December 7, 2004
Congrats To The Hokies
Somehow I've managed to avoid congratulating Virginia Tech on wrapping up their first ACC Championship this past weekend. They couldn't have earned it in grander fashion, beating Miami in the Orange Bowl to win the title outright.
I'd have to say that the job that Frank Beamer did with this team has to rank among the all-time best coaching performances in ACC history (it's up there with Maryland in 2001, Georgia Tech in 1990 and Clemson in 1981). This was a team picked to finish in the bottom half of the conference. They lost their first game of the season (albeit in a good showing against #1 USC) and then were beaten up in their second ACC game by NC State. You may recall that the State defense sacked Bryan Randall ten times in that game. Ten times! So the Hokies lost to a team that ended up not even being bowl eligible.
But then, the Hokies got better. And better. And better. Each week they improved a little, which is the best sign of outstanding coaching. That offensive line, the same one that gave up ten sacks to the Wolfpack, is now as dominant as any in the conference. The Hokies can run the ball and they can keep you from running. Randall can throw the ball and they can keep you from throwing.
In their last two games, Tech beat two of the three other teams that had a shot at the title (they never played Florida State this year). You can't do any better than that - beating the contenders straight up. Both Florida State and Miami, the two giants of the conference, lost to lower teams in the conference. Twice. Virginia was never upset, but they lost to all of the other top teams.
The Hokies won the ACC and they couldn't have deserved it more. Hokie, hokie, hokie, hi.
Comments:
posted on December 7, 2004 4:16 PM — 209.177.250.116 — link — abuse?Dave said:
That's interesting. It's always seemed to me that the Game Day crew has a very healthy amount of like for Virginia Tech. They really fawned over them in the Michael Vick years in particular.
But then, I'm not a Tech fan per se (don't dislike them, but they aren't my team), so I may not have noticed any slights.
rob said:
posted on December 7, 2004 6:26 PM — 24.82.12.101 — link — abuse?
I haven't been able to hear (see) ESPN to know if/what they say about them...though from watching them in the past I've caught bias.
But on to other things...congrats to the Hokies! My wife is a Hokie and we were quite pleased with thier finish this year. Blacksburg is a beautiful place, and every fan and alum I've ever met have been good people. Welcome to the ACC, Hokies! Wish the Tigers had won it instead, but VT is my second desire!
Bob said:
posted on December 8, 2004 12:11 AM — 68.232.86.29 — link — abuse?
I don't think it was as much bias as everyone figured the wheels would fall off the way they had the last few years. With the offseason problems, last year's defensive collapse, and so many young players in key spots, many felt seven wins would be a good season. But, that's what made this season so special. After watching the the Hokies squander some of their best individual talent ever last year, this year's squad meshed well and got stronger each week. Even through a 2-2 start you could see this team heading in the right direction. Frank Beamer and his staff did the coaching job of their careers. The defense was stout from the beginning and turned the screws a little more each week, while the offense grew from a one-person attack to a highly balanced group. It was fun to watch this team come together, make big plays when games were on the line, and really learn how to win again.
Think a little bit about what Bud Foster's defense did against its biggest rivals (all three of which were ranked in the Top 10 at some point this year.)
West Virginia went 0 for on third downs.
Virginia was held under 300 yards of offense and picked up 80 on one play. And, twice had first and goal inside the 10 and scored three points.
Miami, in a championship game at the Orange Bowl in December, picked up seven first downs, was 1 for 13 on third down, and gained less than 200 yards of total offense.
Not to mention fourth quarter game-changing or saving plays at Wake Forest, at Georgia Tech, and at North Carolina.
The got great pressure up front and the secondary may be the best I've seen in Blacksburg. There is no question either, the group of linebackers is fantastic today and primed to be one of the nation's best next year.The offense evolved tremendously this season. After three games Bryan Randall was the leading rushing and Tech was using four freshmen receivers. Then Mike Imoh came off suspension and the running game started to build. The young receivers started to grow. As this happened, Randall seemed to become more and more comfortable. Then, when Imoh got hurt, Cedric Humes finally got his body and mind back to 100 percent and has been a load the last three weeks, while Randall and his receiving corps have become a dangerous threat.
