And It Begins-Alabama

It’s time. The memory of the Whatever it was Called Bowl where the Hokies celebrated a barely win over once jokey Big East Rutgers has faded. The losses have faded (except maybe that Pitt game. That one really sucked).

A new day has dawned. A new season is upon us. The Hokies have new coaches, one of whom, Aaron Moorehead,bears a startling resemblance to a skinny Vince Vaughn. (And I just googled him to make sure I was spelling the name right and he was born in 1980. He’s younger than me. I’m officially older than really old dirt).

And he agrees with me!  I’m so positive that this was in response to me……

Ok ok after the 1000th person n my adult life has said I look like Vince Vaughn I guess I can admit there r some similarities #chinorthburbs

— Aaron Moorehead (@Amo8685) August 30, 2013

We have to play Alabama again, most of the players I’ve heard of either are hurt and out for the season, have been dismissed from the team or have transferred. I’m going to have to watch with a players guide as a reference. In fact, I was woken up last night by my phone informing me that JC Coleman (sprained ankles) will not play. Awesomeness. 

The outcome of the game probably isn’t going to be pretty. But you know what? I don’t even care. I’m just so darn excited that FOOTBALL season is starting.

I’ve got a new Hokie shirt, I’ve changed my ringtone to the VT fight song and taken my phone off vibrate. I’ve changed my home screen wallpaper to the old school logo. I am listening only to “Enter Sandman” until 5:30 today. I’m ready.

No excuses. No explanations. Win. Go Hokies.

Time for Bowling Green

You’re either growing or you’re dying. There ain’t no third direction.

(I read that this morning on The North End Zone).

I don’t really know anything about Bowling Green as a football program. I know they are a MAC school, I know they give up something like 400 yards of offense per game which sounds like it should be a good thing for this year’s anemic offense, but is no guarantee of anything, and it would be terribly embarrassing to lose to them.

Wait. We’ve already done embarrassed. At least, I hope we have. I hope we are so embarrassed that the team that takes the field tomorrow looks absolutely nothing like the team I watched last week. If we’re not embarrassed, then it’s time to go ahead and get rid of this thing for good:

Or maybe we should get rid of it anyway, and just start playing freaking football. Playing like we mean it, not just playing for 10 win seasons and invitations to bowls that will inevitably be lost in heartbreaking fashion. Playing like winners. Every time. Every game. Because it matters. Because nobody wants to be pushed around the field anymore. Because everyone is tired of having the same old tired seasons.

And that’s my preview. I’ll be there tomorrow, wearing my (pink) camouflage VT hat, because for some reason girls can’t wear regular camo. Don’t get me started. That’s a post for a whole other blog.

So let’s go. No excuses. No explanations. Believe. WIN

Things to do before playing Pittsburgh

Well, the Hokies are now two games into the season, and although not much can be inferred from Saturday’s game with (against?) the Governors, I have a quick list of things that would be nice for VT to acquire before beginning to play the real teams.

1. A running game. VT has yet to produce anything akin to a running game in these first two games, even against a clearly inferior opponent in Austin P. In fact, the leading Hokie rusher in that game? WR Marcus Davis. Yeah. With 48 yards. Which actually came on just two plays. So. I’m not all in a panic just yet, because I know that we’ve all gotten spoiled with the flashy backs of the past few years, but I’d be super happy with a slow and steady wins the race Darren Evans/Cedric Humes type right now. Let’s get it started, huh, let’s get in started in here, okay?
2. Better success on 3rd/4th and shorts. Remember last year when we called these “3rd and Logan’s”? There was a reason for that and I’m starting to forget why. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t gotten weaker and easier to bring down since last season, so this needs to change and quick.
3. Lower and more accurate passes. Or, just pass more to Corey Fuller. He can catch anything. Love the Fuller family. Love, love, love.
4. I was going to add another one, but honestly folks, that’s all I’ve got. I’m not going to get all nit picky this early. The season is young, my friends, and so is this team. They will get older. They will get better.

I hear Pittsburgh is really terrible this year. Looks like they lost to Youngstown State and Cincy kinda by a lot. This may or may not be an advantage. Remember in 2003 when they were just god-awful and beat us anyway? That really sucked. Man, that season was terrible.

