A memorable game...

The Virginia Tech Hokies football team were anything but dull, despite what transpired in the first 59 minutes of their game against the university of Nebraska; there is no doubt about that. The Hokies put on a show that Tech fans will remember for weeks, if not months, to come.
The game between these two teams was one of, if not the, biggest games of the weekend, being the only game that showcased two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 playing against each other. It pitted Virginia tech (ranked 13th in the country with a record of one win and one loss) against the University of Nebraska (ranked 19th in the country with a record of 2 wins and no losses). Virginia Tech came representing the Atlantic Coast Conference (in the Atlantic Division) while Nebraska represented the Big Twelve Conference (in the Big XII North Division). It was not only a game of mere sport but a game of opportunity as well. Virginia Tech wanted to win because they wanted to redeem itself from a disappointing loss at the hands of the University of Alabama; a win would prove that they can play against the good teams from major conferences. Nebraska wanted to win because it was in the process of retaining the elite stations it had attained from the early 1970’s to the early 2000’s.
These two teams had only played each other twice before this meeting. The first was in the Fed-ex Orange bowl in the 1996 post-season. Nebraska won that game by a decisive score of 41 points to Virginia Tech’s 21 points. During that time, however, Nebraska was among the elite teams, perennially competing for the NCAA nation championship and much stronger than the current Nebraska Team. The second meeting took place last year in Lincoln, Nebraska (Nebraska’s home turf). That game was decided mostly by turnovers, special teams plays, and numerous penalties. The game was close, with Virginia Tech emerging as the victor by a score of 35 points to Nebraska’s 30 points.
The crowd at Lane Stadium was whipped into a frenzy as they cheered and jumped up and down to the song, “Enter Sandman”, by Metallica as the Hokies took the field. Virginia Tech started the game off strong by returning the ball via kickoff-return deep into nebraska’s territory. A couple of plays later, they scored a touchdown. From then on, their offense would struggle through the next 58 minutes of the game. Nebraska would control the tempo of the game, scoring 15 points by the means of 5 field goals while Virginia Tech scored only 3 points. Nebraska had a chance to put the game out of reach with a drive going as far as the 6 yard line of Virginia Tech. However, the drive would stall due to several big penalties that pushed them back to the 40 yard line, forcing them to punt. Late in the fourth quarter, Tech turned the ball over on downs. Nebraska would get the ball back, but to no avail; Tech’s defense came up to the challenge and forced them to punt, giving Tech one last chance to win the game. The first one or two plays were not impressive, giving Tech little or no gain in yardage, as they had played all throughout the entire game. What occurred next, however, will probably be talked about by Tech fans for months. Virginia Tech’s quarterback threw a long pass to one of his receivers who successfully caught it and reached Nebraska’s two yard line with less than a minute to play. Three plays later, the Tech QB completed another pass, this time for another touchdown; that score would put the Hokies In the lead with 20 seconds or so to play. Virginia Tech would wind up being the victor in this brutal, defensive slugfest, chalking up a win that was well fought and well memorable.
The win puts Virginia Tech at a record of two wins and one loss and drops Nebraska to the same number of wins and losses.