Five things to know about Virginia Tech entering the Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Gophers

The Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Friday night in Charlotte will be the first football meeting between the Gophers and Virginia Tech, so a primer on the ACC team based in Blacksburg, Va., seems to be in order. Here are five things to know about Virginia Tech:

So, what on earth is a Hokie?

It’s a nickname derived in the late-1800s for students of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University — a school that was founded as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1872. The “Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy!” saying is part of a spirit yell that Virginia Tech students have used.

Eventually, “Gobblers” became the informal nickname of the school’s teams, and a live turkey mascot followed before being replaced by a student in a turkey costume. Hokies — with the altered spelling from the spirit yell — replaced Gobblers as the main nickname in the late 1970s.

According to the school’s Collegiate Times website, students who serve as the Gobbler mascot are urged to keep their identities secret until their graduation ceremony, during which they can wear the turkey feet along with their caps and gowns.

Virginia Tech has one of the top pregame rituals in college football when it takes the field with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” pumping up the Lane Stadium crowd. Some 65,000 fans jump around to the 1991 heavy metal anthem, creating a frenzy as the players sprint onto the field.

While the Duke’s Mayo Bowl won’t be played at the Hokies’ home stadium, expect a large Virginia Tech contingent to attend the game. The drive from Blacksburg to Charlotte is roughly 175 miles, and Tech fans have a history of showing up well in the Queen City. The Hokies helped draw 46,902 for the 2016 game against Arkansas and 44,138 for the 2019 game against Kentucky.

When Bill Dooley was forced out as Virginia Tech’s coach in 1987 because of NCAA violations, the school hired Murray State’s Frank Beamer, a former Hokies cornerback. Beamer methodically built Tech into a power, reaching the precipice of the national championship in 1999 before falling 46-29 to Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. In 29 years in Blacksburg, Beamer led the Hokies to a 238-121-2 record, three Big East titles, four ACC crowns, four Sugar Bowls and four Orange Bowls.

A College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Beamer retired following the 2015 season, and his shoes have been difficult to fill. His successor, Justin Fuente, went 19-8 in his first two seasons but was fired after three seasons of .500 or worse records in a four-year stretch. Current coach Brent Pry is in his third season at Tech and is starting to feel the heat over his 16-20 record.

The player most associated with Virginia Tech’s days as a national power is quarterback Mike Vick. As a freshman in 1999, he led the Hokies to the national championship game and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting, the best finish by any frosh at that time. The dual-threat QB passed for 3,074 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,202 yards and 16 TDs in two seasons at Virginia Tech before becoming the No. 1 overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2000 NFL draft.

And in an interesting development, Vick last week took the head-coaching job at Norfolk (Va.) State. With Pry owning a sub-.500 record, it might not be a stretch to believe that Vick, should he succeed at Norfolk State, could become a candidate when the Virginia Tech job opens.

Both the Gophers and Hokies have a standout player named Bruce Smith in their history. For Virginia Tech, it was defensive end Bruce Smith, a two-time All-America selection who became the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills and went on to become the league’s career sacks leader. For Minnesota, halfback Bruce Smith from Faribault won the 1941 Heisman Trophy and helped the Gophers win back-to-back national championships in 1940 and ‘41.

Minnesota’s Bruce Smith gave a stirring speech at the Heisman dinner on Dec. 9, 1941, two days after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor.