Big Beer Game

There is not much to say.  We got absolutely abused by ODU.  Tackling was horrific.  Coverage was horrific.  Gap fits were horrific.  Defense was horrific, in pretty much every way.  I’m pretty sure I read that it was the most yards a Bud Foster defense has ever given up, but I am too depressed to actually try to find out if that’s true or not.  So I will just assume it’s true.  632 yards.  To ODU.

In other depressing news, we lost 2 of our best players during/after the game.  YAY!!!

QB Josh Jackson suffered a broken Fibula.  They haven’t officially said how long he is out, but I think it’s safe to say it is a season ending injury.  He will be replaced by r-JR Ryan Willis (#5, 6-4 223 lbs), who sat out last season after transferring in from Kansas.  His numbers at Kansas as a t-FR and t-SO were pretty horrid, but Kansas is a pretty horrid team.  The scouting report on him is that he is high-risk, high-reward.  He can/will make a lot of throws that Josh Jackson can’t/won’t, which unfortunately often includes throws to the other team.  Things will probably get a lot more exciting on offense with him at QB, both good and bad.

Also, VT announced on Sunday morning that r-JR DE Trevon Hill had been kicked off the team.  Apparently, there was a bit of a locker room kerfluffle after the loss to ODU involving Hill and a couple of other players, and also some less-than-smart interaction with the coaching staff during/after said kerfluffle.  He’s been on short leash for a while, and apparently this was the last straw.

So yeah, not a good week.  On to other topics…

Recap of our conference mates/season opponents in week 4:

The ACC went 5-3 this week out of conference, but it was a very bad 5-3.  #13 VT and #23 Boston College lost on the road to huge underdogs, and Wake got clobbered by Notre Dame.  The wins were all of the “ho-hum” variety.

Our season opponents went 7-5 this past week, and are now 26-19 on the season.  Our OOC foes are a collective 7-7 after going 2-2 this past week.  Basically, ND is good and everyone else is bad.  But we knew that coming in.

Conference mates/opponents in the AP Poll:
#3 Clemson
#8 ND
#16 Miami
#22 Duke
(others receiving votes:  VT #28, NCSU #35, Syracuse #36)

This weeks game:

Virginia Tech will travel to Durham NC to take on the #22 Duke Blue Devils (7:00pm, ESPN2).  Duke is 4-0, but this will be their first game in ACC play.  They have looked very good this year, winning their 4 OOC games by a combined score of 150-61.  They lost starting QB Daniel Jones to a shoulder injury in week 2, but backup QB  JR Quentin Jones (#18, 6-1 195), has been solid in relief.  He is also a threat with his legs, with 26 carries for 141 yards on the season.  Duke head coach David Cutcliffe is a master strategician, and he’s probably licking his lips with glee watching the film of the horrendous VT defense last week.  Duke opened as a 3 pt favorite, and the line has since moved to -5 for Duke after the news about Jackson and Hill.  I don’t feel good about this game at all.

Well, that was a bit of a washout weekend for local/regional football games.  VT’s game against ECU was “postponed” due to Hurricane Florence, though it is unlikely to ever be played so “cancelled” would probably be the more appropriate term.  The hurricane also affected several other games in the area (time/location changes for Wake, ODU, and uva; postponements/cancellations for NCSU, W&M, UNC, and South Carolina).  Best wishes to our friends in GreenvilleNC, and across the Carolinas.

Now, with the niceties out of the way, there was a weeeeeee bit o’ controversy around the cancellation of the game.  On Monday, VT announced that they would announce a decision on Wednesday morning, once they had a better handle on the track of the hurricane.  ECU decided they didn’t want to wait that long, and announced on Tuesday afternoon “ECU will not travel to Blacksburg for the game”.  So…technically it wasn’t their game to cancel, since they aren’t the home team.  That’s VTs call to make, but ECU decided to make it anyway.  In the strictest sense, it could be considered a forfeit I guess, but of course that won’t ever happen.  Plus, I am 95% sure VT was just going to announce a cancellation on Wednesday anyway.  Just kind of a bush league move by ECU.  ECU, by the way, proceeded to load their team onto buses and head down to Florida instead of over to Blacksburg on Wednesday.  The game wasn’t likely to take place, but it could have been handled better by all involved.  VT kinda looked like asses (and I kinda loved the snark, haha) when they appeared to mock the ECU decision with the following tweet (later deleted) shortly after ECU announced the cancellation:

