The difference between 6-7 and 7-6? A lot, say Virginia Tech’s players
The difference between a 6-7 season and a 7-6 might seem minuscule in most peoples’ minds. No matter how Virginia Tech finishes, it will still be far below the goals the Hokies had coming into the season.
But that hasn’t diminished the importance of winning the Russell Athletic Bowl matchup against Rutgers in the players’ minds.
“I think it says a lot,” quarterback Logan Thomas said. “It doesn’t say that we’re a middle of the road team. It says we’re above a middle of the road team. … 7-6 would be nice, especially the way the season has gone.”
That’s hardly a statement that will pump excitement into a fan base that hasn’t suffered through a season like this in two decades, but it’s reason enough for Virginia Tech to be motivated over the next four weeks to play in the Dec. 28 game in Orlando.
Rutgers (9-3) won a share of the Big East title for the first time under first-year head coach Kyle Flood. Although the Scarlet Knights’ resume lacks a marquee win, they’re still a formidable opponent, one that has won five straight bowl games, the longest streak in the country.
“We want to prove to everybody that even though we’ve had a down year, we can still play with the big boys and still get wins in big games,” Tech linebacker Jack Tyler said.
Virginia Tech’s postseason struggles have been well-chronicled. Coach Frank Beamer is 8-11 in bowl games during his career. The Hokies are 3-5 in bowls since joining the ACC in 2004, with losses in each of the last two seasons.
They were blown out by Andrew Luck and Stanford 40-12 in the 2011 Orange Bowl and, by virtue of several special teams mistakes and an overturned touchdown catch by Danny Coale in overtime, lost to Michigan 23-20 in the 2012 Sugar Bowl.
“We want to be the team that kind of turns around the bowl picture and makes this team feared during bowl season,” Tyler said.
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Here are a few more notes and quotes from Monday’s availability …
- Despite rampant speculation that Virginia Tech might alter its coaching staff in some way this offseason, Beamer deflected a question Monday. Asked if any coaching changes were in store for the Hokies, he didn’t answer but also didn’t necessarily close the door. “Right now, our attention is on this bowl game,” he said. “That’s where we’re going to put all of our emphasis right now.” Interpret that as you will.
- Thomas, a junior who at one time was a projected first-round draft pick, said he still plans to ask for feedback from the NFL draft advisory board, a group that evaluates potential draftees and tells them an approximate round in which they might be taken. Receiving feedback does not obligate a player to go pro. Thomas said nothing has changed in his plans for next season. He had previously said he will return for his senior season.
- The Hokies start the first of 14 pre-bowl practices this week . Beamer said it will be a time for evaluating younger players while still getting prepared for Rutgers. “That’s a benefit of going to a bowl game is 14 extra practices you can have to help your football team get better and start evaluating your football team for next year,” he said.
- Beamer said cornerback Donaldven Manning, who nearly left the team last month, will have a chance to get back in the mix during the bowl practices, although Donovan Riley has supplanted him as one of the backup cornerbacks. “It will be good competition,” he said. Beamer also said he wasn’t sure safety Michael Cole would be available for the game after suffering a scary neck injury against Florida State. “Going to leave this up to him and his family and the doctors,” he said.
- As expected, Beamer deferred comment on the arrests of walk-ons Josh Trimble and Brian Rody to athletic director Jim Weaver. With a Jan. 24 preliminary hearing, don’t expect either to be on the bowl trip.
- With Rutgers being a Big East foe (for now), Beamer reminisced a little bit about Virginia Tech being in the league from 1992-2003. “The Big East was a great time in the history of Virginia Tech,” he said. “It came in an important time, to be in a conference, to have access to bowl games and have access to TV. And our association with all the schools there, Rutgers and all of them. … Then, when we were allowed to get into the ACC, it was another step. But the Big East made that possible.”
- The most excited people about a trip to Orlando? Beamer thinks it’s his granddaughters, who he said were “ecstatic” to be going back to Disney World.
- Thomas and Tyler haven’t been to Orlando in years and haven’t made a Disney World trip since they were little. “I remember I was probably about 5 or 6 and I was scared to death,” Tyler said. “I went on one ride, there was a jungle ride and there were spiders and snakes falling on everybody’s laps and stuff. And the rest of the trip, my dad had to buy me a pair of sunglasses because I thought I saw spiders running everywhere and I was petrified. And I’m still scared of spiders now. So now Disney World will be a little bit better experience this time.”
