Virginia Tech’s 2007 football schedule will be very tough. Some fans will
call it the toughest schedule in Tech history, but that’s debatable. The Hokies
went through some rough times in Frank Beamer’s early years, and part of their
struggles came because they played very tough schedules. We’ll compare Tech’s
2007 schedule to those of some of Beamer’s early teams. We’ll also rank the
Hokies’ toughest games of 2007 from one through 12.

The Hokies were an independent early in Frank Beamer’s tenure. They weren’t
in a conference, so they didn’t have any revenue sharing and they weren’t part
of a television contract. They had to schedule games against some high profile
teams in order to make money. Unfortunately, that came back to haunt the Hokies
in the loss column.

In Frank Beamer’s first season as head coach in 1987, the Hokies finished
2-9. They faced teams such as Clemson, Virginia, Syracuse, South Carolina, West
Virginia and Miami. Two of those opponents, Miami and Syracuse, finished the
season undefeated. Clemson was a powerhouse at the time, and they finished 10-2.
Virginia had an 8-4 record that year, and West Virginia was talented, as usual.
South Carolina also went 8-4.

The next year, 1988, was no cupcake. Clemson (10-2), Southern Miss (10-2),
Syracuse (10-2), West Virginia (11-1), South Carolina (8-4), Virginia (7-4),
Louisville (8-3), and Florida State (11-1) were on the schedule. The first five
teams listed above made up five of the first six games on Tech’s schedule.
That’s rough.

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