1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football
Big East champion Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Sugar Bowl (BCS NCG), L 29–46 vs. Florida State
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 2
1999 record	11–1 (7–0 Big East)
Head coach	Frank Beamer (13th season)
Offensive coordinator	Rickey Bustle (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Bud Foster (5th season)
Home stadium	Lane Stadium (Capacity: 51,907)
Seasons ← 1998 2000 →

1999 Big East Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Virginia Tech $		7	–	0					11	–	1
No. 15 Miami (FL)		6	–	1					9	–	4
Boston College		4	–	3					8	–	4
Syracuse		3	–	4					7	–	5
West Virginia		3	–	4					4	–	7
Pittsburgh		2	–	5					5	–	6
Temple		2	–	5					2	–	9
Rutgers		1	–	6					1	–	10
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. Virginia Tech competed as a member of the Big East Conference. The Hokies were led by Frank Beamer in his 13th year as head coach. Virginia Tech finished the regular season undefeated but lost in the national championship game to the Florida State Seminoles.

Regular season summary[]

Michael Vick led the Hokies to an 11–0 regular season and to the Bowl Championship Series national title game in the Sugar Bowl against Florida State. Although Virginia Tech lost 46–29, Vick was able to bring the team back from a 21-point deficit to take a 29–28 lead into the fourth quarter. During the season, Vick appeared on the cover of an ESPN The Magazine issue.

Vick led the NCAA in passing efficiency that year, setting a record for a freshman (180.4), which was also good enough for the third-highest all-time mark (Colt Brennan holds the record at 185.9 from his 2006 season at Hawaii). Vick was awarded an ESPY Award as the nation's top college player, and won the first-ever Archie Griffin Award as college football's most valuable player. He was invited to the 1999 Heisman Trophy presentation and finished third in the voting behind Ron Dayne and Joe Hamilton. Vick's third-place finish matched the highest finish ever by a freshman up to that point, first set by Herschel Walker in 1980 (Adrian Peterson later broke that mark, finishing second in 2004).

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 4	1:00 p.m.	James Madison*	No. 11	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA		W 47–0	51,907	[1]
September 11	1:00 p.m.	UAB*	No. 11	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA		W 31–10	51,907	[2]
September 23	8:00 p.m.	Clemson*	No. 8	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPN	W 31–11	51,907
October 2	6:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Virginia*	No. 8	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (Commonwealth Cup)	ESPN2	W 31–7	51,800
October 9	6:00 p.m.	at Rutgers	No. 6	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ		W 58–20	30,764
October 16	6:00 p.m.	No. 16 Syracuse	No. 4	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (College GameDay)	ESPN	W 62–0	53,130
October 30	7:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh	No. 3	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN2	W 30–17	42,678
November 6	3:30 p.m.	at West Virginia	No. 3	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Black Diamond Trophy)	CBS	W 22–20	56,906
November 13	7:30 p.m.	No. 19 Miami (FL)	No. 2	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (rivalry) (College GameDay)	ESPN	W 43–10	53,130
November 20	12:00 p.m.	at Temple	No. 2	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	ESPN2	W 62–7	25,822
November 26	2:30 p.m.	No. 22 Boston College	No. 2	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (rivalry)	CBS	W 38–14	53,130
January 4, 2000	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Florida State*	No. 2	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl BCS NCG) (College GameDay)	ABC	L 29–46	79,280
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster[]

1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 88 Andre Davis So RB 27 Jarrett Ferguson So T 76 Dave Kadela Jr G 69 Matt Lehr Jr RB 38 Shyrone Stith Sr QB 7 Michael Vick  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 66 Chad Beasley So DB 16 Cory Bird Jr CB 3 Ike Charlton Sr DE 96 John Engelberger Sr LB 43 Michael Hawkes Sr CB 9 Anthony Midget Sr DE 56 Corey Moore Sr DB 14 Nick Sorensen Jr LB 40 Ben Taylor So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 17 Shayne Graham Sr	Head coach Frank Beamer Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	13	11	11	10	8	8	5	4	4	3	3	2 (4)	2 (6)	2 (4)	2 (6)	2 (6)	2
Coaches	14		11	10	8	7	5	4	4	3	3 (2)	2 (1)	2 (1)	2 (2)	2 (3)	2 (3)	3
BCS	Not released									3	3	3	2	2	2	2	Not released

^[3]

Game summaries[]

James Madison[]

Michael Vick ran for three touchdowns in the first 22 minutes of the game, but left due to an injury after he somersaulted into the end zone on the third score. The freshman had run for 54 yards, and thrown for 110 yards in leading the Hokies to a 21-0 lead that turned into a 47-0 win.^[1]

UAB[]

Clemson[]

at Virginia[]

at Rutgers[]

Syracuse[]

at Pittsburgh[]

at West Virginia[]

Miami (FL)[]

Miami (FL) at Virginia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total No. 19 Miami (FL) 10 0 0 0 10 • No. 2 Virginia Tech 7 7 6 23 43 Date: November 13 Location: Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA Game attendance: 53,130 Television network: ESPN

^[4]

at Temple[]

Boston College[]

^[5]

vs. Florida State (Sugar Bowl)[]

Virginia Tech vs. Florida State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 2 Virginia Tech 7 7 15 0 29 • No. 1 Florida State 14 14 0 18 46 Date: January 4, 2000 Location: Louisiana Superdome New Orleans Game attendance: 79,280 Referee: Steve Shaw TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson

Scoring summary Q1 3:22 FSU Warrick 64-yard pass from Weinke (Janikowski kick) FSU 7–0 Q1 2:14 FSU Chaney 6-yard blocked punt return (Janikowski kick) FSU 14–0 Q1 0:30 VT André Davis 49-yard pass from Michael Vick (Shayne Graham kick) FSU 14–7 Q2 13:45 FSU Dugans 63-yard pass from Weinke (Janikowski kick) FSU 21–7 Q2 11:40 FSU Warrick 59-yard punt return (Janikowski kick) FSU 28–7 Q2 0:37 VT Michael Vick 3-yard run (Shayne Graham kick) FSU 28–14 Q3 7:54 VT Shayne Graham 23-yard field goal FSU 28–17 Q3 5:57 VT Andre Kendrick 29-yard run (2-point pass failed) FSU 28–23 Q3 2:13 VT Andre Kendrick 6-yard run (2-point pass failed) VT 29–28 Q4 12:59 FSU Dugans 14-yard pass from Weinke (Warrick pass from Weinke) FSU 36–29 Q4 10:26 FSU Janikowski 32-yard field goal FSU 39–29 Q4 7:42 FSU Warrick 43-yard pass from Chris Weinke (Janikowski kick) FSU 46–29

^[6]

Players in the NFL[]

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
John Engelberger	Defensive end	2	35	San Francisco 49ers
Ike Charlton	Defensive back	2	52	Seattle Seahawks
Corey Moore	Linebacker	3	89	Buffalo Bills
Anthony Midget	Defensive back	5	134	Atlanta Falcons
Shyrone Stith	Running back	7	243	Jacksonville Jaguars

^[7]

Awards and honors[]

• Michael Vick – Big East Rookie of the Year, Big East Offensive Player of the Year, First-Team All-American, Archie Griffin Award, Heisman Trophy finalist (3rd)
• Corey Moore – Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Unanimous First-Team All-American, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award
• Shayne Graham – Big East Special Teams Player of the Year
• Frank Beamer – Big East Coach of the Year, AFCA Coach of the Year, AP Coach of the Year, Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, George Munger Award, Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award

References[]