1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

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

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

Roster

Rankings

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Game summaries

Players in the NFL

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

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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