The Gauntlet. VT/GT

And no, I didn’t come up with that on my own.  Witness this (an excerpt from Tech Sideline)

…at about 4:30 in the afternoon in Raleigh on October 2nd, a 2-2 Hokie football team was being pounded 17-0 by the Wolfpack. Virginia Tech was in disarray, staring at 2-3, and facing a possible meltdown.

Who are the real Hokies? Are they the confused sad sacks who looked lost at that moment on October 2nd, or are they the powerhouse team that has outscored opponents 182-62 since then?

The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle. “In the middle” might just be good enough to make the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, and maybe even win it.

And now the Hokies enter The Gauntlet.  Georgia Tech, UNC, and Miami.  (I guess we should throw in UVA as well, but come on, really?  Virginia?)  An epic task looms ahead.  Think Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, having to fight dragons, rescue their drowning friends, and navigating a killer maze except that instead of having to best Edward Cullen and the other guys, VT must one by one dismantle the hopes of Georgia Tech, then UNC, and finally, the U, who just can’t decide if they are actually back or not.  The task is clear:  win them all, and you’re in.  Win two of them, and you’re still in.  Lose two, and the path to what seemed completely unlikely that  rainy day in September again becomes murky.

I’m as pleased as anyone about Miami’s debacle against UVA on Saturday.  But I don’t want Virginia Tech to win the ACC by default.  The worse the teams that were supposed to be the class of this division perform, the farther down the proverbial toilet the ACC sinks.  (And, in an interesting Freudian slip, I actually typed that sentence to read “the farter down the proverbial toilet the ACC stinks”.  Really.)

The Hokies have turned around perhaps the worst beginning of a football season EVER in a most unlikely way.  Scoring.  Lots of scoring.  After not even being able to muster 20 against JMU, VT has put up numbers previously unheard of from a Blacksburg offense.  49-27.  41-30.  45-21.  52-21.  44-7.  And some of those could have been worse.

The last few games (CMU, Wake, Duke) were just offensive domination fests, where Tyrod and company just moved up and down the field at will, making it look like Virginia Tech has had an offense in their back pocket all along, and just inexplicably waited 8 years to pull it out.  It was the games before, ECU and NC State, that have really resonated with me and helped turn me into someone who loved Tyrod but knows he just isn’t quite as talented as he was made out to be into a believer.  If the Hokies are going to make it through The Gauntlet, it will be on the shoulders  of this man.  In both of these games, down by previously insurmountable amounts, Taylor did this:

(Oh glorious happy day.  I love, love, love it when I can combine Tombstone and Hokie football).

In these games, Tyrod said what all good marshals say when they are backed into a corner:  “No.  No.  No.  Noooooooooo.”  And came out shooting (okay, throwing).  And running.  And everyone fell in behind, buoyed by the strength, courage and pure tenacity of their leader.

“Did you ever see anything like that before?”

“Hell, I ain’t never even heard of anything like that”.

And my guess is, that’s how VT will make it through The Gauntlet.  Not like in years past, where the defense had to score half the points.  This defense can’t do that.  They are coming along, but aren’t there yet.  And won’t be this season.  So, offense it is.  Despite poor play calling.  Despite Bryan Stinespring.  He’s not going anywhere.  The Hokies are going to have to learn to win despite it.  Frustrating as heck?  Yeah.  But it is what it is.  Frank taught me that.

The key on Thursday is to begin immediately.  Anyone remember last year’s game?  I said this:

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.

I stand by that and second it for Thursday night.  Start out flat, and it’s going to turn ugly in a hurry.  Even with Tyrod Wyatt Earp Taylor.  Georgia Tech is going to score points.  The Hokies have to keep ahead of that.  They need to take advantage of every opportunity given them.  This isn’t last year’s GT team.  But, they still run a confusing option that is difficult to defend.  If the defense isn’t up to it, the offense has to be more than up to it.

Run The Gauntlet.  Finish it.  If you see an ACC helmet, you must defeat the person wearing it.  So go.  Tell them RMFW and DMFW and DMFE are coming.  Tell them Tyrod is coming.  And hell is coming with them.  You hear me?  HELL IS COMING WITH THEM.

(And, I’m done with the bad Tombstone references.  It was fun though).

