Virginia Tech vs Miami Highlights

Daily Discussion: Hokies National Title Hopes Loom Large

1:11 was all that was left on the clock when Vick and the Virginia Tech offense took the field on a dreary day in Morgantown. In a game the Hokies should have easily won, the sensational freshman saw Tech's national title hopes dwindling as West Virginia was about to pull one of the biggest upsets in the history of their football program.

However, after a Vick scramble down the sideline and a Shayne Graham field goal, Tech survived and went on to play Florida State in the national championship game that January.

Flash forward 10 years.

1:26 was all that was left on the clock when Tyrod took the snap from center, pump faked, danced around in the pocket, and sent a prayer that was answered by sophomore Danny Coale who took the pass all the way to the two yard line, setting up a Tyrod

****

If the Hokies are able to make it to the National Championship game, the 2009 Tyrod Taylor chapter will replace the 1999 Michael Vick chapter as the great story ever written in Virginia Tech football.

Obviously, the heave to Danny Coale was a big play, but what made the drive in Morgantown so special is what happened afterward. Tyrod Taylor and this Virginia Tech team has the chance to accomplish something that has never been done before in school history and that's to win that elusive BCS crown that has for so long eluded this program.

Tech has been close in the past, climbing up to 3rd in 2007, being in the top 3 in 2003 before falling off, and coming a missed field goal away in 2004. That's a lot of heartbreak.

But this year feels different and even with a struggling offense, the Hokies have the talent and ability to make this 2009 season a year to remember. There's still a lot of work left to do, a lot of edges to smooth out, but nevertheless the Hokies will have the chance to be there in early December when the last regular season BCS poll comes out.

Even though the lunchpail is more of a defensive symbol for Bud Foster's boys, I think the team should embrace the message it portrays: "What's Important Now."

Win, Just win.

Miami Injury Report For Virginia Tech Game

Questionable

WR Aldarius Johnson


Doubtful

RB Lee Chambers
OT Cory White


Out

DL Adewale Ojomo
DE Andrew Smith
DT Marcus Forston
TE Richard Gordon
DE Gavin Hardin
LB Shayon Green


Obviously the two biggest players on this list are Aldarius Johnson and Marcus Forston, who are two very talented underclassmen that could have given the Hokies some trouble in this game. Johnson may play but he will not be at 100%

The Hokies also have a few players listed on the injury report as Worilds, Virgil, Whitley, and Ryan Williams are all listed as probable.

Gobbler Country Breaks Down Win Over Nebraska

A pretty good rundown of the current conditions in Blacksburg. Give it a read at the link below.

http://www.gobblercountry.com/2009/9/21/1045634/virginia-tech-16-nebraska-15#storyjump

Highlights of the Two Big Plays from Yesterday's Game

Southern Pigskin's Thoughts on the NEB vs VT Game

You can read this full article here Southern Pigskin - VT vs Nebraska

Sometimes it's good to go outside of the fan base to get a non-biased and pretty accurate review of what happened yesterday in Lane Stadium.

This guy is on the money, while most Hokie fans will stew over our inept offense, the national media will look at this game as a huge win for the Hokies and the ACC. The final score is the only thing that matters in college football today and remember nobody cared back in 2007 that we lost 14-10 to a 2nd ranked BC team we dominated for most of the game.

Week 3: ACC Schedule and Predictions

Georgia Tech at Miami - Thursday, 7:45 pm EST

The Canes struggled to stop the option-offense last season as they lost 41-23 in Atlanta. However, they get Paul Johnson's squad at home this year and are looking to prove that they can win the Coastal Division. Georgia Tech has struggled to beat both of their opponents this year (Jacksonville State and Clemson) so I would expect a close game. However, with the Miami style of defense, I just think Georgia Tech will have too many big plays and should role the Canes by a touchdown or two.

Prediction: Georgia Tech - 38, Miami - 24

Duke at Kansas - Saturday, 12:00 pm EST

Todd Reesing had two scholarships coming out of high school, one from Duke and one from Kansas. Now in his senior season, Todd will get to show the Duke program what they missed out on four years ago. The Blue Devils are 1-1 heading into this road game with a win over Army and a loss to Richmond. Also, Duke has lost 36 straight games on the road against ranked opponents. So, logic says take Kansas here but I think Duke could put up a fight for the first half or so.

