Virginia Tech football: 97 days until kickoff with a look back at Brent Bowden

Today is Sunday, May 26, 2019, and we are precisely 97 days away from Virginia Tech’s opening football game at Boston College. Today, we continue our countdown focusing on the number 97 and that leads us to former Tech punter, Brent Bowden.

Before you say, “Bowden is a punter, why profile him?” Relax.

Bowden happened to be a pretty good punter for the Hokies. Bowden arrived in Blacksburg in 2005 and redshirted his first season on campus. His second season, in 2006, Bowden was behind another great punter for the second straight season, Nic Schmitt. Bowden, a 6’3”, 200-pounder from Westfield High in Chantilly, enjoyed three outstanding years as Virginia Tech’s punter from 2007-09.

In those three years, Bowden never missed a game and was an outstanding weapon for Bud Foster and the lunch-pail defense. Bowden wasn’t just a guy who could nail booming punts, he also happened to specialize in pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line. In two of those years, Virginia Tech was outright ACC champion and Bowden was a key contributor on both of those teams.

Bowden finished his playing career at Tech with a net average of over 42 yards per punt. His success led him to becoming a sixth-round selection in the 2010 NFL Draft. Bowden would end up being released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before he ever appeared in a game. In 2011, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars during training camp, but was released less than two weeks later. Bowden would sign with the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League in 2012.

Bowden is one of, along with Schmitt, the best punters in Virginia Tech history.

Tomorrow means there are 96 days until the season opener and that’s a pretty easy number for our countdown.