And, it was nice to see the kicking game (minus a couple of blocked kicks) back in form. Tech didn't block many kicks this year, but kickoffs went into the end zone, field goals went through the uprights (21 of 26), and the punting game was outstanding in spots (Miami's dangerous Hester was bottled up all day Saturday).
Again, it's been a joy to watch. The Hokie Nation should be proud.
posted on December 8, 2004 12:28 AM — 68.50.24.43 — link — abuse?
Very well said, Bob.
Honestly, ESPN was pretty good to VT over the past 5 or so years (it's a great relationship: they talk nice about us and show our games, we deliver crazy-good ratings). But they've gotten burned recently by hyping us, and this team simply wasn't supposed to be nearly this good. It looked like a good year to back off of us a bit.
The GameDay crew loves Blacksburg. I'm kinda surprised they didn't show up for the UVa game, but with all the co-eds away for Thanksgiving, TOTS wouldn't have been quite such a target-rich environment for Fowler and Herbstreit. Corso... well, I think the fact that they had to hold him upright for the booth shot near the end of the Maryland game says a lot.
asohangh said:
posted on December 8, 2004 4:57 AM — 198.82.121.199 — link — abuse?
I don't think that ESPN is biased against us, as has been stated they really were just afraid of being burned again by hyping us fearing a collapse.
Also in this day of big name CFB stars they found it hard to believe that a team of no-names could just play solid ball without being flashy and win games. Nobody believed in VT this year because they didn't believe in Beamer and Foster to coach up young players to step up in big games. Even if they did believe we could win, we didn't do it in an entertaining way by lighting up the scoreboard and its easier for them to hype up a flashy offense.
Anyways, big names can often detract from team chemistry and lead to underachieving football teams. This year's VT team is just plain solid as a unit.
Rob McG said:
posted on December 8, 2004 7:27 AM — 24.149.154.110 — link — abuse?
Thanks for the perspectives, Gentlemen; particulary, Josh Crockett. For all the bravado "Coach" Corso vented directly against Coach Beamer at the end of the second quarter during the VT vs. Maryland game about "running up" the score, I had not considered (before Josh's comment) that maybe Mr. Corso's full bravado was not from a bias or conviction than from consumption of legal substances.
Hmmm, perhaps in the new TV-announcer Booth being installed at VT's football stadium, it might be wise to install a free coffee dispenser for the ESPN announcers.
VTBobb said:
posted on December 8, 2004 5:22 PM — 204.213.15.84 — link — abuse?
To confirm some of the comments about theGame Day crew not wanting to get burned again...before the UVA game, Herbstreit predicted VT would win the ACC outright, Corso picked Miami. Before the Miami game, they had flip-flopped, and Corso picked Tech while Kirk picked Miami. In general, I do think they are pretty good to us. As for Beamer's coaching job, Sports Illustrated's web page named Beamer as coach of the year.
Please note that all comments are subject to the Fanblogs Comment Policy.
Rob McG said:
posted on December 7, 2004 3:17 PM — 24.149.154.110 — link — abuse?As a parent of a Hokie graduate, who has been witness to VT's football team for many years (while I doled out tuition) and who has long-enjoyed the games from my far-away location (N.J.), I applaud the VT Coaching staff and players for a great-time season. I also appreciate your insights about them.
The one off-set to VT's great season as it evolved, however, is what I perceive is the ESPN's "Game Day" announcers on-going grudge (or prejudice) against the VT football team (really, the VT coaches, I guess). It has become so apparent, particularly this year, that the announcers’ prejudice takes away from the fun and it reflects poorly on those TV announcers as being “professional” or “expert” at what they hold themselves out to be.
I suspect those announcers think it is not so apparent. It is to this writer. If those announcer were to read this, Gentleman, …"you may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time."
Thank you.