Tech Sports Blog

[The following post was published at HokieHaven.com on September 28, 2007.]

A couple of weeks ago, in my post following the LSU game, I seemed to have ruffled the feathers of some of the readers of HokieHaven.com. Many took my thoughts to be that I was down on Tyrod Taylor. I just want set the record straight.

First off, I’m not down on Tyrod – I’m down on the offense. Secondly, I’ve officially drank the Tyrod Taylor kool-aid. Tyrod has been very poised the last few games, and he doesn’t look like a true freshmen out there on the field. He has made some great plays, and, I admit, he gives our offense better opportunities to score. That said, I stand by the statement that our offensive line is bad. The fact that we couldn’t stick it in the endzone from inside the 20 against William & Mary our first two drives really makes me nervous about our tougher games this year.

If we can’t get a touchdown in the redzone against a Division I-AA opponent, what’s going to happen when we play Boston College, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Miami? The good news is that many of those games are a month or so away, so the offensive line has some more time to improve. The bad news is that I just can’t shake the feeling that we’re looking at a four-loss year. North Carolina and Duke are the only ones I can mark down as wins with a high degree of confidence, but I just can’t help to think that between road trips to Clemson, Georgia Tech, & Virginia and home games versus Boston College, Florida State, & Miami that we’ve got three losses waiting for us.

But hey, what do I know? I’m just a Virginia Tech fan like the rest of you. I follow our Hokies with passion, and I think Blacksburg is heaven on earth. Hopefully this year’s team will prove me a fool for doubting. When I start to think negatively about this year’s offense, I just need to remind myself about last year. Last season, Hokie Nation was in meltdown mode after back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College. Tech fans were in a state of despair, and many were expecting to see a few more losses. Things weren’t what they seemed, and the team ripped off six wins in a row.

The uncertainty surrounding the rest of this season feels very similar to the uncertainty we felt at the midway point last year. With UNC and Duke book ending the trip to Clemson, followed by an off week, there is time for the offense to get going before they hit that nasty stretch of the schedule starting with Boston College (who, by the way, is playing extremely well).

This is my suggestion for everyone who is letting our stagnant offense get them down (including myself): take a deep breath and relax. There is one very difficult game in the next four weeks, so we have good chance to get things together before we make our run at a division title.

Before I sign off, I’ll leave you with some items from the things are not always what they seemed department:

• Do yourself a favor and forget about last week’s box score. Yes, we barely out gained William & Mary, and our rushing stats were not good. However, don’t forget that the second string defense was in the game by the second quarter, and the second string offense started the second half. We took our foot off of the gas, and then the game was about getting reps. If you look at the first quarter when the starters were in the game, our offense often had a short field, and that helped skew the box score for the first quarter. The only part of that game that worries me is our inability to get two touchdowns in the first two redzone appearances.
• Everyone expected Branden Ore to be a league leading running back this season. Unfortunately, he is having a sub par year so far. What happened? Is it our offensive line? Is he out of shape? I hate to say it, but Kenny Lewis, Jr. looks like our best tailback right now. I hope Branden can get it turned around.
• LSU gained 598-yards against Virginia Tech on September 8th. Ohio and William & Mary combined for 376 yards the last two weeks. I think we can all agree that Bud Foster got things turned around defensively.
• Virginia beat Georgia Tech last weekend … and it absolutely stunned me. With Notre Dame going to 0-4, Georgia Tech’s win over them doesn’t look so good. The Yellow Jackets, whom I thought would compete for the Coastal Division title, might be a pretender this year. UVA, who looked absolutely horrid in the first few weeks, got a nice quality win at home. With a favorable conference schedule this year, you have to admit that the Wahoos have a shot at the division.
• Miami rolled up and smoked and Texas A&M last Thursday (Sep 20). Miami looked much better on Thursday than they did in the first few weeks, although it was obvious to me that A&M did not deserve their #20 ranking. Miami is not as bad as they looked against Oklahoma.
• Someone forgot to tell me not to sleep on Boston College this year. They’re 3-0 in conference play with a win over defending ACC champ Wake Forest and a dominating win over then #15 Georgia Tech. I figured that they’d finish in the middle of the pack with a new coach. Now, I’m thinking they’re the team to beat in the Atlantic division. (By the way, I still have to look up which division is called what.)
• Michigan got a nice win over Penn State in the big house. The rumors of doom & gloom in Ann Arbor following Appalachian State’s and Oregon’s wins over the Wolverines have been exaggerated. Look at their schedule; they have a relatively soft schedule until they finish up with Wisconsin and Ohio State. The Wolverines will be competing for the Big Ten championship going into their final two weeks, and those last two weeks may decide Lloyd Carr’s fate as their head coach.
• Last year I finished second at the end of the season in the College Football Pick’em I run. After two weeks (we started in week 3), I am dead last. Last weekend I finished worse than the guy that didn’t pick two games. If you’re thinking about putting money down on a college football game at some point, make sure your consult with me to ensure your pick is the opposite of mine.