Prediction: Duke - 13, Kansas - 52

East Carolina at North Carolina - Saturday 12:00 pm EST

Sadly, this matchup could feature the two best teams in the state of North Caroina. UNC has struggled offensively in both of their first two games but thanks to a late safety against UCONN, they remain unbeaten so far in the 2009 season. ECU is in the same boat as they lost a hard fought game to West Virginia last week and almost lost to Appalachian State in week one. This is a big game for both teams as UNC would like to stay unbeaten heading into a showdown with the Yellow Jackets next weekend. ECU needs to build some confidence in the fact that they are capable of actually beating a division one opponent, something they did very well last season. This wil be a close football game but I'll go with the home team in this one.

Prediction: ECU - 20, UNC - 24

Boston College at Clemson - Saturday 12:00 pm EST

With Florida State falling to Miami in week one, the Atlantic division race is wide open. Clemson lost to Georgia Tech last week but with a win this weekend against the Eagles, they could be right back in the mix. Boston College suffered a tragic offseason but they have played very well in their first two games of the season, even though both were against lower tier opponents. Clemson is hard team to pick especially since they seem to disappear in big games, but they were my sleeper pick to win the Atlantic division this year and I'm sticking with them.

Prediction: Boston College - 13, Clemson - 17

Mid Tennessee State at Maryland - Saturday 3:30 pm EST

Revenge games are normally fun to watch and Maryland fans are hoping that remains true as Middle Tennessee State travels to College Park to take on the Terrapins. The Terps have been pretty bad so far this year, they got walloped by the Golden Bears in week one then won by a field goal in week two against JMU. This game could be a confidence builder for Maryland or it could be one that ruins the season for this team. However, I always like picking the team that has revenge on their minds, so I'll go with Maryland even though I'm not real confident on this one.

Prediction: MTSU - 20, UMD - 31

Virginia at Southern Miss - Saturday, 3:30 EST

If UVA is going to win a game this season, this may be one of their better opportunities even though they have to travel to Southern Miss. So. Miss is 2-0 with wins at home over Alcorn State and Central Florida. Neither one of those is a great win but they clearly have a better resume right now then UVA. The Cavs head into this game just looking for something positive to happen. Vic Hall is listed as questionable so with just Sewell and Verica behind center, this could be another long day for the Wahoo people.

Prediction - UVA - 10, USM - 38

Nebraska at Virginia Tech - Saturday, 3:30 EST

Another revenge game from last season as the Huskers head to Lane Stadium to take on the Hokies of Virginia Tech. Tech marched into Lincoln last year and walked away with a stunning victory, thanks in part to Dustin Keys who went 4 for 4 on field goals in that game. This years Nebraska team is a bit younger but every bit as talented as the team that the Hokies faced last season. However, Nebraska will need to find an answer to the Hokies fountain of youth at tailback. This should be the marquee game of the week in the ACC and if you're headed to Blacksburg, expect a close one.

Prediction: Nebraska - 23, Virginia Tech - 30

Gardner-Webb at NC State - Saturday, 6:00 pm EST

NC State struggled against an SEC defense in week one but exploded for 65 points in week two against Coach Beamer's old stomping grounds in Murray State. Against another FCS foe, expect the Wolfpack the light up the scoreboard again and walk away with another easy victory.

Prediction: G-Webb - 0, NC State - 63

Elon at Wake Forest - Saturday, 6:30 pm EST

Wake Forest has played two tough teams in the first two weeks of the season (Baylor and Stanford), but this week they'll finally get a bit of a break. Wake Forest has the better athletes and should be able to control this game fairly easily. With Wake's brand of football, I wouldn't be too surprised to see this one stay close for a while but the Demon Deacons should be able to ride off into the sunset in the 2nd half.

