And this also seems very familiar...

VIRGINIA TECH (7-2 overall, 5-0 ACC)

The Virginia Tech Hokies, after non-conference pratfalls in the first week(s) of the season, regroup in time to roll through their ACC brethren en route to another league crown.

LSU obliterated the Hokies in early 2007; three months later they were ACC champions. East Carolina turned the tables on Tech in the first game of the '08 season; 90 days later they were celebrating their second straight league crown. The boys from Blacksburg stumbled not only to likely BCS title game participant Boise State in Week 1 of the '10 campaign, but let that hangover beat them again 5 days later in the form of James Freaking Madison. And here we sit two months later as Beamer's crew is 5-0 in the ACC and basically a lock to win the Coastal crown.

What is it about Virginia Tech that makes them so prone to non-conference gaffes while methodically plowing through the ACC? It's not quite so simple. Simply losing at LSU in '07 was no disgrace; but getting butchered was. Still , that LSU team won the national championship that year. And the Hokies, en route to the ACC title, did lose a home conference game later that fall in one of Matt Ryan's miracles. In 2008, Tech stumbled out of the gate to ECU....and proceeded to stumble three more times in ACC play to Boston College, Florida State and Miami. ACC champion in 2008, certainly, but hardly in dominating fashion. And that's really it as far as Tech's pattern of losing early out of conference then winning the league. Will it happen again this year? Probably. Let's just hope they win the Orange Bowl this time.

Cataclysm Averted

Virginia Tech 20, Cincinnati 7

It certainly wasn't a thing of beauty, but it'll do...a 4-6 record in the bowl season, albeit very disappointing, looks light years better than 3-7. And the God-forsaken 1-9 thing in BCS games since it's inception is now a sterling 2-9. And in an interesting bit o' trivia, the two wins were over the two programs that payed in Miami last night; lest you forget, the first win was the Florida State victory over the-then Big East Hokies in that classic Sugar Bowl national title game in January 2000.

Thanks Hokies!

Mission: Extremely Possible

Tomorrow's assignment, which I have chosen to accept:

--Awake at the crack of 8am

--Much coffee

--Avoid ESPN GameDay, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN-nanobot-in-my-brain like the plague

--Bid the beloved wife farewell as her eyes (justifiably) roll through the back of her skull like a malfunctioning slot machine as I explain the day's endeavor

--Leisurely drive to the Raymond James Stadium metroplex (a trip of approximately 30 minutes on weekends, or 4.63 millenia on weekdays)

--Park in some kindly second-generation Cuban immigrant's (or some douchebaggy fifth-generation redneck's) front yard for $5, several blocks from the stadium

--Immerse myself in all that is the ACC Fanfest. And then get beer. Lots.

--Deface any likeness of Chris Fowler I find within 12 parsecs of the stadium

--Attempt to acquire an upper-level sideline ticket for under $10, or lower-level sideline ticket for $25 max, whichever comes first

--Snag a lower-level sideline ticket for $5 fifteen minutes before kickoff, from a desperate and smarmy scalper with a promise that he'll wash and wax my car during the game

--Sit in the upper level anyway because I need my space

--Hand count the actual attendance from my lofty perch and compare with the ACC/KGB's "official report"

--Enjoy said game

--Halftime = nap time!

--Take pics of said game

--Avoid the post-game concert like it's Chernobyl '86

--Make it home in one piece so I can bore you to tears with my game recap, or forget to post an update altogether

--Pass out

This post will self-destruct in...alright, you get it, let's not beat the theme to death here.

Virginia Tech Preview

2008 Schedule

Aug. 30	East Carolina (in Charlotte, NC)
Sept. 6	FURMAN
Sept. 13	GEORGIA TECH
Sept. 20	@North Carolina
Sept. 27	@Nebraska
Oct. 4	WESTERN KENTUCKY
Oct. 18	@Boston College
Oct. 25	@Florida State
Nov. 6	MARYLAND
Nov. 13	@Miami
Nov. 22	DUKE
Nov. 29	VIRGINIA

