Sometimes streaks are meant to be broken, and Virginia was primed to come into Blacksburg to do just that. Virginia Tech had owned the Commonwealth Cup for 14 straight years coming into Friday’s matchup against Virginia. That’s 5,109 days…and counting.
Virginia Tech now owns a 15-game winning streak over Virginia. The last time Virginia beat Virginia Tech, Matt Schaub and Heath Miller were on the team. This was the 100th matchup between the two teams, and the first time the game has gone into overtime. The Hokies lead the series 58-37-5, and have won 19 of the last 20 meetings against Virginia. UVA has only one win against Virginia Tech since 1998.
It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Hokies, but they won, which has been a challenge for this team. The Hokies are young, beat up, inexperienced, but they are tough. Justin Fuente has heard a lot of noise this year from disgruntled fans and media…even Bud Foster has heard complaints for maybe the first time since 1993. But Friday night had to feel good. Beating Virginia leaves a good taste in your mouth if you’re a Hokies fan, even though that was only their 5th win on the season. Now, Marshall will travel to Blacksburg on Saturday in a last ditch effort for the Hokies to continue another streak – 25 straight bowl games.
Virginia on the other hand is quite the opposite. Bronco Mendenhall has this team going in the right direction. There’s no doubt about that, but, to be honest, there was nowhere to go but up. Virginia is the only school in the ACC Coastal that does not own a Coastal Division title, thanks to Pitt winning the division this year. That’s important for UVA to accomplish, but, most likely Virginia Tech will be in the mix to win the Coastal Division more times than not in the future.
That means Mendenhall has to figure out a way to beat Virginia Tech, and end this streak. This is the worst Virginia Tech football team in the last 25 years, and one of the better Virginia Football teams over the last decade and UVA still couldn’t find a way to win the game. If you’re a UVA football fan, you’re happy with how the program has progressed under Mendenall, but you have to want more,expect more. Going 7-5 isn’t good enough. Losing your last three conference games of the year, isn’t good enough. Losing to Virginia Tech 15 years in a row, isn’t good enough. Virginia Football has one more year to think about all of that, as the pressure continues to mount.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.17.6″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.17.6″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.17.6″][/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
