Tech Sports Blog

I noticed a couple of interesting tidbits over at FanBlogs.com.

First off, according to this Florida Times-Union article, the ACC is considering its options for the ACC Championship Game. They can either renew the current contract for another two years, tweak the contract to renew it for only one year, or they can bail out of Jacksonville altogether. Based on the article, I get the vibe that the ACC is going to go with the 1-year option and reassess after next season. Personally, I hope they bail out of Jacksonville. The fact that the loser of the ACCCG has ended up in the Gator Bowl in each of the first two seasons the game has existed really hurts both the championship game and the Gator Bowl. Nobody wants a return trip to Jacksonville after losing the conference championship game. I would love to see the game in Charlotte, purely for geographic reasons. Plus the bowl game in Charlotte is a lower tier bowl, so the loser of the ACCCG will never end up there.

We’re still waiting for the ACC to release it’s schedule for the 2007 football season. Apparently there’s an issue with the schedule of one of the schools, and they are waiting for that to get straightened out so everyone’s schedule will be made public at the same time. However, if you checkout the bottom of this independentmail.com article, Clemson will not be playing any Thursday night games this year. According to Jim Weaver, on a previous Hokie Hotline, Tech is likely to play two games on Thursday night – one at home and one on the road – with Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Clemson as likely candidates. BC is the only home game of the bunch, so that’s got to be one Thursday night game. With Clemson out of the mix, Georgia Tech has to be the other.

As a side note, my airfare and hotel accommodations have been booked for Baton Rouge, the weekend of September 8th. All I’ll need is tickets to the LSU game!

Well, I was dumb on Sunday afternoon. With a Winter Weather Advisory posted for Charlottesville (yes, I live in Hoo’ville) and the surrounding area, as well as an Ice Storm Warning for the New River and Roanoke Valleys, I drove to Blacksburg Sunday afternoon in the middle of a winter storm. It wasn’t a blizzard, and it turned out not to be a major ice event, but it still took me about 3 and a half hours to make what is normally a 2 hour drive. I-81 near Roanoke was an absolute mess. There’s nothing like barely doing 40mph in 4WD on the interstate and having tractor trailers and SUVs blow by you as if you were standing still. I caravaned with my friend Kevin (with whom I go to games) and his wife, except they started near Newport News and met me in Charlottesville. I think they were on the road for 8 hours. The prudent action would have been to not go to Blacksburg for Sunday night’s game versus the University of Maryland. In fact, I was regretting the decision to head down when I arrived at Kevin’s house with less than one hour until tip-off.

However, that feeling of regret began to wash away as we walked in to Cassell’s west entrance and heard the starting lineup. We began to hear the crowd, and it sounded pretty good. Then, as if they waited for us to take our seats, Enter Sandman was blaring over the PA system as we walked out of the Section 16 tunnel, and we got a taste of what was in store for the night. Cassell, while maybe 85% full, was rocking! Because of the inclement weather and the likelihood of many no-shows, the Athletic Department decided earlier in the day to allow students in for free, even if they didn’t have a ticket. It was a brilliant move. My guess is that there were 7000 students in the crowd, and every one of them were yelling and bouncing prior to tip-off. Kevin and I took our seats just moments before tip-off, and I was already glad I made the trek to Blacksburg.

With the exception of the last 6 minutes of regulation, when Tech’s offense went stagnant, the game went fairly well. Maryland played much better than they did at Virginia last week, but the Hokies played hard the entire game with the hordes of screaming students willing them on. I have never experienced an environment for a basketball game like that before Sunday night. It was a home court advantage like I have never seen. Good thing I’m like the postal service, otherwise I would’ve missed it.

So, I picked up a Nintento Wii last week, and it instantly turned me into a slacker. I’m not much into gaming anymore – I used to enjoy first person shooters on my PC when I was at Tech, but I never got into console gaming. However, Nintendo definitely got it right with the Wii. It is very innovative, and I think it’s something people of all ages would enjoy playing. The Wii already has me hooked.

Ok, enough about the Wii. I wanted to do a quick braindump after the layoff.

