So my good friend and roommate, while we were at VT, and I decided to start a Virginia Tech sports blog for a couple of reasons. We both are knowledgeable fans. We think we can offer some humor and entertainment to writing about something we both enjoy. We can write about VT without worrying about being extremely biased (especially me). And we’ve been drinking. That said, we’re off! Be warned I ramble…
3 hours before kickoff – I’m glad we started this week instead of last week so we don’t look like huge homers that think we’ll destroy Alabama...
I’ve decided for this first article, I would just do a game diary for several reasons. But mostly because we decided to start blogging for VT last night and the game is today. So that rules out any pregame nonsense, and this just makes sense since not everyone could go to the game or get ESPN 360.
Anyway, some quick thoughts going into the game. I think our defense is absolutely sick. They played well against Alabama, but when you’re on the field for 80% of the game, you are going to give up some points. The new inside linebackers looked pretty good, but they couldn’t stop the sweep last week (when it even seemed obvious that it was coming). But that was Alabama with big time playmakers at RB and WR and a big line. I don’t think Marshall scores more than 13 points on us, and I think they only have a single sustained drive. All of their few points will come off of turnovers or field position.
The offense looked horrible against Alabama. Credit to Alabama’s defense and McClain, but the Hokies had to do something on O, and they couldn’t. The only bright spots were the few carries they gave Ryan Williams. Williams showed he can be the man to carry the offense on his back as Evans did last year, but they didn’t give him enough chances. I mean, he ran 13 times for 71 yards. That’s and average of 5.5! Give the kid some touches. The passing game was just difficult to watch. We have the playmakers, but Tyrod needs to step up and hit them. And at what point is our offensive line going to be as good as they’re hyped up to be to start the season. “The Hokies have a lot of experience on the line this year; they should be the strength of the offense.” We’ve heard this before. I can’t believe I fell for it again… Year after year I do. If we struggle to move the ball today, a certain offensive coordinator should be on the hot seat. But I think the offense gets it together today and the game isn’t close.
Recipe for Success: What the Hokies should do is give the ball to the running backs all day, and rack up 300 yards on the ground. This will open up the passing game for later games as teams will start to respect our run. But here’s what we will do, come out passing to try and boost Tyrod’s confidence. But it will fail. We’ll get our touchdowns, but with a lot of 3 and outs and a few turnovers. If I were calling the game, Williams would have 100 yards in the first half, and then Wilson would get 75 in the 2nd half with Ogelsby getting 40 throughout.
We will win 38-10, with Williams as player of the game
2 hours till kickoff – Sweet new TV comes sometime between now and 1 according to Brian from Best Buy. We will now watch football in a sexy 50” version of fun. Except for our game today… Because our game is on ESPN 360 and we don’t have an HDMI cable to connect the computer to the TV. So thanks ESPN with your monopoly of screwing over local broadcasts of games. This means we’re watching Stanford destroy Wake in 50” goodness, while we are going to watch the Hokies on 12 inches of fuzzy ESPN 360 computer.
1 hour and a half – Holy shit this is a big TV. Time to get cooking. I’m making ribs and Hungarian Wax Poppers (it’s a type of pepper) to celebrate the Hokies home opener and the new TV.
20 min – But with Wake and UNC struggling, the ACC looks horrible. Any respect for the ACC is riding on the shoulders of Miami and FSU these next few weeks.
5 min – Been cooking frantically and everything is now complete. After 2 hours and 45 min the ribs are done and they are amazing!
Recipe for Oven Baked BBQ Ribs! (skip this section if you don’t care)
This is more of a method of cooking ribs, as I have failed to make good ones before. So I felt you wanted me to share how to make terrific, baked ribs. With only 3 of watching I only got 1 rack of baby back ribs, so double, triple accordingly. Also, you’ll want to refrigerate the ribs overnight in the BBQ sauce, so be prepared.
Dry Rub:
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp of salt
1 tbsp of pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp cayenne

Sauce:
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup chile sauce
¼ cup rum
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire
2 cloves garlic

