Story by Chris Graham
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For three-plus hours that October night, it had seemed that Virginia Tech had played its way back into the national-title picture with a convincing win over then-#2 Boston College.
And then …
“Boston College has scarred me for life. I don’t celebrate a win until it’s zero-zero-zero reading on the clock,” Tech quarterback Sean Glennon said.
A seemingly secure 10-0 lead evaporated in the final four minutes as the Eagles rallied for two touchdowns and an improbable 14-10 win in Lane Stadium that I thought would send the Hokies’ season into a tailspin.
But give Virginia Tech credit for not letting Boston College beat them two or three more times.
“After the game, everybody was disappointed. But our seniors and our coaches, they wouldn’t let us stay down,” defensive end Orion Martin said in an interview that you can hear on this week’s “SportsDominion Show” tomorrow.
“We just looked at the positive things – and went out and got another win versus Georgia Tech the week after that. So we were down after the game, but we didn’t stay down much longer,” Martin said.
Tech coach Frank Beamer said the chance at a rematch with BC – the Atlantic Division winner who will face off with the Coastal Division-winning Hokies Saturday in Jacksonville for the ACC title – has been a motivation for his team.
“It hadn’t been easy. You’re talking about Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami and then this crowd. That’s a tough stretch,” Beamer said after his team clinched the Coastal with a 33-21 win at Virginia on Saturday.
“I really just felt if we could win our games, we’d get another shot at Boston College. And that’s where we are,” Beamer said.
For Glennon, who was thisclose to getting the big win over the Eagles in his return to the starting lineup, “There’s not much more that we could ask for.”
“Now we can’t complain about what happened or the heartbreaking loss, because we get another shot at them, and the winner goes to the Orange Bowl. So it’s all on the line now – and we’re real grateful to have a second chance at them,” Glennon said.
A second chance, sure – but it won’t be a revenge game, to hear tailback Branden Ore tell it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s more of a get-back. We just need this win to get the ACC championship,” Ore said.
Chris Graham is the executive editor of The SportsDominion.
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