Hokies Bowl Blog - The Appalacian Showdown

So I know I’ve already done one rushed themed blog, but here comes another. I mean the game is only one day away and I have 2 New Year’s parties in that time. I'm just too popular I guess. Throw in the fact that Yener is here, and that we’ve already started drinking, a party could break out any second. I mean there is a keg literally 20 feet away from me. So I apologize for the brevity and terribleness that will follow, but I promise I’ll do better next year. Oh and all my proof readers are also drinking, so this one is raw.

At first glance, Tennessee is built very similarly to VT. Both are run first teams with good, but not great, QBs who are good at keeping the ball safe. Both teams have great defenses and are especially good against the pass (both in the top 15 nationally). And both teams have an outspoken coach who are constantly under investigation for one reason or another and seem to make enemies everywhere they go. Oh wait, Beamer is sort of the opposite of that isn’t he?


http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-football-recruiting/files/2009/02/kiffin.jpg

We’ll start this with a breakdown of coaching. The Hokies are led by the same group that has led them for 10 years or so now (just learned Billie Hite is the longest serving assistant coach in the country at 32 years). At head coach we have Mr. Class, Mr. Old School, Mr. Good Ole Boy Frank Beamer vs. Mr. Pro, Mr. Cocky, Mr. Pain in Everyone’s Ass Lane Kiffin. Beamer is a proven college head coach at this point obviously. We’ve won 10 games or more the last 5 years (6 with a win tomorrow), been to a bowl game 17 straight years, and all sorts of other stats that say, Frank Beamer has a decent idea what he’s doing. Lane Kiffin is a proven pro coach (sucked at the only time he was a head coach for 4 games with the Raiders, but I’m not convinced any coach will be able to save the Raiders). Kiffin is also a proven recruiter. His only 2 recruiting classes have been amazing. He’s getting kids from everywhere. Lane Kiffin is also a proven shit talker. He hasn’t done too much to back it up though.

The defensive coordinators are the strengths of both staffs. Bud Foster and Monte Kiffin should both have the upper hand against their offensive competition. Monte pretty much invented the Tampa 2 and has been a great defensive coordinator at the pro level for decades. Bud Foster implements a little Tampa 2 and has dominated the college level. Both offensive coordinators should be outmatched. I’m worried how Steiny will perform against Monte. But the Hokies do have one huge advantage. VT has been amazing on special teams, and Tennessee just lost their special teams coach. This could mean they pay more attention to it, or it could mean we take advantage of every return, kick, or punt.

As I said before, the strength of both teams is their run game and pass defense. Both offenses live and die by the running backs. Both teams will try and establish a ground game (until Steiny says “screw it let’s throw it deep every play for a quarter”) and both will try to grind out a victory. The Hokies will rely heavily on Ryan Williams as they have all year. Not a bad person to rely on. He’s something like 110 yards from being the single season leading rusher at VT (over Kevin Jones in 2003), he’s 1 TD from tying and 2 TDs from scoring the most TDs in a season the ACC ever. I think he’s close to getting the most rushing yards in a season in the ACC, but this is a half ass effort and I’m not going to look it up. The Hokies will need a huge game from Williams to win this one. Luckily Williams ended the season really hot with 600+ yards in the last 4 games and scoring 4 TDs both of the last two.

Tennessee is lead on offense by Montario Hardesty. Hardesty has 1300 yards and 12 TDs, and has been most of the Vols offense. He has also been great of late and has dominated to close the season. The QB Crompton has been some help (26 TD, 12 INT), but mostly this will be which RB (and line) will have the better day. And unfortunately, the Vols have the better line. They’re bigger, better pro prospects, and only gave up 12 sacks all year. That’s incredible against SEC defenses!
Tennessee’s defense is the reason they are even in a bowl game this year. They are one of the strongest units in the country, and the secondary is possibly the best in the nation. They are led by junior Eric Berry who just won the Thorpe award which goes to the best defensive back in the country. So for those of you counting at home, the Hokies will have played against the best defensive back (Berry), linebacker (McClain from Alabama), and lineman (Suh from Nebraska). When was the last time this happened? You’ll need to find a better journalist for the answer to that question. But yeah, dude is nasty, probably a top 5 pick this year (top 10 at least). The weakness of both defenses is the run defense, especially Tennessee. Their D-line might be their weakest unit on offense or defense. They don’t help stop the run and they don’t get to the QB that often. This is something the Hokies will need to capitalize on in order to win this game.

Blocking a punt wouldn’t hurt either…

Beamerball!

Prediction: 27-21 VT. I bet Ryan Williams gets the VT rushing record and ACC TD record going for 140 yards and 2 TDs. Taylor will need to protect the ball, and special teams and turnovers will probably decide the game.


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Hokies Week 13 Blog - Thankful I'm not a Wahoo

I have a plane to catch in a few hours that will send me home to Alabama for Thanksgiving, so this will be my shortest and most hurried blog yet. Go ahead and count; it’s less than 1000 words!

This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love seeing my family and getting everyone together, I love getting plate after plate of turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, creamed corn, ham, pecan pie, banana pudding, pumpkin pie, and any other dessert that has some sort of descriptive word of what’s in it followed by pie or cake, I love the football, and in particular I love beating UVA. I mean it’s as big of a tradition as the Thanksgiving all day eatathon and Black Friday at this point isn’t it?

Also, one note on Alabama because I think this is ridiculous. They moved the Iron Bowl up to Friday at 2:30 or 3:30. I’m guessing for big TV money or something. But now stores of every kind across the state will be opening up for Black Friday sales at 4 am because they’re worried no one will be out shopping when Alabama and Auburn are playing. I know I’ll be in the front of the lines at 2 am.


http://tech4teens.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/black-friday-lines.jpg

Or I’ll be asleep till noon and do all my Christmas shopping online…

But now onto the preview of the game! To start, it’ll probably be a boring defensive battle. VT has another top 10(ish) defense, and UVA is solid as well. Al Groh brought a 3-4 defense to UVA, which will be only the 2nd time the Hokies have seen this style of defense all year. The first and only look at it was in the opener against Alabama. UVA is very good against the pass and ranks 19th in the nation in pass yards against. Their secondary is one of the strongest units in the ACC just behind VT and Clemson. They also do a decent job getting to the QB and even have more sacks than GT who is always praised for its D-line. Could be a boring low scoring affair.

The good news is that they are one of the worst teams in the ACC against the run.
The 3-4 is designed to be able to bring blitzes and hit zones, and this is a big reason why they can put pressure on the QB. But with only 3 down lineman it can be easy to pick up huge chunks of yardage on the ground by opening up bigger holes and getting more blockers down field if the defense makes a bad read or if they bring pressure from the wrong spots. While UVA was able to contain CJ Spiller last Saturday, in the few games before that they gave up 151 yards to Montel Harris of BC, 152 yards to Graig Cooper of Miami (268 total rushing yards given up that game), and while this isn’t exactly apples to apples, they gave up 362 rush yards against GT. So on paper, it seems like Ryan Williams has a good chance for another big day.

Now let’s look at the other side of the ball. UVA is flat out terrible on offense. Jameel Sewell can be a playmaker at QB with his arm and legs, but he isn’t nearly as good as Russell Wilson. Sewell on the year has thrown for 7 TD and 7 INT and has run for another 6 TD. But like Wilson, Sewell is on his own on offense. They have no running game to speak of and lack any other playmaker. They are 112th in the nation in rushing offense which makes them completely one dimensional. And there are only 4 teams in the nation that have given up more sacks (4!). They are getting sacked on average 4 times a game. The most revealing stat is that UVA has scored more than 21 points just twice this season (neither against ACC opponents).

So how does VT’s defense look against this? Pretty damn good. I really can’t see any way they score more than 10 points that doesn’t involve turnovers and blocked kicks. VT is the 13th in the country in total defense and scoring defense, 2nd in the ACC in sacks at about 3 a game, and 10th in the nation in passing defense. There are playmakers at corner, linebacker, on the line, and even at safety. This seems like a matchup made in heaven, and hopefully Bud Foster has a field day and we force turnover after turnover.

Speaking of turnovers! The Reaper is now 1st in the nation in forced fumbles thanks to 3 in the first 4 offensive plays for NCST! First team all-ACC for an undersized walk-on. You will be missed next year!

Prediction time. We’ve got one team that hasn’t won in 5 years, has won once in the last decade, has a terrible offense with no running game to speak of, gives up a ton of sacks, is susceptible to the run on D, going against a team that is one of the nations best defenses especially against the pass, has one of the premier running backs in the nation, and is coached by a group that has consistently had the program at an elite level. Hmm…

31-10 VT! The Hokies will be too much for the Hoos. Speak of which… Hoo’s your coach next year? Al Groh will be missed around these parts. Hopefully the new guy follows suit of letting us recruit all of Virginia.

