Virginia Tech-UNC in-game blog
POSTGAME
Historic loss for the Hokies today, as Giovani Bernard runs for 262 yards — a record for a Tech opponent — to fuel a 48-34 North Carolina victory.
Three and three. I never thought this team was going to be one of Beamer’s best, but I also didn’t think we’d see 3-3. Neither did any of those guys in the Tech locker room.
“It’s tough,” linebacker Bruce Taylor said. “I’ve never been on a losing team before. Right now we’re at .500, and it’s definitely tough…We’ve just got to try to fix it before it’s too late.”
I think what makes the first half of this season so problematic is you just don’t know which unit is going to break down in a given week. The offense, defense and special teams are all capable of killing this team right now. Today, defense obviously took the lead role.
“We’ve just got to get back to being sound fundamentally,” defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “That’s where we’re not very good right now, and that’s where we pride ourselves…I’m really disappointed in our tackling right now. That’s been one of our trademarks and been a big part of our success. We’ve been a fundamentally sound defense and a fundamentally sound group. Right now we’re just inconsistent.”
I asked Foster if that meant they’d go back to the drills a lot of us remember from high school.
“It’s not high school drills,” he said. “Go to high school, college or the NFL – it’s the same stuff. We’ve got to get back to proper leverage, breaking down when the ball carrier breaks down, taking good angles, wrapping up, running your feet, keeping your head up, those type of things. Keeping leverage. Taking the proper angle to the ball, knowing where your help is. Those are things we’ve done since Day One in camp. I think, too, we’re probably playing not enough people. But we don’t have any depth at some spots, too…We’ve got to eliminate the big plays. That’s what’s killing us right now. And every one of those big plays comes down to technique and fundamentals. Those things can be corrected, but we’ve got to get ‘em right.”
Logan Thomas finished 26-of-49 passing for 354 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Once again the running game did next to nothing, as Tech averaged 1.6 yards per rushing attempt.
Andy will have all the “first time Tech did so-and-so since” items in his game story. There’s a pretty long list of those things. My column is on the big picture — the fact that the down year has arrived. I’ll link ‘em when they’re up.
See you next week from Lane Stadium, where the Hokies will face Duke, which as I type this is thumping UVa just up the road in Durham. As always, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
FINAL: NORTH CAROLINA 48, VIRGINIA TECH 34. Back with more later.
THIRD QUARTER
It’s outta whack now, as UNC leads 45-26 and has the ball as the period ends. UNC has 437 yards of total offense to Tech’s 264. Giovani Bernard has 221 yards on 16 carries.
The only question now is how bad does it get. This game, this season. The down year is here. It was overdue.
SECOND QUARTER
The Hokies head to the locker room trailing 28-20, certainly a manageable deficit, but the defense isn’t inspiring much confidence right now. The Tar Heels scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives in the period and looked good doing it.
To me, the offense has been fine. Decent drives that end in points typically are enough for this team to win, and that’s what the Hokie have been getting. But Giovani Bernard has gashed the Tech defense for 101 yards and the Hokies are on pace to give up 478 yards.
There’s no formula for victory right now when one unit or another seems to break down each week.
Hokies have struggled to run effectively, gaining only 45 yards on 17 carries. Thomas is the leading rusher with 27 yards and a touchdown. Michael Holmes has 16 on four and Martin Scales has eight on two.
Tech will get the ball to start the second half. We’ll see what adjustments Tech’s defensive coaches have soon enough.
FIRST QUARTER
Looks like we have ourselves a shootout, folks, as the period ends with the Hokies and Tar Heels tied 14-14. Terrific opening drive by Tech, going 57 yards on only four plays and getting a 13-yard touchdown run by Logan Thomas.
UNC came right back with a 94-yard kick return for a touchdown.
Good to see Marcus Davis getting involved early. He caught a 49-yard touchdown pass to tie it up late in the period.
The Hokies stagnated a bit offensively after that first drive, but the numbers are a bit deceiving. Roberts dropped a deep third-down pass that would have picked up at least 40 yards and maybe would have been a touchdown.