Prediction: Elon - 10, Wake Forest - 45

Florida State at BYU - Saturday 7:00 pm EST

What do you make of Florida State? They play stride for stride with Miami then lost on a last second play. Then in week two they almost lose to Jacksonville State. Something tells me that this weeks game may be a bit more about pride then actually winning the game. BYU is 2-0, coming off two impressive victories against Oklahoma and Tulane. I think FSU should be able to play with BYU in this one but I have a hard time picking the Noles here.

Prediction: Florida State - 17, BYU - 30

Game 3: Virginia Tech vs Nebraska Breakdown

Sorry folks for not posting an analysis of last weekend's blowout but there wasn't much you could really take from that game. David Wilson and Ryan Williams dominated against average competition and our talent level won us that game.

However, this week the Hokies will have a challenge on their hands as the Nebraska Cornhuskers make their way to Lane Stadium. Nebraska is an improved team from what the Hokies saw last season but just like Alabama, they have a few new starters that could ultimately decide the fate of this game.

Nebraska hasn't really been tested yet this season as they beat Florida Atlantic 49-3 in week one and then dumped Arkansas State 38-9 this past weekend. Both teams are in the Sun Belt conference and neither team is predicted to be in the top three in that conference. So needless to say, this will be a measuring stick for Nebraska on what to expect this season.

I'm going to try out a new format for this game, hoping that this will lessen the workload for me but not damaging the quality content on this site. So first we will examine the teams offensive impact players.

Impact Players - Offense

Junior quarterback Zac Lee has taken over for the now graduated Joe Ganz. Lee has played very well so far in the Huskers first two games of this season, completing 75-percent of his passes for 553 yards and 6 touchdowns. He has completed passes to 11 different receivers as well. So far this season, Lee has shown pretty good poise in the pocket as well as the ability to run when need be. Obviously, the quarterbacks play is always crucial to whether or not a team performs well but for Lee, this will be his first ever game on the road in front of a raucous Lane Stadium crowd. If Lee does not perform well, neither will Nebraska.

Junior running back Roy Helu Jr. performed well in last years matchup but only received limited carries. He had 21 yards on just four carries including Nebraska's only rushing touchdown in last years matchup. This year, the Hokies defense will see a lot more of Helu Jr. seeing that he's taken about 90% of the snaps this season for the Huskers. They do have two other running backs that they can rely on but the majority of their carries have come in the 4th quarter of Nebraska's first two games.

Defensive Impact Players

Senior Ndamukong Suh is probably the Cornhuskers best defensive player. At 6'4", 300 lbs, Suh is an athletic enough lineman to make plays as both a run stopper and a pass rusher. Suh had 6 total tackles in last years matchup, which also includes 1 tackle for loss. In the Huskers first two games this season, Suh has attained 12 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

Senior safety Larry Asante is a name Virginia Tech fans should be familiar with as the Hokies recruited him a few years ago. Larry is now the starting safety at Nebraska and currently leads the team in total tackles this season with 15. I'm not sold that Nebraska's defensive backs are much better than last years but if they want to control the Hokies passing attack, Asante is going to have to step up and make some plays for Nebraska.

Matchup To Watch

I think the biggest matchup to watch in this game is going to be the Hokies running backs vs the front seven of the Huskers defense. Obviously, Nebraska isn't going to have a top 10 defense this season but it will be a lot better D than what the Hokies saw against Marshall this past weekend. If Ryan Williams, JO, and David Wilson have success running the ball, it's going to be a long day for Nebraska. But, if they can contain them and keep Williams or Wilson from busting a big play then Nebraska's offense should be able to muster enough points to keep them close, if not leading heading into the 4th quarter.

Last Meeting

Of course, the last meeting between the two teams came last season when the Hokies traveled to Lincoln and walked away with a huge 35-30 win. The game really wasn't as close as the score indicated, Nebraska added a late touchdown with 50 seconds left to get within five after a masterful drive from Joe Ganz, but failed to recover the onside kick. Tech dominated the time of possession and won the turnover battle 2-1.

Prediction

I thought heading into last years game that Nebraska would probably beat us in their house but lose to us this year in Lane Stadium. Well, that wasn't the case as the Hokies won a huge matchup, showing the nation that Tech could travel on the road and knock off a big time opponent.