There is no way Ryan Williams isn’t the player of the game. But I think Worilds has a big game as well, and people will finally remember how big of an impact he is. I hope we see a repeat of the performance when we took over their field then rolled them 52-14.


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Have a happy Thanksgiving and remember give thanks you’re a Hokie!

If you’re curious this was 999 words.

Hokies Week 12 Blog - RW vs. RW

This will be a no nonsense write-up dealing with sports this week! What kind of hack writes about uniforms anyway?

It was fun to go to College Park last week for the Hokies home game. We went to a couple tailgates with friends and family and it was like a home game.


Courtesy of Andy (click any picture to make it bigger)

The stadium was actually louder for VT than Maryland. Maybe that was because we came out swinging and got TDs in our first two possessions, or maybe it was because the Maryland fans simply didn’t have anything to cheer about all game. As seen by the student section at the start of the 3rd quarter:


Courtesy of my phone!

But the Hokie Nation showed up strong and it was a fun game to be at. I had actually never been to Maryland before and it’s a pretty nice campus. And I saw just about every part of it. We walked from the metro bus stop, to the baseball field, to the “baseball field” also know as the softball field, to the other side of campus to a parking garage, to the stadium, to the softball field, to the stadium, and finally to the metro over the course of the day. I estimated the total walking distance to about 8 miles in College Park alone, and Google maps confirms it.


http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

And if you’re wondering why we didn’t walk that last leg straight. So am I! And yes, we took more direct routes, but this is as half-ass visual aid. Plus it doesn’t show the 1000 steps we went up to get to our seats. Still don’t understand why Maryland’s stadium has 1 side that is about 25 rows up total, and then the other side is something closer to 100. Not even Lane is that disproportional.


Courtesy of Andy

But moral of the story: Tyrod looked great and was the Player of the Game to my surprise. Don’t get me wrong, Williams had a big day, but Tyrod was making some great passes and plays with his legs. We’ll just over look that fumble in the endzone that led to their only TD. Also, the defense was nasty. Great play up front, from the linebackers, and pretty good play by the secondary. They left some people open but luckily the freshman QB couldn’t hit any big plays.

But now on to NCST. The title pretty much says it all. This week the Ryan Williams takes on Russell Wilson for initials superiority. Except that Ryan Williams has a ton of support with a much improved Tyrod, a great receiving core, a decent O-line, and a suddenly stingy defense. But for NCST, Russell Wilson is about it. I mean he has single-handedly won and kept NCST in games. He doesn’t have great running game support or a good O-line. And the defense is just awful… So it will be up to Wilson to keep his team in the game against us.

Let’s see some stats to support this. To begin, NCST is currently 52nd nationally in points scored (6th in the ACC) averaging 27 points a game. And the main reason is Russell Wilson. Wilson has thrown for 2534 yards with a completion percentage of 58.2. He has thrown for 26 TDs with 10 interceptions, and his QB rating is 143.89. Not bad at all. He can also get it down with his legs as he is the 2nd leading rusher on the team with 319 yards and 4 TDs. So as a one man team he is getting it done. He accounts for 70% of NCST’s offense by yardage and TDs. By comparison Tyrod accounts for 53% of our yards and half our TDs. So yes, Russell Wilson is a beast.


http://www.statefansnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ncaa_wilson_400.jpg

At baseball. He’ll probably be playing in the minor leagues somewhere next year.

But how has he done against the ACC? Great question! In his last 6 games (Wake, Duke, BC, FSU, Maryland, and Clemson), Wilson has only thrown for 260 yards per game with 14 TDs and 10 INTs! He’s averaging around 35 yards on the ground and has 4 TDs in the 6 games though. But the point is, these are pretty mediocre stats against some of the conference’s worst teams (especially some of its worst defenses). Only BC and Clemson are in the top half of the conference in points against and in those two games NCST scored 20 and 23 points respectively. I’m not saying NCST won’t score, because they will. Russell Wilson is too good for them not to score, but some of their stats are misleading.

Now here is a stat that isn’t misleading: NCST is giving up 36 points per game! That is 111th in the nation and last in the ACC. Even in the games where they put up a lot of TDs they still lose because everyone can move the ball on them. Even Maryland hung 30 on them in a loss. In ACC play, they have only held Wake and Maryland to less than 40 points! That means they couldn’t stop the “high powered” offenses of Duke, BC, and Clemson. Wake and Duke threw all over them, and then FSU, BC, and Clemson threw all over them and ran all over them! Only Maryland was held to less than 450 yards.

Yes, I know they held South Carolina to 7 points, and yes I know they beat Pitt (only loss). But look how they’ve done lately. Could they have a repeat performance of the Pitt game? Maybe. But I think it is highly unlikely. They have 3 freshmen in the secondary, they haven’t been able to stop the run or pass lately except against Maryland, they are completely one dimensional on offense, and they are facing the best defense they’ve seen all season. Yep, we are 11th in the country and 1st in the ACC only giving up 16 points a game. With our strength of schedule and all the big plays it seems like we are giving up, that is amazing.

So how’s the game turn out? We will crush them! This game should be pretty similar to the game against Maryland but higher scoring for both teams. Here’s my prediction:

41 – 17 VT. Seems ridiculous but that’s less points than they average giving up on the road. With their secondary and Tyrod’s performance last week, I think he will be the player of the game. Now I’m sure Williams will have like 200 yards… Also, look for a big day from Jason Worilds and Nekos Brown.

Hokies Week 11 Blog - College Park Showdown

There will be a huge showdown this Saturday at 1:00 EST in College Park, Maryland. We will see a matchup of two premier leaders on the football field. Both have prepared a long time for this matchup, and there is a lot of buzz going into this game. Where will you be when Nike and Under Armour throw down!?!?

Both Nike and Under Armour will unveil brand spanking new uniforms this week for the nationally televised VT/Maryland game. Nationally televised on your computer… What? You get good crystal clear coverage on your 11” laptop right? I’ll personally be at the game so I’ll let you know how awesome they are first hand.

But let’s break down this matchup. Nike comes in with all the experience and has been a dominant force for decades while Under Armour is still the new kid on the block. But Under Armour has had a lot of recent success, as it has made a huge splash in its first 15 years. Let’s take a look at some of the personnel between the two teams. Nike has some big time individuals with the likes of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Adrian Peterson, Lebron James, Tom Brady, Roger Federer, Derek Jeter, Larry Fitzgerald, Lance Armstrong, Nolan Ryan, Barry Sanders, Back to the Future, Jerry Rice, Cal Ripken Jr., and Lil Wayne. Under Armour is led by Vernon Davis, Tommy Tubberville, Devin Hester, and that guy who yells a lot (and his creepy roided up younger version). How about a comparison of slogan? Again the edge goes to Nike with the simple but effective “Just Do It.” But how could Under Armour compete with “Click Clack”?

But enough about the history, what will be hitting the field on Saturday? Nike unveiled it’s second Pro Combat Uniform line at Virginia Tech last week (TCU was first) with a huge presentation done by the folks at Nike which brought Antonio Freeman and Bruce Smith into Blacksburg. They even rode in a huge motorcade with Frank Beamer to the unveiling. And the crowd of 100 went wild as Tyrod Taylor and Cody Grimm stepped out of a locker or something wearing these bad boys:


http://hamptonroads.com.nyud.net/2009/11/battle-brands
(you can click any image to make them bigger)

Nike’s theme for these is “Good guys wear white,” which is going against the blackout at Maryland. These are pretty snazzy uniforms for the most part, and I like how for the most part they look clean but are still edgy. I even like the two different width stripes on the helmet. Also, they are top of the line in terms of the science and engineering behind making football uniforms. According to Nike they are much lighter than the previous uniforms because the jersey material is 23% lighter, the pants material is 49% lighter and material wicks water away to make them 46% lighter than our old uniforms when wet. Also, they have improved ventilation and are more durable.


http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/usnikefootball/en_US/rivalries09?school=vt&tab=uniform

The shoes are also state of the art and have so many improvements I won’t go into them.


http://friendsoftheprogram.net/2009/11/13/a-closer-look-at-nike-pro-combat-virginia-tech/

And the finishing touch are the Nike gloves:


http://friendsoftheprogram.net/2009/11/13/a-closer-look-at-nike-pro-combat-virginia-tech/

I’m not a fan of all the ridiculous wording on the jerseys though. Throughout the jersey there are VT sayings like Ut Prosim and Beamerball, which along with the wire mesh shoulder pads take away from the overall clean look. But they are designed to look fast and I think that is accomplished, and these uniforms are growing on me.
So what are Nike and the Hokies going up against? Under Armour is breaking out two new uniforms for Maryland and South Carolina this weekend. And what awesome new features and fresh looks are they providing? None… Yep, they’re pretty much the same jerseys as before with three small changes.


http://www.usnews.com/dbimages/master/13170/FE_DA_091020whispers-underarmour-commitment.jpg

Yes, those are camo sleeves. They’re rocking a black and desert camo uniform on Sat. And they’re going to wear camo cleats as well:


http://www.usnews.com/dbimages/master/13171/FE_DA_091020whispers-underarmour-cleats.jpg

And I’m sure that you're just like me and said “Ha, that’s lame, are the fans going to do a camo out too? They’re hard to see at home games to begin with!” But then you’ll feel like an asshole like I did. The little patch on the sleeves that you probably missed is for the Wounded Warriors Project. Under Armour teamed up with these guys to help spread the word to help push for legislation to pass to help soldiers injured after 9/11 in games near the DC (apparently rumors the Vice President and other big time congressmen might show up for the game) and on a primetime nationally televised game (Florida/South Carolina).