Thomas is the leading rusher with 18 yards and two totes. Michael Holmes has three carries for 10 yards; J.C. Coleman has six yards on two totes.
Tech holds the time of possession lead by a minute and a half.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
VT—Thomas 13 run (Journell kick), 12:55. Drive: Four plays, 57 yards, 1:32. Key play: Roberts 19 pass from Thomas plus 12 personal-foul penalty to UNC 13. Virginia Tech 7, North Carolina 0.
UNC—Tapley 94 kickoff return (Barth kick), 12:41. Virginia Tech 7, North Carolina 7.
UNC—Renner 4 run (Barth kick), 4:41. Drive: Eight plays, 59 yards, 1:31. Key play: Collins 5 offsides penalty on fourth-and-5 to VT 21. North Carolina 14, Virginia Tech 7.
VT—Davis 49 pass from Thomas (Journell kick), 2:15. Drive: Four plays, 68 yards, 2:18. Key play: Holmes 8 run to VT 40. Virginia Tech 14, North Carolina 14.
SECOND QUARTER
UNC—Bernard 62 run (Barth kick), 14:53. Drive: Seven plays, 86 yards, 2:16. Key play: Ebron 9 pass from Renner to UNC 31. North Carolina 21, Virginia Tech 14.
VT—FG Journell 40, 7:41. Drive: 14 plays, 52 yards, 7:12. Key play: Knowles 15 pass on third-and-13 to UNC 26. North Carolina 21, Virginia Tech 17.
UNC—Blue 1 run (Barth kick), 4:09. Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 3:26. Key play: Ebron 26 pass from Renner to VT 1. North Carolina 28, Virginia Tech 17.
VT—FG Journell 35, :41. Drive: Seven plays, 39 yards, 1:53. Key play: Fuller 19 pass from Thomas to UNC 20. North Carolina 28, Virginia Tech 20.
THIRD QUARTER
UNC—Tapley 19 pass from Renner (Barth kick), 7:49. Drive: Four plays, 45 yards, 1:12. Key play: Hughes 8 fumble return to VT 45. North Carolina 35, Virginia Tech 20.
VT—Knowles 93 kick return (pass failed), 7:36. North Carolina 35, Virginia Tech 26.
UNC—FG Barth 44, 3:56. Drive: 10 plays, 53 yards, 3:34. Key play: Bernard 18 run to UNC 38. North Carolina 38, Virginia Tech 26.
UNC—Blue 13 run (Barth kick), 1:19. Drive: Two plays, 64 yards, :21. Key play: Bernard 51 run to VT 13. North Carolina 45, Virginia Tech 26.
FOURTH QUARTER
VT—Fuller 66 pass from Thomas (Fuller pass from Thomas), 8:55. Drive: Five plays, 90 yards, 2:04. Key play: Malleck 21 pass from Thomas to VT 33. North Carolina 45, Virginia Tech 34.
UNC—Barth FG 40, 5:34. Drive: Seven plays, 47 yards, 3:17. Key play: Blue 34 run to VT 36. North Carolina 48, Virginia Tech 34.
PREGAME
Greetings from Chapel Hill, where we’re about two hours from kickoff of Virginia Tech-North Carolina. We’ll go with the usual plan today: thoughts on each of the first three quarters, and then a wrap-up post after the print stuff is finished.
The Hokies opened as 2-point underdogs but that’s been bet up to 5.5. This marks the first time in four years that the Tar Heels have been favored in this matchup (Tech won the 2008 game here).
Carolina is a second half team. The Tar Heels have outscored their opponents 99-10 after intermission this year, including a 66-0 mark in the third quarter.
When UNC wins, it wins big. The Heels have won three games by a combined 149 points. Their two losses (to Louisville and Wake Forest) came by a combined six points.
The Hokies are 13-0 in ACC games in this state, including a 4-0 mark at Kenan Stadium.
Tech has won 23 straight road conference openers.