• Last Wednesday’s loss to Florida State shouldn’t have been a surprise to fans of Hokie basketball. The team had came off the biggest week of the program’s history, and Florida State was winless in the ACC going into the game. Couple those facts with the fact that it was a road game for us, the outlook for victory was not good. I had a bad feeling going into that game, and the result was not surprising. The statistic of the game: Florida State made 31 of 34 free throws.
• Uhm, what the heck is going on with Michael Vick? First they say he was carrying drugs in a fake Aquafina bottle at security at the Miami airport, and no doubt he gets an earful from the Falcons owner. Then SNL does an amusing skit about it. Now, they say there’s no evidence the bottle contained drugs.
• Major props to the Virginia Tech athletic department for letting in students for free to yesterday’s Maryland game (more on the game later). That was the best basketball environment I have ever experienced. Last night, the best home court advantage in the nation was Cassell Coliseum. Thank you, students, for showing up. That was awesome.
• Jamon Gordon’s post-game interview with Mike Burnop was hysterical. His nose got busted up in the game, and he said he looks like Doug from Nic@Nite. He said he needs to get it fixed, or all of his ladies are going to leave him. He also guaranteed a win at Miami on Tuesday. I wasn’t very keen on that, as that is bulletin board material for the other team, but I know he was just caught up in the moment.

That’s it for now. I hope to have something about the Maryland game up soon.

I am not a fan of Facebook or MySpace. People put way too much information in their profiles, and then they forget that they made their profiles publicly available. I think they should just rename MySpace to MyStalker. That said, I will admit it, I have a MySpace profile and Facebook profile. (However, if you find them, you’ll find very little information.) Why? A few friends dig those social networking sites, so I just gave in and “joined the club”.

This afternoon I had a few friends added to Facebook. Since I hadn’t been on Facebook in awhile, I started poking around and being generally nosy. I noticed that someone created a profile for Lane Stadium in Facebook. I was immediately amused. Then I do some more poking around. No one created a profile for Cassell Coliseum!!! This clearly had to be rectified.

So now there’s a Facebook profile for the Cassell. Just search for cassell coliseum in the Virginia Tech network and add it as a friend!

About midway through the second half of Virginia Tech’s win over North Carolina on Saturday, I turned to my buddy Kevin and said something to the effect, “If we pull this off, this game will make our season tickets worth it.” Before the season started Kevin and I bought a pair of season tickets from my brother-in-law’s aunt and uncle. They are big time Hokie Club donors, and they were able to get extra season tickets. We were a little hesitant to pull the trigger, because it’s pretty easy to get tickets to most games. However, we probably would have paid through the nose for 2 tickets to the UNC game on Saturday.

Even though it made sense monetarily to purchase those season tickets in light of the UNC, I wasn’t really referring to that when I made the comment to Kevin. I was referring to the fact that the UNC win will be one of those games that everyone who was there will proudly remember their attendance. For older fans of Hokie basketball, they will remember this win along with our win in 1983 over #1 Memphis State, as well as our 1973 NIT Championship. For younger fans of Hokie hoops, this is the marquee win of our generation. Presently 27 years old – I was a freshmen in the fall of 1997 – I am too young a Hokie to know anything about men’s basketball prior to football’s reign over Blacksburg, so I am included in the latter group. That said, I firmly believe this win is the greatest in VT basketball history. There is one simple reason I believe this: the victory over then #5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium the week before. Duke and North Carolina are considered to be two of the most elite programs in Division I basketball. They are ACC basketball.

Who would’ve thunk it? Beating Duke and UNC, both ranked in the top 5, within 8 days of each other. These are the kinds of wins that programs build on. In the right hands, these wins are used to take programs to the next level. Will Seth Greenburg build this program into a perennial tournament team? I don’t know, but the future certainly seems bright.

Regardless of what happens down the road, I can now amend my “I was there” list:

• The overtime win over Miami in football in 1998.
• The 1998 homecoming loss that didn’t happen.
• Almost every home football game in 1999 – notable wins: Syracuse, Miami, Boston College
• The 2000 Sugar Bowl loss to Florida State.
• The Ernest Wilford 2-point conversion drop in the loss to #1 Miami in 2001.
• The downtown “riot” the night before the LSU game in 2002, as well as the our win over LSU at Lane Stadium the day after.
• The win in 2003 over then #2 Miami.
• Our loss to #1 Southern California at FedEx field in 2004, the win at Lane over then #6 West Virginia, the crazy 4th quarter comeback at Georgia Tech, and the loss to #3 Auburn in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.
• And finally, I can add a basketball game to this list: our win over then #1 North Carolina in Cassell Coliseum in 2007.