The only other change to the uniform is on the back, instead of having each player’s name, they will be replaced by a military word like “duty” and “honor.” The changes made to modify the uniform for Maryland is probably a fraction of the cost that went into making the VT one (and the 9 others that Nike will display throughout the rest of the season). So how do the two matchup? Virginia Tech’s Nike Pro Combat Uniform vs Maryland’s Under Armour Wounded Warrior Uniform.

Under Armour wins by a mile… Yes, Nike’s uniform is better looking. Yes, it is a better uniform to play football in. But Under Armour has the intangibles. Who cares if the VT uni has Ut Prosim “that I may serve”? It’s still just a bad matchup. Nike Pro Combat vs. Under Armour Wounded Warriors… Doesn’t that just sound terrible? Great move by Under Armour and a great cause. There will even be veterans doing the coin toss and halftime festivities promoting the cause.

Oh, there’s also a football game on Saturday… I’ll take Virginia Tech over a Maryland team that is 96th in scoring offense (20.8 points a game), and 98th in scoring defense (32 points a game). There is a lot of talk that this game will be really close, but I just don’t see it. Teams that run the ball well, destroy Maryland. Maryland really hasn’t stopped anyone on offense, and their best offensive player, QB Chris Turner, will be out due to a sprained MCL. The only way we lose this is if all the negative karma we have due to the uniforms takes over.

VT wins 38-13. Ryan Williams will run all over them and be the player of the game. Apparently I’m a broken record… Maybe I should start picking the 2nd Best Player of the Game! 2BPotG goes to Rashad Carmichael. I think that between Carmichael and Virgil, we get 2 or 3 picks and 1 for a TD.

Hokies Week 10 Blog - Controversial Conference Rankings

So who’s ready for some Hokies basketball now?


http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Virginia+Tech+v+Wake+Forest+oLhNA5N7hZdl.jpg

Basketball season kicks off on Sun, Nov 15, and I wanted to give you a quick preview of what to expect this season now that I’ve given up on football. Just kidding. This can still be a good season for the football team, and I’ll continue to blog about the Hokies even though I really didn’t want to last Thursday and Friday. So here we go with a controversial conference ranking.

Straight up, I’m tired of everyone shitting on the ACC conference saying it’s the worst conference in the league. What basis do you have to make this claim? Is it the fact that Duke, UVA, and Maryland lost to Richmond, William & Mary, and Middle Tennessee State? Or is it the fact that we have no national champion contender again? Maybe it’s because week after week, we beat ourselves? But really, the worst out of the 6 power conferences?

Well unlike these people that like to spread their speculative non-sense, I’m giving you the facts! Yes they are somewhat subjective (honest, I’m trying not to be), but the facts are still there. So let’s go over a few details before we dive right in.

First, I am not writing about the Hokies this week, because frankly I don’t want to. Last Thursday, they completely demoralized me. The Hokies did, not UNC (but as advertised their defense is very good). The whole team just looked bad, and there isn’t just one thing to blame. Let’s take a look at my Recipe for Success from last week: 1) No turnovers – two very costly fumbles that at first set the tone for the game, and then just ended it. 2) Limit the penalties – a pointless holding penalty cost us a TD, 3) Make them throw on us – they had 181 rushing yards and only 131 passing yards (although they did throw on us in the red zone for 2 TD), 4) Protect Tyrod – the line actually held its own against a great defensive front for UNC, yes it could have been better, but seriously Tyrod just throw the ball away instead of running around in the backfield for 10 seconds, 5) Big plays from Tyrod – he was only 11/23 for 161 yards and -8 rushing yards, and his longest play was a 22 yard pass. So there you go, that’s why we lost.

Ok, I lied, one more thing about the Hokies. The only thing that I liked about the game against UNC was Tyrod being a leader. Even if he made a few bad throws and danced around in the pocket a bit too much, he still drove us down the field on our big TD drives. And more importantly, I think, when Williams fumbled to basically seal the deal for UNC, Tyrod was the first to put an arm around him, walk him off the field, and encourage him. This is a favorable matchup against ECU this week and we should run all over them Marshall style. Hopefully Ryan Williams has recovered mentally.

Second, getting back on track, the best way I could think to rate conferences is record against other “good” teams. I started by looking at records against BCS at large teams. So I looked up every conferences record against the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, and SEC. I also sprinkled in a few other teams that we’ll say are BCS buster types. Those teams are Notre Dame, Houston, TCU, Utah, BYU, and Boise St. So we’ll consider only these as “good” teams. I considered Central Michigan and Navy, but after last week’s games I decided against it.

Third, another thing I tracked was inexcusable losses. What I mean by this is what we’ll call an “ACC loss” (see first paragraph). The ACC wasn’t the only conference doing this; just ask Colorado and the Big 12.

Finally, there are a few things I did not consider. I did not consider conference games. Does it matter that Washington beat USC, Illinois beat Michigan, or that Maryland somehow beat Clemson? I mean does that really make the conference worse? I also don’t consider national championship contenders. The past few years I might have considered it, but this is such a mediocre year in college football that I’m just tossing this out altogether. Another reason for this is because the SEC is about the only conference that has legitimate contenders this year in my opinion and I have them ranked 1st anyway. Texas can go out and play someone if they want consideration…

So without further ado, here’s my Controversial Conference Rankings!

1) SEC (7-5 against BCS, 1 inexcusable loss) – I hate to reward a team with my #1 ranking when it has by far the weakest out of conference schedule of any BCS conference, but you can’t overlook the fact that Florida, Alabama, and LSU are all ranked in the top 10, and that the winner of the 3 will play for the national championship. But after that, there are only a handful of good teams: South Carolina, Tennessee, and maybe Georgia, Ole Miss, or Auburn. Also, Florida and Ole Miss have yet to play another BCS team out of conference, and only Mississippi State has played more than 1. That’s just terrible… By comparison, every ACC, Big East, and Pac-10 team have played at least one non-conference game against a good opponent. Man up SEC!

Big Wins: Bama over VT, Auburn over WVU, Georgia over Arizona State, and Arkansas over Texas A&M.

Bad Losses: Tennessee losing at home to a UCLA team that hasn’t won a single game in the Pac-10 and an inexcusable loss for Vandy against Army.

2) Pac-10 (8-8, 1 inexcusable loss) – The gap between the Pac-10 and the SEC is closer than most people think. Could Florida and Alabama beat Oregon and USC right now? I’m actually not so sure. And unlike the SEC, the Pac-10 doesn’t have such a dramatic drop off. Cal, Stanford, Oregon State, and Arizona are all good teams. Plus Washington, Arizona State, and UCLA might be better than the likes of Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt. But Washington State is just atrocious. You know what else!? The Pac-10 has gone out and played 16 good opponents compared to 12 for the SEC with two less teams. I should have put them #1 just to send a message…

Big Wins: USC over Ohio State and Notre Dame, Oregon over Purdue and Utah, and UCLA over Tennessee in Knoxville. Yes I realized that this mostly only comes from 2 teams.

Bad Losses: Stanford’s loss to Wake Forest isn’t horrible, but Wake might not even make a bowl game, and Washington State lost an inexcusable game to Hawaii at home.

3) Big East (5-8, 0 inexcusable losses) – I guess you could argue that the way Cincinnati is playing, gives the Big East a national championship contender, but I’m not buying it. Yes they are undefeated, yes they have looked great doing it, but your signature wins are against Oregon State and Fresno State. And Fresno’s not even a state! But this is conference ranks. And the Big East more than anyone else has won the games they are supposed to, and don’t have any huge slip ups. They’re also going out and playing a lot of good non-conference games at 13. And with only 8 teams in the Big East they have more “good” non-conference games per team than any other BCS conference. That said they haven’t been against the best teams…

Big Wins: Cincy over Oregon State, and South Florida over Florida State. See those are the best of the 5 wins.

Bad Losses: The worst would be NCST giving Pitt its only loss. There are no inexcusable losses.

