way 2010 did, with two unnerving Hokie losses.

Tech fell to Boston College in the '95 opener then got blanked 16-0 by Cincinnati—incidentally the last time the Hokies were shut out.

0-2 is bad enough, but far worse when the Miami Hurricanes are next on the schedule. At that point, the Hokies had never defeated Miami.

But in traditional Hokie fashion, Tech rose to the challenge and won 13-7, then went on to reel off 9 consecutive victories to win the Big East championship and earn a birth in the Sugar Bowl against No. 9 Texas.

The Hokies came in ranked 13th, but were big underdogs. Tech trailed 10-7 at halftime, but stormed out of the locker room scoring 21 unanswered points largely due to the play of wideout Bryan Still (above).

Still was on the receiving end of a 54-yard Jim Druckenmiller touchdown pass and returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown.

The win was most certainly the biggest in Tech history to that point and put the program on the map nationally.

Others to keep an eye on in this video are No. 58 Cornell Brown ( who most certainly would have been called for roughing the QB a few times if he played today), No. 81 Bryan Jennings, No. 42 Dwayne Thomas and current Hokie defensive backs coach No. 14 Torrian Gray who tracked down two interceptions in the contest.

College Football Quick Picks: Week 14

I took an extra day of procrastination and missed picking one of the best games of the weekend in Oregon-Oregon State Thursday night.

The Ducks flew together in that one and set the stage for a big weekend.

There are some even match ups this weekend. There should be plenty of exciting football tomorrow.

I look forward to the looming BCS disaster with all the potentially undefeated teams.


No. 21 Houston defeats East Carolina

No. 18 USC defeats Arizona

No. 19 California defeats Washington

No. 10 Georgia Tech defeats Clemson

No. 3 Texas defeats No. 22 Nebraska

And the big one...

No. 2 Alabama defeats No. 1 Florida

College Football Quick Picks: Week 10

After a perfect 5-0 effort last week, my season mark now sits at 30-20. With another nice effort this weekend I think we'll be in good shape the rest of the way.

On a side note, next weekend Nike is doing yet another football uniform promotion. About 10 schools will wear new Nike gear the weekend of the 14th.

The Virginia Tech ones will be unveiled this week to join schools like Texas, Ohio State and Florida State that have already made their versions public. The FSU ones are my favorite so far sporting those sweet gloves and some really classy lookin' black helmets.



I'm both fearful and eager to see what Phil Knight has cooked up for the Techmen this time.

Time for the picks. I'm going to do them just like last week to try and keep things moving in a positive direction. It's sort of a weak slate of games but there are a few good ones including the battle for the Victory Bell in Chapel Hill. This is Duke's year finally*!


No. 3 Alabama defeats No. 9 LSU

No. 8 Oregon defeats Stanford

No. 11 Penn State defeats No. 16 Ohio State

Duke defeats North Carolina

No. 10 Georgia Tech defeats Wake Forest


* = Maybe



Here are the Tech gloves for loyal reader Bobby West. I'll post the actual uniform when it's revealed Monday.

College Football Quick Picks: Week 7

You can thank that man (Timmy Tebow) for an excellent win, and me having an above .500 record this past weekend.

I personally am a big fan of Tim Tebow, even though he's overly perfect and I constantly have to hear about it, I'm glad Urban Meyer didn't get his brain smashed in down in Baton Rouge.

My overall record is now 21-19 and creeping ever so slightly towards respectability.

There's an excellent slate of games this weekend, but two of them feature the Irish and the Hokies so I won't pick them. Though Virginia Tech will win this weekend as opposed to my preseason prediction. Gah tech is not who I thought they were...preseason predictions are stupid.


No. 8 Cincinnati @ No. 21 South Florida

The 'Nati is just too good offensively for anyone else in the Big East. Tony Pike is a great QB. USF is coming off a win over Florida State, but who hasn't beaten them lately?

Cincinnati Wins


No. 20 Oklahoma @ No. 3 Texas

As I recall, this rivalry game is still played at the Texas State Fair and the classic Cotton Bowl. My heart says I hope Oklahoma wins, but my brain is telling me as usual that Texas is too good. Should be a nice game.