October 6, 2012 - 10:38 AM
For all of you baseball fans who tuned in to the wild game between Atlanta and St. Louis and witnessed the trash throwing on the field because of controversial call against the Braves, it doesn’t compare to the 5th game of the AL playoffs in 1972 between Oakland and Detroit at Tiger Stadium:
“Was anyone here at this game? Or remember watching this game on TV? Or have listened to an old Harwell broadcast of it? My main question is whether you recall the Tiger Stadium fans being as unruly that day as the A’s broadcasters were describing them. Of course we know about the Ducky Medwick disturbance and the bleachers being rowdy in the ’70s and closed for awhile in the ’80s, but the broadcast makes it sound like the place was a zoo that day with 2 out in the 9th. People throwing garbage and bottles and toilet paper and somebody’s shoe onto the field, a fan running onto the field and sliding into 2nd base, cops chasing people with billy clubs, the CF fence being torn down before the final out, firecrackers and smoke bombs being set off, a firebomb into the A’s bullpen, a cop being hit with something. True?
“50,000 Tiger fans came here ready to explode today and they brought live fireworks with them”
“What a riot on the field now, but the riot is not by the Tiger fans, it’s by the Oakland A’s players mobbing Vida Blue who has pitched the greatest game of his life”
Um, the more things change, the more they remain the same. GO TIGERS!!!!
Good luck to the VT Hokies. Today is a day you will need to be firing on ALL cylinders in order to come home with the win. This has a possibility to be a rerun of last weeks game,but with a much better defense(UNC) and offense(UNC)…It shall be interesting.
I can’t even get excited about VT football while watching the Cinn. game last week when Tech scored the go ahead touchdown I just sit there, my wife said are you not happy? I said no they probably wont win and they didn’t and should not have. I don’t think they will beat NC today and like I told a friend of mine they are going to have to hit rock bottom before someone makes Beamer make a change or get rid of him. It might as well start this year because Beamer is the head coach and all of the others are FRIENDS not assistant coaches, he will never tell a friend that he cant do the job. Just like Bobby Bowden. Soooo Very Sad
I like the traditional helmets and maroon jerseys.
If Tech can keep UNC from getting their offense in gear, the Hokies can hang in this game. Otherwise, the Heels will pull away in the second half.
Play calling for Tech, supurb!! as usual. Why don’t they just let somebody in the stands call the plays, it would have to be better. I’m sick of this wait till they play a real team, Clemson, Fl state, etc. that will be fun.
Play calling hasn’t really been that bad, it is the Tech defense that is going to have to step up to the plate. If Renner continues in his rythum, we are looking at 42-24.
May the football gods forgive me but I agree with Barry.
Trading FG’s for TD’s ain’t going to cut it. Renner is getting too much time to throw. Damn, mix it up Bud. I can hear the press conf. now, a missed block here, a dropped ball there, etc.. Unfortunately, they would be right to this point. The way to beat the hurry up offense is to start the year practicing the way they do, run everywhere. Tech saunters up to the line, jogs to position, etc.. You can’t wait to the week before and match their pace in one week. You know they are not going to allow you to substitute so start the year practicing the way they do and put your 11 best defensive players on the field.
never thought I would be doubting Bud Foster yet…………
I remember they use to have separation Saturday’s around this time of year. The contenders are gonna step up and the pretenders are gonna step back. 5 games into the season is when the depth and character of a team kicks in. Tech has character but do they have enough depth to get through a game as critical as this?
This is becoming ugly. Poor Tech,, Holmes can’t even hold on to the ball while running. Now that was embarrassing to see Travis Hughes just picks Holmes pocket. Poor fundamentals….
This defense is tired. They gave everything they had last week against Cincinnati and is simply worn out. They gave everything they had in the G-Tech game too, and was exhausted for the Pittsburgh game. The recruiting shift to end this year should be for the d-line.
This is embarrassing..big time..!!! Tech looks like a High School..a bad one at that..!!!
Carolina is going to put up 50 or more points on Tech!
757, that’s a excuse and a bad one at that….Its all in the preparation and they obviously have had none recently.
I want to see if the Stiney-O’Cain haters can blame this lose on offensive play calling.
