Division Coastal Division AP No. 10 Head coach Frank Beamer | Coaches No. 10 2004 record 10–3 (7–1 ACC) | |
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Conference Atlantic Coast Conference | ||
The 2004 Virginia Tech Hokies football represented represented the Virginia Tech in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. Virginia Tech won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in its inaugural year in the conference, running off a streak of eight straight wins to end the regular season after a 2–2 start. Tech finished 10th in the final Associated Press poll with a 10–3 record. The team's head coach was Frank Beamer, who was named ACC Coach of the Year.
Virginia Tech began the season unranked nationally, having suffered a meltdown at the end of the 2003 season. The Hokies faced a daunting schedule, beginning with a nationally televisioned game against the defending national co-champion USC Trojans. That game, known as the BCA Classic, was the first NCAA college football game of the year, and would be followed by a tough conference schedule.
Tech lost to eventual BCS National Champion USC at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, 24-13, losing the lead late in the third quarter. After a 63-0 shellacking of Western Michigan, Tech played its first ever ACC game on September 18, against Duke. Tech prevailed 41-17 in Lane Stadium. The Hokies dropped to 2-2 following a 17-16 home loss to N.C. State, in which the Hokies missed a would-be winning field goal as time expired. The team then needed to win five of its next eight games to extend its 11-season streak of playing in a post-season bowl game.
After reeling off three-straight wins, including a 19-13 squeaker over then #7 West Virginia, the Hokies' fortunes looked bleak in the fourth quarter of their game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta on ESPN Thursday night college football. Tech was down 14-0 at one point and trailed 20-12 with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter. Tech racked up 22 unanswered points to exterminate the Yellow Jackets.
Tech would go on to win their remaining regular-season games, including a 24-10 win over then #16 Virginia in Lane Stadium and a 16-10 away victory over then #9 Miami, to clinch the ACC Championship. As ACC Champions, Virginia Tech was awarded a bid to the 2005 Sugar Bowl, a Bowl Championship Series game in New Orleans, Louisiana. Virginia Tech faced Auburn, a team that had gone undefeated in the regular season but was denied a bid to the national championship game by virtue of its lower rank in the BCS poll. In a game that was not decided until the final two minutes, Virginia Tech lost to Auburn 16-13.
Tech was led by quarterback Bryan Randall during the season. Randall was named ACC player of the Year.