Texas Wins


Minnesota @ No. 14 Penn State

I'm almost contractually obligated to pick one questionable upset per week and this time I look to Happy Valley. Penn State just isn't very good. They've got talent, but outside the Big Ten and their embarrassing non-conference slate, the Lions rarely play anyone capable of proving how mediocre they are. Minnesota and wideout Eric decker are quite capable.

Minnesota Wins


Virginia @ Maryland

I chose this game because it's so damn difficult to pick. Both these teams are in the midst of miserable seasons that may well see both Al Groh and Ralph Friedgen unemployed at seasons end. UVA has won two in a row over really bad teams though, so why not make it three?

Virginia Wins


No. 22 South Carolina @ No. 2 Alabama

This looks like a carbon copy of the Alabama-Ole Miss game last week. On paper it should be close, but reality for these two teams is quite different. If the game were at home for the Gamecocks I'd give them more of a shot, but 'Bama is on a roll and shouldn't falter at home.

Alabama Wins

So there are five picks. Remember to watch No. 25 Notre Dame and No. 6 USC at 3:30 on the Notre Dame Broadcasting Channel (NBC), then switch over to ESPN2 at 6pm to catch No. 4 Virginia Tech and No. 19 Georgia Tech.

University Of Texas To Honor Durant, Give Away Honors

Earl Campbell. Roger Clemens. Ricky Williams. T.J. Ford. These are the names of the only athletes in Longhorns history to have their jerseys retired. Next year the Longhorns will add an accomplished group of athletes to the bunch, but I'm not sure all of them truly belong.

According to the Associated Press, Vince Young and Kevin Durant will have their jerseys retired along with seven other former Longhorns athletes. The biggest shock among the two headliners is Durant, who played one season for the Longhorns. Given, his list of accolades during that one season in college were surely impressive: 

• Started all 35 games
• 25.8 points per game 
• 11.1 rebounds per game 
  
• Led Texas to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament
• National Association of Basketball Coaches Division 1 Player of the Year
• Oscar Robertson Trophy recipient (first ever freshman to win)
• Adolph F. Rupp Trophy recipient (first ever freshman to win)
• Naismith Award recipient (first ever freshman to win)
• John R. Wooden Award (first ever freshman to win)

On top of this impressive list of accomplishments, Durant was chosen with the 2nd pick in the NBA draft by the Seattle Supersonics, who recently relocated to Oklahoma City. 

But why would any school feel inclined to honor someone who graced its halls for one year? Even if he goes back to finish his degree, which he is apparently doing, he only played for one season. It's not like he led them to an NCAA title like Carmelo Anthony (another one and done college player) did for Syracuse in 2003.

My main contention with this whole thing is that Durant didn't really do anything for Texas. Ok so he helped guide them to the Sweet Sixteen. All of his other accolades were personal. Even though he helped bring more notoriety to the school he failed to do what Carmelo did (to date, Syracuse has not retired his jersey).  I just don't see how one year of service warrants the equivalent to a lifetime achievement award. 

Durant deserves to be honored for his outstanding performance in college, just maybe not in the way that Texas and other universities and teams choose to celebrate their tradition.

 

Notes

Campbell won the Heisman Trophy in 1977 and is enshrined in both the college and pro football halls of fame. Clemens pitched two All-American seasons with the Longhorns baseball team and helped lead them to a national championship in 1983. Ricky Williams won the 1998 Heisman Trophy and set many NCAA Division 1-A records (some of which were later broken) including most yards in a career (broken one year later by Ron Dayne from the University of Wisconsin) and career rushing touchdowns and career scoring (both of which were broken one year later by Travis Prentice from Miami (OH) University). T.J. Ford only stayed for two seasons with Texas' hoops team, but he led them to their first Final Four appearance since 1947 (and also the Sweet Sixteen) and won the Naismith and Wooden awards along with being named player of the year by every major sports outlet. At the time of his retirement, Ford was the only basketball player to have his jersey retired.