...Advertisement...

...Advertisement...

The Roanoke Times: Press Box

with our sports staff

Looking ahead to Tech at UVa on Thursday

Posted Feb24, 2007 at 07:59 PM

I had my first in-person looks at Tech and UVa this week. Don't ask for a prediction on Thursday's game in Charlottesville.

This ACC season has proven that one performance has little to do with the next. Tech and UVa have combined for eight losses, including two to N.C. State (by Tech), one to Miami (UVa) and one to Florida State (Tech).

Both teams have looked great, looked OK and looked bad. When they met in Blacksburg, Tech looked especially great and UVa looked especially bad. Could it go the other way this time? Certainly. However, expect a close game.

UVa is 15-1 at home this year, and Tech is 7-7 away from home.

Comments

# 1

[February 25, 2007 8:56 AM]

UVABILL

GO HOOS,CASTRATE THE TURKEYS.

# 2

[February 25, 2007 10:17 AM]

jim lewis

wow Jeff.......brilliant analysis of the upcoming game.

# 3

[February 25, 2007 1:36 PM]

Jeff Gilbert

Jim, I appreciate your tongue-in-cheek comment. We were ready to get back to Roanoke yesterday, so I didn't take a lot of time to think about the game this week. I'll post some more thoughts here as the game approaches. What are your thoughts?

Post a comment





Search


Quick thoughts

  • Poll voters get it right -

    Who knew the Virginia football program carried so much weight? Southern Cal moved up from No. 3 to No. 1 in the Associated Press media poll, and from No. 2 to No. 1 in the coaches’ poll, after its 52-7 rout of UVa in Charlottesville. “To see a team go on the road and play a New Year’s Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?” voter Stewart Mandel of SI.com told the AP. Now we all know UVa is hardly the same team that played on Jan. 1. But the voters still got this right. USC proved more at UVa than a Georgia team that beat Division I-AA Georgia Southern or an Ohio State team that beat I-AA Youngstown State. — Mark Berman

  • ACC stinks it up -

    Arkansas State won at Texas A&M. Bowling Green upset Pitt. Louisiana Tech beat Mississippi State. But the ACC laid the biggest egg of all in Week 1, reinforcing its reputation as a weak conference. Preseason ACC favorite Clemson was squashed by Alabama. ECU upset the Hokies. USC flattened UVa. Maryland only beat Delaware by a 14-7 score, and UNC had to rally to beat McNeese State. On Thursday, South Carolina shut out N.C. State. At least Wake Forest beat Baylor. But the ACC was an object of ridicule on national sports talk radio Saturday night, and rightly so. And it won’t get any better next weekend when Miami visits Florida. — Mark Berman

  • Intriguing ACC games for VT hoops -

    The 2008-09 schedule for the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team was released this week, and the Hokies will begin and end the ACC portion of it in noteworthy fashion. Their ACC opener will be a Sunday night visit to Durham on Jan. 4 to take on Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski and Duke in a game airing on Fox Sports Net. Their next game features a visit to Cassell Coliseum by Virginia. And the Hokies better hope they have a good record before their final three games of the regular season, because that will be the toughest stretch of their year by far. They host Duke in an ABC game on Feb. 28, followed by a March 4 visit from Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina in an ESPN game. The regular-season finale is a trip to Florida State, where Tech always loses. — Mark Berman

  • Good showing for UVa at Olympics -

    With the Olympics over, UVa has plenty to be proud of. Ex-Cav Angela Hucles, the leading goal scorer in UVa history, now has to be considered one of the best female athletes UVa has ever produced. Not only did she win her second gold with the U.S. women’s soccer team, but she scored a team-high four goals in Beijing — including two in the semifinals and one in the quarterfinals. Ex-Cav Lindsay Shoop also won gold — one of three UVa grads to medal in rowing. And Dawn Staley was part of a winning basketball team as an assistant. As for Virginia Tech? Well, ex-Hokie Ieva Kublina had a few good basketball games for Latvia. And Queen Harrison reached a hurdles semifinal at the age of 19. London could be in her future. — Mark Berman

  • Hightower making us look good -

    Tim Hightower is making The Roanoke Times — and Division I-AA football in this state — look good. Hightower was a standout running back at Richmond last fall, helping the Spiders reach the I-AA semifinals. We chose him as the Roanoke Times’ state Division I offensive player of the year, eschewing I-A stars. Now comes word that the fifth-round draft pick will likely be Edgerrin James’ top backup with the Arizona Cardinals. Good for him. I just hope he fares better off the field than our offensive player of the year picks in 1999 and 2004, Michael and Marcus Vick. — Mark Berman

Categories

Monthly archives

Related links

Sports news

Regional college and university athletic programs

Columnists

More sports news

Local sports stories and columns

About this blog

The Press Box blog will post entries on a variety of sports at both the high school and collegiate levels in Southwest Virginia. Contributions come from staff writers of The Roanoke Times sports section.

E-mail the sports section

RSS feed

.....Advertisement.....