2007 Results: 11-3 overall, 7-1 ACC (ACC Champions); lost to Kansas 24-21 in the Orange Bowl

Offense: Sometimes it pays to procrastinate. In doing so, this Hokie preview of mine just became very timely and hopefully a lot more accurate. Tech coaches announced today that backup QB Tyrod Taylor will be redshirted this fall, leaving the offense in the experienced but uninspired hands of senior Sean Glennon. Lord knows why the Hokies made this move. Securing Taylor for three years as starting QB starting in '09 seems like a reasonable idea, but that means Glennon will basically have free-reign and a very long leash this season. Now if Glennon goes down to injury early, they'll likely scrap Taylor's redshirt and play him, but in terms of general performance, the Hokies have loaded up on the Glennon train for the long haul. And that concerns me because Branden Ore - last year's leading rusher - was booted from the team in the spring, and 2007's top four receivers have departed as well. As of this posting, junior Kenny Lewis (57 carries in 2007) will be the starting tailback, and two freshmen are the first-team receivers. There is some relief when it comes to the OL; they're experienced (they lose just one starter, and all of the second-teamers return), but they were pretty sketchy last year (54 sacks allowed). TE Greg Boone is heck of a talent and may lead the team in receptions early on. Last year's offense had it's moments, but struggled far too much given the talent they had. With last season's top five skill players gone - and with Glennon returning - I see little reason to expect improvement in 2008.

Defense: And the hits just keep on coming. The losses: LBs Xavier Abidi and Vince Hall, three of the starting linemen (chief among them DE Chris Ellis), and two starters in the secondary. The good news is that most of their replacements have some decent game experience, but depth will be a major issue all year as most of this year's second-teamers have scant if any experience . As for the starters that do return, they're among the best in the league, including Macho Harris (5 picks, 11 pass breaks-ups last year) at corner and Kam Chancellor at safety. It's been a long time since the Hokies were hit this hard by the graduation bug, but Bud Foster has a pretty damn good track record in developing carnivorous defenses with whatever talent he has at his disposal. Tech won't finish #5 overall in total defense as they did last year, but top-half in the ACC is a safe bet and since that usually equates to Top 30 or so in the country, this is not the portion of the team that should concern Hokie fans.

Special Teams: Look for more punt blocks and a few return TDs this season, as the Hokies are a broken record in this category. As far as personnel goes, the returners and placekicker will be new this season, but punter Brent Bowden and 42.5 yards per boot are back. What Frank Beamer has done with this unit over the last 20 years speaks for itself and there's no point in really trying to analyze how Tech will do this year. They'll be good, opposing punters will soil themselves, water is wet and the sky is blue.

Coaching: One day in the very near future, Frank Beamer will be the grand old man of active college football coaches. He's currently the third-winningest active coach behind Death Race participants Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, and his 209 wins are 46 more than fourth-place Steve Spurrier, so Beamer will hold the "winningest active coach" title for the remainder of his career once Bowden and Paterno are nudged out by their schools or by the Almighty. At 61 years old, it appears to be a longshot for Beamer to reach 300 victories, as he'd need nine straight ten win seasons to hit that mark by age 70. Regardless, Beamer - faults and all - has left a huge mark on the college football landscape already and he still has time to deliver that elusive national title to Blacksburg. A big reason for Beamer's success has been his stalwart defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who is quite simply the best assistance coach in college football today. I have no idea why Foster hasn't been snatched up as the head man elsewhere, but each year he spends in Blacksburg means it's another season the Hokies stay in the national discussion. The same cannot be said for offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring; after six years as the OC, the best finish the Hokies have managed nationally in total offense is 38th in 2003. The last two seasons saw finishes of 99 and 100. Tech is at a level where those results warrant a pink slip. Can you imagine where the Hokies would be today - and what type of hardware they might own - had they simply halved their total offense placements the last six years?

Odds & Ends: For all my gushing about Beamer, he has a few albatrosses hanging 'round his neck and a big one is his 5-24 record against Top 10 competition since 1987.....Beamerballed: the Hokies led Clemson 31-8 at the half last year despite gaining just 88 yards of total offense, thanks to two special teams touchdowns (along with a defensive score).....last year's 40-21 victory over Florida State was the Hokies' first win over the Seminoles in their last 15 meetings, dating back to 1975

Schedule Analysis: The Hokies draw the short end of the stick on the road, but get lucky in terms of the ACC scheduling rotation. Clemson and Wake Forest (along with NC State) are absent from the schedule, but none of the five road games are easy, highlighted by their first trip to Florida State since 1989 along with a non-conference matchup at Nebraska. And that pesky little stop in Chapel Hill in week four will probably settle the Coastal Division title early on. The two bye weeks are helpfully placed, before the trip to BC and before the Thursday-nighter with Maryland. This is a terrible slate for the Lane Stadium faithful, as they get just three home games before November and those are Furman, Georgia Tech and Western Kentucky. And lest I forget, that opener in Charlotte with East Carolina is becoming everybody's favorite week one upset pick.
Projected Wins: Furman, Georgia Tech, Western Kentucky, Maryland, @Miami, Duke, Virginia
Projected Losses: @Nebraska, @Florida State
Toss-Ups: @East Carolina, @North Carolina, @Boston College

