Go Tech Go, Part 50: Sugar Bowl Glory

Cornell Brown Sugar Bowl
Everyone took Virginia Tech lightly leading up to the 1995 Sugar Bowl, but Cornell Brown and the Hokies were celebrating at the end (all photos courtesy Virginia Tech)

For many, I’m sure, December 1995 seemed like so long ago. Oh, you’re so old—I wasn’t even born! Oh—I vaguely remember that. Wasn’t Abraham Lincoln president then?

Click here for all parts of the series

But for many Virginia Tech football fans, it still seems like yesterday, so strong are the memories. On the radio were hits such as “One of Us,” by Joan Osborne, “Time” by Hootie & the Blowfish, and “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls. On ESPN, a series of commercials featuring an orchestra-backed, cheesy-on-purpose Robert Goulet promoted the network’s basketball coverage. The Larry Sanders Show was in its heyday on HBO. Michael Mann’s film Heat, featuring Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer was released. And across Hokie Nation, anticipation was at a fever pitch for Virginia Tech’s Sugar Bowl showdown with the University of Texas  and its sparkling 10-1-1 record.

It was, by far, the biggest bowl game in school history. This wasn’t the Liberty or the Peach or the Independence. This was the Sugar Bowl! Just three years ago, in the throes of a two-win season, playing in the Sugar Bowl was the stuff of dreams. But now the Hokies found themselves in the city of New Orleans, playing in a bowl usually reserved for the football elite, pitted against one of those very elite. These were the storied Texas Longhorns, who had claimed national titles in 1963, 1969, and 1970, a perennial power that had produced Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell.

...