[The following post was published at HokieHaven.com on September 10, 2007.]

One word could be used to describe me after LSU’s completely dismantled the Hokies: salty.

I was literally and figuratively salty both during and following the game. Literally because the Louisiana humidity had me sweating the entire day, and I had salt deposits on the front and back of my shirt. Figuratively because I was disappointed and angry at our performance Saturday night. LSU pounded us from every direction and made us look like a high school team. No, I didn’t expect to walk out of Tiger stadium Saturday with a victory, but I did not expect to see us get schooled 48-7.

The most disappointing aspect of the game was how the Tiger offense put together methodical drive after methodical drive against a defense that is supposedly one of the best in the nation. LSU had a few big plays, but they surely didn’t need them. Their offense consistently moved the ball, and they kept our defense guessing the entire game. Not including LSU’s final “drive” of the game (where they knelt one play to run out the clock), the Tiger offense scored on 8 drives and punted on the other 3. LSU never turned the ball over.

On the other side of the ball, LSU’s defense looked like men amongst boys. They were often in our offensive backfield, harassing Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor all night. The Hokies were held to 149 total yards. Somehow, I haven’t figured it out yet, we managed to get rid of the goose egg on the scoreboard. However, LSU’s defense deserved a shutout.

There just isn’t much more I can say about LSU. They played absolutely lights out on both sides of the ball Saturday, and they handed us one of our most demoralizing losses in recent memory.

As for us, it really was depressing to watch. It felt like we took a few steps back that game, and we left Baton Rouge with more questions than answers.

What’s next for our offense? We knew our offensive line would struggle, but I felt like they hit rock bottom on Saturday. Maybe I’m being too negative here, because LSU’s front seven is the best they’ll see all season. As for the future, the future is now in the hands of freshmen phenom Tyrod Taylor. Personally, I don’t get it, but more on that later. The fact of the matter is the offense looked very bad, and it hurts to see that with the talent we have at tailback and in our wide receiving corps.

Did last year’s defense deserve it’s number one ranking? We didn’t lose many starters on the defensive side of the ball, and it was expected that this year’s defense would pick up where last year’s defense left off. On Saturday, the defense looked nothing like the squad that led the nation in total defense the last few years. If they are truly an elite defense, they should be able to keep any offense to less than 8 scoring drives. Ok, I admit, we’re not as bad as we looked on Saturday, but I’m beginning to think our defense is not as good as we thought.

Is the ACC really this bad? The supposed top team in the ACC got blown out by the cream of the crop of the SEC. Miami got worked by Oklahoma, and Florida State only beat UAB by 10. Wake Forest was a pleasant surprise, only losing by 3 to Nebraska, and Georgia Tech was the league’s “bright spot” as they blew out Division I-AA Samford by the score of 69-14.

Tyrod

I know there are many Hokies who were happy to see Tyrod make his debut on Saturday night, and I know many are happy that he’s getting his first start on Saturday. (At the time of this writing, I haven’t read any message boards since Friday night, so I don’t know the pulse of the virtual Hokie Nation. I expect the debates are raging.) Personally, it upsets me. I was pretty pissed off on Saturday when Beamer threw Tyrod in the game. Yes, Glennon made a few bad decisions, but he also had the LSU defense in his face the entire time. You cannot judge Sean’s performance Saturday night at face value. He was getting hit hard behind a substandard offensive line. When Tyrod came into the game, I felt like the coaching staff had essentially given up on the game. I felt like that sent a bad message to the team and to the fans.

