Good, clean American fun on Commonwealth Day

It’s a day when all Virginians are proud to be Virginians. It’s the day each year when loyal followers of the state’s two biggest football schools – Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia – trek to one campus or the other to watch what many hold to be the only game that matters.

The Hokies-Cavaliers ’04 match up, though, would take on special meaning, what with this being Tech’s first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The game would turn out to be just the kind conference contest both schools and state leaders envisioned more than a year ago when everyone worked to get Tech into the ACC.

Both 11th-ranked Tech and 16th-ranked Virginia entered the game with overall 8-2 records. The Hokies were 5-1 in conference play, the Cavs 5-2. A Tech win would give the Hokies at least a share of the conference title, along with Miami and Florida State, and a possible outright title if they beat Miami this weekend. A Virginia win, likewise, would offer the Cavs part of the ACC title with Florida State and whoever wins the upcoming Tech-Miami game. The Tech-UVa game also would stand to put its winner in a better position for a berth in the Bowl Championship Series.

Oh, and then there’s state bragging rights. This would be the 86th time the two schools have met on the football field. Last year, the Cavaliers won in C’ville. Overall, the Hokies lead the series, 43-37-5.

Well, let’s now make that 44-37-5 after Tech pulled out a 24-10 win before more than 65,000 wild and crazy fans packed into Blacksburg’s Lane Stadium.

The fans’ collective pride was most palpable at the scoreless halftime. Two quarters of hard, tug-of-war play had passed with neither team giving the other any reason to believe victory would come easily. Fans scurrying about the stadium blurred maroon, orange, and blue as they mingled, shaking their heads, wondering how the second half could top what they’d just seen from their teams.

In the third quarter, the Cavs were the first to score a touchdown. Then the Hokies kicked a field goal, only to then score their own TD. The quarter ended with Tech up, 10-7.

The last quarter, though, belonged to Tech. While Virginia was the first to score with a field goal to tie it up, the Hokies would score two more TDs to win it.

This was the kind of game that’s made this rivalry what it is. It’s this match up that every year brings out the youngest and oldest alumns and other die-hards. And for the millions who don’t attend, it’s this game that locks up their Saturday afternoons and then dominates their talk for a week at work.

It’s not unusual to see at Commonwealth Day games most every politician in Virginia. Past and present governors, senators, congressmen and legislators are always there to witness another year’s contest and to shake a hand or two.

U.S. Sen. George Allen always looms large over each year’s game, this one being no exception. Allen, of course, was once a Cavalier quarterback and is among the loudest cheering from afar. The state’s attorney general, Jerry Kilgore, was there, too, holding back little in his support for the Cavs. At least two congressmen, Bob Goodlatte and Virgil Goode, trekked to Blacksburg. Goodlatte’s western Virginia district is awash in Tech fans; Goode’s actually encompasses UVa. And, as always, there are scores of state legislators who come from every corner of the commonwealth to see the game of the year.

It took Tech more than a half-century to gain entry to the ACC. Their successful move from the Big East came in no small part from UVa’s full and unwavering support of it. We also saw politicians from all sides come together last year to support an ACC invitation to the Hokies. Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Kilgore, a Republican, worked hand-in-glove in public and private maneuvering to help make Tech’s long-time desire to be in the ACC a reality.

And so it was at the 2004 Commonwealth Day game, played in the middle of Tech’s campus against the spectacular backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, that the once unthinkable occurred. The Hokies didn’t finish at or near the bottom of the ACC standings, as many predicted early in the season. No, not at all. They finished at the top.

The Cavs, too, had a terrific season. They’ll certainly be joining Tech in post-season play, bringing yet more credit to the Old Dominion.

Among the things not seen at this year’s big game was the kind of player free-for-all that’s been sullying the fields and courts lately. The Hokies and Cavaliers took to the gridiron, engaged in hard-fought battle, and walked away with a good deal more respect for each other.

Yes, it was a day when all Virginians were proud to be Virginians.