Primo Hokie Blogs: Gobbler Country, Tech Superfans, Wild Turkey College Football Report

Heartwarming You-Tubery:

3rd & 31

Preview Disclaimer

A Very Quick Orange Bowl Preview

VIRGINIA TECH (11-2) vs. KANSAS (11-1) - Jan. 3, 2008, 8pm ET (FOX)
Does the 2007 season have another shocker in store? After the Thursday Night stunner to Boston College in late October, the Hokies kicked things into another gear and rolled over the remainder of their schedule, including a rematch with BC in the ACC Championship Game. But after a month off, can Tech maintain their momentum, or will they come out clunkier than a 1987 Hyundai, much as they did in their first two games of the season against East Carolina and LSU?

With LB Vince Hall now likely out of the game due to an inexplicable injury in pregame bowl activities (something involving a jet-ski, apparently), and with Brandon Ore suspended for the first quarter, it will be up to QB Sean Glennon and the defense to set the tone early. The Jayhawks haven't been on this stage before, so it will be interesting to see if they come out and bellyflop like Hawaii and Illinois two days ago, or play like they're en fuego like West Virginia in the '06 Sugar Bowl and Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl last year.

This one is all on the coaching staffs. The Hokies are clearly more talented. Frank Beamer needs to have his troops watch last night's Fiesta Bowl on a 24-hour loop to show what can happen to teams that take their opponent lightly. Mark Mangino needs to throw in some wrinkles into his offensive scheme in order to catch the Hokie defense off guard, and he needs to throw the kitchen sink at Glennon and the underwhelming Tech OL, even if they get burned a few times.

The Hokies' track record in big games, particularly as favorites, is rather poor. They'll win, but in agonizingly close fashion.

Virginia Tech 28, Kansas 24

The Champs

Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 16

This was a trying season for the Hokie faithful, and for fully half of it, Virginia Tech looked nothing like a championship football team. But after going through the lowest of football lows, a different Hokie team emerged...your 2007 ACC champions. After a most difficult year for everyone in Blacksburg, the Virginia Tech Hokies gave their school and their city a big reason to smile on Saturday. Well done, gentlemen.

ACC Championship Game Preview: Out of Town Version

I just arrived here in Fort Walton Beach for a family engagement this weekend. After eight not-so-lovely hours on the road, I'm beat. Needless to say, this will be brief.

The Hokies have steadily improved since their loss to the Eagles on Oct. 26. BC has regressed a tad since that victory in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech 31, Boston College 24.

Good night.

Epic

National championship teams - and Heisman Trophy winners - do this sort of thing when the chips are down:


(Hat tip to Eagle in Atlanta for finding the YouTube clip)

In the rain, on the road, on Thursday night, shut-out for 55 minutes...and Matt Ryan and the Eagles pull it off. Move over Doug Flutie. Move over Ohio State...?

Virginia Tech Preview

2007 Schedule

2006 Results: 10-3 overall, 6-2 ACC (2nd Coastal Division); lost to Georgia 31-24 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl

Offense: The 2007 Hokie offense will live or die with 2nd-year starting QB Sean Glennon. His underwhelming 2006 campaign (56% completion rate, 11 TD, 11 INT) was punctuated by a Van de Velde-ian collapse in the second half of the Chick-fil-A Bowl (3 picks, 1 lost fumble). Second-string QB Ike Whitaker is clearly more talented, but alcohol-related problems have kept him squarely in the backup role thus far. On a more positive note, junior RB Branden Ore is quietly becoming one of the Hokies' best-ever running backs, and will easily nail down the all-time school rushing record if he stays for his senior season (to date, he's 1,983 yards shy of the top spot). The WR corps is in excellent hands, with Eddie Royal and Josh Morgan back for another go. The offensive line, which was a patchwork unit last year, appears to be in better shape in 2007, with all five projected starters having significant game experience. Ore, Morgan, Royal are all proven gamers and the OL should be back up to Tech standards; but, until Glennon proves that he's capable of truly taking charge, opposing defenses with stack the box and leave the game in his thus-far shaky hands.

