If there was ever a program in need of a good, old-fashioned, feel-good bowl win, Virginia Tech was it. And they got one.

It has been a long time since the Hokies had a bowl game they could feel good about. 2009, to be exact, when Tyrod Taylor and company blew up on the Tennessee Fighting Lane Kiffins in the Chick-fil-A Bowl and won 37-14.

Since then, from 2010-2013, the Hokies were 1-3 in bowl games, and the one win (13-10 over Rutgers in the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl) was the equivalent of a football root canal, standing in our memories as the ugliest football game in the last three seasons, until this year’s Wake Forest game happened.

• 2010 Orange Bowl: Stanford 40, VT 12
• 2011 Sugar Bowl: Michigan 23, VT 20
• 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl: VT 13, Rutgers 10
• 2013 Sun Bowl: UCLA 42, VT 12

On the heels of all that, Saturday’s Military Bowl win was a breath of fresh air.

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