“It was annoying. It really was.” — Ryan Williams, referring to NC State safety Earl Wolff hanging onto his jersey and being dragged 12 yards to the endzone.
It was Senior Day at Lane Stadium, a day that always brings a little tear to my eye. This year, though, we should all be crying at the HUGE loss of Cody Grimm. My Dad must have asked me 10 times, “How are we going to manage without him next year?”, and the answer is, well, I don’t know what the answer is. 1st in the Nation in forced fumbles, 3rd in the ACC in tackles, 24th in sacks, 14th in passes defended. Good Lordy. He is literally all over the field. Three forced fumbles in 4 plays. That is just unbelievable. He’s just a disruptor, plain and simple. I’m not sure we’ve had one of those, truly, since Corey Moore. Guess they come along every ten years or so.
And Ryan Williams. Remember when Darren Evans went down? Everyone knew about Williams, but no one quite knew what was going to happen. I’m pretty sure not many expected this. Evans is a pretty special back, but Williams now owns his freshman rushing record with two games to go. (And side note, Evans was on the sideline for the game, and could not have looked happier for Williams. Love that. It reminds me of Bryan Randall cheering from the sideline after being pulled from the Miami game in 2003. Gotta love a classy kid.) According to NCAA statistics, Williams now leads the ACC in rushing and ranks 7th nationally. And he dragged, that’s right, dragged NC State’s Earl Wolffe what looked like a mile into the end zone on his back, and made it look easy.
There were a lot of things to like about this game. For one thing, it wasn’t decided by 6 points or less. We kept Russell Wilson in check for almost the entire game. In fact, they were held to only 259 yards of offense, a shade less than their average of 412. In last week’s Monday Thoughts on TSL, Will Stewart extrapolated that in order for the Hokies to conceivably finish in the top 10 defensively this year, their opponents would have to average less than 280 yards per game. Maybe it’s not so impossible after all.
Kam Chancellor got an interception at his last home game. Jeff Beyer got to take the final snap. Jarrett Boykin was on fire, with six catches for 164 yards. And, we got to see the Wild Turkey. A lot. (Although I’m not sure I’d actually file that one under things to like. It was just sort of like “meh, there it is”. But anyway.)
So, UVA on Saturday. Spoiler or stomping? I know what I’m hoping for. Hope to see tons of Hokies in the stands.
On Saturday, the Hokies traveled to College Park and played a very good game against a very bad team. I, like about 50% of the attendees, was wearing Hokie maroon and orange. I knew there would be a lot of Hokies there, but wowza, I didn’t expect half the stadium. And the Maryland fans that were in attendance seemed pretty apathetic, for the most part. It wasn’t a “let’s get pumped up for a big rivalry” type of game at all.
Some observations, if I may:
The field was awful. It was like playing on my high school alma mater’s field (Riverheads, if anyone is interested, or has ever even heard of it).
The uniforms didn’t look as bad in person as they did online. From my seat, the strange gradient things weren’t as evident, although I did not care for the white helmets in person AT ALL. I couldn’t even tell that the MD uniforms had the camo trim, even though I was pretty close to the field.
This was the second week in a row that my interest level has been way too low. Despite a statistically great first half, the game, to me anyway, lacked a “wow” factor. And the second half? Most of the Hokie fans around me weren’t even watching at that point, just refilling their sodas with their smuggled airplane bottles.
Maybe it was because Georgia Tech was beating Duke (like I knew they would, it was pretty much a desperation hope to think that they would lose), but the fact that we were this early into November and already statistically eliminated from the ACC Championship was truly a downer for me. Will Stewart at TSL has a lot of good points about this in his Monday Thoughts.
I’m pretty much copying this directly from TSL, but I claim that they were my thoughts first, because I was there in the stands wondering why I wasn’t seeing Ju-Ju deep in the 4th quarter with a monstrous lead. Given that the Hokies essentially mailed it in during the second half, why did Tyrod play deep into the game? Why wasn’t Ju-Ju Clayton in there? Why didn’t David Wilson get more meaningful snaps? He showed some bursts of speed, even on that crappy field. Why wasn’t he more utilized?