• There’s an excellent recap of Saturday’s win over Duke over at HokiesFullCourt.com. Read it during your next coffee break.
• At the time of this writing, the Hokies are ranked 34 according to RealTimeRPI.com. This means that the win over Duke has nullified the loss to Marshall.
• Which VT basketball team will show up in Greensboro on Wednesday? The one that played Marshall? Or the one that played Duke? Smashed between Duke & UNC, this has all of the markings of a trap game.
• My bowl picks for this year are not very good. 17-14 with one game left. At least I’m over .500.
• I can’t make up my mind on what’s going to happen in tonight’s BCS championship game between Ohio State and Florida. After the regular season, I thought Ohio State would destroy Florida. Recently I began thinking that Ohio State would win, but Florida would keep it close. I think I’ve been letting the media get in my head. I’m going back to my initial feelings – Ohio State will win by at least 10 points.
• Regardless of your feelings about Ohio State, you have to respect Jim Tressel. The man won a number of national championships at Youngstown State, and he’s 4-0 in bowl games at Ohio State. Three of those bowls were BCS bowls. Tressel is a great big-game coach.
• By now I’m sure you’ve heard that Louisville’s Bobby Petrino is going to be the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Petrino is certainly an interesting hire. He is an offensive-minded coach who has built up Louisville’s program into a BCS contender. I’ve heard there is still a question of whether or not the Falcons will keep Michael Vick. In my opinion, they keep him. I think Petrino is looking forward to building an offense around Vick (rather than making Vick run his offense).
• Will Bobby Petrino buck the current trend of college coaches who bust in the NFL? (eg: Steve Spurrier, Butch Davis, Nick Saban)

Update: Here are some YouTube videos of highlights of some of the recent VT-Duke basketball games:

• ESPN highlights of Virginia Tech’s win over Duke in 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb52JSGReHM
• Dockery’s miracle 3-pointer to beat Tech in 2005: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuQ-dlhyfNc
• ESPN’s College GameDay highlights of VT’s recent win over Duke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPTSyI11U30
• Deron Washington hurdles Greg Paulus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbSWimbJ0OY

Ecstatic. Redeemed. Relieved. All of those apply to how the Virginia Tech men’s hoops team must feel after their overtime win over Duke on Saturday, Jan 6th. I’m not sure what was more amazing – the fact that the Hokies dominated much of regulation or how they bounced back after Duke tied the game with a very difficult three pointer with 18 seconds left in regulation. When that shot hit, Hokies everywhere had images of last year flash in their heads. While I almost had a stroke, I still had faith that they could pull off one of the biggest road wins in Virginia Tech basketball history. That faith stemmed from the fact that I saw them play the entire 40 minutes of regulation with intensity and hunger. It also came from the miracle fade-away Jamon Gordon sank after slipping but before falling on his butt. When that shot hit, I had the feeling that Hokies could not lose that game. Although, I will admit my confidence was a little shaken when Duke forced overtime.

Tech jumped to an early lead and were one step ahead of the Blue Devils for much of the first half, forcing turnover after turnover. Thanks to the efforts of DeMarcus Nelson, Duke stepped up its game in the second half, and they took their first lead midway through the 2nd period. The Hokies never gave in to the pressures of Camerson Indoor Stadium, and they continued to battle through the end of regulation and into overtime. While Nelson hit a 3 to force overtime, there would be no miracle for Duke at the end of the extra period. Deron Washington made sure of that with a block of Greg Paulus’ 3-point attempt, and Paulus’ blocked shot flew out of bounds as time ran out.

When the horn blew, and Cameron went dead silent, I stood in my family room, hands on my head, wondering if the game was actually over. After the clock fiasco prior to the end of regulation, it wouldn’t have surprised me if the referees were going to give Duke another chance by adding a half-second or so to the clock. However, the refs signaled that the game was over, and they jogged off the court. They did it. The Hokies beat Duke in Cameron.