- As usual, Beamer is trying to have a balance of work and play on the trip. “I think it needs to be a good time, but at the same time, understand that … when it’s time to work, work, and when it’s time to enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself,” he said. “Keep ’em separate. And understand why we’re there.”
- Virginia Tech opened as a 1-point favorite against Rutgers. The over/under is 43.
December 3, 2012 - 6:17 PM
I really had to laugh at Jack Tyler’s comment – ‘We want to be the team that kind of turns around the bowl picture and makes this team feared during bowl season’.
Umm, yeah, okay. A 6-6 team is going to make the top teams in the nation quake in fear by beating a Big East team in a mid-level bowl game. Yeah, I can see Nick Saban now, frantically trying to back out of the opening game next season.
Perhaps the team wouldn’t be trying to pretend there’s a big difference in being 6-7 & 7-6 if they’d taken the regular season more seriously.
I guess Logan can hope that the scouts ignore all stats and film from 2012
Thomas as a pro quarterback, really, who are these people kidding?
Never ends does it crooked road? You have had your constant assault against all the VT coaches so now its time to move on and criticize the players? In another post you mentioned that you have been a VT fan since before the Beamer era. I know you take pride in using lots of fancy words in many of your posts so lets look at things this way: a “fan” is a person who is wholeheartedly devoted to a team, a supporter. That’s certainly not you crooked road.
But I have found the perfect description for you. How about “antagonist”, one who opposes and contends against another in every possible way , an adversary. Or how about “naysayer”, one who opposes and enjoys taking a pessimistic view of all situations.
Yes Crooked Road, I would use these descriptions of you, but VT fan-NEVER.
If Beamer had an oz of pride or self-respect he would have declined the bowl. Not a bowl, more like a small cup. I do feel very sorry for the players. With a different coach, or staff of coaches, they might have looked very different. They surely deserve better. They are young and don’t know the mess they are in, or the PC, always optimistic, crap.
Really not much difference in 6-7 and 7-6 except one will sound better than the other. VT and Rutgers are pretty close to the bottom of the college football barrel. The winner will be perceived as the best of the worst. For my barometer on this game i would use their individual performances against Pitt. Not very good for either, both were clobbered by the Panthers. So the Orlando bowl is a cripple shoot to determine who is the best. I am most curious to see how many tickets the Hokies can sell or how many they can give away.
Jack Tyler is fairly typical of the Hokies team for 2012; out of touch with reality and almost totally on disconnect. If Rutgers comes out flat, VT has a chance in this one but only if they can play good football for 4 quarters. I can’t wait to spend about $4000 to go see this game in Orlando, can you???????
danny, find a tissue & wipe your eyes, because you’re missing the obvious. To your descriptive of me? I’ve got to say ‘Nay!’
See what I did there, danny? I used satire to expose your distorted apologist mindset. I know satire has two syllables, so you might need to look it up. When you do, you’ll begin to understand. Or not.
Regardless, I don’t think I’ll depend on your definition of ‘fan’, because I really think you’re confusing it with ‘lemming’. When I criticize, it is due to a desire for improvement that I feel is needed. I don’t meekly accept mediocrity when the coaches and team proclaim that they don’t accept mediocrity.
It’s not my fault you fail to see the irony & humor of Tyler’s comment.
By the way, the empty trophy case was erected at Frank Beamer’s direction. He’s not ordered it taken down. The message seems clear.
I have expressed my negative opinion about the direction of the Tech football program several times. However, I am calling the dogs off for the rest of this year. Now is the time to get behind the team and coaches and pull for them to have a victory in the bowl game. Clearly, we don’t have a stellar record, but we got invited because we met the eligibility standards. Beamer knows there are cracks in the system and we will just have to wait and see if changes are made after the bowl game. No amount of ranting and raving is going to get anything done prior to that. All I have left to say is: have a good time on the trip and bring home the victory!!
I’m totally confused by all that crooked road. LMAO- i think you are way more intellectual than me. I also think the bottom line is you can dish it out so much better than you can take it. That’s what I figured all along.