I think this years game will go along similar to last year. Virginia Tech should be able to score in this game and they should be able to develop a consist ground attack with Williams leading the way. If that happens and the Hokies don't turn the ball over, I would expect Tech to win by at least two touchdowns.

Nebraska will need to bring their A game in order to win and that's hard to do when you travel to a different time zone. Like I said earlier in this article, this game will come down to quarterback play, if Lee can handle the pressure from the crowd and the Virginia Tech defense, Nebraska will have a good chance to win. If not, Nebraska and their fans could have a long plane ride home.

Nebraska - 24
Virginia Tech - 37

Interesting Stats

Virginia Tech has the number 13th ranked rushing offense, Nebraska is ranked 37th respectively.

Nebraska has the 17th ranked passing offense, The Hokies are ranked 115th in the same category

Ryan Williams is 14th in the nation in rushing yards per game, Roy Helu Jr. is 22nd.

Nebraska has only 1 turnover this year, the Hokies have 3 so far.

Virginia Tech vs Marshall Game Highlights

Rumor Central: Stephan Virgil Done For The Year?

Stephan Virgil updated his facebook status yesterday saying "I hope this MRI goes well." Well, nothing has been made official but at this point, it does not look good for Virgil to play this weekend.

Cris Hill will start a field corner and Rashad Carmichael will switch over to boundary against the Herd.

Stephan tweaked his knee in the 4th quarter of the Alabama game and limped off of the field, never returning to game action after that.

Once something has been made official, I'll post it on here but as of now, I'm listing Virgil as Doubtful for this weekend's game and am hoping that it's nothing worse.

Marshall Thundering Herd Game Preview

After a disappointing opening weekend for the Hokies, it’s time to pick up the pieces and get back on track against an average Marshall team.

The Thundering Herd come into this game 1-0 overall after beating Southern Illinois 31-28 last weekend. It’s hard to tell how good Marshall is from this game but seeing that the Salukis are an FCS level team, Marshall isn’t going to be anything close to what the Hokies saw against Alabama last weekend.

Tech should be able to rebound nicely this coming weekend but in today’s game, nothing is certain anymore (see NIU vs Iowa game last weekend).

Also, for all of the VT fans that will be at this game, wear white. The White Out was a success last year and it appears that it could become an annual event… all the money goes to a good cause so why not chip in a few bucks and help out Herma’s Readers.

Without further adieu, on to the Marshall breakdown

Quarterback

Junior Brian Anderson was one of the lone bright spots for the Herd offense this past weekend as he finished his first game 27 of 36 passing for over 300 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception. Anderson has a strong arm and can sling it when his line gives him time too.

Behind Anderson on the depth chart are a slew of capable quarterbacks including sophomore Mark Cann and junior college transfers Press Taylor and Jacob Laudenslayer. Cann, who figures to be the primary backup, is a strong armed 6’5” quarterback that can make a lot of throws but is far less mobile than Anderson.

Running Back

The Herd had to play without junior running back Darius Marshall who was suspended for the opener due to drug charges back in the spring. Marshall should be available this weekend in Blacksburg so he could be a player to watch if he does indeed start this game.

Sophomore Terrell Edwards-Maye got the start and really struggled against the Salukis defense last weekend. Maye ran for just 28 yards on 15 carries. His backup, redshirt freshman Martin Ward, was a bit more effective running for 54 yards on just 14 carries. As you can tell, the running game clearly didn’t get going last week with Marshall on the sidelines.

Wide Receiver

In his first career game at Marshall, junior WR Chuck Walker had ten receptions for 119 yards. Walker, who is listed at 5’10” and 177 pounds, probably won’t have as big of a game against the Hokies defense but he looks to be Anderson’s favorite target.

Other than Walker, the Thundering Herd are pretty ordinary at wide receiver. Freshman Antavious Wilson and junior Wayne Bonner are possession wideouts that could have a really tough time getting open against the Hokies talented secondary. Other than those two, the Herd does have a few other wide receivers that will dress but nobody really stands out on the list as somebody that could break our defense.