I’m Hokie born, Hokie Breed, and when I die I’ll be Hokie dead.
Time for Beamer and his staff to go.
Hey if the Hokies keep losing and someone will go..!!! What a plan…!!!
My comment before the game was to pressure Renner. Guess what, no pressure equals large numbers for opponent. It hurts when I’m right. Thought Bud was holding back on blitzing until 2nd half so they couldn’t defense it during half. Wrong! Play calling as a hole has not been bad, just bad execution in critical situations. Long, long year ahead.
It’s not an excuse at all. This team is thin. Especially on defense. Wait until that 3 game stretch of Miami, FSU, and Clemson. Expect one or even two of those games to be blowouts.
This game is far from over….come on 11 points….we can make that up in no time. You guys need to calm down and let Mr. Thomas work his magic. He is that good in case you did’nt know.
Worst call I ever seen he could not have caught that ball……refs suck!
It is an excuse 757. Sounds as if you are throwing in the towel. Tech has as many kids on roster as the next ACC team. Now they may not be as good as some others, but they have the bodies. Its the lack of recruiting and the poor development of its players that has them down. Now I place that blame on the coaches.
yep Thomas worked his magic on that 4th & 10. Kinda need to throw the ball to even have a chance. Looks like the rest my season will be spent watching the games and the fire frank beamer page on facebook simultaneously. Sucks we lost AGAIN but the combo is pretty humorous
Intensity, emotion terribly lacking; everything begins and ends with the o-line, and ours isn’t very good; least hard-hitting VT “D” Ive seen; getting out-coached as well… maybe next year
The good news is that Logan Thomas won’t be turning pro. The bad news is …..well, take your pick.
Depth is developed over multiple seasons; when players are not substituted freely over a season or two, they cannot be expected to step in and perform in situations they have not seen nor experienced. Injuries and fatigue are part of the game, coaches need to substitute and prepare accordingly.
justafan, let me be brutally honest with you. O’Cain/Stinespring are still handcuffing Logan Thomas ability to run the offense. If they would let him call his own plays and use check downs, this game could have been mirror of West Virginia/Baylor from last weekend. Sure, Thomas did great when receivers actually caught and hung on to the football, but the running game is still sucking.
And face it, the spread offense is now Bud Foster’s Achilles heel. I have never seen his defense get beaten up as bad as today, well not since Clemson smoked the Hokies both times last season.
The game next week is not going to be an easy task for the Hokies. Duke runs a spread offense, and they are a veteran laden team. They could torpedo Hokies’ season in a hurry.
If the coaches would just let Thomas treat the each offense possessions like a 2 minutes offense drill, where he has been more effective, it could be beneficial for the team.
I know, I know, I know…Frank Beamer is not going to ever allow that.
Don’t blame this one on the offense. No excuses. they just got beat! Heck they have not played a ranked team yet. Bring on DUKE!!!!
Did any of you saw that close up of Bud Foster? It was great seeing a man who has been over rated and the rest of the Hokies “Chokies” once again choke. For now it will be another quiet week on the local news casts like News 7 and others and instead of starting off the newscast or their joke of a sports segment with The hokies won a tough they would quietly shove it aside and say the hokies came up short and here is how they are going to fix it and then show some sorry player saying we have to play defense. Hokies “Chokies” Please shut the hell up!!!!
I really liked Bud Foster’s line of ‘This is not who we are.’
Say what? Um, yeah it is, Bud. You’re halfway into the season, this is who you are. You’re 3-3, and 1-5 in the last 6 against BCS programs. You have a defense so porous against the run that Betty White could score on you without getting touched.
You have a run game so pitiful that you have no choice bu to rely solely on Logan Thomas to move the ball, yet your play-calling doesn’t really acknowledge this problem. Add in that LT is having a down season and does not look nearly as good as last year, and we have the sporadic offense that sometimes clicks and moves the ball and gets points, and that other times gets 3-and-outs that take 20 seconds off the clock, like today.