But that’s not gonna happen this year. Nope, nope, nope. Looking forward to an early start in front of my television watching the Hokies on ESPNU. Which for some reason is still not in HD in my area and I hate that.

It’s almost game day. So, let’s go, Hokies. No excuses. No explanations. Believe.

Georgia Tech. And, start jumping.

 

I mean it. Right now. Start jumping. I can hardly stand to wait the next 24 hours. It’s football time, baby! Fin-a freaking-ly. (See what I did there? Made up a whole new word).

And, to make things even more exciting, it’s a MUST WIN. Historically, the Hokies have opened up with a heartbreaker of an OOC game, but this year, guess we’re shaking things up a little and throwing it all out there first thing. Hopefully, whatever we’re throwing will end up sticking to the bottom of the Yellow Jacket’s cleats like the gum I keep stepping on in my garage because my kids don’t know where the freaking trash can it. (Slight digression).

The good stuff:

I hear the defense is going to be pretty special. That’s no surprise, really, and it’s also kinda cool to hear just how badly Bud Foster wants to win a NC. The defense handled GT’s stupid option/whatever offense pretty darn well last year, so, no worries, right?

I also remember Logan Thomas deciding that he was going to make an example out of the chop blockers, and even ended up getting punched in the helmet for it, but again, I’m pretty sure it takes a lot more than that to get him down.

Some things are questions, of course. Receivers? Well, we’ll see. Tailbacks? I’m sure someone is out there ready to take on the role. O-line? Surely this is the year the Hokies decide to have one. And there’s some defensive injuries that may be troubling. But it’s the beginning of the season, and I refuse to be worried when nothing has happened to make me worry yet.

So, get ready. Football is back. No excuses. No explanations. Believe.

Sugar Bowl—It’s Time

It’s time. Game time. I haven’t written anything since the disaster of an ACC Championship gave me the biggest football hangover I have ever experienced. Ever. Bigger than last year’s Stanford hangover, and that one was bad. So bad that even thinking about football, even after learning that the Sugar Bowl awaited, made me queasy.

But it’s here. And you know what? Screw Michigan, and Denard Robinson. (I’m sure they have other players, in fact, I’m sure they field a whole team, but I don’t know the name of a single other player, so, sorry Denard). Screw the whole “VT doesn’t belong here”crap. Screw Doug Gottlieb for stating it again on ESPN radio while I was driving home from work. Screw everybody. We’re here. Deal.

The kicking situation is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of. Kickers gone wild. What the blessed heck? But you know what that means? More 4th and Logan opportunities. Bam.

So let’s do this thing. It probably won’t come easy. It probably won’t come fast. I’ll probably be near puking for most of the game. It’s a “big” game. Hokies, as a rule, view the big game as Superman views kryptonite.

But I say…..no more. At some point, the tide must turn. If you’ve got to start somewhere, why not here? Why not now?  Don’t tell us we don’t belong. Use that as your motivation. Go. No excuses. No explanations. Believe.

“This is just spectacular……..”

 

It’s Not Revenge We’re After-It’s a Reckoning

That UVA game was something, huh? Finally, finally, finally, the rout I’ve been wanting all season. And could it have come at a better time, against a better team? No it could not.

And this just makes me laugh. Serious stiff arm.

And now tomorrow is the big day. Redemption day. Time to make the October 1 meeting against Clemson seem like just an anomaly. It was a bad game. A really bad game. No excuses. Just bad. And winning Saturday won’t make it less of a bad game, just like beating Boston College in the ACC Championship in 2007 didn’t make the 14-10 heartbreak in the rain less of a heartbreak. But you know what? It went a long way in healing it, just like a victory on Saturday in Charlotte will do as well. Nobody likes to lose. I want to win them all. But more importantly, I want to win the ones that matter. And this one matters.

