Sugar Bowl redux: Putting Virginia Tech’s defensive performance against Michigan into perspective
I’ll have a mailbag Friday, some miscellaneous things over the weekend and then begin to look ahead to 2012 starting early next week. But first one more day of looking back at the Sugar Bowl.
Lost amid the talk of dubious special teams calls, offensive red zone stalls and Danny Coale‘s catch/non-catch was the fact that Bud Foster‘s defense played its game-plan to near perfection against the Wolverines.
Here are the numbers:
* Michigan finished with 184 yards of offense after averaging 423.1 yards per game during the regular season.
* The Wolverines ran for only 56 yards after averaging 235.7 yards per game during the regular season. They averaged 1.9 yards per rush in the Sugar Bowl, down from 5.3 all year.
* Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson completed only 9 of 21 passes for 117 yards. Two went for touchdowns, although one — a 45-yarder by Junior Hemingway – came on a broken play when safety Eddie Whitley had a chance to knock the ball away and missed.
* Robinson ran for 13 yards on 13 carries. His previous low as a starter was 30 against Illinois earlier this season, although even then he scored two touchdowns. He failed to get into the end zone in the Sugar Bowl.
* Robinson’s rushing average was 1.0 yard per carry. No team had held him below 2.3 in the last two years.
* The Wolverines were 4-for-13 on third downs and possessed the ball for only a little over 23 minutes.
Those are some pretty impressive numbers, ones that make you wonder how Virginia Tech lost this game. When opponents fail to gain 200 yards against Frank Beamer and Foster-coached teams, that doesn’t happen often.
Since Beamer took over in Blacksburg in 1987, the Hokies have held an opponent to less than 200 yards on 45 occasions. They have won all but two of those games.
Prior to the 23-20 overtime Sugar Bowl loss to Michigan, the last was in 1991, when Virginia Tech fell to N.C. State 7-0 despite giving up just 180 yards.
Considering the level of opposition, the defensive performance in the Sugar Bowl was one of the more impressive of those 45 games. I went back to look up each game in which the Hokies held their opponent to less than 200 yards in the last 25 years. I won’t bore you with the entire list. Duke and UAB pop up plenty of times, but those offenses weren’t good to begin with. A few stood out, though (archived national NCAA stats are only available back to 1999, so that will have to do).
I took a team’s season average in yardage and subtracted what Virginia Tech held it to to see the biggest difference. These are only of games in which the Hokies held an opponent to less than 200 yards. Here are the biggest differentials of teams with offenses in the top half of the Football Bowl Subdivision (national offensive rank in parentheses):
- 2011: at East Carolina, (50th) 112 yards — 283.2 yards below season average — won 17-10
- 2006: Clemson, (15th) 166 yards — 244.9 yards below season average — won 24-7
- 2002: at Texas A&M, (47th) 156 yards — 230.2 yards below season average — won 13-3
- 2011: vs. Michigan, (42nd) 184 yards — 220.7 yards below season average — lost 23-20, OT
- 2005: Boston College, (51st) 183 yards — 204.8 yards below season average — won 30-10
The game that most stands out there is the Clemson one in 2006. Looking back at the AP game story, the Tigers, who featured running backs James Davis and C.J. Spiller, were the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense coming into that game, averaging 42.3 points per game. Tech won 24-7.
That was at Lane Stadium, though. The Sugar Bowl was in a neutral environment at the Superdome in New Orleans. It was played in ideal conditions on a fast track. And it was against one of the premier offensive players in the country.
All in all, it was probably one of the best defensive performances in Foster’s tenure, albeit one overshadowed by the final score.
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Quick recruiting note: HokieHaven.com reports that kicker Andrew Murray of Tazewell High has verbally committed as a walk-on for next year. He had interest from Marshall and West Virginia. He was 5-for-9 this year with a long of 53 yards and averaged over 40 yards per punt.
On another front, 4-star defensive end/linebacker Ken Ekanem of Centreville has narrowed his choices to Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, according to the Washington Post. Ekanem plans to visit Virginia Tech on Jan. 20 and Notre Dame on Jan. 27.
January 12, 2012 - 11:03 AM
Why never blame Foster? Because he puts together top 10 and even top 5 defenses in the country nearly every year. He has proved his metal and has built some credibility equity he is alloted when the D comes up short on occasion (like Stanford last year). Beamer’s record at Tech would be .500 at best if the D was middle of the road like the offense. All those 16-13 wins would quickly turn into 27-16 losses.
