Nice article to console us while we're licking our wounds...
Hokies gave a worthy performance
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 5, 1999
NEW ORLEANS - She always shows up at the Big Dance.
Nice to know Cinderella will occasionally wear shoulder pads.
Boy, did college football need this. New blood. A fresh story. A
breathtaking championship game. A reason to believe that underdogs
actually exist.
I know. Florida State won the national championship. They are the
Team of the Decade, a veritable dynasty, blah, blah, blah.
But for much of the game, Virginia Tech outplayed the Seminoles. The
Hokies gained more than 500 yards on the vaunted FSU defense. And
despite the final score, it was the Hokies who won over the nation,
providing what college football has been missing for years: belief
that an unknown program can rise up and shake the established balance
of power.
Somewhere inside the Superdome, Arizona State Athletic Director Kevin
White watched the game with his football coach, Bruce Snyder. Let's
hope they were paying attention to the message.
OK, so Bobby Bowden has his first undefeated season in 40 years. The
Seminoles now have two national championships, thus ending all
comparisons with the Atlanta Braves, even though they both share that
mind-numbing Tomahawk Chop. Peter Warrick is really fast, really
dangerous and looks very much like the next Randy Moss. And now that
the details are out of the way . . .
Anybody out there not in awe of Michael Vick, Virginia Tech's
freshman quarterback? He is quicker than Carl Lewis. His arm strength
is incredible for a 19-year-old. He is a poised assassin, and after
witnessing his slippery performance on Tuesday, I think it would be
easier to tackle a ghost.
Vick could reinvent the quarterback position. He could become the
first three-time Heisman Trophy winner in college football history.
Except he'll probably be in the NFL within two years.
"Boy, is he something," Bowden said. "Better than I thought he was.
And I thought a lot of him."
Virginia Tech fans deserved this moment. The school received 38,000
ticket requests for the Sugar Bowl. Over 14,000 students applied for
a pool of 3,000 tickets. Inside the Superdome, Hokies fans
outnumbered Seminole fans by a 2-1 margin. And as the game flickered
on television sets across the country, no question who emerged as the
people's choice.
The beauty of college basketball is that there's always a team that
fits the glass slipper. A team that upsets a few heavyweights,
endears itself to the nation. And every now and again, a Villanova or
a North Carolina State actually wins it all.
The problem with college football is it's the same tired dance year
after year. The same schools fighting for the same prize. Until
Tuesday.
Had Virginia Tech been exposed as a fraud, the fallout would've been
nuclear. Nebraska and its legion of fans would lay claim to part of
the trophy, and after the Cornhuskers' dominating performance in
Tempe, they would've had plenty of reason to feel cheated.
The off-season would be spent in heated debate. The BCS would be
exposed for the flawed system it is.
Yet, despite trailing, 28-7, late in the second quarter, Virginia
Tech persisted. The Hokies had every reason to believe they didn't
belong here, but they never stopped believing they could win. And
after an exhilarating third quarter, they had their chance.
"They were fixin' to win the game," Bowden said. "And our kids came
back and scored and scored and scored."
For the first two years of its existence, the BCS has lucked out.
Despite a sloppy game marred by 21 penalties, no one doubted that
last year's Fiesta Bowl paired the top two teams in the country. No
one doubts Virginia Tech this morning.
You know the reasons the BCS doesn't work, and there are signs that
it's on the verge of collapse. Empty seats dominated the Orange Bowl.
Rose Bowl tickets were being scalped outside the stadium for face
value. If you're not the championship game, your game is becoming
irrelevant.
And one last thing: What self-respecting sport conducts its regular
season, takes a month off, then plays its title game? Prior to the
Sugar Bowl, Florida State hadn't played in 45 days. Virginia Tech
hadn't played in 39 days.
The system is so ridiculous. And guess what? ABC has offered the BCS
$400 million for a four-year extension. So get used to it.
For now, it is enough that college football's closing act was worth
watching. Featuring a team worth applauding.
Earlier in the week, Warrick was asked if he knew what a Hokie was.
He thought it was a sandwich. When someone informed him that the
Hokies' mascot was a turkey, the Florida State receiver smiled.
"A turkey sandwich," Warrick said.
Turns out, they weren't sandwiches or turkeys or Pokey Hokies. They
were for real. And what a wonderful way to start a new century of
college football.
***
Dan Bickley can be reached at (602) 444-8253 or at
dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com via e-mail. |