Chris Coleman, of TechSideline.com, notes in his recap, “The win marks Tech’s first win over a top five team since they beat #2 Memphis State 76-72 in Blacksburg in 1986. The last time the Hokies beat a top five team on the road came against Kentucky 80-77 in 1962. In other words, this one is one to remember.” Besides being one of the most memorable wins in Virginia Tech basketball history, this win washed away the blues that Hokie Nation was feeling after New Year’s. The football team’s loss to Georgia combined with the men’s basketball team’s loss to Marshall that same day put Virginia Tech fans into a funk of despair and hopelessness. Not only did we feel like we gave away the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but we felt like our hopes at a NCAA bid were flushed down the toilet when let one slip away at Marshall. Beating Duke on the road certainly raised the spirits of Hokies everywhere. Maybe this team can make it to the big dance.

Not only does this win serve as vindication for last year’s heart breaker, but I hope it will be the magic potion that will cure the ailments that have plagued the men’s basketball team since last season’s loss to Duke. We all remember last year for the tough losses and off-court issues the team had to deal with. Even with the hardships of last year, there were high expectations for basketball this year. The team features one of the most experienced backcourts in the country, and there was the thought that last year’s tumultuous season would only make the team tougher. Unfortunately, the Hokies lost some games they should have won, and they lost them close. It seemed as though they were picking up where they left off from last season.

This win should be a turning point for Virginia Tech hoops. They finally got a big win, on the road no less, by winning a close game. They made some clutch free throws, and Coleman Collins began to look like the talented player we know him to be. This win will give them confidence they haven’t felt since the 2004-5 season. And, for the time being, they sit at the top of the ACC standings, tied for 1st place.

Regardless of the outcome of the handful of remaining bowl games, if was I asked to summarize this year’s bowl season with just one word, I would say comeback. (Or is that two words?) So far there have been 6 teams to win their bowl games after being down by 8 or more points.

1. Florida State was down by 10 in the 2nd quarter and down by 7 at the half in their victory over UCLA in the Emerald Bowl.
2. In the Sun Bowl, Oregon State was down by 14 early in the 4th quarter before beating Missouri 39-38 with a 2 point conversion after their final touchdown with 23 seconds left in the game.
3. Texas Tech was losing to Minnesota 38-7 midway through the 3rd quarter in their overtime victory in the Insight Bowl. No, that’s not a typo. The Red Raiders were down 31 points with less than 23 minutes left in regulation and proceeded to hold the Golden Gophers scoreless during the remainder of regulation while scoring 4 touchdowns and a field goal to force overtime.
4. In the Meineke Car Care bowl, Navy held an 8 point lead in the 3rd quarter over Boston College, but the BC Eagles scored a touchdown midway through the 4th quarter and a game-winning field goal with the clock expiring to beat the Midshipmen 25-24. While this would have been a huge victory for Navy, it still was a feel-good win for Boston College. Steve Aponavicius, a walk-on who was in the stands last year, kicked the 37 yard field goal that won the game.
5. No Hokie will forget Georgia’s second half comeback in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Bulldogs were down by 18 at halftime before scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half to beat Virginia Tech 31-24.
6. West Virginia, also down by 18 in the 3rd quarter, scored 21 unanswered to beat Georgia Tech 38-35 in the Gator Bowl. Ironically, 38-35 was the final score in their upset win over Georgia in last year’s Sugar Bowl.

That list doesn’t include Oklahoma forcing overtime after coming back from an 18 point halftime deficit before losing to Boise State in last night’s Fiesta Bowl. I have no doubt that will have been the best game of this year’s bowl season. Oklahoma refused to quit in the second half and clawed their way back to take a late 7 point lead. What was even more impressive was that Boise State responded with equal guts and determination. Shame on you if you didn’t see that game!

Even if the remaining bowls are snoozers, I think this still will be one of the most exciting bowl seasons ever.

I’ve been debating what to write about Tech’s loss to Georgia in Saturday’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. Did I want to talk about Virginia Tech’s ineffective offense, only gaining 189 total yards? Or did I want to discuss how the Hokies got out-Beamerball’d in the second half with Georgia’s perfectly executed onside kick and Tech’s poorly executed onside kick? Perhaps I could talk about how Sean Glennon turned the ball over on 4 straight possessions. Or maybe Brandon Ore getting a measly 42 yards on 20 carries.

