The twin conference victories were followed by two out-of-conference wins : at Big 12 opponent Nebraska and against independent Western Kentucky . At the end of the four-game winning streak , the Hokies had a 4 – 1 record , 2 – 0 in conference , and were ranked No. 17 in the country . On October 18 , however , the Hokies lost to unranked Boston College in Boston , 28 – 23 . The game was a rematch of the previous year 's ACC Championship Game and was a preview of the 2008 ACC Championship Game matchup . The loss was the start of a skid that saw Tech lose three of four games , only managing a victory against Maryland , 23 – 13 . The final contest of that four-game stretch was a 16 – 13 loss to Coastal Division rival Miami , which then held the tiebreaker over the Hokies in the event of any head-to-head tie
independent
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
2009 Orange Bowl