You have a special teams that is merely ‘meh’…sure, Journell is kicking FG’s well, and the TD return today was nice…but blocked kicks aren’t there, and the TD return today was some of the worst coverage I’ve seen.
Throw in the fact that the offense still can’t produce inside the Red Zone with any consistency or regularity, and you have the recipe for a horrible season.
Yes, VT is 3-3, and theoretically they still have every shot in the season remaining to win the Coastal and play for the ACC Championship and a BCS bowl. It’s a possibility. But is it realistically possible? Hell to the no.
At this point, we need to be asking: Will VT get to bowl eligibility this year? Because honestly, I’m not sure they can. Barring some miraculous feat of play, there’s no way this team is going to beat FSU, Miami, or Clemson. They have 3 winnable games with Duke, BC, and UVA…but let’s be honest, Duke and UVA both could win those games, and BC always plays the Hokies tough. There are no easy wins for this team. So, unless something remarkable happens to turn things around for the second half, this season is going to be a real disaster.
Now, it was bound to happen sooner or later. VT has had a nice run of consistently solid, good but not great, seasons under their belt in recent years. But this year, the wheels have come off the bus already, and given the problems the team has, I’m not sure I see them doing much better in the next 6 games. This team is just lacking. They lack focus, they lack intensity, they lack consistency, and dare I say it, I think they lack heart too.
But, I’m sure during Tech Talk Live on Monday, it will be the SOS from the staff: we did some things well, we didn’t execute here or there, I think we had a good gameplan, UNC is a really good football team, we need to make some adjustments, yadda, yadda, yadda. How about acknowledging what we all know? This team stinks. Time to play spoiler and wreck someone else’s season this year, because the Hokies have wrecked theirs already.
And, to make matters worse, Duke is beating UVA 28-17…they aren’t a pushover. They could realistically beat this Virginia Tech team. Might they actually be favored next week at Lane Stadium?
Excuse me, Duke just scored again…35-17
Proof reader
I’ve called for Beamers head ever since the Kansas loss. He has had two national championship teams since the 1999 squad and wasted both away. This school is not serious about it’s football. After last years bowl game loss to Michigan, Beamer should have been forced by the AD to get a new offensive staff or step down.
The defense is thinner than usual this year, especially along the d-line. The defense cannot carry the team this year.
Yeah this team blows! Were over rated every year and finally Tech’s D isn’t winning games like always and were being exposed to how we really are as a program. OVERRATED!!!!!!!! Beamer is such a bum of a coach he makes all that money and won’t make the program better by hiring new coaches, were on UVA’s level now talent wise and coaching, beamer is the new Al Groh.
757, Just say it, this team is not as good as was advertised. It lacks the quality players and its coaches are becoming stagnant and stale. The only way all of us will get a coaching change is if they continue to lose. I would hope that Weaver would start feeling some pressure from the VT alumni in this favor. My guess is that nothing would happen even if VT loses out this season. Weaver would come up with an excuse in saying “that this season is a fluke and doesn’t reflect our spirit as coaches and as a team”. Everybody be aware..Duke is for real..!!!!
Slicky Ricky – The BIGGEST water carrier and excuse maker for Beamer and Co. is that CLUELESS IDIOT Greg Roberts on the radio – you know the one that said MLB was dying (best attendance EVER this year)?? I can’t listen to the guy anymore. ALWAYS full of excuses.
Beamer Ball has been deflated. If Tech was to lose to Duke next week, well then everyone can forget about the rest of the season and then take the dog out for a long walk.
Proof Reader the team has some weapons, but it has some serious weaknesses too! Coaching has always been a problem, but now lack of depth is catching up, especially on defense!
Trevor, let me be brutally honest with you. There is nothing, nothing, nothing, Stiney/O’Cain can do to keep people from wanting their jobs. Those folks (not sure if you’re one or not) are close minded and most feel they are offensive experts and some are even clarvoyent as they seem to know what the coaches and players think. I haven’t seen any of these peoples credentials, but they must be impressive. And please, don’t anyone reply back with “well, it doesn’t take an expert…..”, you’ll just insult our intelligences.
Joe, if you don’t like Roberts, change the station.