Defense: The nation's #1 defense in 2006 returns 8 starters, most notably the killer linebacking duo of Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall (a combined 210 tackles last year). The veteran defensive line (three seniors out of the four starters) should be as ferocious as ever and the secondary is anchored by shutdown corners Brandon Flowers and Macho Harris. Expect at least two shutouts this year, and possibly four when you look at the schedule. You'd think I'd have a lot more to say in a capsule regarding the best defense in the country over the last two years, but you'd be wrong; I know they're good, you know they're good, so it's best I stop yapping and just let these guys prove it.

Special teams: Gone are long-time punter Nic Schmitt and kicker Brandon Pace, replaced by Brent Bowden and Jud Dunlevy, respectively. The return game is still in the talented hands and feet of Eddie Royal, and I trust that the punt-blocking unit will be it's usual horror show on opponents.

Coaching: Last year's coaching staff returns intact, headed up of course by Frank Beamer, returning for his 21st season as head honcho at his alma mater. Oft-criticized OC Brian Stinespring is back, but quite frankly the most important job on the coaching staff this year belongs to QB coach Mike O'Cain (who by my count is coaching at his 4th different ACC program in the last 8 years), since the offense is basically stuck in first gear if the proverbial light doesn't switch on for Glennon. On the defensive side, '06 Broyles Award winner Bud Foster is back to plot the brutal evisceration and annihilation of opposing offensive attacks. He's become the best defensive coordinator in the league, and that's saying something when Mickey Andrews and Jon Tenuta also take up residence in the ACC.

For What It's Worth: Frank Beamer ranks third in wins among active head coaches with 198; that's just 168 and 165 victories behind numbers 1 and 2 (a guy named Bowden and some dude named Paterno)....Beamer has a record of .500 or better against all current ACC schools except Florida State; he's 0-7 against the Seminoles....despite it's rousing success over the last decade, Virginia Tech has never had a Top 10 recruiting class....the Hokies now have the longest streak in the ACC of consecutive games scored (148); they were last shutout by Cincinnati, 16-0 in 1995

Schedule Analysis: Aside from that pesky little trip to Baton Rouge in week two, the first five games provide ample opportunity for Glennon to get things set between the ears, and for the defense to just toy unmercifully with opposing offensive units. The ACC slate is unforgiving, as Florida State replaces Wake Forest and trips to Clemson (against the revenge-minded Tigers), Atlanta (that other Tech routed the Hokies in Blacksburg last year), and Charlottesville (the Hoos have to win one of those Commonwealth Cups, eventually) loom. FSU and Miami visit Blacksburg in back-to-back weeks in early November. At the very least, the already formidable home-field advantage at Lane Stadium should be greatly intensified this fall by the unity of the Virginia Tech family in the aftermath of the tragedy last April.
Projected Wins- East Carolina, Ohio, William & Mary, North Carolina, @Duke, Boston College, Florida State, Miami, @Virginia
Projected Losses- @LSU
Toss-Ups- @Clemson, @Georgia Tech

For More Opinionated, Yet Delightful, Hokie Insight: Tech SuperFans, Blacksburg Beacon

Blast-From-The-Past, Feel-Good YouTube:

The Strip and The Score

Preview Disclaimer

"A tragedy of monumental proportions"

What a horrific day in Blacksburg. Thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and all who are affected by today's massacre at Virginia Tech.

If you wish to do so, leave your condolences and best wishes at these two fine Hokie blogs:

Blacksburg Beacon
Tech Superfans

Chick-Fil-A Bowl Preview

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL - Dec. 30, 2006 - Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Virginia Tech (10-2) vs. Georgia (8-4)
Two of the best defenses in the nation square off in this annual ACC-SEC throwdown. The Hokies top-rated D squares off against the Dawgs' underwhelming offensive attack, while UGA's 9th-rated D looks to tee off against a 95th-ranked Tech offense. So, naturally, expect 90 total points, 1000 yards, and a few OTs.

Both programs look to be favorites in their respective league races next year, and a win tonight would certainly enhance recruiting efforts and the overall outlook heading into spring.

All that aside, the Bulldogs haven't come close to seeing a defense this year like the Hokies....the next highest rated defense UGA faced was Georgia Tech's 20th rated overall unit. Meanwhile, the Blacksburg boys are used to ganging up on the inept attacks of the ACC, and the '06 Dawgs are every bit as inept offensively as the Hokies' conference brethren.

The fact that this game is in Atlanta is a plus for Georgia, but there will still be plenty of Virginia Tech faithful in attendance. Score one for the ACC.

Virginia Tech 17, Georgia 13