Foster is as good a game day coach as there is in the business. His defenses are always prepared. Of course Foster is the product of Frank Beamer, so he get’s to collect wins on his fine performanced. Tech is lucky to have had Foster all of these years. But really, coaching defense is Foster’s gift.
Regardless of the coach, the last time our Hokies won vs a top 5 team on the road was…. Well never.
What the Beamer clones must comprehend is that the Beamer staff is I’ll equipped to out coach the elite teams in America. That’s not opInion, that’s fact. Moral victories are done, we either get up for these games and beat some of these teams or stop playing them and get back to being irrelevant, oh wait… Versus top 10 and top 5 teams we are… Embarrassingly so and frankly I’m tired of moral victories. Expectations are high every season for the elites of college football. Beamer must make good on his promise…he owes it to the alumni, the boosters and the huge fan base whom has given its full support.
We beat a 3rd ranked Miami in Miami.
I enjoy listening to people who’ve never coached college football point out how they can do a better job. If you want to go back to 2 win seasons never sniff a BCS bowl or a BCS Championship again by all means fire Beamer and watch the program plummet.
Mike eads, what year wa it? I’m sure you are wrong
2003, Miami was ranked #2, vt beat them 31-7 that’s the only top 5 Beamer
Has ever won.
Mike that 31-7 win was at lane stadium
Lastly , Mike, I don’t believe anyone commenting has said they were coaches. But to say people can’t voice their concerns f a program that, from an elite status is nonexistent despite the promises of a national title by Beamer, perhaps you should emigrate to a place where they make no pretenses of freedom of speech, like China for instance, where despotism can be taken pure ad without the base alloy of Hipocrisy.
I’d also advise you to look at the history of Beamer’s wins. Clearly you don’t know the difference between home and away. Trust me when I tell you, I’ve seen the only top 5 win we’ve ever won, and never have basked in the wake of a top 5 win on the road.
The program will not plummet without Frank Beamer. That’s nonsense. I will give Beamer credit for building top-notch facilities over the years. They will go a long way in helping the program move forward over the next 20 years. I will be interested to see if the offensive coaching staff takes note of how successful Alabama was throwing the ball on first down against LSU. With a revamped offensive line, no David Wilson, and a more experienced Logan Thomas, one might think throwing more on early downs would be in smart move. But we’ll see…
Hokies are 1-27 against top 5 ranked opponents. The lone win was against a 2nd ranked Miami team in Blacksburg in 2003, Mike.
The only way we would ever revert to back to back 2 win seasons is if we all allow the roll over and take it in the shorts mentality of the Beamer – bots to take over.Then pat ourselves on the back for supporting a man that isn’t looking 20 years ahead because he’s coaching with a Jerry Claiborne mentality that’s 40 years behind the elite competition.
Anyone that thinks for
A second that we are ready for Alabama in 2013 with this group of coaches they are sadly mistaken. The talent level from Alabama to Virginia Tech isn’t significant from a starting lineup position than you would think, however the overall depth of the 60 roster is significantly better. That difference is made up on a coaching staff with a zero tolerance to losing big games and a non false commitment to winning championships. I applaud the way Nick Saban does his business, because of his no nonsense approach to winning.
That’s what Virginia Tech’s fans deserve. Not some good old boy feeling comfortable where he is and resting on what he’s done.
It doesnt matter how man wins we have. Our schedule sucks again. The ACC proved were not on the level of the best in the country. WE OURSELVES HAVE PROVEN EN THE MODERATE POWERS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL, let alone teams like LSU, Boise State, USC, Auburn and Alabama.
Talent from top to bottom isnt there compared to those programs but the nucleus of the offensive and defensive starters is close enough to say that coaching is the real issue why Virginia Tech led teams lose those games. The doubters of my posts please look at the number of top 10 and top 5 losses weve had. You tell me. were 1-27..o n e and t w e n t y s e v e n!! What elite program would allow that many losses to top programs without winning some of them? NONE.
Mark r., it pains me to say it but imafraid you’re right. Numbers don’t lie. Being a huge hokie fan I would like to dispute your comments. But I’m tired of defending the program and tired of defending the ACC. Until we change our philosophy offensively, which likely calls for coaching changes on that side of the ball, we will continue with good 10-2 seasons and a chik-fil-a win or a BCS loss. Status quo has grown old…