4) ACC (9-10, 4 inexcusable losses) – This is the point I’m getting to, the ACC isn’t afraid to play anyone! Year after year, the ACC plays the most non-conference games against BCS schools and good opponents. And when they do, they do alright. This year I would say there are probably 8 good teams in the ACC, which is more than any other conference with my biased counting (there might be 8 in the SEC as well). The ACC Coastal by itself is 6-3 against good non-conference teams! The problem this year is the massive amount of embarrassing losses from the likes of Maryland, Wake, UVA, and Duke. That’s what drops the ACC below the Big East in these rankings even with significantly more big wins.

Big Wins: Miami over Oklahoma, Florida State over BYU, Virginia Tech over Nebraska, Wake Forest over Stanford, UNC over UCONN, NCST over Pitt for its only loss, Georgia Tech over Mississippi State, and UVA crushing Indiana and giving them their biggest loss of the year. The ACC has the most big non-conference wins, but who cares about that right? The ACC sucks!

Bad Losses: So yeah here’s where it gets ugly. UVA losing to William & Mary and Southern Miss, Duke losing to Richmond, Maryland losing to MTSU, and Wake losing to Navy and Baylor (wouldn’t be too bad if Baylor had won a single conference game).

5) Big Ten (5-8, 1 inexcusable loss) – So looking at the Big Ten from afar you might say to yourself 5 wins, 8 losses, only 1 inexcusable loss, Iowa as a national champion contender, this is a good conference. That is far from true the deeper you dig. Their 5 wins are against Notre Dame, Arizona, Syracuse twice, and Iowa State. And while they only have 1 loss I deem inexcusable, they have 3 really bad ones on top of that. Throw in the fact that Iowa is a threat to lose every week, and this conference starts to look a little soft. Somehow 4 teams are ranked from the Big Ten! Getting ranked for no reason, now that’s Big Ten football!

Big Wins: Michigan over Notre Dame, and Iowa over Oregon State.

Bad Losses: Indiana getting killed by UVA, Syracuse beating Northwestern, Michigan State losing to Central Michigan, and the inexcusable Purdue losing to Northern Illinois.

6) Mountain West (5-10, 4 inexcusable losses) – I’m shocked myself! I ran the numbers and the Big 12 is actually that bad. No point in wasting time too much time on the Mountain West, but TCU won at UVA and at Clemson, Utah killed Louisville, and BYU beat Oklahoma. Also Colorado State stepped up and beat Colorado as well. Their bottom feeders have a lot of bad losses, so no need to dig into it, but just know the Mountain West won more games against good non-conference teams than the Big 12 and played more good non-conference games than the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, and Big East. Props to the Mountain West and hopefully TCU busts up some of these teams in a BCS game.

7) The Texas Conference, wait sorry, Big 12 (4-10, 3 inexcusable losses) – It’s hard to believe how far the Big 12 has fallen. They are apparently the new Pac-10. And don’t get me wrong, I think Texas, Oklahoma, OKST, Texas Tech, and maybe even Texas A&M and Nebraska are all good teams, but they really haven’t shown it at all. I mean for a conference that was supposed to compete with the SEC for best overall, what happened? The only teams that won a good non-conference game were Oklahoma State, Kansas, Missouri, and Baylor. And just look below who those were against! And yes, that means Texas did not and will not play a good non-conference game all season. No wonder they’re undefeated…

All wins: These aren’t even that good, but anyway… Oklahoma State over Georgia, Kansas over Duke, Missouri over Illinois, and Baylor over Wake Forest. Everyone else played scrubs or lost! The conference’s 2nd best non-conference win was Duke!

Bad Losses: Kansas State is winning the Big 12 North and lost two of its first three games to UCLA and Louisiana-Lafayette, Colorado lost its first two to Colorado State and Toledo. And Oklahoma lost two games there were the favorite in against Miami and BYU.


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In summary, we shouldn’t play in a system that rewards teams for playing nobodies non-conference. Does Texas really deserve to be #2 when they have played weak non-conference games, and the good teams they have beaten haven’t performed this season? Oh well, with secret voting ballots, rewarding teams that will bring a lot of fans and revenue over teams that you know actually perform, and officials who make calls that seemingly benefit any championship contender, what do you expect? I mean everyone has made it completely obvious that no team outside of the SEC, Big 12, USC, or the state of Florida has a chance to win the national championship. Come on basketball! At least there’s a tournament there…

Hokies Week 9 Blog - UNC's Spooky Defense

Before we get started, Happy Halloween!!! Carve up a pumpkin and get your costumes ready, it’s the Halloween Hokies Blog!


No reference needed, I'm that good.

If you need a last minute college football costume idea, I’m here for you. Pat Forde also did this, but I promise I was giving these ideas out before his article hit ESPN. The only overlap was an SEC official and the Tebow one (but mine’s a little more offensive). So if you haven’t found a costume yet here’s what I suggest. My favorite is Lou Holtz. Dress up in ND gear, big, thick glasses, say the most ridiculous semi-related-to-football-but-not-at-all sayings like “the key to winning in college football is surrounding yourself with people that love you,” and spit on people all night. “Thhwick or Thweat” just rolls off the tongue and dribbles down the chin. I do like the SEC ref one (ref outfit, Florida shirt underneath, throw flags at people behaving well), but since Forde beat me too it (like I compete with him for readers…), I’ll let him have it. But unlike his Tebow idea (ice pack, bruised up, and halo), I say go all out! The Gator of God, Jesus Tebow! This could get offensive fast, so I’ll leave it up to your imagination and let you do this at your own discretion. But if you want to be a little more PC, you could go with Nun Tebow which my roommate just suggested. The Cody Grimm Reaper, LaGarrette Blount, Joe Paterno, Charlie Weis, and Ralph Friedgen are all fun, easy options as well. Or you could be Cavman. Wear an orange and navy jump suit with a cape and goofy hat, get a saber, but most importantly you need a horse on a stick and put your arm in a sling and tell people all night how football isn’t important to you and that education, wearing suits, and drinking cosmos are. Silly Virginia Tech serfs, let them have their football.


http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?p=4377082

This has been a scary year in college football. And just for in time for Halloween, here are the scariest things so far: the Darren Evan pre-season injury, the Hokies strength of schedule, the chaos that will ensue after the final BCS standings when you have 6 undefeated teams left, the fact that regardless of who goes to the national championship game 95% of the people who watch college football will think it’s the wrong choice, that there are 3 teams in the ACC coastal that could win the Big 10, but the ACC is still regarded as the worst conference, the hype Tebow and McCoy are still getting for the Heisman even though they have been far from outstanding, Dr. Lou, Notre Dame and Ohio State/Penn State could get undeserved at large BCS bids over teams like TCU and Boise State, horrible, horrible officiating especially in the biggest SEC games, the complete mediocrity of even the best teams this year, how bad preseason rankings are and how much weight they carry to this point, teaching your players illegal blocking then mouthing off to the classiest coach in college football who brought it up as a safety issue (I said it!), the same intro songs all season featuring Dave Matthews, the fat Mitch Hedberg looking guy who does the ACC one, and every country music singer, the fact that the Hokies are relying on two teams from North Carolina to upset GT and spring us to the ACC Championship game, Tyrod Taylor has the 4th best passer rating in the country, announcers across the country, and Holly Rowe.

But here’s something I’m not scared of at all: losing to UNC tomorrow night!

The defense is actually pretty scary. They are very talented upfront and at linebacker, and the secondary is pretty good too. They are the best defensive line as a whole the Hokies have faced. They don’t have freaks on the line such as Terrence Cody, Ndemakong Suh, Derrick Morgan, or any of the other outstanding linemen the Hokies O-line has battled, but top to bottom they are stacked. They are all big and fast. And they’re led by outstanding defensive end, Robert Quinn. This kid really gets after the QB. He has 30 tackles, 11 for a loss, which includes 7 sacks. He also has 5 hurries and 3 forced fumbles. The linebackers are just as good with Quan Sturdivant being the anchor of the entire D. He leads the team in tackles with 48, has 8.5 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles and returned one for a TD. He’ll be playing for big time money soon.

This means that UNC is poised to stop the run. I’m not saying they will, but they have the personnel to do it for sure. However, they have been giving up big plays in the passing game all year. In their game against Florida State a week ago, UNC gave up 395 yards in the air to Ponder and couldn’t stop an 18 point comeback that started midway through the 3rd quarter. And so far this season Tyrod has been great! He’s 4th in the country in passer rating at 159.9. You take away the batted ball interception and hail marry against GT and he’s probably 2nd or 3rd. And he’s a QB at VT! So far this season, he has the highest rating a VT QB has had since Jon Strock. Also, our receivers are raw and the UNC secondary will be overmatched. I’m not saying we are going to light up the scoreboard, but we will get our touchdowns!

