1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 2
Record11–1 (7–0 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRickey Bustle (6th season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorBud Foster (5th season)
Base defense4–4
Home stadiumLane Stadium
Seasons
← 1998
2000 →
1999 Big East Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 Virginia Tech $   7 0     11 1  
No. 15 Miami (FL)   6 1     9 4  
Boston College   4 3     8 4  
Syracuse   3 4     7 5  
West Virginia   3 4     4 7  
Pittsburgh   2 5     5 6  
Temple   2 5     2 9  
Rutgers   1 6     1 10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

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 season 11-1, the only blemish coming in a national championship game loss to the Florida State Seminoles. The team finished with a school-record 2nd-place ranking in the Associated Press poll.

Michael Vick led the Hokies to an 11–0 start, only the second perfect regular season in school history, 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. 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).