And in the most headscratching offensive moment of all, why would we choose a slooooow developing pass play from our own 1 yard line, and send all our receivers 10 yards downfield? Had we not been running pretty well up the middle up to this point? Then, I was forced to watch the Maryland fans come alive for a fraction of a second like they’d just run a kickoff back 100+ yards or something. You fell on the ball. Yeah, it’s technically a touchdown, but it should hardly warrant such a celebration. You fell on the ball.
My favorite play, though, was I believe our next possession when Josh Oglesby fumbled and somehow the ball just bounced right back to Tyrod Taylor, who picked it up like he planned it that way and ran 25 yards with it. That was James Bond cool. Loved it.
Finally, I’d like to extend my appreciation to the awesome set-up we have at VT for tailgating. Because the traffic on 495 was ridiculous on Saturday, we got to the game way later than we had hoped, and had to scramble around to find someone to tailgate with. Problem was, there didn’t seem to be a lot of it going on. Big thanks to the Terp fans who gave my friend and I some beers, even though we were wearing Hokie garb. But, their “tailgate” consisted of a couple of coolers on the ground at the back of their car, which was in the very dreary parking garage. Not nearly the fun of true Hokie tailgating. Next time, I’ll do a little research and try to hit the local Hokie Club tailgate. It seems like it worked out pretty well for this guy at Virginiatechfan.com.
So now we’re left with only two games, NC State, who has been awful this year, but whom we always seem to struggle with, and UVA. I’m pretty psyched about this year’s VT/UVA throwdown, if nothing else to see how the fans react to Groh’s last coaching appearance. Should be a Scott Stadium filled with Hokies. Good times.
Hmmm. What to say about the upcoming Maryland game? Any ideas what to expect?
Here’s what I know:
Maryland has been just awful this year. That fact, however, means nothing in terms of how we are going to play. They’ve lost to Cal, something called Middle Tennessee State, Rutgers, Wake, UVA, Duke and NC State. Somehow, they managed to beat Clemson, who is looking like the Atlantic team champ at this point. I should also be surprised by this fact, but Clemson is nothing if not consistently inconsistent.
Maryland has had a terrible pass defense this year, and they can’t seem to stop people from scoring TD’s in the red zone. Which should help us, since we can’t seem to score TD’s in the red zone. One would think this would work to our advantage.
Maryland is likely to be starting their backup quarterback, Jamarr Robinson on Saturday. This is usually something Bud and the Hokie defense relish. Could be another monster type game for Cody Grimm, who just freaking rocks.
The Terps have a good WR in Torrey Smith, who is also a pretty good kick returner. Good corner play will be important to keep him out of open space.
And that’s about all I know. The key to the game, yet again, is this: convert, convert, convert. Especially when there are scoring opportunities to be had. If we can score when we get the opportunity, I don’t see Maryland being able to counter with much. If we continue to piss away opportunities with sacks, penalties and busted plays, Maryland will be able to hang around much longer and gain some confidence.
I apologize for the super short, not very interesting preview. I am currently suffering from my annual late season malaise, where I finally have to accept the fact that yet again, we have failed to live up to our full potential. I hate to see talent wasted. I hate to see opportunities squandered. And, it would make me feel a whole heck of a lot better if the Hokies could march into College Park in those snazzy new uniforms and send some turtles scurrying back into their shells.
Virginia Tech’s special teams helped the offense score their first three points of the game. A 33 yard punt return by Jayron Hosley, which was sprung by three crushing blocks, set the Hokies up with a first down on the ECU 31. The Tech offense failed to pick up a first down on the drive, but they did move the ball to the 24. Matt Waldron came on for a 41 yard field goal attempt, and it was good. The field goal gave the Hokies a 3-0 lead with 8:59 remaining in the first quarter.
