The Beamer era was jam-packed with moments of great Virginia Tech football, and the 1999 comeback against WVU was perhaps the best. Michael Vick proved himself under pressure, and Shayne Graham came through with a pivotal Beamerball moment in the only close game of the regular season. If the Hokies had lost, Nebraska might’ve taken their place in the national title game.

Looking at the records, 7-0 Tech versus a 3-5 WVU squad that had lost seven players to the NFL in the twilight of the Don Nehlan years didn’t seem like a recipe for a great game. But the Mountaineers had been snake-bit by injuries and close losses. Coming into the game, they were playing their best stretch of football of the year. A roster with talent at several key positions was coming together. And at a quiet pregame breakfast, Nehlan told his team that a win over the Hokies would make their season.

The Hokies, on the other hand, were 7-0 for the first time since LBJ was president. They had swamped their opponents up to that point, with their closest game being a 30-17 win over Pitt the prior week. VT was third in the official BCS rankings, behind Penn State, but the Nittany Lions had lost in an upset to Minnesota not long before kickoff in Morgantown. If the Hokies put away a struggling 3-5 Mountaineers squad, they could be behind only #1 FSU.

The fans were rowdy as always, which in this case meant the students mooned the visitors’ buses, while more reserved fans merely chucked drinks, trash, and batteries. The game started rough, with a few explosive plays that were outweighed by sacks, incompletions, and stuffed runs. A long run by Andre Kendrick got the Hokies a TD in the second quarter, but the Mountaineers responded with a long touchdown drive of their own.

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