Beamer Finishes Career with 238th Win

But the 69-year-old coach wasn’t complaining, only laughing and smiling in the aftermath of Virginia Tech’s 55-52 victory over Tulsa in the Independence Bowl on Saturday night in Shreveport, Louisiana.

This will be the swan song for Frank Beamer, who will coach his final game on the Hokie sideline after 29 seasons.

For almost three decades, Virginia Tech held a reputation for leaning on defense and special teams to win games.

Virginia Tech redshirt junior QB Michael Brewer completed 23-of-37 passes for 344 yards, a touchdown and an interception in Saturday’s 55-52 win over Tulsa in the Camping World Independence Bowl.

“We’ve been in games like this, down 24, and come back and won”, Montgomery said. While it’s not as flashy as his eight straight double-digit win seasons or four Orange Bowl appearances, he’s 2-for-2 in leading 6-6 teams to a bowl win in his decorated career. I thought we had a quarterback that stayed in there and battled and threw a lot of good balls, too.

As the laughter ensued, Beamer beamed, taking in his final moments as the face of Virginia Tech football. I played the rest of the game. I’m kind of amazed myself; I would have kicked myself out of there a long time ago.

Story of the game: No matter the result, Beamer was always going to be the story. Will he have a chance to celebrate one last time with the Hokies on Saturday? Coming within three points with just minutes left in the game. The last time the Hawks won in New York City was their Atlantic 10 tournament victory over VCU, but now they have won five in a row and are 9-2 for the first time since 2004. Brewer was also recruited by current Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery, who was then the offensive coordinator at Baylor. “If we had a few more ticks on the clock, maybe it changes it a little bit”.

The Hokies (7-6) and Golden Hurricane (6-7) each scored 14 points in the game’s first 3:18, including three TDs of at least 48 yards. “These are two great players for us [Brewer and Ford], but two great people”. In the receiving end, Isaiah Ford had 937 yards and 10 touchdowns while Bucky Hodges added 492 yards and six touchdowns. He had to wait a season on that one, but he got it, finishing the regular season with school single-season records with 63 catches and 10 touchdowns. This year marked the second consecutive bowl win for Tech, just the second time Beamer’s gone back-to-back with victories in the postseason (2008 Orange Bowl, 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl). In between those scores, the Hurricane got scores from Zack Langer (2 yards), Bishop Louie (9-yard reception from Dane Evans) and Redford Jones (29-yard field goal). The teams also combined for a record 947 total offensive yards, topping the previous record of 912 set by SC and Missouri in 2005. DAngelo Brewer ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

NO. 1 IN THE NATION?: Tulsa wide receiver Keyarris Garrett needs just 94 yards to supplant Roger Lewis of Bowling Green as the nation’s No. 1 receiver.