I’m glad you said VT is “close” to the bottom of the barrel, because that means there’s something below them. What would you call a team that VT beat? Putrid? Stinky? I’d call them the gt yellow cow flies. If I were to use the word ‘clobbered’, I believe I would say Middle Tennessee State clobbered gt, 49-28, and had to play scrubs in the second half to keep from scoring 75 points. I can see Paul Johnson now in the bowl game, going for it on 4th and 12 from his own twenty, down by 14 in the first quarter, because his offense can’t move the ball. Or trying a new fangled idea that he heard about at a pee wee game called a forward pass. He may even bring back Groh to help whine to the refs. Please keep Johnson as head coach, he is special! If I were a gt fan, I believe I’d say VT is just better right now and thow in the proverbial ‘wait till next year’. VT has won 7 of the last 9 with gt. Come to think about it, get off the couch uva, gt has become VT’s girl!
crooked road, I’m going to check out of here and watch the Redskins on MNF. I have been a Skins fan since the Sonny Jurgenson days. Does that make me a fan or a lemming? I will read more of your nonsense tomorrow.
How many conference games did the Hokies win?
Aristotle’s got it right Barry. GT is a paltry 2-7 against VT since ’04, Johnson is 1-4 and VT beat GT again this year. VT has won 4 Championships during that time and the only one GT won was taken away for bad behavior. If we had the year GT had and anyone on this board was beating their drum like you are GT’s they’d be laughed outta here. VT has had one bad year since being in the ACC and that was this year. GT gets into the championship after losing to VT and after the true winner of the Division, UM, self imposed probation. GT loses the Championship game and then gets a special exemption to play in a bowl with a 6-7 record. And you’re proud of that? Not the least bit embarrassed? And you non-stop dis the team that beat you? You need a refill on your prescription; tell your parents to get it for you when they get home…
That Rutgers crowd will really get after you. ( sniff,sniff )
Aristotle and Scott – I could not agree with you more or have said it any better. Barry is not even worth wasting our time over. From this point on he does not exist. I refuse to comment anymore on him or his lowly GT football team…Barry who?
VT’s record over GT matters little, most of those games were close and could obviously have gone either way. How many conference games did VT win this year, we don’t need a litney of excuses about the Hokies grand record of beating cupcakes year after year. Several of those ACC championship games did not feature the opponent’s #1 QB in the game, Hokies have been a very lucky team over the years. You know it and the fans know it, you folks are in a world of delusion about your team. Give them credit, they finished 6-6 and deserve a bowl, howbeit a meaningless one but still a bowl.
The only reason VT is playing in Orlando is because UNC and UM will not go-VT needs to sell about 8500 tickets to keep face with the “we travel well” bowl crowd with an allotment of 13,500 tix. I am guessing about 5000 will be sold. The 5000 tix predicted sold only out of protest,lack of interest and/or the economy. You all decide.
Lack of interest would have to be at the top, if the game turns out to be yet another “bowl bust” for the Hokies, heads will probably roll in Blacksburg soon. If that happens then you might actually see them contend in the top 5 next year and Logan Thomas will grab that Heisman.
What happened in the VT/GT game this year even with a gift TD due to a freshman punter mistake? And you say GTs record vs VT doesn’t matter…can’t say I’m surprised to hear that coming from the losing end of a lopsided matchup. I’ll enjoy watching GT look hopeless in yet another bowl game with their gimmick offense that can be stopped with a mere week to prepare for it
How much money did you lose on the FSU game Barry?
You guys are awful fans. Every football program goes through a season like this.
Naturally the first ‘comment’ would be by our own ‘Crooked Road’….I can’t understand why this cat don’t sell his stuff and move to Charlotsville, or even better yet, New York. Then he can be on the side of some real winners. Even if he isn’t a supporter of Tech and what Beamer has accomplished, he might be better served spewing his nonsense in a more ‘refined’ atmosphere’ than the valley. I say we all chip in and move ‘Croked Road’ to a better location. Hummmn….Birmingham, Alabama comes to mind. Surrounded by ‘winners’. Perfect.
And you, too, Fepers Perry…..take a pill, go beat your wife. try TV…..drink some more corn syrup. watch MNF. pro wrestling….find a team that ‘deserves’ you, and your support. Try fly fishing…..
no, you use the flys as a bait….