Enough about the game that never was, on to the games that happened and will be happening…

Recap of our conference mates/season opponents in week 2:

The ACC went 5-0 this week out of conference, but the 5 wins were all pretty “meh”.  The 2 hardest games — #18 UCF at UNC, and #14 WVU at NCSU — were both cancelled due to the hurricane.  dook picked up another P5 win for the conference with their 40-27 win at Baylor.  The ACC is now 24-7 OOC, and 3-5 against P5 teams (with 2 of those 3 wins coming from dook).  There are 8 OOC games this coming weekend:  2 P5 (BC@purdue, #8 ND at Wake), 5 G5, and 1 FCS.  I expect the ACC will go 6-2, maybe 7-1.

Our season opponents went 6-3 this past week, with 3 opponents having games cancelled due to the hurricane (ECU, W&M, UNC).  FSU lost 30-7 at Syracuse, and it really wasn’t that close.  They are a really bad team right now, and that opening win is quickly losing its luster.  Our season opponents are now 20-13 on the season, and our OOC foes are a collective 5-5 after going 1-1 this past week.

Conference mates/opponents in the AP Poll:
#3 Clemson
#8 ND
#13 Virginia Tech
#21 Miami
#23 Boston College
(others receiving votes:  dook #28, NCSU #34, Syracuse #41)

This weeks game:

Virginia Tech will travel to the 757 to take on the mighty Monarchs of Old Dominion in Norfolk VA.  ODU has struggled their way to an 0-3 start with losses to Liberty (10-52), FIU (20-28), and Charlotte (25-28).  The good news for the Monarchs is that they have been getting better in each game; the bad news is that they are about to take a giant step up in competition.  Last year, VT won in Blacksburg 38-0 in the first meeting between the teams since ODU moved up to the FBS level.  ODU doesn’t appear to do anything particularly well, in any phase of the game.  In fact, they rank 104th or worse (out of 130 teams) in nearly EVERY major category: scoring offense (116), scoring defense (109), total offense (109), total defense (119), rush offense (114), rush defense (104), pass offense (71), pass defense (110), and even punting (113).  VT is an early 28 point favorite, and honestly I wouldn’t expect it to be that close.  The game is scheduled for 3:30 pm on CBS Sports Network.

It’s not often that taking a 10-0 lead early in the 3rd quarter feels like an insurmountable lead, but it sure felt that way on Friday night.  And as it turns out, that would be the way the game ended.  It was a gutsy, defensively dominant, and yes, boring effort from the Hokies.  And I loved every minute of it. Read More

Huh.  WTF!?!?  That’s basically what I was thinking throughout much of the game on Saturday.  Read More

Well, *that* didn’t go well.  For the second time this year, VT had a Saturday night primetime game against a top 10 opponent, and for the second time this year VT shat the bed.  To be fair, I don’t think VT choked, I think we just aren’t all that good of a team yet.  Not a bad team, but not a top 10 team.  Read More

First, who doesn’t love some good discussion about uniforms?  So lets talk uniforms.  The two teams have apparently decided to make this game into a western movie, with the good guys wearing white:

and the bad guys dressed in black:

That’s pretty freakin awesome.

Also, today coach Fuente announced that backup senior LB Sean Heulskamp will wear the #25 against Miami.

Lastly, I created a “Big Beer Game” playlist on YouTube.  Because why not, really.   Now we just need to figure out how we can actually watch/listen to this at the tailgate, given that the cell service always sucks.  Are there any YouTube Red members out there?  Apparently you can download content to watch offline if you give them money.  Of course, one could also use money to buy all these songs and have them on their phone instead.  I also haven’t decided (if it ever DOES make it to the tailgate) whether it should be a one hour lead-in to the big beer game (ENDING with “Ace of Spades and “The Joker and the Thief”), or played DURING the big beer game as a countdown to departure (and BEGINNING with “Ace of Spades” and “The Joker and the Thief”).  Anyone got an opinion on that?  How about an opinion on the number of parenthetical asides and ALL CAPS in that last sentence?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Eat a bag.

