Clemson, Alabama, and What It Means for Virginia Tech

Justin Fuente, with Whit Babcock looking on
Justin Fuente, with Whit Babcock looking on

After last night’s College Football Championship Game, I took a quick spin through the TSL boards and was mildly surprised to see comments going back about ten pages. Hokie fans seemed really interested in this one, more interested than they were in the 2015 Ohio State-Oregon game.

That makes sense. VT has a recent history with both Alabama and Clemson that has left a big psychic imprint on Hokie fans. Here’s my take on recent games between the Hokies and these two teams:

Sep. 5, 2009: #5 Alabama 34, #7 VT 24: This game was not as close as the score indicated, as Bama outgained VT 498-155. Alabama clearly had the Hokies outclassed, although Ryan Williams had some impressive plays and the Hokies got a little BeamerBall from Dyrell Roberts on a KO return. This was Nick Saban’s first national champion Alabama team.

Oct. 1, 2011: #13 Clemson 23, #11 VT 3: Clemson broke a five-game VT winning streak in the series with a suffocating defeat in Lane Stadium. It would be Virginia Tech’s only regular season loss of the year.

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