And ‘Barry from Ivy’ when was the last time you had 4 grand to spend on anything? I mean, really….who you tryin to kid?? Ivy what?? ‘Barry’…hahahahaha sounds like your Mom got it right.
pete
ooops….I apoligise, Barry. really. I got ‘carried away’. I’m sure you love your Mom, and she loved you.
I have too many strawberry sodas sometimes….get a bit, uh, …defensive.
No, defensive isn’t the word……
when ‘the word’ strikes me, I’ll really mean it.
pete
Way to go, Danny!
Hey Pete!! Take a pill!! Chill, man!!! Pretend you’re in a refined, cultural atmosphere with peoples of a like mind who know football, who have seen programs come from bottom feeders to playing on ESPN….LIVE…from BLACKSBURG!!!! ACT LIKE ‘YOU BEEN THERE’….for Gods sake!!!! You act like you’re some Know-it-All who’s watched VPI develope into a real player!!! Chill, Man. All these experts are likely right. Bum coach, bum program, bum stadium, bum players, all hoods. You may need PROFESSIONAL help….or at least help from those who Tech has cheated out of a good time. I mean, really……
So glad to hear Beamer is going to clean house on the offensive side, albeit he’s stubbornly several years behind on it. Let’s just hope he hires a real offensive coordinator. TONY FRANKLIN.
I’d put the over/under on bowl tickets sold through VTTO at 6500. I saw someone comment yesterday that VTTO was offering them end zone seats for $75 while Stubhub had seats on 45 yd line for $50.
“We want to prove to everybody that even though we’ve had a down year, we can still play with the big boys and still get wins in big games,” Tech linebacker Jack Tyler said. I can’t even remember a big win. Rutgers will be a tough team to beat but they are from the Big Least……..WOW
I would wager you will be able to get the tickets for $5 pretty soon; Beamer will give around 5000 of them away for free.
Okay, I will vacate the message board until the Mayan calendar episode of December 21. Someone else will have to step up and tell the truth on this site, we need objective comments.
Family Security, You’ve got to be kidding me. Do you even know anything about Tony Franklin or his system? I know I do, 100%, we went as a staff to his “clinic”, which was more like a brainwash than a clinic to me. He actually made you sign a contract saying you would not share his “secrets” or ideas with any other coaches. Give me a break, this guy was acting like he was the Godfather of the no huddle spread offense. Franklin’s system was predicated on the screen game and 4 or 5 reads from the QB. I don’t know about you but most QB’s can’t handle 4 or 5 reads. Sure, the Mannings can, Andrew Luck can. However, the majority of college QB’s can NOT handle this system. Franklin’s exact words are “we can be good at most things but we have to be GREAT at the screen game.” Correct me if I’m wrong but I hear from the peanut gallery quite often about how all we do is throw screens in Stiney’s system. Franklin’s “Nascar Series”, (which by the way we already run a form of it) and most of you don’t like it because I’ve heard and read alot of garbage on here about it. The Nascar Series is a no huddle hurry up offense that comes to the line, call a cadence, and then look to the sideline, get the play that best counteracts the defense, and then reset, and run the play. Most of you HATED that from Stinespring and Company. Family Security…Franklin’s system was the flavor of the year awhile back, then eventually it got him run out of big time college football. Stinespring may not be an offensive guru, but Tony Franklin is most certainly not the answer.
First Amendment Rights ?
It is only talk, and talk is cheap.
Negativity and vitriol is rampant on this site. If you hate VT and you are not going to the bowl game and spending money on the Hokies then why do you care? I hope the players and coaches have a great time and beat Rutgers.
Most schools have to eat the tickets they are forced to sell because they give the worse seats to the schools. Corporations get the good seats and they are usually the ones that are vacant at game time.
Did I mention we went 2-18 after a run at the state championship the year prior to running Franklin system? We went in 100% bought in after the clinic because he said that’s what it would take. We finally said, enough was enough, and scrapped the system. We stayed with the spread but used the QB more of a dual threat than a pocket passer. Went back to the playoffs 5 out of 6 years after we scrapped Tony’s system.
Andy,
Have you heard anything about Shane going to Southern Miss as head coach ?
COM, the primary reason that some people are interested in Tony Franklin is because he attended Murray State. You know, where Frank beamer coached just after Franklin left? Franklin was a teammate of Bud Foster for a year or two, as well. Thus, the reasoning is that Franklin has the magic dust of ‘family’ sprinkled on him. Otherwise, nobody would ever mention his name regarding VT football. It’s the same mindset as those who think Frank should hire Ralph Friedgen as Offensive Coordinator because they’re best friends.
