In 1969 Bear Bryant brought Alabama to Blacksburg, the one and only time they ever played in Virginia in the "modern" era. I had just graduated the previous spring. I couldn't get a ticket to the game, so I found Coach Claiborne, told him I had been drafted to go to Viet Nam, and he gave me his sideline pass. I went down to the head of the tunnel. 'Bama took the field first, and Bryant passed right in front of me...I could have reached and knocked that houndstooth hat off his head. Tech beat Alabama that day in all the statistics except one, the final score. Iirc Terry Smoot had over 200 yards rushing. Late in the game I was standing around the 20 yard line when out of the scrimage I saw the ball come out of the Alabama backfield...right at me! If the Alabama player didn't catch it I would have. His name was George Ranager, he caught it, and was tackled and taken out of bounds right at my feet. A couple plays later Alabama got the winning score. I think it was 14-7, maybe 17-13. Another "moral victory" for Tech. We used to keep tabs on moral victories back then. I guess Beamer ended that tradition. That why he's a legend.