Yes I agree 757 it does have some weapons but not enough. No O-line to speak of, no running game to speak of, no depth at WR to speak of and its defense which was supposed to be the “rock” of the team looks like a “deer” in the headlights most of the time. Gosh forbid if Logan Thomas was to get knocked out for the season, what would Tech do then…..
Oh great, let’s keep Stiney/O’Cain so they can keep handcuffing Logan Thomas. What a smashing idea.
For the 2nd week in a row, the Commonwealth of Virginia gets embarrassed by two Virginia schools that lost. Sheesh, it’s been a brutal year for the state of Virginia.
Foster is too blame as well he hyped this sorry D up in the offseason now they look like and play like not only 1 of the worst in the sorry ACC but nationally. Even West VA is fun to watch now with that coach and I hate them more the anything. We look like them when they had Stewart as their coach. Loser City!
VT coaches will be making excuses on every one of these losses and I can assure you there more to come. But for the 100th time, Hokie Nation, I can tell you that this team does not have the players that are that good. Period. It is not like in the past where they could come back and win the big game, it is just not there. This team could end up beign one of the worst in the past 30 years from a win-loss perspective. Time for change, VT has invested too much in their football program for it to slide too far downhill. I think we now have seen through Beamer and Foster, not as much there as we thought.
You know the one thing I haven’t seen anyone say? I haven’t seen anyone from Tech give the other team credit. If it hadn’t been for the heels 100+ penalty yards this game would have been worse.
Tech is a young team. They will get better. Today they were not the better team.
Oh and nice prediction BBAT. It’s fans like you with your head in your butt that make it hard on your own team.
Good point, OG. I’m focusing on VT because that’s where my interest lies, but UNC played one heck of a game. They have a really nice offensive unit, and their defense is strong too. If it weren’t for the sanctions, they would have a good shot at the Coastal.
I’m watching Miami, they aren’t looking good against the Irish, down 20-3. But, they have the early advantage in the Coastal at 3-0. The whole of the Coastal is dragging down the ACC, but then again WF, BC, and Maryland in the Atlantic don’t help either. The ACC this year is FSU and Clemson, and I don’t really see a clear #3 in the league.
Fire Stiney!!!!!! Fire the LITTLE Beamer!!!! Fire the NEWSOME!!!!!!! The kids have stopped playing for these maroons. The offense makes the defense tired. And since our special teams coach plays starters they are tired too. HOKIE bye!
Our coaching has become a complete liability now. The product these coaches are putting on the field is pathetic and thats on them. In college football you don’t have to have the best players to be a top team. You do have to have some really good ones, but most importantly coaching means a ton. Based on our big game results in previous years and now the product I’ve been seeing on the field the past few years speaks volumes about the quality of our coaching as a whole. I’m tired of being overated basically every year. I’m tired of the VT football hype. We shrink in big moments and now we are getting it handed to us by mediocre programs. Most of all I’m tired of the 10 win defense all the homers want to throw out there anytime there is legit criticism. I think this program is at a serious crossroads right now and if it stays status quo, we are in for a huge downfall.
This team is a joke because of beamer not making changes years ago. He’s old and needs to retire he’s so stubborn I can’t stand him anymore. Clean house and weaver can go to for not doing anything as well. Beamer is the new Bowden without the ring! Retire you old fart!
Aaron- i know i am not the first and i won’t be the only one; but, whew, glad we won that time of possession battle.
Imagine if we had lost it.
Oh, and all of those false starts and other offensive penalties in that incredibly long first quarter, added to UNC TOP.
Yea, that is one meaningful stat.
Touche, rk. Touche. Wasn’t counting on UNC bowling a 500-plus. I think the stat still means something for “typical” Tech teams (not all teams; Tech teams because of the program’s longstanding M.O.), but this one’s far from a typical Tech team.
After sleeping on it, I feel no better about VT going forward. And, to think, Duke hung 42 on the Cavaliers, with a backup QB! A backup! This ain’t the Duke of yore, nor are the Hokies. Saturday the 13th, Duke will win in Lane Stadium, 34-27.
