Collegiate Times

The Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A bowl, Sugar Bowl and even the BCS National Championship Game are all destinations that Hokies fans had hoped to be aiming for come bowl season in college football.

Now, after a dreadful season, in which the team has struggled in all aspects of the game, the team will have to win its final two regular season games in order to just join the postseason festivities.

“Everyone wants to go to a bowl game,” said defensive end James Gayle. “That’s the dessert of the season. It’s fun. We definitely have to beat Boston College, just worry about them first.”

The Eagles are the next opponent on the schedule and are in the midst of one of the worst seasons in program history.

After that game, Tech will ends its season with its traditional post-Thanksgiving battle with Virginia, who hasn’t won the Commonwealth Cup since 2003.

While the road certainly seems there for the taking, the team is focused on just playing for the love of the game and trying to uphold a bowl streak that dates back almost 20 years.

Cornerback Antone Exum said after the loss to Florida State that he has no worries about the way his team will finish this season.

“We’ve still got two wins to get to be bowl eligible,” he said. “And we will get them.”

The Hokies have become known as the dominant team of the ACC since their move to the conference in 2004.

However, after some early season non-conference losses to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, the team faltered for a stretch and has lacked the ability to look like the consistent Virginia Tech teams fans have grown accustomed to seeing.

Tech has come so close to winning in multiple games this season, with the last-minute to the Seminoles being a microcosm of 2012 as a whole.

“It’s hard because I thought we played well enough to get the win,” said Jack Tyler, linebacker. “Quite frankly, I think we’ve played well enough to get a lot of wins this year. It just doesn’t seem to be happening.

“The balls aren’t bouncing our way, and we’re not making plays when we need to. It’s frustrating; it’s deflating. I think we’re all crushed.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Nov 15 issue of the Collegiate Times.