It wasn’t always pretty (especially the weather in the 2nd half), but the Hokies improved to 7-1 with a 24-3 win over dook.  We arrived at our spot at 9:40-ish, and we were pretty much the first people in the lot…VERY light tailgate crowd all day, as most fans appeared to be scared off by the weather and/or just taking a week off against an opponent that doesn’t inspire much emotion one way or the other.  Speaking of the weather, it was actually a very nice day for tailgating, though there was enough wind that we had to get creative with some rocks in order to anchor out tents to the ground.  BRNM brought the awesome with a half bushel of fresh oysters, which we enjoyed both roasted (with bacon and cheddar) and also on the half shell.  Mad props to him for slaving over the grill and the shucking table all day long.  Gradually more and more people trickled into the lot, and we recruited a bunch of people from nearby tailgates to fill out the big beer game, which was about 20 people this week.  Brad did NOT draw the joker for the first time in 3 games, but his tailgate cohort Chris DID.  At least, I think he did…it was a long day of tailgating and its possible things were a little fuzzy at that point :-).  Anyway, the PBR was (not surprisingly) challenged, and we had another first time loser!

hey down there, stork!

hardest working man at the tailgate

mmmmm, oysters

the setup

scissors beats paper!

big beer loser

Eric in town? Must mean a monsoon is coming.

As far as the football game itself, the crowd that did show up was loud and into it, even moreso once it started raining (pouring) in the second half.  I probably should have known that the weather would turn disastrous, as our Charleston friends Eric and Maggie were in town for the game, and severe weather seems to follow them around like a puppy.  Fuente sounded like he was pretty amused by how much fun the crowd was having:

“Obviously, it got progressively more challenging out there as the game went along,” said head coach Justin Fuente. “I thought our fans were more into it as the elements got worse, which is pretty cool, a pretty cool thing.”

And once it was over, the players were having a great time with the rain as well:

The defense turned in another fantastic outing, holding dook to just 10 first downs, 183 yards of offense, and 3 points.  VT now ranks in the top 15 nationally in pass defense (14th),  rush defense (13th), TFLs (10th), total defense (9th), pass efficiency defense (7th), first downs allowed (5th), 3rd down stop rate (3rd), and scoring defense (2nd, behind only the mighty Alabama).  And that’s your BDG Sneaky Stat of the Week ™.

Fireworks!

My nose!

happy rain time!

Recap of our conference mates/season opponents in week 8:

++ As expected/predicted, NCState fell to Notre Dame 14-35 in the only ACC out of conference game this week.  The ACC is now 30-12 OOC, and just 5-11 against Power 5 opponents (including Notre Dame).  This week, Wake travels to South Bend to take on #5 Notre Dame, and I don’t expect that to go well either.

++ Our regular season opponents went a horrendous 4-7 this weekend, and now sport a cumulative record of just 51-47 (14-18 combined record for OOC foes WVU, delaware, ECU, and ODU).  uva, they of the 5-1 start and overly inflated opinions of themselves, continued to face the reality of who they really are as they fell on the road to Pitt 14-31.  BC continued their resurgence (and FSUs embarassing season) with a 35-3 beatdown on Friday night.   Since losing to VT 23-10 three weeks ago, BC has proceeded to beat Louisville (45-42), uva (41-10), and FSU (35-3) while scoring an average of over 40 pts per game.  Maybe that defensive performance was even better than we thought…

Coming Up

VT travels to Coral Gables FL to take on the Hurricanes of Miami.  Da U.  Our old Big East rivals.  Annual candidates for the “We’re back, baby!” award.

MIAMI – NOVEMBER 04: Wide reciever Josh Morgan #2 of the Virginia Tech Hokies and cornerback Glenn Sharpe #4 of the University of Miami Hurricanes have to be seperated by side judge Mike Safrit in the second half at the Orange Bowl Stadium on November 4, 2006 in Miami, Florida. Virginia Tech defeated Miami 17-10. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Josh Morgan;Glenn Sharpe;Mike Safrit

Are they finally, actually, “back”?  The pollsters seem to think so, as 7-0 Miami comes in ranked 9th in the AP poll and 6th in the coaches poll.  But as weak as our schedule has been (see the aforementioned 51-47 cumulative record of our foes, which includes just 31-36 for teams already played), Miami’s competition has been arguably worse at 26-30.  Each team has a 7-1 opponent propping up their schedule…the difference is that our 7-1 opponent is Clemson and theirs is Toledo.  Their best wins are arguably a 1 pt last-second win over 4-3 GT and a 2 pt last-second win against 2-5 FSU.  Miami has built their record on a strong defense (3rd nationally in pass efficiency defense, 3rd in sacks, 4th in TFLs), winning the turnover battle (6th nationally with a +10 turnover margin), and the occasional explosive play on offense (13 scrimmage plays of 40+ yards in just 7 games).  Actually, that sounds a lot like a certain orange and maroon team I follow.  The game kicks off at 8pm on ABC, and VT is currently favored by 2.5 pts on the road.