I did not think Taylor played a whole heck of a lot better than Glennon, although he was able to make a few plays with his feet. That brings me to my next point. The fact that we are going with Tyrod Taylor tells me our offensive line is really that bad. It tells me we need to have a dual threat quarterback under center, because he needs to cover up for the inadequacies of our line. I didn’t like it in 2003 when we played musical chairs at the quarterback position, and I hope this year doesn’t turn into that. That year ended up being a complete disappointment, and I want this team to achieve more success than the ’03 team did.

Don’t get me wrong, I want Tyrod to go out there and light it up. However, the fact that we’re going with him so early just feels like a red flag. Our trips to Clemson and Georgia Tech look much more difficult now. I’m glad we have a few weeks of lighter competition before we hit the meat of the schedule.

Positives from the weekend

Getting back to lighter side of life, I want to take a moment to thank the LSU faithful for being absolutely gracious hosts on Saturday. Folks, if you consider yourself a college football fan, you have to go to Baton Rouge for a LSU game once in your life. They are professional tailgaters, they are passionate about their team, and they are great hosts. I wandered around their campus a few times on Saturday. Although I was on the receiving end of many “Tiger Bait!” chants and friendly razzing, I saw smiles and was welcomed to Baton Rouge. By the end of the afternoon, I was invited to a half dozen tailgates and given food and beer. They were a lot of fun to hang out with, and I received very few negative comments after the game. I would consider going back to Baton Rouge for a LSU game regardless of the opponent, and I recommend you do the same if you couldn’t make this trip. LSU is what college football is all about.

Looking forward to our schedule, this weekend’s game against Ohio means much more than it did before Saturday. It is vital for the team to regroup and bounce back after Saturday’s Bayou beatdown. It will be difficult to recuperate both mentally and physically. They need to come out strong and united this Saturday in Lane Stadium, because this game will set the tone for the rest of the season. The players can either let their performance in Baton Rouge get them down, or they can use it as motivation to prove to the fans and to themselves that they are better.

— —

EDIT … I wanted to clarify my thoughts on the Clemson and Georgia Tech road trips. Two things concern me.

1. Starting a true frosh means you’re going to have some ugly mistakes behind center. Clemson will be another difficult environment, and GT has a superb defense, which means the likelihood of those freshmen mistakes will be higher.
2. The fact that we’re going with Tyrod at this point really really concerns me about our offense. It means that we need a mobile quarterback to make up all of our shortcomings.

Maybe I’m putting too much stock into #1, and Tyrod will do just fine. However, I can’t emphasize #2 enough. Beamer has never been one to hand over the reins to a true freshmen, so since he is doing so this season means we’ve got serious problems on the offensive side of the ball. Tyrod Taylor is a great talent, and he’ll be able to cover up for our crappy offensive line at times, but he will not cure our offensive woes all by his lonesome.

Putting the QB situation off to the side for a moment, look at one other player’s stats …

According to ESPN.com Brandon Ore has rushed for 98 yards on 37 attempts averaging 2.6 yards per carry. His longest run the last two games? 9 yards.

Folks, it doesn’t matter who we have behind center. If we can’t get our tailbacks some running room, we’re going to have some rough games this year.

Friday 5:30pm

Delta flight 4673 took off from Charlottesville roughly 15 minutes after 11 AM with at least 7 Hokies on board (myself included). I found it somewhat ironic that there were so many Hokies on a flight leaving Hoo’ville, but there are a good number of us in the Charlottesville area. The flight followed I-81 for the first 15 minutes or so, and I got a great view of Christiansburg and Blacksburg from the air. It was kinda funny that I followed my normal route to Blacksburg from the sky to see the Hokies in Baton Rouge.

I spoke with a few Hokies while waiting to board. This is obviously a big game in SEC country, and there is a buzz about this game not felt since the USC game of 2004. The LSU fans I talked to at the Atlanta airport consider it a big game, as well. Everyone is looking forward to the weekend’s festivities.

So, now I’m checked into my hotel and enjoying a few minutes of downtime before I head off to see the LSU campus. I’ll do my best to bring you a few updates throughout the weekend.