I could keep going, but I know you saw the game. You know that the Hokies’ second half meltdown felt like a kick in the groin. The last time I felt like that after a game was Miami 2005. To make matters worse, the men’s basketball team lost at Marshall earlier that day. Marshall is not a good team that Tech should have easily beaten. I have heard people say this loss will likely keep us out of the tournament. (Per RealTimeRPI.com, Tech’s is ranked 61 at the time of this writing.) Needless to say, the men’s basketball team needs to do some soul searching before they enter ACC play.

Instead of talking more about the game, as it is still fresh on everyone’s mind, I will conclude with something positive. The Chick-fil-A Bowl is a great event. Atlanta is a fun city (I went out all three nights I was down there), and the Georgia Dome is a great venue. I had just as much fun going to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta as I did 2 years ago when I went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. I would go back to Atlanta in heartbeat. Also, the Georgia fans I ran into during the course of the weekend were awesome – very knowledgeable, loud & rowdy, and quite classy. I hope we get a chance to play Georgia again.

To someone who doesn’t follow college football closely, this game screams of a mismatch. Georgia, 8-4 and unranked, with losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky, takes on Virginia Tech, 10-2 and ranked 14th. However, just as Hokie fans will ask you to look past Virginia Tech’s losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College, Dawg fans will ask you look past Georgia’s losses to Vandy and Kentucky. The fact of the matter is Georgia finished the season with wins over then #5 Auburn and then #16 Georgia Tech. They have a good defense and a young quarterback. When you start looking a little deeper, Georgia and Tech look much more similar than their overall records would seem to indicate.

Offensive stats:

• Yards per game: UGA 329.9, VT: 320.1
• Passing yards per game: UGA 197.8, VT 200.8
• Rushing yards per game: UGA 132.1, VT 119.3
• Points per game: UGA 24.5, VT 25.7

Defensive stats:

• Yards per game: UGA 264.0, VT: 221.1
• Passing yards per game: UGA 150.3, VT 128.2
• Rushing yards per game: UGA 113.8, VT 92.9
• Points per game: UGA 17.1, VT 9.3

The similarities end when you start to look at each team’s bowl preparation. According to this Lynchburg News & Advance article, by Nathan Warters, Coach Mark Richt will have his team practice 15 times prior to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, while Coach Frank Beamer will have the Hokies practice 9 times. The NCAA does not allow more than 15 practices prior to a team’s bowl game. Richt is utilizing the maximum number of practices because of last season’s Sugar Bowl loss to West Virginia. Beamer is using the same bowl practice schedule he has used for the last 5 years. It’s easy to second-guess Beamer’s practice schedule, but given that Coach Beamer has taken Tech to 14 straight bowls, I trust he knows what works and what doesn’t work.

So, what’s going to happen on Saturday? I could tell you that it’s going to be a defensive struggle, and that the team that turns the ball over less will win the game. But you already knew that. As every Hokie fan knows, Virginia Tech’s success will depend on the offensive line. They don’t need to be spectacular, they just need to be adequate. They need to create some holes for Brandon Ore, and they need to keep Sean Glennon off his back. Also obvious to every Hokie fan is the effect Brandon Ore will have on the game. If Ore has a big game, then a Tech victory is all but assured. If he doesn’t, then more pressure will be on Glennon and the offensive line.

This game is not going to be easy for the Hokies, and I expect them to be down by a score early in the game. I think the second half will be dominated by the Hokies defense, with the offense doing nothing special, other than not turning the ball over. Here is how I see the game being played out:

• Georgia comes out fast & inspired and scores first with a touchdown off of a special teams play. This will be their only touchdown of the game.
• Virginia Tech gets on the board with a field goal off of a long drive that stalls out in the red zone.
• Virginia Tech will score a touchdown off of a turnover.
• Virginia Tech will score a touchdown on a short field caused by a good punt or kickoff return or a short punt.
• Georgia will get in 2 field goals during the course of the game, making the final score VT 17, UGA 13.

That is, of course, just my opinion. I have been wrong before, and I will be wrong again. Personally, I’m hope I’m wrong in that Georgia never has a chance on Saturday, but I don’t see it working out that way. Regardless of the outcome, I am looking forward to this trip to Atlanta. I will be driving down to Atlanta Friday night and will be there the entire weekend, including New Year’s. It should be a great time hanging out with one of my college buddies, as well as partying with all of the Hokies and Dawgs that make it down for the game.