On Saturday America witnessed the worst loss that Virginia Tech has ever received, and will ever receive. Believe me...no loss will ever be worse than this one. The rainy, dreary Blacksburg day was more than appropriate as the James Madison Dukes turned the 13th-ranked Hokies White Out game into the new "Black Saturday." I can't believe what I just typed. This must be a nightmare...it has to be. Truly this is some sort of sick joke. I mean I could even believe/respect losing to Duke, but not THE Dukes. This is ludicrous. This is madness.
With this loss Tech becomes only the second (Division 1, yes clarification is needed) team ranked in the AP Top 25 poll (or any poll for that matter) to lose to an FCS opponent. The other unlucky team was the then fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines when they lost the infamous and shockingly jaw-dropping game to the Appalachian State Mountaineers in 2007. Well I guess if you go by rankings, Michigan is still the biggest loser...but to me, right now we are truly the biggest losers. We should be put on probation by the NCAA and banned from all bowls and poll rankings for the next 5 years because of this loss. This loss takes precedence over any and all of Virginia Tech's previous losses, which includes "Black Saturday."
For those of you who are fortunate enough not to know about "Black Saturday"... kiss your innocence goodbye because I'm about to tell you all about it (but don't worry you can handle it, we just lost to James Madison High School).
Let me set the scene for you: It's 1998 and the Virginia Tech Hokies have won their first 5 games (including impressive wins over Clemson (37-0) and Miami (27-20 in OT). The undefeated Hokies have earned being ranked 14th in the nation. It's Homecoming and the Hokies have scheduled the defeated (0 and 6) Temple Owls for a (what-seemed-to-be) guaranteed win. Nothing is ever as good as it seems though, is it? The Hokies are forced to start Sophomore Nick Sorensen (who happens to be my all-time favorite Tech player, and that means a lot) at quarterback thanks to an injury to starting QB Al Clark the week before in Tech's 17-0 win at Boston College. Sorensen was recruited as a quarterback, but had switched to defense because Tech had signed a certain top-rated QB that just happened to be named Michael Vick. A safety playing quarterback? No biggy though right? It's just Temple. The game starts. Tech jumps out to a 17 to nothing lead, and gets ready for halftime. With 2:08 remaining in the second quarter Temple starts a drive. They pick up two first downs, and then a fluke happens. A fluke just like James Madison's 77-yard first touchdown this past Saturday. Temple receiver Rashad Harrison catches a screen pass, and takes it 67 yards for a touchdown. It stunned those unfortunate enough to be in attendance, but much to their dismay...it would get worse. Temple scored 14 points in the third quarter to take a 21-17 lead. Tech answered with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to regain the lead 24-21. Temple takes the lead right back on the next drive, 28-24 Owls. The Hokies have 1:58 to go down the field, and avoid disaster. Nick Sorensen takes over. He throws a 13-yard completion on 3rd and 15, and then rushes for 4 yards on 4th and 2 to pick up the first down, keeping the Hokies alive. Sorensen then completes 5 consecutive passes for first downs to bring the Hokies to Temple's 3 yard line. Tech running-back Shyrone Stith rushes up the middle for...no gain. It's 3rd down, Sorensen chunks one in the end zone to Ricky Hall for the win...but it's incomplete. One play left for the money. Tech's leading rusher in the game Lamont Pegues gets the call. He takes the hand-off and...gets blown up for a loss of three yards. It was over. The Owls had done it. They had handed Virginia Tech its worst loss ever...until now.
That's right folks, there's a new "Black Saturday." It's unquestionable, It's unbelievable. The Hokies have lost to the other "President's School" in Virginia (yes James Madison was the fourth President of the United States). James Madison was most famously known for his work on the U.S. Constitution, but what happened on Saturday wasn't RIGHT at all. It broke all the laws of physics, reasoning, and sanity. Not even James Madison himself would have ratified the outcome of this game. He would think it was some preposterous joke, along with the Dukes mascot which is a bulldog wearing a crown and cape(what's up with that?). I'm not sure what a Duke is, but I know it's not a bulldog wearing a crown and a cape. What I do know is that we are Virginia Tech and that we always give the underdog a chance (like last year's 34-28 win against Duke or 2008's 27-22 loss to East Carolina), but COME ON! This is ridiculous. We are the Virginia Tech Jokies. We are Virginia Tech, Inventing the Future...one loss at a time.
Side Note: I chose to write a recap of the original "Black Saturday" because I haven't recovered enough to write about Saturday's obscene debauchery. Maybe I'll have the strength to write about it in the coming days, but what's the point. You don't want to read it, and I don't really want to throw up a third time.
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