Or maybe it was this:
After another punt by East Carolina, the Virginia Tech offense embarked on their best drive of the game. Unfortunately they couldn’t turn it into a touchdown, and they had to settle for another field goal. The Hokies went 75 yards in 14 plays, taking 6:03 off the clock.
Or maybe it was the score. 16-3, on a night when Ryan Williams ran for 179 yards, not a one of them into the end zone. I’m not a hundred percent certain he ever ran in the red zone, but I’m too lazy to look it up.
We needed a win, badly. We needed a win to keep this team from skidding feet first into Crapville. We got the win. But the game itself was about as interesting as watching my oven preheat.
According to Kyle Tucker, after Tyrod fumbled at the goal line, it marked the 12th, yep 12th, time the Hokies had been in opposing territory in the first half and not scored a touchdown. Of those 12 possessions, nine points. Nine. Holy shoot. The game was a study in everything that’s been wrong all season, with no sign of any change on the horizon. Uninspired offensive play calling, Tyrod holding the ball just a little bit too long, poor offensive protection up front, and even though it only led to three points, the defense giving up a long scoring drive for no apparent reason whatsoever. This was not a good ECU team. Powerhouses like UNC (yeah, I know they beat us, just stay with me) and SMU both managed to hang at least 28 on the Pirates. It’s truly disturbing. And will make for a truly unremarkable rest of the season if this is to continue.
So where do we go from here guys? I know that I am starting to feel the dreaded burn-out feeling that caused me to turn off the TV after Sean Glennon started singlehandedly flushing the Chik Fil A Bowl down the toilet. I hate that feeling. The season is so short, and the rest of the year SOOOO long, that I hate to waste a minute feeling this way. But jiminy Christmas, it was hard to watch that game and get excited. And I want to be excited about this team. I really, really do.
So, I’m going to be at the Maryland game this weekend. Anyone been there who can tell me anything about it? Parking? Stadium? Good places to have a beverage or two?
And I just copied and pasted this from Tailgate Fever, which has some awesomely amazing game previews and recaps. Witness this:
Here’s our game preview: Win. We have to win. We have to win impressively. If not, we risk another 2003, and no one should have to suffer through two seasons like that in the same decade. As you may or may not recall, depending on how much bourbon you used to block it out, the 2003 season (coming off our historic 2002 Walnut Bowl Championship) opened with us ranked #9. At 6-0 we climbed to #3 before being humiliated by WVU 28-7 on a Wednesday night road game that makes the Top 10 Most Pissed Us Off Losses Of All-Time. After an incredible rebound 31-7 win over #2 Miami the following week, we lost our remaining five games, in increasingly embarrassing fashion. OK, technically, we only lost four out five, but none of the losses were as humiliating as the sole victory in that stretch, a 24-23 win over Temple in which the Owls missed an extra point in OT to hand us the game. While the record books count that as a win, no self-respecting fan should. In that tailspin, the defense collapsed and we couldn’t stop anyone. Things aren’t that bad this year, but our offense isn’t as good as it was that year either.
So, that’s it. There isn’t anything to say about this game except pirates are stupid and we have to win.
So, there’s only one thing that got left out of the 2003 season recap, which was the stupid smug smile on Aaron Rogers horrible little face because our defense could not stop a herd of stampeding tortoises in the Insight Bowl that still haunts my nightmares. I must always hate the Packers now, because of you, Aaron. You are most certainly dead to me.
I’m not sure what I liked best about that, the historic Walnut Bowl Championship, the 10 Most Pissed Us Off Losses of All Time (which would make a great post, btw) or the end. Pirates are stupid and we have to win. That’s just classic, beautiful gold.
A “trap game” is usually defined as a team looking ahead to a forthcoming big game or conference game, and overlooks the supposedly weaker, easily beatable opponent which they are facing. Earlier in the season, the ECU game was listed as a potential “trap game” for the Hokies. Ideally, VT would have been in the driver’s seat for another ACC Championship bid and cruising toward a possible BCS title game when this game rolled around. Now, we’re not. Winning this game won’t give us back the losses to UNC or GT. Winning this game won’t put us in control of the Coastal. Winning this game won’t suddenly rocket us back into the top 10.