So let’s take a look at the matchup between UNC’s offense and our defense. If UNC’s defense is scary, their offense is like Casper. Coming into this year everyone was hyping how good their passing attack would be with Yates, Little, and their freshman WR weapon, Highsmith. They also have a great 1-2 punch in the backfield with Draughn and Houston. But here’s the thing, their offensive line sucks! It’s absolutely atrocious. Think back the last few years at the Hokies offensive lines and how bad they were. This one is so much worse! Because of this, their running backs aren’t pounding it on the round game, and Yates simply doesn’t have time to find his open receivers. This has led to 8 interceptions with 7 TDs, and they are giving up 2.5 sacks a game.

Here’s a quick look at how their offense has done against teams that get a BCS bid. This eliminates the routes of the Citadel, East Carolina, and Georgia Southern (which I thought was an energy provider…). The games you are left with are a win over UCONN, and losses to GT, UVA, and FSU. In the UCONN game, UNC scored a whopping 12 points on 268 yards in a game they somehow won (holding penalty in the endzone for the safety for the final score). Against GT they scored 7 points on 154 yards. Against UVA, 3 points with 174 yards. They did have a somewhat respectable game against FSU scoring 27 points with 333 yards. But that’s actually one of the better defensive performances FSU has had all season. That’s an average of 12 points and 232 total yards a game. If you throw in their garbage games, they’re still averaging less than 300 yards a game and are ranked 114th in total offense! There is only one BCS conference team below them. Any guesses? It’s UVA. Go ACC! Moral of the story: they are terrible. And we are the best defense they will face this season.

Just one last note before moving on. I rarely talk about special teams, but I wanted to point out that Dyrell Roberts is #1 in the nation in kick return average with over 40 yards per return. Suck on that C.J. Spiller. On to the Recipe for Success!

Recipe for Success:

1) No turnovers – So far this season we have been good about not giving the ball up, and UNC has been bad at forcing turnovers (and great at giving it away), but turnovers hurt in our last game, and they are the only way UNC has a chance in this game.

2) Limit the penalties – This is something we have been pretty bad at the last few games. They need to play smarter on both sides of the ball and quit getting in a bad position because of a foolish penalty.

3) Make Yates throw on us – Their pass game has been just dreadful this season, so shut down Draughn and Houston early and make them throw it. It’ll lead to turnovers and three-and-outs.

4) Protect Tyrod – UNC has a great front 7, so the offensive line and other blockers really need to step it up and protect our QB. And if they can do this it will lead to…

5) Big plays from Tyrod – They are going to stack the box and in all likelyhood they will shut down Williams to a larger extent than any game leading into this one. Taylor will need to make big plays with his arm and feet in this game to win.

Prediction:

UNC is just bad on offense… Couple that with the fact that this is the only night game in Blacksburg, we destroy people any time of day there, we’ve had an extra week to prepare, we’re out for blood after the GT game, Virgil, Williams, Graves (who was literally chopped down at the ankle against GT), and everyone else has had more time to recover, we’ve always owned Butch Davis, this is the best offense VT has had in years, we own Thursday nights, and Brent Bowden is going to pump up the crowd by playing Enter Sandman then the entire game could play out like the first half against BC. But I’ll give credit to their defense.

Hokies win 27-10. I’m about 90% sure the player of the game will be Tyrod Taylor in this one. It’ll be too hard to come by rush yards. I guess Worilds could get like 4 sacks, but I still like Tyrod.

Hokies Week 8 Blog – Tebow already awarded Heisman?

With the Hokies off this week, I thought I would take the opportunity to go through the players I think deserve the Heisman. Plus I don’t really want to get into how GT outcoached, outplayed, outpayed the refs, and demoralized us.

The Heisman trophy is awarded to “the most outstanding player in collegiate football.” I assume when they originally decided on giving out this award they meant outstanding as in “standing out among others of its kind,” “prominent,” and “superior.” But with the hype so far this season for the same old faces of McCoy, Tebow, and Bradford (not as much anymore with the shoulder injury), maybe they mean outstanding as in “still in existence” or “unresolved.” How about the voters forget the hype of preseason and performances of last year and pick from the players that are setting themselves apart this year! Where is the mention of Dion Lewis, Mark Ingram, the amazing Ryan Williams, Ryan Matthews, or A.J. Green? Or any defenders like Ndemkong Suh, Relondo McClain, Gerald McCoy, Jerry Hughes, Adrian Clayborn, or Tyler Sash? Actually where is the mention of any non-SEC/Big12 QB? When did this become the best QB in college football award? And the way things are going why not just hand it out preseason?

Oh wait. They did? They already handed it out? Don't they know there's 6 weeks to play? Ladies and gentlemen, everyone congratulate the 2009 Heisman winner, Tim "the Second Coming" Tebow! Don't worry that's not blasphemous, because it's his second Heisman. That's what I was going for... They said the same about Archie Griffin I'm pretty sure.


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If I were a voter, I would actually evaluate each player and breakdown why they should be awarded this most prestigious of awards. To do this, I would look at each player from three angles:

1) Is this player replaceable? – To be the most outstanding player you have to be one of a kind. How would his team do without him? For example, I think Colt McCoy is a great QB, but so far this season I think Texas is still undefeated without him. Texas is winning on defense this year and just getting it done on offense. Maybe Sergio Kindle, Sam Acho, and Earl Thomas should get more love from the Heisman voters as they have been just as important as McCoy in Texas’ success so far.
2) Are the stats impressive? – While they can be misleading, stats are still a good way to help gauge a player’s outstandingness. The likes of Colt Brennan and any Texas Tech quarterback in recent history have put up outstanding statistics, but a lot of that is the team’s scheme. Also, do the big games come in garbage games? Some stats are more impressive than others.
3) Would I want this player at the next level? – This question I would weigh less than the other two, but to put it frankly would I want the Tennessee Titans to take this player #1 overall next year? (If you saw the game against the Patriots where the two Titans QBs put up a performance of 2/14 for -7 yards, 3 INTs, and 3 fumbles in a 59-0 blowout, you’d agree they’ll pick at least in the top 3). And you do have to take this with a grain of salt since the NFL values raw and physical talent, but still would you say Troy Smith is more outstanding than Darren McFadden, Steve Slaton, Ray Rice, or Calvin Johnson? Because he won the Heisman by a landslide.

So with these three questions in mind who would I vote for? Heisman voters get three votes, but I need way more than that. But keep in mind, my ballot would only list my top 3. But for your reading pleasure I’ve listed the top 10 most outstanding players in the country.

1) Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame) – I really hate to say anything good about Notre Dame, but Clausen meets all my criteria. He is absolutely irreplaceable. ND probably wouldn’t even make a bowl game without him, and they could win 10 games and go to a BCS game this year. He is statistically the best QB I’m considering with 1804 yards, 65% completion, 14 TD, and only 2 INT with a QB rating of 166.4. And I think he could play well at the next level. Plus, he’s doing this against decent teams.

http://nbcsportsmedia1.msnbc.com/j/NBCSports/Components/Photo-Sports/September/080905_JimmyClausen_h.h2.jpg

2) Mark Ingram (Alabama) – With McElroy being relatively quiet in Alabama’s big games, Mark Ingram has carried the load. In games against VT and SEC opponents, Ingram has rushed for more than 140 yards and at least 1 TD in every game except the win over Arkansas. He was held in check that game but still found the end zone twice. He is currently 3rd in rush yards with 906, is averaging 6.7 yards per carry and has 8 TDs. While the defense for the Tide is carrying the team, without Ingram they could be a two loss team.
3) Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska) – There are a couple reasons I’m putting Suh here: I don’t like how the Heisman is never a defensive player, Suh is a one man wrecking ball, and I don’t want Tebow in my top 3. Nebraska isn’t nearly the defense it is without Suh. He stops the run up the middle (36 tackles, 7.5 for a loss), gets after the QB (3 sacks, 5 hurries), and bats the ball down (7 pass deflections and 1 INT). And all from the nose tackle! Bottom line, there isn’t a single other player like Suh, he is truly one of a kind.
4) Tim Tebow (Florida) – Tebow is a really good college football player and will probably win the Heisman if Florida goes undefeated. Like Suh he is one of a kind. Without Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy, the offense is solely on Tebow. And so far he has produced. By produced I mean squeaked by Tennessee, Arkansas, and LSU. Since when has just getting the job done been so outstanding? But, he has completed 65.6% of his passes, has 8 passing TDs, only 2 INTs, and a QB rating of 164.6. He also has 63 yards per game rushing with 5 TD. But I think if Florida goes undefeated, it will be because of their #1 defense in the country. Slow dual threat QBs don’t typically do well at the next level either. Just ask the Hefty Lefty Jared Lorenzen.

