CHARLOTTESVILLE
At 3:35 p.m. on an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon, Kim Kirschnick raced out of the Scott Stadium tunnel aboard a horse named Sabre as a majority of the 61,124 in attendance turned the place into a cauldron of noise.
Almost 30 years ago, when George Welsh became Virginia’s coach, the thought of more than 61,000 people in what was then a 41,000-seat stadium (with plenty of tickets available) and an atmosphere like the one that greeted Kirschnick and Sabre and the Virginia team that followed them onto the field, was unthinkable.
But once Sabre exited and the jumping around on the sidelines was over, the game for the Commonwealth Cup — and the ACC’s Coastal Division title — was pretty much the same as it has been throughout this century. Virginia Tech defeated Virginia, 38-0, and yes, the score did reflect the difference between the two teams.
It wasn’t that the Cavaliers didn’t have chances. Six times in the first three quarters they crossed midfield. Three times they had the ball inside the Virginia Tech 20 and produced nothing. In fact, the only Virginia representative who crossed the goal line was — you guessed it — Sabre.
“We just didn’t finish and we pride ourselves on being finishers,” Virginia quarterback Michael Rocco said. “It was a little thing here, a little thing there. A mistake on third down — a sack or a fumble. It’s a shame. We prepared hard and thought we were ready to play well. We just didn’t.”
They didn’t because Virginia Tech routinely plays in games like this one and isn’t likely to be blinded by the spotlight or get caught up in any pregame hype. In fact, the Hokies clearly used the pregame hype — much of it focused on the upstart Cavaliers — to prepare themselves.
“We knew there was going to be a lot of emotion on their side, but there was also a lot of emotion on our side, too,” Hokies offensive captain Danny Coale said. He smiled. “We just don’t show it as much. We’ve been in these games before. It’s kind of a protocol when you get here that you’re supposed to play for championships.”
And you’re supposed to beat Virginia.
The victory was Virginia Tech’s eighth straight in the series and 12th in 13 years and sent a very clear message to Virginia: not just yet, ’Hoos. It was a message that was delivered on the Hokies’ first drive, when quarterback Logan Thomas went right at Chase Minnifield, the Cavaliers’ all-ACC defensive back, on the first play from scrimmage. Minnifield was called for pass interference, but it was declined after Marcus Davis hauled in the pass for a 36-yard gain. A moment later, already frustrated, Minnifield was nailed for a face-mask penalty, setting up Virginia Tech with a first down at the 14-yard line. When Thomas practically walked into the end zone two plays later, the tone for the day was set.
“That’s a good football team,” Virginia Coach Mike London said. “I don’t think the stage got to us. We’ve been on big stages at Florida State and Miami. Everything they did today worked well for them. We just didn’t play very well.”
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