Tight End

Cody Slate is s 6’4”, 229-pound senior that could be a first team All-Conference USA player by the end of the season. Slate caught nine passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns last weekend so stopping him is a must for the Hokies defense to completely shut down this Marshall team.

Offensive Line

Marshall allowed two sacks, 72 yards rushing, 316 yards passing, and eight tackles for loss last week against an FCS opponent. The Salukis were able to consistently get pressure on Brian Anderson and completely shutdown the Marshall rushing attack. The Hokies defensive line should have a lot of success in this aspect on Saturday, as Tech’s defensive lines could be one of the best and deepest in the ACC.

The line did return most of the players from last years group that only allowed 13 sacks all season but they allowed two last weekend and shows some signs of regression this year.

Offensive grade: C+

With Marshall at running back this could be a fairly good offense in conference-USA play but the Herd just doesn’t have the ponies to hang with the Hokies defense. I could see them scoring a touchdown or two but I think this could be a long day for Marshall’s offense.

Defensive Line

Senior DE Albert McClellan is one of the best linemen to come through Marshall University, as he should end up in the top five on the Herd’s career sacks list. McClellan needs just one and a half more sacks to advance to sixth on the all-time list.

However, other than McClellan, there’s not a whole lot on Marshall’s defensive front. The front seven of this defense really struggled against the Salukis giving up 105 rushing yards on just 28 attempts. The front four also only recorded two sacks in this game, one of which was McClellan’s 18th career sack.

Linebackers

Senior linebackers Brandon Burns and Mario Harvey are seasoned players but neither one is overly impressive. Burns finished with just five total tackles against Southern Illinois where as Harvey finished with just three and never seemed to be around the football much from what I saw on film.

This should be a pretty solid group by the end of the season but this group struggled a bit last weekend. By looking at the front seven, Tech’s three running backs should be able to have success against this group and get into the secondary fairly often as long as the Hokies offensive line holds up.

Defensive Backs

When your three of your top four leading tacklers for this season are defensive backs, you know your defense isn’t very good. Chris Dieker, the Salukis starting quarterback, shredded this secondary for 206 yards and converted 8 of their 14 3rd downs in the game as well.

So what’s the best cure for a horrible passing offense, well it could be this Marshall secondary. If the Hokies want to get back on track offensively and quiet the critics, they will need to have a big game against this secondary.

Defensive Grade: C-

While the front four is one of the best in Conference USA, the defense as a whole could struggle some against the Hokies speed and size on offense. I think the Hokies should be able to have a hundred yard rusher this weekend and would expect Tyrod to find some throwing lanes.

Final Prediction

The Hokies really need to come out this Saturday and make a statement win against this Marshall team. If Tyrod can throw for around 200 yards and if either Williams or Oglesby can get over the 100 yard mark, the critics could back off of the Hokies flailing offense for at least a week.

Marshall – 10
Virginia Tech – 34


Other Notables


Junior RB Darius Marshall, sophomore CB DeQuan Bembry and junior LB Corey Hart were all suspended for the season opener due to team rules violations this summer. Sophomore CB T.J. Drakeford was expected to start against Southern Illinois, but was on the sidelines in street clothes due to a lingering foot injury. Sophomore Ahmed Shakoor started in his place opposite junior D.J. Wingate.

Head Coach Mark Snyder is 16-31 in his tenure at Marshall as he in now in his 5th year as head coach.

The first meeting between these two occurred back in 1913 in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Hokies won that meeting 47-0. Virginia Tech is 7-2 all-time against the Herd and has not lost to Marshall since 1940. The two most recent meetings were in 2002 and 2005. Both of those meetings were in Blacksburg and the Hokies won both games by an average of 26.5 points (41-14, 47-21).

Jaymes Brooks, the Hokies starting right guard, missed the majority of the 4th quarter against Alabama due to cramps. He practiced on Monday and is good to go this Saturday.
Greg Boone injured himself early on in the Alabama game and is expected to play this Saturday as well.

Marshall is ranked 100th in the nation in net punting and 69th in kick return yardage defense.