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5) Ryan Williams (Virginia Tech) – When Darren Evans went down, everyone thought that VT’s running game was in trouble. Not me! I knew Ryan Williams would be a stud. Through 7 games, Williams has 999 total yards and is averaging 6 yards per carry. He also has 11 TDs and has opened up the passing game for Tyrod Taylor, something Evans couldn’t do last year.
6) Ryan Matthews (Fresno St) – With 974 rushing yards, Ryan Matthews is leading the country, and he hasn’t been held below 100 yards yet. Take him out of the offense and Fresno State isn’t competing with the likes of Boise State, Wisconsisn, and Cincinnati. Matthews is averaging a ridiculous 7.4 yards per carry, and ran for 234 yards and 3 TD with an average of 12.3 per rush against the same Boise State team that held LeGarrette Blount to -5 yards.
7) Tony Pike (Cincinnati) – Cincinnati has come out firing, and is surprisingly undefeated. Tony Pike has carried his team on his back with victories over Rutgers, Oregon State, Fresno State, and South Florida. Pike has completed 64.3% of his passes for 1633 yards, 15 TDs, and only 3 INT. He has a passer rating of 155.1, but his value to his team could be revealed in the next few games if his wrist doesn’t heal in a hurry.
8) Case Keenum (Houston) – Keenum is leading the country in yards (2462) and TDs (19) by a decent margin. He is also leading Houston to a great season with wins over Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Mississippi State. Even in Houston’s lone loss to UTEP, Keenum threw for 536 yards and 5 TD. He’s likely to throw for over 5000 yards and 40 TDs again this season, but the competition just isn’t there.
9) Dion Lewis (Pitt) – Freshman running back Dion Lewis has already racked up 918 yards this season (2nd in the country). He also has 10 TDs and has carried Pitt to a 6-1 start. The running could get a little tougher with USF, WVU, and Cincinnati still to come.
10) Jacory Harris (Miami) – Jacory Harris has led Miami to the Top 10 for the first time in a long time. Without him, Miami is probably 2-4. The reason he isn’t higher than 10 is that his stats aren’t overly flashy: 1518 yards, 11 TD, 7 INTs, with a rating of 157.3. But with the remaining schedule for Miami, Harris has the best chance to put up good numbers and climb up the Heisman rankings.

Runners up: Tyler Sash or Adrian Clayborn (Iowa, DB or DE), A.J. Green (Georgia, WR), Toby Gerhart (Stanford, RB), Ryan Mallet (Arkansas, QB), Jerry Hughes (TCU, DL). No, Colt McCoy isn’t in my top 15…

Hokies Week 7 Blog - Option Offense, Optional Defense

To begin, last week was the most complete game I have seen VT play in years. The Hokies handed it to the Boston College (finally) in every facet of the game. It was a beautiful thing to watch once I woke up, I still had sleep my eyes for a noon kickoff. How are you supposed to get a reasonable tailgate in before noon?!?! Anyway, I won’t go too much into the game since it was so one-sided but here are a few highlights: We put up 441 yards on a decent defense (a better defense than we’ll see this week, oh snap!). BC had a total of 3 yards in the first half. 3!!! That’s 5 inches per play. Ryan Williams (182 yards, 1 TD) and Tyrod Taylor (7/10, 126 yards, 2 TD) both had great days and were rewarded with an early exit in the 3rd quarter once we were up by three dozen points. Ju Ju Clayton competed his first career pass, an 80 yard bomb to Marcus Davis (who caught his first career pass, an 80 yard bomb from Ju Ju Clayton). By the way, that gives Clayton a QB rating of 220.4 for his college career. David Wilson found the endzone for the first time since the Marshall explosion. We got 3 takeaways with Carmichael grabbing an INT and going 22 yards for a TD. We held their starting QB, Old Man Shinskie to 1/12 for 4 yards with 2 INTs. (Also I missed in the drinking game any baseball reference towards Shinskie by the announcers such as “high heat,” thanks to Andy for that one). So yes, a complete game! After all these years! It feels so good, that I don’t want to look forward to next week.

And why wouldn’t I want to do that? Because last game was so good, let’s just enjoy it for a little while. Because either way, me or the Fabulous and Wonderful Little Lady (who graciously proof reads these, and I left a few editorial notes in for this one) will be angry after the game is over. And because Georgia Tech runs the triple option which is a slightly gimmicky offense, but it is very effective. It’s actually a pretty old offense, but the teams that ran it decades before didn’t have QBs as good as Nesbitt or WRs as good as Demaryius “Bay-Bay” Thomas. Seriously, back to back y-i in your name? Nice… The problem is there isn’t too much you can do to prepare for it. You just need all your defenders to play their role and cover their man. And because of this, whoever ends up with the ball for GT will have basically a 1 on 1 battle with a defender to make a big play. That is if Paul Johnson’s guys up front for GT can effectively chop block the line without it being called for a penalty. Expect GT to hand out chop blocks left and right, but if you can’t get one, you can buy one online at ramblinwreckstore.com “where we celebrate cheating, potentially career ending blocking”:


http://images.footballfanatics.com/productImages/_361000/FF_361565_l.jpg

(LL editorial note 1: We learned our cheating ways from UGA. If you don’t cheat a little against them then they’ll definitely win. Also at least we don’t purposefully step on people like a QB did at lesser technical school…)

With this system, you can see how GT is averaging 277 rush yards a game (4th in the nation). But unlike last season, GT has been able to make some big passes off play action. Thomas already has 620 yards and 4 TDs, and that’s only off 26 receptions. This has made GT’s offense that much more potent this season. In their last two games, GT has scored 42 and 49 points against Mississippi State and Florida State. And in those two games they have averaged around 500 yards. They didn’t even have to punt against FSU! It doesn’t matter how good of a defense they are going against, they are going to make a few big plays and score TDs. They have too many skill players not too. Dwyer, Nesbitt, Thomas, Allen, and even Hill who has been mostly quiet this season all have the ability to take the ball 30+ yards and score. And they’re going up against a defense that so far has been inconsistent and has given up big plays on the ground and through the air.

So if they are going to score a lot against us what can we do? Well we’ll just have to score more! Remember when I said GT has put up around 500 yards per game the last 2 games against MSU and FSU? Well MSU and FSU have put up an average of 515 yards against GT! They didn’t stop the run or pass in either game with both MSU and FSU going for more than 200 yards in each category. Aside from UNC and a Periloux-less Jacksonville State, they haven’t stopped anything. Well, Derrick Morgan has stopped to take a breather quite a bit. And everyone is stopping UNC these days. The secondary was supposed to be the strength of the defense this season with Butler and Burnett, but they have given up big plays throughout the year. Derrick “Give me some oxygen” Morgan has gotten a lot of sacks, but hasn’t made the line as strong as expected. The defense is good as creating turnovers, but that’s about it so far. Duke might have a better defense. Duke!

So what does Virginia Tech need to do to win the game? On offense, they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. Since the miracle pass to Coale in the Nebraska game, the Hokies offense has been on fire. They have been running and passing all over the competition, and have shown that even if you can shut out Ryan Williams and the running game for 3 quarters, Tyrod will pass all over you and eventually the running game will wear you out. Another key is that we have to continue to hold onto the ball and not turn it over. We’ve done great so far this year, but you can’t afford turnovers to a team like GT.

On defense, they simply need to play assignment football and wrap up the ball carriers. GT will probably have some big plays. I mean, I can already see Chancellor biting on the run and getting burned deep a few times, but hopefully Carmichael will be in Thomas’ pocket all game. I can also see Chancellor biting on the run, but the wrong one… And I can say the same for our interior LBs Barquell Rivers and Jake Johnson. But there is good news! All three of our “give up the big play” defenders are way better at stopping the run than pass. And that’s the key to beating GT. Plus, even if they do misplay a few downs, you know Cody Grimm “the Reaper” will be there to clean up the mess. He could end up with 20+ tackles this game! And even with Thomas at WR, Nesbitt is still an iffy passer at best. He’s pulling a Reggie Ball and just heaving it towards Thomas hoping he makes the play. And occasionally he’s heaving it to the defense or 20 yards past his receiver. Dude is only completing 50% of his passes and most of those are the screens they run. Actually 3.4% of his passes are going to the defense, compared to 0.9% for Tyrod. (LL editorial note 2: He’s a thousand times better than Ball…I hate that guy.) Miami shut down GT’s offense with their speed. Clemson shut out GT for 3 quarters. It can be done! And I’m not saying we will, but VT has the personnel to do it. Our line is quick and nasty, our linebackers and safeties specialize in stopping the run, and our corners are good tacklers. It just comes down to winning each 1 on 1 battle. And that brings us to the Recipe for Success! Also, I have a sweet recipe for Apple BBQ Pork Tenderloin at the end of this if you’re interested. Because I’ve discovered a new hobby – brining.