So, it’s no longer a trap game, right?
Well, I see it like this. Maybe ECU is no longer a trap game, and maybe it never really was, even though they beat us last year. I do think, however, it is this. This is a defining game. It’s one of those games where you find out if we are who we thought they were (to paraphrase an extremely overused Dennis Green rant). We’re not playing for a National Championship anymore (not that we ever were, you guys know my thoughts on this one, but I’ll throw that in for those who had that hope). We’re not playing for a conference championship anymore. We’re not playing for that 10 win season. Right now we’re still trying to get bowl eligible.
I’ll tell you though, what we should be playing for. We should be playing, silly and outdated as it may sound, for pride. We need to be playing because we’d rather be dead than be compared to the give up and quit teams of the early 2000’s. We need to be playing to show the younger guys that you just don’t give up because your original goals aren’t met. This has not turned out to be the season of dreams. I’m disappointed in that. It truly sucks. But it’s going to truly suck a whole lot more if we drop a couple more games and end up playing in the Eagle Bank Bowl or the Emerald Bowl. It’s going to royally suck if we can’t get it together enough to beat UVA and I have to live with my smug Wahoo brother for the next year. For that reason alone, we need to pull it together.
I guess it’s time to write about it. The icky feeling in my stomach about Thursday night’s disaster has somewhat subsided, but I’m not sure it’s going to completely abate any time soon. What a freaking cluster.
I was going to write a preview of this game beforehand, but I just couldn’t put into words why I thought we were going to win. I was not expecting a blowout. We have yet to do that against UNC, and even though they put up a God awful performance against FSU, it didn’t make me think we were going to steamroll over them or anything.
Still, though, I expected to win. I expected it would be close. I expected our offense would struggle some because their defense is actually pretty good. I did not expect a reenactment of the first half of the Georgia Tech game. I saw that movie once already, and it wasn’t particularly good the first time. I gave it very poor reviews, and would never have chosen to view it again, even with copious amounts of Captain Morgan and Diet Coke. Yet, there we were. Deja something crappy.
So here’s what I’m not. I’m not a football genius, like Raleigh Hokie over at TSL. I’m not a stat nerd chick. I don’t believe they always tell an accurate story, and can be twisted to favor whatever point you are usually trying to make. I am, however, savvy enough to understand that if you begin almost all your first half possessions with freaking awesome field position and fail to convert that to anything at all, that’s a big problem and you’re quite probably going to continue to lose games. I’m also bright enough to understand that if you can’t stop the other team from scoring, you can’t win. It was strange to watch a defense, that while not up there with ghosts of seasons past, should not be this awful, fail to win a line of scrimmage battle with a sub par offensive (well, up to this game at least) line. I watched our first two defensive series and thought we were onto something good. Then, like a feather in the wind, it was gone. UNC buckled down and got serious, and we just didn’t.
I’m starting to see this as a season long pattern here. We either can’t get up for games, or can’t stay up through them. It begs to wonder if we really want this at all. Now even our storied “10 win season” streak is in some serious jeopardy. What will we hang our collective hats on then, guys? Georgia Tech came out fighting that Saturday. UNC did too. We came out flat and uninspired. And some will disagree with me probably, but if you can’t get fired up enough, the other team is probably going to want it more, and is going to take it.
We are a better football team than UNC on both sides of the ball. We are (usually) better coached than UNC. (Butch Davis? Really? How in the world can we be outcoached by HIM?) I should have known we were in trouble the minute I saw DeAngelo Hall step out onto the field. Perhaps he brought his 2003 attitude back with him. I don’t know. I do know that the rest of the season, from here on out, will be difficult to watch. Are the coaches going to be able to convince these guys that there’s still something to play for? Will Stinespring ever be able to mount a serious offensive game plan? I just don’t know.