So how do the Hokies win this time? By doing these things:

• Learn from how Clemson lost the last few games and use that-run it, run it, run it. And keep running it some more. Run Thomas up the gut, run Wilson around the end. Then, when the Tigers are convinced that the run is the thing, send Danny Coale downfield. Boom. Points.
•  I love this, so I’ll quote it directly from Illinois Hokie–. And for the love of God just keep going. That’s my plea to Frank Beamer this week. Up by 50? Try to go up 75. Five hundred yards total offense? Shoot for a grand. Because we’ve seen that Clemson can come back in a hurry (against Maryland and Wake Forest) and they aren’t out of it till they start talking about Steve Spurrier. 
• Pressure Tajh Boyd, and keep doing it. Make him uncomfortable. Make the pocket a scary place to be. And keep it coming.
• Contain Sammy Watkins. Is he healed? Is he playing? I’m not even sure, but I think so. Make him regret that decision.

It seems like a pretty easy recipe. Even I could cook it, and I hate to cook and can’t follow directions for crap. So, just do it. Do it because you didn’t do it in October. But do it now, when it truly matters. Remember that this is OUR conference, and no one takes that away, least of all a team who has made “pulling a Clemson” their life’s work. Pull a Virginia Tech. 27-2 in November (yeah, yeah, the game is December, but the stat looks cool, right?), 4 ACC titles since joining the conference, ACC Player of the Year in David Wilson. 13 All-ACC players.

Focus. Prepare. No excuses. No explanations. Win.

 Make no mistake, it’s not revenge he’s after. It’s a reckonin’.

 

Let’s Finish It-UVA preview

Or to be honest, UNC recap/UVA preview/everything else I’ve been slacking on lately.

UNC GAME

Damn, that game was cold. Really cold. Like, wondering why I was standing out in it, couldn’t feel my toes cold. But I love a Thursday night game, and this one didn’t disappoint. Well, except for the last 6 minutes. Those were a wee bit disappointing.

My quick takeaway from the game is this: Logan Thomas has the potential to be an amazing, amazing quarterback. I have been so very impressed. Patience, poise, much better decision making, fewer mental errors. This guy is for realz, yall.

David Wilson, while still almost beyond compare in talent and potential, still has a ways to go. The fumbles have got to stop. I seem to remember this being a problem years ago with Kevin Jones as well. Maybe they can chat some in the off-season and come up with a solution. Perhaps they can also talk a little about vision, patience and not always relying just on natural talent and speed to make a play. I don’t want to stifle talent at all. I believe you take your strengths and run with them (pun, get it?), but you also have to have the vision to know when it’s okay to run backwards and when it’s not. Most of the time, it’s not.

Finally, don’t quit playing just because the score is 24-7 and everybody is cold. It’s not over till it’s actually over, folks. Plus, onside kicks are stupid and I hate them.

And moving on to…..

Let’s All Join Hands and Sing a Song About UVA

First, good Hokie fans, stop talking about the BCS. Here’s the thing about the BCS. The Hokies are currently ranked 5th. Currently. To remain 5th, or 4th, or 3rd, or whatever, certain things have to happen. Some SEC teams have to lose to each other, and it’s very complicated and I didn’t bother to actually read it all. But, most importantly, WE MUST BEAT UVA.

In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say definitively right now, VT will not be playing in the national championship. Not gonna happen. And I don’t care anyway. It’s not our year. The next one may be, or the one after that, but not this one.

But here is what IS going to happen, because Logan Thomas got his wish and UVA found some way to bungle around a little less than Florida State did last weekend and timidly plucked victory from the jaws of mediocrity.

• Beat UVA soundly on Saturday.
• Rematch with Clemson in the ACC Championship
• Beat them soundly as well.
• Return to the Orange Bowl.

Notice that these go in a certain order? They have to be done in exactly that order. You can’t frost a cake before you mix it. You can’t watch the credits before the movie starts. You can’t finish the race before you begin it. The race begins Saturday, folks. One thing at a time. Nothing has been decided yet. So, to quote yet again my most favorite of all movies:

Ike, take Stillwell. Finish it. -Tombstone

Logan, take David Wilson. Take Boykin. Take Coale, and Coales. Take Drager. Bring along Exum, Fuller, Hosley, Hopkins and Whitley. There’s still work to be done. Finish it.

So go. Prepare. Focus. No excuses, no explanations. Win. Finish it.