Virginia Tech Hamstrung Hokie Heroes
Some people may say you can’t attribute a season’s shortcomings to injuries alone, and they may be correct, but injuries impact sports in ways few other hinderances can. Fans of the Virginia Tech Hokies know all too well what it feels like to lose one or more star players throughout a season, personnel losses that ultimately couldn’t be overcome.
In light of Kyron Drones and Bhayshul Tuten being sidelined last week against Syracuse and very limited versus Clemson yesterday, this absence of Virginia Tech’s two best offensive players brings back painful memories of previous Hokies stars going down with an injury at inopportune moments. Consequently, we’ll dive into Virginia Tech sports' history with injuries to reveal just how impactful some have been in determining great Hokies teams’ successes and failures.
Michael Vick, 2000
This will come as no surprise to Hokies fans. Ask any of them which injury potentially single-handedly prevented a Virginia Tech team from competing for a National Championship, and most will probably tell you the answer is Michael Vick during the 2000 season.
By 2000, Vick’s sophomore season, the lefty quarterback had already dazzled fans across the country during the year prior, during which he finished 6th in the Heisman race, recording 1840 passing yards and 585 rushing yards in just 10 games.
It was during the 1999 season that Vick put on now-legendary performances with long touchdown runs that fooled hapless defenders, deep passes that seemed to always be right on target, and crunch time heroics that stamped his name into Hokies football history. Vick’s stardom propelled the Hokies to their first-ever National Championship game appearance against Florida State, where Tech came up short in a 46-29 loss that was much closer than the score suggested.
As the 2000 season got underway, Vick picked up where he left off as a freshman, leading the Hokies to a 7-0 start before facing Big East foe, Pittsburgh. A sack in the waning moments of the first half led to Vick hobbling to the sideline, and he wasn’t able to return to the game. Backup Dave Meyer finished the game and helped lift the Hokies to a victory.
Vick, a Heisman contender for the second consecutive season, was still banged up during the following week as #2 Virginia Tech made their way to Coral Gables to face the #3 Miami Hurricanes. In this colossal matchup that likely would impact the National Championship picture later in the season, Vick attempted just five passes, completing two of them for 9 yards. The Hokies fell that day 41-21, but went on to finish the season 11-1, culminating in a 41-20 win over the Clemson Tigers.
Despite their stellar record, many Hokies fans will always remember Vick’s injury painfully. The prospect of facing Miami’s loaded roster in a bid for a National Championship berth with a healthy Vick is a tantalizing, torturous prospect. Although Virginia Tech would have faced an uphill battle in defeating Miami even with Vick in full health, almost every Hokies fan alive at the time would have relished the opportunity.
If Vick had been successful in leading the Hokies to a victory that day in Coral Gables, the Hokies' chances of playing for a national title likely would have been excellent, as they won their final three games of the season by a combined score of 127-62. Virginia Tech’s offense had serious weapons in players like Lee Suggs and Andre Davis, a stout defense, and a special teams unit that blocked eight kicks that season. Add in a full-strength Michael Vick and the Hokies could have been primed to make some serious noise in the postseason.