Aaron, I have to agree with your column. I am reminded of a comment that Tom L made a few weeks ago about the youth on defense, “If the scheme is complicated, simplify it.” That seem to be the gist of what Foster is saying.
And once again, the ACC is still the conference that sucks. So, when does basketball starts? I’m looking forward to seeing UNC play.
Hey, OG, I have to admit I really like what Fedora brought to UNC, something I haven’t seen Butch Davis do – the energy. It’s too bad that UNC is banned from the post season, but it will at least give them a year to get acclaimed to Fedora’s system (offensively and defensively). I remember being ridiculed last year when I commented that I felt UNC was a program on the rise. Let’s hope that Fedora keeps on recruiting outstanding players for UNC. It would be nice to see the ACC become competitive as whole since of it being top heavy.
Another dark thought about VT, and I am very, very concerned that Tech may lose on some top recruits they have secured their commitments. It’s game like yesterday that may cause the recruits to think twice, guys like Holland Fisher might be giving Alabama another thought. Maybe I’m just jumping to conclusion, but I think it’s a legitimate concern.
The encouraging news for VT is that FSU and Miami are now vulernable and beatable. But the Hokies MUST take care of business against Duke. The goal is still attainable at this point but it will take some coaches and players getting their heads and HEART into the game. It ain’t over yet.
The statements I don’t understand are the ones about the Hokie defense being on the field too long and being tired. How come UNC’s offense wasn’t tired. They were apparently working harder than the Hokie Defense.
I liked your article this morning A-Man. Yes, a down year has been expected, it’s just a shock when you realize it’s here. Hopefully things will turn around soon. If you’re a true Hokie fan, keep supporting your team. You’re Hokies win or lose. Duke will be a tough game. Please, show some class and never boo your own players in Lane Stadium. The team needs to know the fans are still behind them. GO HOKIES!!!
justafan, I won’t stop supporting the Hokies, but I have to look at things objectively. The 3rd down conversion was a key I was watching, and it killed me that I was right in that regard. UNC converted a lot of 3rd down when the defense simply couldn’t stop the offense. The defensive line was not creating penetrations nor were they disrupting the offense line’s timing.
The offense is going to have to carry the team, and that mean, IMO, Stiney and O’Cain needs to take the handcuffs off Thomas, and let him direct the offense. Knowles played his butt off in relief of Roberts. Fuller and Davis are both home run threats who needs to be targeted more. The running game is a joke. I don’t know why Shane didn’t leave Scales in as he rumbled for a first down straight out of the I.
The part that really sucks for Tech is the next game is a Homecoming game, and Duke could ruin that weekend for a lot of folks. I really, really hope Tech can turn things around, but I honestly don’t think so.
Clemson runs a high octane spread offense. Miami is an old school pro-style team. Florida State employs nasty defense and multiple offense system. Duke runs a spread offense as well as the 4-2-5 defensive scheme. Hell, Boston College could beat Tech.
I feel that a 7-5 records is a very distinct possibility, but if Tech don’t win against Duke, Boston College, and UVa, forget everything about the 7-5 finish, or the bowl streak.
Yeah, Aaron, the down year finally came, and it sucks.
Trevor said what I wanted to say. The defense is still a surprise to me though. But I trust Bud will fix it. Still got my doubts about the offense. Yes, let Logan run it.
Great article!!
If Tech can get their act together, Clemson may be their only loss. They can beat Duke and FSU in Blacksburg. Miami is very suspect at this point, even at home. BC is a winnable game if the VT defense decides to be inspired. UVA, well it is UVA. Hokie Nation, do not lose heart. Many of you fair weather fans are ready to send Beamer and Foster to Siberia but the old guard faithful appreciate where you have come from and are grateful for some very good years. If the Powers That Be at VT are not going to make any changes, then be inspired and hope for the best. Fans like Beamer-Best-Alltime never seems to give up, they always look for the positive. That is the best thing you can do, there is always HOPE.
Tigers up 2 games to 0 on Oakland; go Tigers!!!