Recipe for Success:

1) Keep it up Stiney! – for the 2nd week in a row, my recipe for offense success is to keep doing what it’s doing. If Stiney can dial up another good game plan, GT will be unlikely to stop the run or pass based on how both teams have played the last few games.
2) No Turnovers – We absolutely can not afford to turn the ball over against GT, they are good at taking the ball away and are good at making the team pay for it.
3) Get up early – Miami won because GT got down 2 scores and had to start throwing the ball. While Thomas is a playmaker, GT doesn’t want to throw the ball often.
4) Win your 1 on 1 battle – the key to stopping this team flat out is stopping the man you’re assigned. And if that man has the ball you must take him down because you might not have another line of defense.
5) Cover Thomas deep – Carmichael will have his hands full this weekend, as I think Thomas might be the best receiver we play this year (maybe 2nd to Julio). He is certainly the best in the ACC. And at a triple option GT, weird right? Also, Thomas has 26 of 37 catches for the team, so I wouldn’t worry about them throwing to anyone else.

Final score: 38 - 24 VT. Player of the game: Cody Grimm with 39 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 2 FF, and 1 FR. Or maybe I should just go with Ryan Williams again… It has been the safest bet of the year. Nah! Give me the REAPER!

There is no more football talk from here.

Recipe for Apple BBQ Pork Loin:

Get a nice tasty pork loin. It is very important to rinse it and pat it dry if you plan on brining. Then put it in a storage bag.

Brine:
1 cup Apple juice (could also do ½ cranberry and 1 cup water for first 2 ingredients if you prefer)
½ cup water
1 tbsp Worchestershire
1 ½ tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp paprika
½ tbsp chili powder
½ tbsp dry mustar
½ tbsp pepper
1 tbsp Old Bay
½ tsp ginger

Heat liquids in a small pot and add all the dry ingredients. Once they are all dissolved and mixed in take the liquid off heat and let it cool (add some ice to speed the process). Be sure the liquid is about room temperature before adding it to a storage bag with your pork loin so it doesn’t start the cooking process. Let the pork loin soak up the deliciousness of this magic concoction for 10-12 hours. Make sure the pork is submerged in the brine, if not add a little water and salt. You should add 1 tbsp of salt per cup of water, so if you just ad a splash of water add a pinch of salt. You can brine for up to 24 hours, but if you leave it in the brine too long the meat will turn to mush. I’d say 18 hours or less to say safe. And this only applies to pork, each animal has different brining times.

Dry Rub:
1 tbsp coarse Salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
Rinse the brine off the pork loin (you probably don’t want to go straight into cooking it with this mixture as it will be very salty). Mix ingredients or just eyeball them and sprinkle them on and rub into meat.

Apple BBQ Sauce:
2 cups of apple sauce or smashed up apples
1-2 tbsp oil
¼ diced onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp brown sugar
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup water
¼ cup honey
¼ cup apricot preserves (or peach, apple, whatever)
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp chili sauce (I love Chili Garlic Sauce by Huy Fong)


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Pre-heat oven to 350. Put oil in a pan on med-low heat and add onion. Simmer for 4 min and add garlic and apples (if using applesauce add them with other wet ingredients). Cook for another 2-3 minutes till onions are soft, and add all the remaining ingredients stirring constantly. Simmer for 15 minutes. Put pork loins in lightly greased aluminum foil and poor BBQ sauce over them. I double wrapped them in foil and put them in a big dish to be safe. Cook at 350 for 1 hour. Let sit for 10 min, unwrap, cut, and serve! You could also grill it for the last 10, but I can’t. Regardless it’s so good…


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Not mine, but pictures are fun.

Hokies Week 6 Blog – BC addition

I didn’t do a preview of our game last week, but maybe I should have. Although it would have been completely wrong. To my credit though, I was telling people all week that Duke is better than people think. They have a pretty good defense and a playmaker at QB. That said it’s still Duke! I am still shocked how they were able to shut down the running game 3 quarters, and I’m even more shocked that Tyrod went 17-22 for 327 yards! What a game for the young man. But a win’s a win, and you should be happy with it regardless of your opponent. Just ask Houston and Michigan. You should play better after I hype you up Houston. I’m very disappointed in you.

So what can we expect this week against BC? To be honest, I really don’t know. On paper they’re good, but I really don’t see the talent, and the jury is still out on how good any of the teams they played are. They have 2 noteworthy wins against Wake Forest (in OT) and Florida State. But Wake Forest lost to Baylor, who doesn’t have another convincing win, but beat NCST and Stanford who I think are both decent teams. Wake even put up around 500 yards in their OT loss to BC, but turnovers hurt them throughout. And don’t even get me started on FSU. I think they’re a good team, and this is a good win for BC, but FSU could win out or lose out, and I wouldn’t be surprised either way (except for the beating Florida part). And then BC loses to Clemson? A team, that despite having one of the best playmakers in the country, has no offense. Clemson lost to Maryland! Maryland!

So yeah, who knows what BC brings to Blacksburg? Me, of course!

We will start with their offense. The offense is lead by Uncle Dave Shinskie who after 6 years of minor league baseball decided to go play QB at BC as a 25 year old freshman. He’ll graduate at age 28 and plans to teach and coach elementary school. He is a very atypical college player and has shown a lot of poise so far, and now that he knows the playbook he is playing well and winning games. He only played for a small part of the Clemson game going 1/1 for 2 yards, but in the last two games against Wake and FSU, he has gone 30/50 for 231 yards, 5 TDs, and 1 INT. He is a true pocket passer that won’t make too many plays with his legs, but the line has been sturdy for him so far. This is a good time to point out that the offensive line is the strength of the team. The other weapon BC has at its disposal is sophomore running back Montel Harris. Harris was held in check against Wake averaging 3.0 yards per carry, but bounced back for a career day against FSU running for 179 yards and 2 TDs on 25 carries (7.2 average). With runs of 42 and 48 this season, Harris has big play ability against a team that has given up big plays. And did I mention he’s running behind the strength of this strength of the team, offensive line. This is a good offense, but the Hokies have already faced 3 better offenses against the likes of Alabama, Nebraska, and Miami. You could also make the argument that Duke has a better QB, but we’ll settle with the previous statement. I know Shinskie was out against the Clemson game, but how many total yards do you think BC’s offense got that game? You’ll never guess it, and now I’m going to make you wait till later in the article.

The defense for Boston College has performed pretty well so far this season holding its 3 ACC opponents to 21-25 points each. The loss of last years ACC defensive player of the year, linebacker Mark Herzlich, has certainly hurt the Eagles, but the team has stepped up in his absence. That said, this is not the same defense that was #1 in the country last year with the likes of LB Herzlich, DT Raji, DT Brace, and LB Toal all missing from the lineup. The secondary might be the strength of the team, but they have given up 300+ pass yards in the last two games. Also, Clemson and Wake ran for 140+ yards. I said VT has faced 3 better offenses than BC, they’ve probably faced 3 better defenses as well.

Small aside. Good news on Herzlich, he announced on some radio show that he is 99.9% free of cancer and has been able to start hanging out with the team on the sidelines. Also, VT is planning on presenting Herzlich with a check for $9,400 (he’s #94) to help with the treatment costs at halftime of the game. I think that’s pretty neat. Oh and that’s twice what Clemson did, so hopefully we beat them twice as bad?

So like I was saying earlier, I am shocked by the Hokies performance against Duke last week for good and bad reasons. We’ll start with the good: our offense can throw the ball! Wait, what? Yep, Tyrod was putting the ball right where it needed to be and the receivers time after time went up and made big plays. And Ryan Williams got shut out through 3 quarters? I don’t understand… That’s a lie, I do. Duke put 8 in the box which explains both. But still! This is very un-Stinespring! To recognize what an opposing defense is doing, and then change up the game plan to take advantage. What!?!? Nothing about this season makes sense. And I can’t believe I’m going to say it. No I shouldn’t jinx it… But I want to give credit where it’s due. Hmm. I’m doing it. Since the Nebraska game, Stinespring has done a great job at play calling. I can’t believe I said it… Where was I? Right, our offense. Our offense has looked pretty solid the last 2 weeks, and we have shown the ability to run and pass. This is something we haven’t shown, umm, since I decided to go to VT in 2003. And since it’s only been the last 2 games, I should probably reel my hope and amazement back in. I’ve had my hopes crushed before (I’m looking at you Marcus), but right now things look good. I mean Tyrod threw for 327 yards! And Ryan Williams is the best RB we’ve had since Kevin Jones!

But now the bad… The defense continues to give up big plays (to Duke!). And now they are giving up long sustained drives (to Duke!). I am still completely impressed with how the defense (and especially the line) played against Miami. And I’m am a huge fan of Cody Grim “the Reaper” as he continues to make play after play. And the defense continues to lock down in the red zone (after the Alabama game we have only given up 2 TDs in the redzone). But 359 yards through the air to Duke! Unnecessary and costly penalties to extend scoring drives to Duke! Overall poor performance in the secondary to Duke! Also we have shown the inability to stop the run against Alabama and Nebraska. I’m not a fan of the inconsistency shown so far by the defense as a whole. So here’s my Recipe for Success!