Alabama Game Recap and Analysis

After six months of hype, a week chalked full of advertising, and 60 minutes of football; the game ended just as most college football pundits believed it would.
The Hokies traveled to Atlanta to take on a determined Alabama team and came up short, losing 34-24 in front of over 75-thousand.

As much as this loss hurts, Hokie fans needs to realize that there are 11 games left in this season, and in all eleven Virginia Tech will be favored. The reason for this is because the Hokies played pretty well on Saturday, for an ACC team that is.

Tech was able to prove that the top ACC team could hang with the top SEC team, a feat that went by the wayside last year when Clemson was mauled in the same building by the same team.

The Hokies started off this game slow, allowing two long Alabama drives, both of which ended in field goals for the Tide. However, on the returning kickoff, Dyrell Roberts raced 97 yards down the left sideline to give the Hokies the lead in the first quarter.

After Leigh Tiffin and Matt Waldron set of field goals, Alabama regained the lead after a masterful Bama touchdown drive that was capped by a 19 yard Roy Upchurch touchdown run.

However, the Hokies weren’t done as a turnover sparked some life into the Hokies offense as Ryan Williams busted through the offensive line to score his first career touchdown, giving Tech a 17-16 advantage at the half.

The third quarter saw a lot of body shots thrown, but both teams failed to land a haymaker.

That all changed as the fourth quarter saw a large outburst of scoring and it was the Tide who regained the lead on a Mark Ingram six yard touchdown run. McElroy was able to find Collin Peek, the tight end, in the back of the endzone for the two point conversion.

The Hokies turned the ball over on the next possession setting up another Leigh Tiffin field goal, which gave Alabama a ten point lead with just over ten minutes left.

After another beautiful Dyrell Roberts return, Tech was able to punch it in thanks in part to a 32 yard run by impact freshman Ryan Williams. Tech closed to within three but the Alabama offense was rolling and the tired Virginia Tech defense couldn’t stop it. On the next drive the Tide rolled 74 yards on just five plays to put the game out of reach on a 19 yard pass and catch to Mark Ingram.

Tech had one last offensive possession but the Tide defense sacked Tyrod twice and never gave the junior signal caller a chance.

Alabama was able to walk away victorious for the second year in a row in Atlanta, Georgia.

Analysis:

While many Virginia Tech fans will look to point fingers, the loss could be attributed to numerous amounts of factors. Simply, the Hokies were just outmanned and outgunned on the field tonight. Alabama had a more talented team and it showed but the tenacity of this team allowed Tech to stay in it until the very end.

But looking at it at a micro-level, Tech made far too many mistakes to overtake a talented Alabama team. Ryan Williams muffed a punt that lead to a field goal, Davon Morgan fumbled a kickoff, a phantom holding call took away a first down, and a pass interference call gave Alabama a first down even though the ball was uncatchable.

If any of those things bounced the other way, this could have been a completely different outcome.

The Bad:

As much as I like Tyrod Taylor, I thought at times tonight he appeared to be a little timid in the pocket; worrying about the rush more than what’s happening downfield. I say this without having looked at any of the game film. It appears that early on, Tyrod was determined to stay in the pocket more than taking off in running, something he would have done more often last season. Nevertheless, I don’t think you can put any blame on Tyrod’s play tonight. He managed the game well and didn’t turn the ball over.

The offensive line’s blocking in the fourth quarter was atrocious. Dechristopher at right tackle and Greg Nosal at right guard seemed to be lost at times tonight, especially on the last drive where both of those guys were responsible for the two sacks that ended Virginia Tech’s chances tonight.

I am really surprised that Rolando McClain wasn’t ejected from tonight’s game. After two personal fouls including one for shoving an official, McClain was not ejected from the game. For the cheap shot on Render and bumping into a referee, he should have been tossed. In an ACC basketball game, he would have been ejected as soon as he touched an official, not sure why that’s so different in football.

I’m not one to blame anything on the refs as there are always phantom calls or no calls that hurt each team. But it seems like the holding calls were just thrown in randomly. Now, if you ask any offensive lineman or defensive lineman, there’s “holding” going on, on every play. But while Tech got flagged for holding on a few key plays, Alabama got away with two big holds that allowed a few of their drives to keep going. Tech did get a few calls that went their way in this game but if your going to call holding call it consistently on both teams.