Directions:
Simmer all ingredients for the sauce for 20 min on low-med heat (or just use your favorite BBQ sauce instead). Apply dry rub liberally to all surfaces of ribs and rub it in. Make sure you have big enough pieces of aluminum foil for the ribs (cut ribs into manageable sizes if not), and spray foil lightly with cooking spray. Place ribs in aluminum foil. Pour the BBQ sauce liberally over ribs. Wrap tightly and put in the fridge overnight.
Preheat oven to 300. Then cook the ribs for 2 hours 45 min. If I didn’t live in an apartment, I would cut the time by 30 min and grill them for 15 min. But alas. Add more sauce if you want, let them cool a little bit, then devour.
The Hungarian Wax Poppers are pretty good too (stuff with Italian sausage, cream cheese, parmesan, and a few spices and baked at 350) but it’s going to hurt to poop later.
KICKOFF!
1st Quarter:
12:30 – It’s like I know how Steinspring thinks… We force Marshall to punt, and then open the game with a bad pass down the field.
12:10 – See all you have to do is give it to Williams. Huge gain the first time he touches the ball. And they follow this up with? Another deep pass of course…
11:05 – First drive is over with 4 of 5 plays being pass plays. Got around 20 yards on the one run, and 6 yards combined on the pass plays. On Tyrod scrambling…
9:00 – Pretty soft zone on D with back to back open WRs down the field. Luckily both were ugly passes.
8:00 – Get the ball back, and Tyrod breaks a huge design run for 46 yards. When did Steiny start running the spread? We haven’t been under center yet.
6:30 – Running is so easy on these guys! It’s like I expected this.
5:30 – Uggghhhhh… Just run the ball. Tyrod intercepted in the endzone. Now we’re around 80 yards on run plays and the same 6 yards on passing plays (with 0 actual pass yards).
4:20 – 3 and out, then on the first play a 57 yard run by Williams for a TD! Man, I like being right.
2:30 – Haven’t talked D much. They’ve done a good job especially on the line. The secondary is letting people get open, but no damage so far. Special teams is looking good too.
1:00 – Hey! First completed pass! And it was a really good looking pass to Jarrett “Sausage Fingers” Boykin for 20 yards and a first down on 3rd and 14.
0:30 – Glad we brought the option back. It seems like it’s been a while since we ran it, and it’s not like we’ve had a shortage of mobile quarterbacks the last decade. Big gains by Taylor and Ogelsby to close the 1st quarter.
Overview – VT leads Marshall 7-0 with a big advantage on total yards at 191-34. Taylor has 20 yards passing completing 1/5 and 56 yards on the ground. Williams is leading the way and has 6 carries for 96 yards already! That’s an average of 14.3 yards a carry. And it’s only 7-0?
2nd Quarter:
14:15 – Steiny’s starting to figure it out. Williams runs in from 4 yards and gets TD #2. Offensive line is looking really good, and Tyrod is under center more now. (And Wake is finally starting to look good, not just because it’s on my sweet new TV in HD, but they’re moving the ball on O and not giving up anything on D.)
14:00 – Ha! Marshall’s running back’s name is Marshall. It took me this long to figure that out? That’s how you know this blog will be good. Nothing gets by me. Give me a break though, they haven’t been on the field at all today.
13:00 – Cam Martin out of Martinsville (this is fun) gets a stop and another Marshall 3 and out.
12:15 – Jayron Hosely runs back a punt 64 yards for another score! Special teams looks solid. Great blocking for Hosely on that run back. (Also, Wake ties it up 17-17! Come on ACC credibility!)
10:40 – Good drive by Marshall, the team, including a nice 60 yard TD run by Marshall, the RB. Two missed tackles and a bad job at containing him. He just ran into a mess of people the popped out to the right and was gone. 21-7 VT.
9:35 – Tyrod sacked on 3rd and 2. You know because we didn’t want to run for the short yardage because the pass is working so well and we aren’t averaging over 10 yards a carry. Tyrod’s stats so far: 1/6 passing, 20 yards, 1 INT, 1 sack. So we’re forced to punt.
7:35 – Another 3 and out and you can kiss Marshall’s momentum good bye.
7:20 – Guys on ESPN 360 reveal that apparently we’ve returned our entire coaching staff 3 years in a row. We are 1 of 5 FBS teams to do that. We’ve done so well on offense the last 3 years too, I can see why we would keep everyone.
6:30 – A nice scramble and dive by Tyrod extends the drive on a 3rd and 5. And Williams is looking slippery as he is dodging all these tackles.
5:40 – Great toss downfield to Coale. Finally! Williams follows it up with TD #3 for 30 yards. If you’re counting at home, that’s 5 TDs for Williams on the year, 2 TDs on returns, and well that’s it. Williams is just plain sick. I don’t really want Williams to be a backup in our running game this year or next year. Don’t take this the wrong way though, I mean I feel horrible for Evans, but I don’t want Williams splitting time. Except maybe with Wilson…
5:00 – Cam Martin is playing well today and just picked up another big tackle. And another 3 and out.
2:30 – Ogelsby in for Williams on this drive, and Tyrod comes out passing. Ogelsby gets 3 yards on a 4th and 1 at the 40.
1:50 – Couple of good passes and a great catch on the sidelines by Roberts.
1:30 – Wow. Tyrod just got 10 seconds of protections from the line and by scrambling around which leads to a 21 yard pass to Roberts for a TD. I think Roberts is a legit talent and could play at the next level.
Halftime – The Hokies’ D holds, and Tyrod takes a knee to take us into halftime. After 4 scores in the 2nd, the Hokies now lead 35-7. Hokies winning the total yardage battle 346-143. Tyrod is 6/12 with 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks, but he is showed a lot of improvement on the last drive and completed his last 4 passes. Williams gets 144 yards in the first half (12 yard average) with 3 TDs! Marshall already has 8 punts. Aside from a single breakdown on D, they are looking really sharp. Offense is banging on all cylinders now too. As is special teams.
3rd Quarter:
12:30 – ESPN announcer just had this nice little ditty: “Ogelsby and Williams sounds like a law firm, and they’re really making Marshall pay,” as Ogelsby runs for a first down. I laughed. As the little lady, my roommate, or anyone that has watched a game on TV with me ever could tell you, I despise most announcers. But I kind of like these guys. The color commentator seems downright giddy watching these athletes and this game, and has already lost his voice he’s so enthusiastic. But he’s not overly enthusiastic, just the right amount. And they have great chemistry together, and have made a few snappy one-liners. Here’s to you Sam Smith and Sonny Randle. You might be the only announcers I ever give a shout out to.
11:55 – Williams takes a screen 35 yards after what looked like a sure tackle. Just bounced off him and kept going.
10:45 – The Williams reception sets up a TD pass to Boyce on a great pass and catch. Tyrod put it low and in front of Boyce keeping it away from the defender on a well thrown ball. This capped off a nice drive with the only error being a 15 yard chop block which was the Hokies’ first penalty.
6:10 – Defense plays a soft zone and gives Marshall a long drive to the VT 16. But on 4th and 1, Cody Grimm hits Marshall (RB) behind the line and forces a fumble which VT recovered.
5:25 – Hokies have started to sub people in on both sides of the ball, and Wilson breaks a huge gain breaking several arm tackles for 50 yards.
2:50 – Matt Waldron hits a 28 yard field goal after Wilson is stuffed twice and Ju-Ju Clayton throws an incomplete pass. And during the commercial break, my roommate and I decide that the Nissan Cube is the ugliest automobile ever, even worse than the PT Cruiser and the Pontiac Aztec.
From uncrate.com