Recipe for Succes:

1. Keep it up Stiney – I didn’t just say that… If we can continue to draw up good offensive game plans, we should have no problem scoring 30 on BC. And against BC, I think that means hand the ball off to our trio of backs as BC is soft up front, then pass over the top when they stack the box.
2. Stop Montel – The show and RB. Harris behind their O-line is probably BC’s biggest weapon. Make Shinskie throw on our secondary. Regardless of age he is still a freshman that hasn’t seen a defense as good as ours.
3. Pressure Shinskie – He hasn’t been pressured yet, but I think it’s about time. As good as their line is, they haven’t faced the likes of Jason Worilds (or Bud Foster).
4. Study the Clemson tape – I know it’s a different QB, but do whatever Clemson did to hold BC to 54 yards! See there’s the stat as promised. Reflect on that for a second. 54 yards throughout a whole game. Do you realize that’s less than a 1 yard per minute in the game?
5. No more big plays – Probably the most important factor for VT to win this game. We can not give up big plays. If we don’t, expect a score like we had against Miami, if we do, expect more of a score like Duke (hopefully with us being the winning team).
6. Get a turnover – I thought we lived on forcing turnovers. We are currently 92nd in the country averaging 1.4 takeaways a game. WTF Beamer Ball?

Prediction:

I really don’t know which way to go on this. The homer in me wants to look at the matchup and say our offense is better than their defense, and our defense is better than our offense, we should win big. But the pessimist in me says, I don’t know what to expect form our offense or defense and this is BC, and they always find a way to beat us or make a hard game out of it at least.

27-17 VT. 50% chance of showers, 95% chance of Ryan Williams getting 150 yards and 2 TDs and being the player of the game.


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And I must say I’m thrilled that Flutie quit working for ESPN and won’t be covering our game this year. I’m still pretty sure the ESPN2 announcing will enrage me with its Boston bias. I mean how many BC/VT games did Flutie cover? And how many times did they interview and show Matt Ryan? They gushed over him more last year than anyone on the field, actually more than all the players from both teams combined. If you’re playing at home and into this sort of thing, drink any time they say Flutie or Ryan. Chug the entire time they show a replay of Ryan’s winning pass or Flutie’s hail mary. We could make a game out of this… Drink any time they say how big Boykin’s hands are, say how “mature” Shinskie is, any time they praise Herzlich and mention cancer, any time they mention Tyrod’s scrambling ability, any time they say “Beamer Ball,” show the lunch pail dude in the stands, mention how well Frank Spaziani has done in his first year, mention how the Atlantic Division is up in the air, and how the ACC needs a national champion contender, and finish your beer if Herzlich cries at halftime. Yes the announcers are this predictable, and no you won’t be sober.

Hokies Week 5 Blog - Top 25

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I’ve decided that instead of writing a pregame for Duke I would share my view of the top 25 instead. It has been a long time dream of mine to be a voter in the AP poll. By long time, I mean since I started this blog, but still. And I’m also doing this because I do not like how group think does these polls currently. I’ve probably spent more time on this one meaningless poll than some people will spend on all of their polls for the whole season. And I especially hate how they have now made the coaches poll anonymous. That is the opposite of how these should work, you should be completely accountable and be able to defend why you put Ole Miss #4 when they haven’t shown you anything at all. Without further ado:

1. Alabama (4-0) – Of the unanimous top 3 everyone has, I think Alabama has done more to show why they belong. Completely controlling the game against our poor Hokies and a good Arkansas team show that the offense and especially the defense are first class. And McElroy is looking like a better QB than John Parker Wilson ever was.
2. Texas (4-0) – Was pretty much a coin flip with Florida, but they’ve beaten a good Texas Tech at home and still have a healthy Heisman hopeful. Next 4 games are Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma St. Finally we’ll get some of these teams tested!
3. Florida (4-0) – I think Tennessee and Kentucky might be two of the worst teams in the SEC this year, but they are still SEC teams. And even if Florida struggled a bit moving the ball against Tennessee’s D, Florida hasn’t come close to getting a scare. But how will they respond with Tebow being out with a brain.
4. Virginia Tech (3-1) – Yes I’m a homer, but the Hokies have knocked off #9 Miami, #19 Nebraska, and led 3 quarters against Alabama. At this point they are the best of the 1 loss teams based on performance, and there is no arguing it.
5. Houston (3-0) – Back to back wins against good Big 12 (South even!) opponents. Not even Oklahoma and Texas can say that. Yet at least… They have been the most impressive of the BCS busters through 4 weeks.
6. Cincinnati (4-0) – Tony Pike has looked solid at QB and has led the Bearcats to a 4-0 start. They have good wins at Oregon State and against Fresno State at home.
7. Boise State (4-0) – Uggghhh. I hate to rank them so high, but they handed it to a weird, but still good, Oregon team week 1, and beat a decent Fresno State. Will any team be able to beat Boise State the rest of the way? On paper, I’d say no.
8. Iowa (4-0) – After a scare week 1 against Northern Iowa, Iowa has been impressive with wins over Arizona and Penn State in Happy Valley. Their defense and special teams has them ranked as the best team in the Big 10 so far.
9. TCU (3-0) – Wins on the road against two ACC schools. Sure one was UVA, but the Clemson one looks at least somewhat respectable. Still pretty meh on these guys though.
10. Oklahoma State (3-1) – The big win over Georgia will go a long way this year, but the loss to Houston hurt. Who knows what will happen with Big 12 play starting.
11. Oregon (3-1) – A ridiculous week 1 game and melee with Boise State somehow dropped Oregon off everyone’s radar. Three wins over good teams (Purdue, #18 Utah, #6 Cal) and people remember you.
12. LSU (4-0) – I am absolutely not impressed with how they’ve won against teams like Washington, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State. Washington beating USC helps. But the fact remains, they are undefeated winning 3 games against SEC and Pac-10 teams. They could lose two games in the next three at Georgia, then Florida and Auburn at home though.
13. Miami (2-1) – Miami looked unstoppable on offense against FSU and GT, and shut down the Yellow Jackets run game completely. The U was back! Until it rained and they melted in Blacksburg. Huge matchup this weekend against a likely Bradfordless Oklahoma.
14. South Florida (4-0) – They are 4-0 and have won convincingly (the game at FSU wasn’t as close as the score). Who knows how good Florida State really is, but this win was still huge for the program.
15. Auburn (4-0) – Surprising start for Gene Chizik and the Tigers. The offense has looked great and Auburn already has two good wins against Miss St and WVU. And by good win against Miss St, I mean they won convincingly unlike a LSU team that scraped by. Haven’t played on the road yet though.
16. Georgia (3-1) – Only loss was a low scoring game against Oklahoma State (and here I thought they didn’t play defense in the Big 12), then won two shoot outs over USC and Arkansas (in the defensive SEC)?
17. USC (3-1) – Well they did beat Ohio State in the Horseshoe, but losing to Washington keeps USC rated so low. Do something on offense and I’ll move you back up.
18. BYU (3-1) – Impressive win over Oklahoma week 1, but got killed week 3 by a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde Florida State. How much of their opening win was due to a Heisman injury?
19. California (3-1) – Voters seem to have completely bailed on the Cal band wagon after the 42-3 shellacking Oregon handed to them. But Oregon is a good team, and Cal still beat a good Minnesota team. Cal/USC this weekend, tune in!
20. Georgia Tech (3-1) – Mediocre performance against Jacksonville St and most of the Clemson game, and a very poor showing in the loss to Miami, but GT bounced back well against #22 UNC.
21. Ohio State (3-1) – Tough loss to USC and ugly showing against Navy put Ohio State at 21. But they have rebounded with back to back shut outs against Toledo and Illinois and could climb to the top of the Big 10.
22. Oklahoma (2-1) – Has a better chance to get to the national championship than anyone outside the top 3, but show me something already, seriously… The game against Miami this Sat will go a long way for whoever wins.
23. Nebraska (3-1) – Totally putting Nebraska here to make the Hokies look better. So what? They’ve destroyed who they should have and hung tough in Blacksburg.
24. Penn State (3-1) – Maybe if you went out and played someone non-conference you’d be ready to take on a halfway decent team. Ranked 24 is generous from what Penn State has shown me.
25. Michigan (4-0) – The offense looks solid, but the only impressive win so far is against a Notre Dame team that really hasn’t shown how good it is. Schedule gets a little tougher in two weeks at Iowa, but at Michigan State next could be a trap game.

My apologies to Kansas (4-0), South Carolina (3-1), UCLA (3-0), and Wisconsin (4-0) who probably all 3 should beat out the likes of Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, and Michigan based on performance thus far.