 

Top 5 VT Comebacks

Ho hum.  Spring practice is over.  The Draft is over.  The college football pre-season magazines haven’t come out yet.  So what’s a Football Girl to do?

Well, I decided to make a few lists to keep myself occupied and focused for the upcoming season.  Full disclaimer alert:  These are strictly my opinion, not based on any fact or scientific evidence, and they only apply to games that actually occurred in my football lifetime (approximately 1990ish to present).  I’m not going to bust out any games from the Don Strock years.  So, here goes:

Football Girl’s Top 5 VT Comebacks

1.  UVA, 1995

Ahhh, an oldie but a goodie.  And a game I actually attended.  With my UVA brother.  Sweet times.  Here’s the USA Today recap, but the quick details are this:  Down 29-14 (usually insurmountable odds for the Hokies), Jim Druckenmiller led VT to 22 unanswered points in the 4th quarter and capped off a season that found VT beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl.  (Fun fact:  UVA played several QB’s in the game, one of them being none other than Mike Groh, son of Al, and future failed offensive coordinator for the Cavs.)

Check it out here:

2.  Nebraska, 2009

I have only one thing to say about this one: “Tyrod did it, Mikey!  Tyrod did it!”

Well, two things.  Note that hanging all over Tyrod on the last play is no other than Ndamukong Suh, who I think was probably the most dominant defensive player in college football last year.  To me, that makes it even more impressive.

3.  Georgia Tech, 2004

The second of the improbable comebacks to grace the list.  And this one was really improbable.  Down 20-12 heading into the last five minutes of the game, a Hokie team led by Bryan Randall set about one of the greatest comebacks ever, and proved that Randall could play with the best of them when he needed to.  He would later be named ACC player of the year.  Here’s a quick bite of the recap from Tech Sideline:

Down 20-12 and hanging by a thread, Virginia Tech exploded for 22 points in the last 5:28 of the game to exit Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium with a huge 34-20 ACC win over the Yellow Jackets. The fourth-quarter outburst was keyed by freshmen, as Eddie Royal caught an 80-yard TD pass, Josh Morgan scored from 51 yards out, and Roland Minor ran an interception back 64 yards with less than a minute to go.

The win was VT’s first when trailing after three quarters since the 2000 win over Pittsburgh. The Hokies burned Georgia Tech’s 18th-ranked defense for 446 yards, including 304 yards passing by Randall, who completed 18-of-31 for 3 TDs and 1 interception. Randall was 3-for-5 for 159 yards and 2 TDs in the fourth quarter alone. He added 64 yards rushing on 9 carries and was only sacked once for a 3-yard loss, as the Hokies used the short passing game and 3-step drops to perfection. Mike Imoh carried 22 times for 77 yards.

Un-freaking believable.  What a feel good season 2004 was.

4.  Miami, 2004

And this one wasn’t really so much of a comeback as a wrestling away a victory from a deadlock.  (Did that make any sense?  Probably not, but it sounded good in my head at least.)  In their inaugural season in the ACC, the Hokies, picked by many to finish 6th, found themselves playing Miami to determine the defacto ACC champion.  It was a hard fought, low scoring affair, muddled with injuries, fumbles and blocked punts, but Bryan Randall again managed to pull it out, again connecting with Eddie Royal for the go ahead score.  Then, credit the Hokie defense for making sure the Canes didn’t have a chance in heck of getting anywhere near the goal line again.  I’ll say it again:  Ahh, 2004.

5.  WVU, 1999

Needs no introduction, and if I have to explain why it was so important, you shouldn’t even be allowed to call yourself a Hokie.  I could watch this all day long.

I was in Lynchburg, VA, at the Marine Corps Ball during this game.  I was watching it in the hotel room, and when it came time to go to the dinner, I refused to go.  The Football Husband and our friends were incredulous, but there was no way in Hades that I was missing the end of this one.  I paced the hotel room alone in my fancy dress, talking to my mom and dad on the phone the entire time because I was so damn nervous.  When Shayne Graham kicked that field goal, it was truly one of the happiest moments of my life.  (Wow, hope that’s not as lame as it sounds.)  This is when I realized that Hokie football wasn’t just something I kind of liked, but it was an obsession.  A good obsession.