My sincere desire is that if/when any changes in staff are made at VT over the next several years, the person hired is from outside the bubble, not inside. The last thing we need is to become even more insulated from outside influence.
Say it ain’t so…Barry is leaving the blog? Dreams do come true! Go Hokies!
I hear ya Forever Hokie. Gotta be able to handle the down years and still support the program. If everyone jumped ship everytime there was a ripple in the waves then the program wouldn’t have reached the heights it has experienced so far. I hate to admit this will be one of the few bowl games I have missed. Can’t afford to miss the extra time at work with the economy in toilet. However, I will be having a packed house and grilling out some of the baby back ribs in valley.
Crooked, Franklin was the OC at Auburn and was let go. His system didn’t match up with the SEC anymore. Yes I know he coached Tim Couch, who led the SEC in passing but again that was at a time when the spread was still somewhat new to the college game, especially the SEC where the running games were still dominating. (Spurrier at Florida was an exception, he’s been doing this stuff longer than Franklin and is much more efficient anyway.) Franklin was at Troy and everyone fell in love with the spread it around, chuck and duck, screen here and screen there system. Then he went above his ceiling to Auburn in a NEW college football game. Tony’s system didn’t work and he hasn’t been in major college football since. Lousiana Tech, nation’s top offense this year (Give me a break, it’s the WAC), and got passed over for a bowl bid. What’s that tell you? This system doesn’t work against teams in major college football. It will fill up the stat column against the mid-majors but don’t believe for a second it’s going to catapult us to a victory over Alabama in next year’s opener.
6-7 season = Fire everybody rebuild before an ass kicking from Alabama and shame for the chokie nation for backing a sorry team!
7-6 season = Fire somebody and the chokie nation can be proud of not having a losing season!
Wow, the maroon Kool-Aid is flowing and the apologists don’t want to listen to anything negative. They have their fingers stuck firmly in their ears and have the maximum orange tint on their glasses. They “whistle in the graveyard” by dismissing anyone who is negative about the Hokies as “bandwagon fans” or “not true fans.” They have rationalized things as this being “only one bad season” so they can keep their faith in Frank and Jim (and the rest of the coaching crew) firmly intact. They don’t want to discuss the actual records in any of those “10-win” seasons and they don’t want to look back at the results of most of those 19 past bowl games. They don’t care to understand that those who are pointing out the flaws in the VT football program are as much fans as they are, they are just more realistic about how things have been going — and not going. They have the same passion for success and have been pointing out the impediments to that success (the offensive coaches, lack of game plans, etc. etc.) for several years now. That all the problems have all come to a head this season when there has been a drop-off in the talent that has carried the program (and made coaches look better than they really are) just verifies what has been said for some time now.
But all this will be for naught, since that is powerful Kool-Aid and the dark glasses have blinded the apologists to being able to see the truth.
Gotta agree with COM on Franklin. He is definitely not the answer. His system works against 1-A defenses because they lack speed. A fast defense that persues eats up screens. Plus your wide receivers need to block.
COM, I’m not sure why you are so down on Franklin.. I mean, leading the entire FBS in scoring points (51) this year?. Putting up 57 pts on a Texas A&M team that Bama, LSU and Miss ST COMBINED for 56 against THIS YEAR doesn’t mean a thing. If I was to consider Franklin’s ability based on someone’s manifesto of their failure to grasp and effectively implement his system, well that would be stupid. Franklin has proven he can adaptto the everychanging . I’m not sure why you are bad mouthing him, but I assume you have a valid reason. I know he’s cocky, but he does appear to be able to back it up and more importantly, he’s proven he can adjust to the never ending evolution of college football.
CR, you are incorrect, albeit you probably don’t realize it. “Most” people who I know that want Franklin are excited that there is a good chance we get him due to his ties to Murray St. It doesn’t even seem logical to think people want him because of his affiliation, when in fact he has proven himself as an offensive mind. After 10 years of below average offense, it’s a no brainer.
After the bowl, O’cain and Newsome will retire and Stine will be reassigned. Who would you rather have besides Franklin, that is a legitimate option, considering Beamer’s propensity for terrible hiring on offense?