Random sidenote: I saw “Refrigerator” Perry at the Atlanta airport. Yup, he’s still a big dude. Friendly, too.

Saturday 10:45am

Wow, do these folks know how to prepare for a football game! I walked around campus yesterday afternoon for about an hour and a half. There were lots of tents already setup for today’s tailgates, and a number of students were setup on the parade grounds for today’s broadcast of Gameday. I also took a peek at their new live mascot: Roscoe, soon to be Mike VI. He’s a cool cat. I hope to upload some pics of him at some point.

I went down to The Chimes after walking around campus. I think I spent 4 hours there last night. I arrived by 7pm and left around 11pm, and it was packed the entire time. There were lots of Hokies there, and mostly friendly banter going back and forth between Tigers and Hokies.

Well, it’s time for me to get my butt moving and headed to campus. That’s all for now.

Go Hokies!

Monday after

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to make any more updates over the weekend. However, I know everyone has saw the game and was disgusted.

My post game thoughts will be published here in a day or so, so stay tuned.

[The following post was published at HokieHaven.com on September 7, 2007.]

Following last week’s closer-than-expected victory over East Carolina, a trip to Atlantic City, and a short work week, a trip to Baton Rouge awaits me. This is one of those weekends I have been looking forward to for most of 2007. It’s not very often that Virginia Tech visits a team with as much football tradition as LSU, and it’s even less often that the Hokies are involved in a top 10 non-conference match-up. Both the fans and the team are looking forward to this trip to Bayou.

As a fan, I am looking forward to it because of the home fans and the venue. SEC football fans epitomize what college football is all about. They start tailgating days before the game. They live and die with their teams. When SEC fans sweat, they perspire college football. I expect being apart of that atmosphere for a weekend to be a memorable experience.

My plans for the weekend include:

• Arriving in Baton Rouge at roughly 4:30pm CDT on Friday.
• Visiting the College Gameday set at the Parade Grounds Friday evening. I’m not sure I’ll make it out there Saturday morning, so I figure I’ll check it out early. Who knows, maybe I can time it around one of their Sportscenter segments.
• Hit Chimes up on Friday evening for dinner and check out the local nightlife afterwards.
• Saturday will be all about tailgating. Not only will I be tailgating with friends, but I plan on walking around LSU to take in the atmosphere. I’ve read there is lots of great tailgating along N. Stadium Rd. and Dalrymple Dr.
• About 2 hours before kickoff I’ll head down to stadium to watch the LSU band march into the stadium. This is apparently a long standing tradition at LSU, and a site to see.
• I plan to be in my seats about 30 minutes prior to kickoff. I have heard that getting into the stadium can be a pain, and that the pre-game show is worth it.

After that, I’ll be there to cheer on the Hokies for a most extraordinary game: a non-conference game involving two top 10 teams. To drive home the point on how special Saturday’s game is, here’s food for thought. The last time LSU hosted a non-SEC match-up of top 10 teams was in 1987, when 7th ranked Ohio State visited Baton Rouge. LSU was ranked 4th for that game, and it resulted in a 13-13 tie. On the flip side, a top 10 ranked Virginia Tech team has never gone on the road in the regular season to visit a top 10 ranked out of conference opponent. Folks, this game is big.

While I consider this game to be one of the biggest games of the season in all of college football – it’s definitely one of the biggest games of our season – I don’t consider it a make-or-break type of game. A loss won’t affect a run at the ACC Championship, and thus a trip to a BCS Bowl. A loss won’t remove Virginia Tech as a perennial top 20 program. A narrow loss may not even take us completely out of the national championship picture (although I don’t consider us in that picture just yet). That said, a win will put us squarely in the national championship picture, and a win will put us amongst the nation’s elite.

For LSU, they’re already in the national championship picture, so they need to win to remain a major player. Saturday’s game means more to them than it does to us. We’re the underdog, and we have nothing to lose. That’s a great position to be in for such a tough road game.

While I would love to see us walk out of Tiger Stadium with a victory, I can’t say I’m expecting to. For me, it’s more about the football experience. I will be reminding myself of a two things: (1) If I hear “Tiger Bait!” yelled at me, respond with a smile and “Go Hokies!”. (2) Have fun.