So, hope you enjoyed my first Top 5 list.  Stay tuned for more, when the muse strikes.

Seriously? I mean, seriously?

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.

Thoughts anyone?

Guess all we do now is wait. And win.

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.

So. This is how it’s going to be.

“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?

What to expect from the Rambling Wreck.

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:

Bobby 3 months ago

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.

Hokies 34, Yellow Jackets 17

Put me in a college football stadium on game day Saturday and I’m more giddy than my 8 year old at a Jonas Brothers concert.

Here’s a good article by Ivan Maisel on some great things about college football.  Some of them include great opening day matchups (VT and Alabama!), great food at stadiums (turkey legs!) and has some good things to say about Frank Beamer.  I think my favorite part though, is where they sing the praises of Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech, and the option.  I’m always happy if some other ACC team can be the “ones to watch”.  Last year, when Clemson was crowned the talent in the ACC, it may have bruised some Hokie egos, but it did give them a chance to fly under the radar a bit.  Since the great collapse of 2003, I have been wary of the hype.

Then, there’s this nugget by my pal Heather, who promises a “Love/Hate” list about the ACC and only provides the “love” portion.  Thanks, Heather.

Whooee! New schedule is out!

VT Schedule
Date	Opponent
Sept. 5	vs. Alabama
Sept. 12	Marshall
Sept. 19	Nebraska
Sept. 26	Miami
Oct. 3	at Duke
Oct. 10	Boston College
Oct. 17	at Georgia Tech
Oct. 29	UNC
Nov. 5	at East Carolina
Nov. 14	at Maryland
Nov. 21	NC State
Nov. 28	at Virginia

And there it is. 

The good stuff:  Finally, an OOC schedule not to be ashamed of.  Not a William  and Mary among them, in fact, not a Football Bowl Subdivision (or whatever you’re calling it) team to be found.   I also like Georgia Tech and North Carolina later in the season, after Bud has had time to get the defense rolling.  And if GT is to be the “class” of the ACC, I want to be ready.

The bad stuff:  I’d prefer not to start out with Alabama, because it’s going to be a pretty hyped matchup and that sometimes bodes poorly for the Hokies.  (See LSU 2007). 

Okay, so there was only one bad stuff, but I want to give myself a day or two to ruminate on it.  Could be quite a season.  I’m already excited.

Back in the drivers seat.

Well, well, well.  Big doings last night in the ACC Coastal Division race.  Although Football Girl tried not to mention it, or even think about it (and it wasn’t too hard, because I had the migraine from Hades yesterday and didn’t even watch the game), it was within my knowledge that at Georgia Tech win last night would put the Hokies back into contention for the Coastal Title.  We now, as the saying goes, which I hate by the way, “control our own destiny”.  Who would have thought that our dismal showings at both FSU and Miami would become meaningless?  With wins against Duke and UVA, the Hokies could once again find themselves in an ACC Championship game, right where we were predicted to be at the seasons outset.  And, possibly playing Maryland for the title.  And we all know how that one turned out last time. 

But suppose all this happens, and we do win out.  Would we find ourselves in a BCS bowl again?  The BCS rules are convoluted, to say the least.  You can read about them here.  But, if I’m correct, we may actually win the ACC and lose out on a BCS bowl, due to this disclaimer:

3.The champion of Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Sun Belt Conference or the Western Athletic Conference will earn an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game if either:

 

  A.Such team is ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS Standings, or,
  B.Such team is ranked in the top 16 of the final BCS Standings andits ranking in the final BCS Standings is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls.

Right now, we’ve got Utah sitting at number 7, Boise State at 9, and Ball State at 17.  VT isn’t even in the top million.  So, any of those could seemingly be chosen over VT if the standings continue as they are today.  And do we even want to play in a BCS bowl?  And is it sacrilege for me to even mention such a thing?  I just know this.  I’m almost certain we’re not ready to play with the big boys.  The results could be LSU-like disastrous.  And I know I don’t want to spend another off-season down in the dumps because of a lousy bowl performance.  (See Chick-fil-A loss, last year’s Orange Bowl loss specifically.)  Sometimes, even when you win, you kinda lose.