Positivity, Objectivity, and Miami...

Gents,

I'm here with a quick dose of positivity for you heading into the weekend...

Virginia Tech is not losing to Miami tomorrow. You can count on that.

There has been an enormous amount of negativity this week. And sure, losing is no fun. Especially when it is Liberty.

But I think many of us have blinders on.

Liberty is not a bad football team. They have athletes in key spots. They are well coached. And they came in last Saturday with a great game plan that was almost the polar opposite of what they normally do. Plus, they didn't have to deal with the normal crowd noise.

Still, Liberty needed several lucky breaks to win that game. The scoop and score that wasn't. The 35-yard pass to the three-yard line on a fourth down scramble drill. The muffed punt. The 51-yard field goal. There may be a few others I missed.

The point is objective viewers would say that Virginia Tech should have won that game. In fact, that's exactly what the data says. Bill Connelly's SP+ post-game win expectancies computes that VT would win that game nearly 70% of the time given how they played.

And that's why VT is favored tomorrow. Objectivity shows us for what we are – a pretty good football team.

When it's rolling, this offense is hard to stop.

We are currently #4 in the country in rushing offense despite not having Khalil last week. And we are averaging 465 yards and 37.3 points per game. Not too long ago that was often nearly two games worth of production for us.

What's more, I think we saw last week that our tempo game can be effective. I wouldn't be surprised to see a little more of that mixed in.

Yes, the defense is a weak point. We don't stop the run. We haven't tackled well. We give up a lot of third and fourth down conversions.

But we don't give up many big plays. We make the opposing offense do it the hard way. And that's why we are #10 in the country when it comes to turnovers forced.

When college teams are forced to drive the length of the field in small chunks, they eventually make a mistake. That's the philosophy behind the old bend, don't break defense.

The competitor in me far prefers Bud's all-out don't bend, don't break, don't give an inch approach. But I concede that if we can score points consistently, the new method is probably better for the modern era.

Now, consider this. We implemented an entirely new defense with a brand-new defensive coordinator without any real offseason. Spring was cancelled entirely. And Fall camp was a revolving door thanks to COVID and quarantines.

It's been the perfect storm for JHam and the guys on D. They are learning as they go. But I bet it gets better and better over time.

Not to mention, think about how COVID has disrupted the lives of these college kids.

Not only do they have to walk on eggshells, but they also must get an extremely uncomfortable COVID test three times each week. At any point somebody can come tap them on the shoulder and tell them that they have to go lock themselves in a room for two weeks.

Do we really expect these guys to be in peak shape and prime focus every day, every game, every snap under these conditions? Especially when every game is a glorified scrimmage with no fans in the stands?

I know every team is in the same boat. But think about it for a minute... should we really be throwing temper tantrums on social media and internet message boards, for all to see, given these circumstances? Should we really be raising alarms, emailing athletic directors, issuing calls to burn everything down and fire everybody in sight... just because Virginia Tech happened to lose a game to an opponent that we don't think should be any good?

Personally, I think doing these things is a bad look. I'd much prefer we get back to our roots and be the fanbase that opposing players feared and opposing coaches wished they had.

Something to think about.

Get ready for a fun one tomorrow.