Also, if anyone was concerned about how Jack would survive without his snuggle buddy Jimmy, rest assured that he was able to find a new snuggle buddy this week.

Epic Smackdown of UNCheaters!  Woot woot!  Got to our spot a little before 9:30am on Saturday, and had craig back and planning menus for the first time this season.  Ribeye sliders and bacon wrapped beef tenderloins by him, meatball sliders by jimmy, and random marinated chicken breast by me for the post game.  20ish big beer game participants, including some beers that we hadn’t seen in quite a while (hello, Camo Black Ice!) courtesy of Richmond ghetto marts.  The same guy drew the joker again this weekend as did against Clemson, and instead of challenging “that Clemson sumbitch right there!” he challenged “that unc dumbass right there!”  2-0 victory for the good guys in RPS!

Also, Jimmy got in a lot of good snuggle time with Jack the dog on both Friday night and Saturday night.

Regarding the game itself, it was a beautiful day followed by a beautiful night, with a nice whomping of UNC in between.  Orange effect was pretty awesome.

The 52 point beatdown was the largest margin of victory for VT over an ACC opponent since joining the league in 2004. We got scores from the offense, defense, and special teams IN THE FIRST HALF.  The run game still has some issues, but I’m OK with a “flawed run game” that still produces 181 yards. This was the first time all season that Josh Jackson (10-20, 132 yds, 3 TD) was held below 220 yards passing, but he DID break his streak of 3 straight games in which he had thrown an interception.  UNC got a cheapie TD late after it was already 52-0, but they basically couldn’t do anything offensively all day long.  Coleman Fox continues to look like our best RB, though pretty much all his carries this year have come in garbage time.  I’d like to see us get him involved earlier in the game and see what he can do.  He is now 2^nd on the team in rushing yards with 211 yards, and has the best YPC average (5.9) of all the RBs.  And that’s your BDG Sneaky Stat of the Week.  Bonus stat:  The VT defense scored more points in the first half than the UNC offense has scored the past 2 years.  Suck it, Carolina.

Recap of our conference mates/season opponents in week 8:

++ No out of conference games this past week.  Big one coming up this week though, as #14 NCState travels to South Bend to play #9 Notre Dame.  I fully expect NCState to lose, cuz that’s what they do.

++ Our regular season opponents went a solid 7-4 this weekend, with 3 of the 4 losses coming to other teams on our schedule.  In the biggest surprise of the week, ECU actually managed to win a game (33-17 over hapless BYU), AND held their opponent to less than 34 points for the first time this season.  Well done, mateys!  UVA, they of the 5-1 start and overly inflated opinions of themselves, were brought crashing back to earth with a 41-10 defeat at home against BC (as a 7 pt favorite).  Our opponents are now 47-40 on the season, and our OOC foes are a combined 14-15.

This week:

the Blue Devils of dook.  The dookies got off to a strong 4-0 start including OOC wins over Baylor and Northwestern and what seemed at the time like an impressive win over UNC, but they have now lost 4 in a row since getting into ACC play (6-31 vss Miami, 21-28 @ uva, 10-17 vss FSU, 17-24 vss Pitt).  Dook probably has the 2^nd best defense we have faced this year (behind only Clemson), but their offense is struggling (particularly in the pass game).  They rank 77^th in scoring offense, 115^th in passing efficiency, 109^th in sacks allowed (21), and 73^rd in total offense. Conversely, they are ranked 27^th in total defense, 33^rd in scoring defense, and 7^th in sacks (24).  Containing QB Daniel Jones in the run game will be the biggest key for the VT defense.  I expect this to be a low scoring, fairly close game despite the vegas line of about 16 points, because containing mobile QBs is not exactly our strong suit.