Who would have thought our defense would have had such a poor showing last night. Obviously, it wasn’t all there faults but Alabama did have a very good 3rd down conversion percentage so the defense could have saved themselves 10 to 15 plays if they just could have stopped the Alabama offense on third down. But, you very rarely expect an opponent to be able to put up 500 yards of total offense on a Bud Foster defense.

My final point here is one that should register with every Virginia Tech fan. Another shot of launching this program into the arms of the elite falls short due to problems that are consistently on going for this program. Lack of an elite level QB, lack of a great offensive line, and lack of creative play calling along with consistent execution plagued this team again tonight. For some reason we just cannot get over that hump.

The Good:

While this loss does hurt, I did see a lot of good things out of this team tonight. Two years ago, we couldn’t have even hung with these guys. This year, we hung with them and were a big play away from winning it at the end.

Ryan Williams was our offense tonight and boy is that kid going to be special. When
Evans comes back next season (I’m hoping he gets a medical redshirt making him a sophomore again, might be a bit tricky since he’s already redshirted but there’s a chance he could get one), Tech will have by far the best group of running backs in the nation. The Hokies may struggle a bit this year but boy are these guys going to be fun to watch.

How about Dyrell Roberts getting his first ever kick return TD in his young career. He was a few steps from breaking a couple last season, so it was nice to see him do this against the best team we’ll see this year. Hopefully he can take a few more back to the house this year.

Take away the last two possessions but our offensive line played reasonably well last night. Notice the words “Terrence Cody” never came out of either Herbie’s or Musberger’s mouth last night. Gotta give credit to Sergio and Warren for taking care of the big fella all night long. DeChristopher and Nosal struggled at the end but a large part of that was miscommunication.

After Ryan fumbled the punt return, Jayron Hosley was the man catching the punts the rest of the night. The one return he did have was pretty impressive as he eluded about five defenders before getting brought down for only a small gain. The kid is only a true freshman but it appears he has the “it” factor we need as a punt returner.

Sadly, Brent Bowden could have possibly been our MVP last night. Bowden boomed a couple of punts and really looked a lot more poised than he did last season.

Lasting Impression:

While it would have been nice to win this game, the Hokies at least were able to hang with the best team in the SEC and even slug them in the mouth a few times. It’s clear that the Hokies are not on that SEC level yet but since Tech doesn’t play in the SEC, that spells trouble for the rest of the conference since, let’s be honest, the ACC is pretty pathetic.

The Hokies should be favored in their 11 remaining games and honestly; we should probably win all 11 of our remaining games.

If we can get through September 3-1, watch-out because the Hokies national championship hopes might not be done yet.

Daily Discussion #8: Pre-gaming

One game will not make or break your season, especially when you play in one of the six BCS conferences. However, for the Hokies, this game could make or break the program.

Virginia Tech is a shocking 0-24 all time against top 5 opponents when they play away from Lane Stadium. Now of course, most of those games were played a while back when the Hokies were on the verge of becoming a perennial top 25 team.

So as badly as Tech fans want to believe their team is among the elite, they don’t have the evidence to back it up.

But, the good news for Hokie fans is that they can garner the respect and the attention of all the media outlets with a win over the fifth ranked Alabama Crimson Tide tomorrow night.

However, he last time the Hokies played a game of this magnitude, they left Baton Rouge with a 48-7 loss ringing in their ears. But, all of that pain and all of the negative media that has come along with that loss could all be erased with a win against the Tide tomorrow night.

So, you guys have heard my predictions and my analysis so in my mind it’s time to stop analyzing and start playing the game.

If Thursday’s game is any indication of how this game will go, it should be fairly low scoring with the turning point being a big play on either offense or defense. Both are places where the Hokies usually excel.

All you Tech fans in Atlanta, be loud, be proud and show those Alabama fans what being a VT fan is all about.

Have fun and let’s bring a big “W” back to Blacksburg on Sunday.

GO HOKIES!!!!