So Saturday went the opposite of what I wanted. After hearing all week how the stupid Hoos hadn’t lost to Georgia Tech at home since 1990, UVA obliged them Saturday by allowing GT to blow them out, at home. Then, Clemson, who usually can’t win a game if the fate of college football rested on it, beat Miami. Which would have been great, if not for stupid Al Groh and his minions. Now, the Football Husband’s Clemson team could possibly even make a championship run, and my Hokies, far more deserving, probably won’t.
I listen to a lot of ESPN radio during the day, and even though Colin Cowherd is one of those love him or hate him guys, he makes a lot of sense sometimes. He was talking about how Florida and USC are being maligned today about their iffy showings against Mississippi State and Oregon State, respectfully. He said that it’s unrealistic to expect 19 year old college athletes to come out the same week in and week out, sometimes against inferior opponents. (I don’t know that I completely buy that, I see it as a coaches responsibility to keep them focused, but that’s not my point, so I’ll shut up about it). The “big boys”, though, he says, produce when it counts. They win, sometimes they win big, sometimes they win ugly, but they win.
The Hokies had it within a fingertip reach. One loss to possibly the best team in the nation. An amazing come from behind win over Nebraska. A literal whipping of Miami. All they needed to do was keep going. Beat Georgia Tech and the path is clear. Another trip to sunny Florida for the ACC Championship game. An inferior Atlantic opponent. Another BCS bowl, maybe even sliding into the NC.
Now? We are forced to wait and see. Wait, and hope that somehow Wake or Duke can trip up the Yellow Jackets. I don’t think they will though. GT is focused. Their eyes are on the prize, and they are playing like they might not get another chance for it. It’s disappointing. I wish it wasn’t so, but it is.
We have to keep winning though. I could be completely wrong and Jim Grobe or David Cutcliffe could have the plan of the year on how to stop the option. So I’m going to go to the game on Thursday (yay!) and cheer for my Hokies. And I hope they will hear me, and keep going too.
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”
How to start? Do I start by railing against yet another poorly called offensive game? Do I rail against a defense unable to adjust? Do I rail against referees who can’t even figure out how to spot the ball? Or do I rail at all?
I dreaded this game all week. You know how you just have a feeling sometimes and even though you don’t want to have that feeling, and you hope desperately that you’re wrong, you know you’re not? That was my feeling. The feeling that, no matter the preparation, no matter the way the offense has looked in the last few games, that the outcome wasn’t going to good. And it wasn’t.
I will start, as a lot of bloggers seem to have, by patting Georgia Tech on the back for a minute. Just for a minute. It’s all I can stand. They played a good game. Their defense was inspired, and their offense kept at it, even though the first half for them was shaky. I won’t pat the Hokies on the back. While the Yellow Jackets played well, they were still beatable. Sometimes a team just comes out on fire, and you know that no matter what you do, it’s just their night. It wasn’t exactly like that for GT. They were beatable. We just couldn’t deliver.
The game recap at Tech Sideline put it best for me. This game wasn’t lost in the second half. It was lost on our first three offensive possessions, where we failed to produce anything resembling offense. Things should have been solidly on our side. The defense was on point, and having no trouble stuffing the option. Georgia Tech couldn’t stop shooting themselves squarely in the foot, with dropped exchanges, and stupid penalties. All we would have had to have done, was put some points on the board. Instead, we ran Ryan Williams up the gut, over and over and over again. And we did this, when instead, we should have been either A. passing against a defense that couldn’t cover the pass, or B. rolling Tyrod out and letting him scramble and run, because the defense clearly couldn’t stop him either. But we didn’t. If we had put points up early, we wouldn’t have had to worry so much when the Georgia Tech offense did get it together. We were able to match them almost score for score in the second half. Imagine if we had been 17-7 going into halftime. Not such a tough road ahead, that way.
And speaking of tough roads, now we much once again take the cross your fingers, hold your breath and wait route to the ACC Championship. Has it ever been a smooth road for us? It seems like every year we manage to make this as difficult as possible a goal to attain. I sometimes wonder if my heart can take it. I’m not disappointed about missing out on a National title. That was never going to happen, anyway. And even if we had somehow gotten to the game, we would have been stomped like a narc at a biker rally by Florida.