1:35 – Whitley gets beat deep and Brian Anderson from Marshall delivers a 60 yard bomb to Antavious Wilson from their own 20.
0:00 – Since the clock hit 0:00, we have had a VT late hit, a Marshall illegal formation, and a VT offsides. So it’s still the 3rd quarter 10 minutes later. A 2 yard screen and we’re finally done. Marshall will have 2nd and 7 from the VT 25 to start the 4th.
4th Quarter:
14:05 – Defense holds Marshall to a FG, and looked good aside from the 60 yard pass. 45-10 VT.
11:50 – Wilson flat out amazes me. He’s a freak. He just had a twisting, turning, reaching catch. It was called back, but he just put on an athletic display. He follows it up with a 15 yard run breaking through more arm tackles and just bouncing off of people.
9:45 – Wilson just ran 36 yards through defenders for a touch down on a 4th and short. Announcers call him “Houdini.” Ta-da, 9 carries 119 yards for an average of 13.2. I still like Little Sweetness as a better nickname. 52-10 VT.
6:00 – Not much going on, Ju-Ju Clayton neither impresses me nor depresses me with his performance. Still hasn’t completed a pass though. But we just punted for the 3rd time this game, compared to 9 for Marshall.
4:30 – Make that 10.
2:45 – Wilson is simply playing at a different speed than Marshall right now. Another 30+ yard run. And in classy Frank Beamer fashion, they are taking a knee for the final 3 plays from inside the opponents red zone to run out the clock.
Final stats – Wow! Hokies win 52-10 with 605 total yards compared to 253 for Marshall. The Hokies racked up an astounding 444 yards on the ground with Williams gaining 164 yards and 3 TDs on 16 carries (and 1 reception for 26 yards), Wilson gaining 165 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries, Ogelsby gaining 60 yards on 12 carries, and Taylor ran for 58 yards on 7 carries (which includes the 2 sacks). The team rush average was 8.4. This was also the first time ever that VT has had 2 rushers with over 160 yards. Tyrod ended the day 9/16 passing with 161 yards with 2 TDs, to Roberts and Boyce, and 1 INT, to DeQuam Bembry.
No real analysis needed, not that I could provide it anyway. The Hokies ran all over Marshall, which opened up the passing game in the 2nd quarter. The defense gave up 2 big plays, but completely dominated otherwise. And special teams performed well with a big return from Hosely and solid work by everyone on the kick offs, punts, and returns. My prediction turned out to be pretty good, but Steiny figured out that all we need to do to put up points is to hand the ball off to our playmakers. And I’d give Ryan Williams player of the game, but Wilson is certainly debatable.

Highlight of the week: Will it be Ryan Williams breaking a long run? How about David Wilson? So many to choose from!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTjAppTguMY
Neither! It’s the pre-game to the UVA/TCU game! Not even the Cavalier’s horse wants to root for UVA this year, and I really can’t blame him…

Quote of the week: During the OSU/USC game, the Little Lady said this about Jim Tressel:
“You know how Jim Tressel looks really clean cut and conservative? He seems so clean cut that it’s creepy. I wouldn’t want to sit next to him at a bar for fear that he would rufie my drink as soon as I turn around.”
From sportsillustrated.cnn.com

And she might be on to something…

From theescapepod.wordpress.com