The road ahead looks pretty rocky right now. We can only win out, and hope that GT and Miami don’t. Stranger things have happened. (We still owe GT for beating Miami for us a few years ago, anyway.) So, we’ll just keep playing. Some games we’ll play well, some we apparently won’t. And at the end of the day, it will be what it will be. What else is there to do?
Because you’ve probably already read all about it, I’m not going to wax poetic on the intricacies of defending against the triple option. (And while we’re on the triple option, I have a question. If GT has been running this thing for the last few years, and Navy ran it for the last however many Paul Johnson was there, then why does everyone insist on acting like it’s brand new? It’s like needlessly scaring the crap out of me. So stop it.)
Here’s what I know about Georgia Tech, and how our games go. We can play really close games in which we are almost guaranteed to lose, but somehow pull out a win (see Bryan Randall, circa 2004). We can play games where we just come in and blow their doors off (JerseyGate 2007, the 2005 beatdown) and we can play games that we win by good fortune and some ill advised turnovers on their part (last year).
What will this year be? Obviously, I’d love a good old fashioned woodshed type slaughter, mainly to shut up this guy:
Virginia Tech is overrated and Georgia Tech is underrated. Georgia Tech’s offense will be drastically improved versus the Georgia Tech team that Virginia Tech played last season on September 13th 2008.
The amount of GT fumbles should be much less in year two of the Paul Johnson era. Furthermore Georgia Tech has many more solid running backs now then they did in early 2008 so expect more yards/game and every back getting touches not just Dwyer.
I don’t believe for one second that Georgia Tech will ever “take to the air” if they get behind. This is actually somewhat humorous. Georgia Tech is a running team like Texas Tech is a passing team, they just don’t deviate from that regardless of what happens.
(Just a comment I got on a Bleacher Report article that’s bugged me for months now. I especially find it interesting because their wide reciever, Demaryius Thomas, has over 600 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. But they don’t pass.)
But, I don’t exactly see that type of game happening on Saturday. I still do think that the Hokies have the superior talent, especially defensively, which is where this game will probably be won. It’s probably not realistic to think that we are going to completely shut down GT’s offense, but I know that our defense has been preparing hard for this game,and that Bud Foster has been strategizing about it for months.
I say this game will be won by the superior defense, and not because I think the Rambling Wreck (and what the heck kind of name is that anyway?) has anywhere near the defensive prowess that we do. Their defense has been pretty much all over the map this year. I say it will be won by the superior defense, because I’m hoping that our offense will continue the trend of performing at a high (well, high for VT anyway) level, and make their defense continue to look dazed and confused. If we can adjust to whatever look Paul Johnson is going to have the defense put on this week, then we can win this game. If we can’t make adjustments, we’re going to keep their offense on the field, and give them a greater chance to pull off a big play.
I’m excited about this game though. I’m still nervous about every game, and have been for the last, well, 7 years or so, but, I’m excited. It’s time to put a stop to the triple option talk forever. Let’s do it. Let’s go.
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”
Here’s what I know about Georgia Tech, and how our games go. We can play really close games in which we are almost guaranteed to lose, but somehow pull out a win (see Bryan Randall, circa 2004). We can play games where we just come in and blow their doors off (JerseyGate 2007, the 2005 beatdown) and we can play games that we win by good fortune and some ill advised turnovers on their part (last year). 
Virginia Tech is overrated and Georgia Tech is underrated. Georgia Tech’s offense will be drastically improved versus the Georgia Tech team that Virginia Tech played last season on September 13th 2008.
The amount of GT fumbles should be much less in year two of the Paul Johnson era. Furthermore Georgia Tech has many more solid running backs now then they did in early 2008 so expect more yards/game and every back getting touches not just Dwyer.
I don’t believe for one second that Georgia Tech will ever “take to the air” if they get behind. This is actually somewhat humorous. Georgia Tech is a running team like Texas Tech is a passing team, they just don’t deviate from that regardless of what happens.