Exorcising Panther-Sized Demons

My girlfriend has a Darren Evans jersey (technically a "#32 Virginia Tech football jersey"). She got it right before the 2010 season, simply because it was the only number the bookstore had left. Before the start of this season, she had worn it for exactly five games. Those games, you ask?

Boise State, 2010
Stanford, 2010
Michigan, 2011
Cincinnati, 2012
North Carolina, 2012

After the Carolina game, she and I came to the conclusion that the jersey was cursed. She hung it up in the back of her closet like a horrible sweater someone gives you for Christmas. She excommunicated a piece of clothing simply because her team lost too many times while she wore it.

Does a jersey actually impact what happens on the field? Of course not, but that's fandom. Fans will do whatever we think will help our team. That includes screaming at the top of our lungs while packed like sardines in Lane Stadium, or drinking the exact same bourbon from the exact same glass on the exact same couch cushion every Saturday. Sure, it might not make any sense, but it doesn't have to.

Fanatical logic like that is what makes this Pittsburgh game nerve-racking. As crazy as it may seem, as illogical as it may feel, the Panthers have foiled the Hokies for years, both in Pittsburgh and in Blacksburg. It's a fact not lost on anyone around the program, including its head coach.

"I think every year is different," said Frank Beamer. "What caused the first loss, second loss, third loss, fourth loss, different reasons. But the bottom line is they're always a very physical football team, always very tough, they don't beat themselves, they're a tough team to beat."

Four losses, yikes. And as much as Frank would like to talk about Pittsburgh's toughness, his teams have played down to the competition more often than not. Look at these results since 2000:

2000: Undefeated and ranked second in the country, Tech wins a tight one in Blacksburg, as Carter Worley hit a game winning field goal to beat Pitt 37-34. Why is this one on the list? It's because the Hokies lost Michael Vick to a dreaded high ankle sprain at the end of the first half of that game, all but destroying the team's chances against No. 3 Miami the next week.

2001: The twelfth-ranked Hokies went into Pittsburgh to play a 2-5 Panthers team that had only beaten East Tennessee State and Temple. Those same Panthers ran Tech out of the building, winning 38-7 and holding Grant Noel and company to 151 yards of total offense.

2002: After starting 8-0, including wins over LSU, Texas A&M and Marshall, No. 3 Virginia Tech loses to unranked Pittsburgh at home, 28-21. Again an unheralded Panthers team held the Hokies in check offensively, out gaining them 483 yards to 275. Some random freshman receiver named Larry Fitzgerald had five catches for 105 yards and three scores, and that Tech team finished the year by winning just two of their final six games.

2003: The week before Tech obliterated No. 2 Miami, so this game was going to be different. Alas, it was not. Despite 241 yards and four scores from Kevin Jones, the Hokies lost yet again to the Panthers, this time 31-28 in Pittsburgh.

2012: We should all remember this one. Logan Thomas and company traveled north yet again, this time to face a Pitt team that had lost to Youngstown State to begin the year. It lead to a picture of sad Tech bros contemplating life by the river.

Sure, Thomas and Dadi Nicolas got revenge on Paul Chryst's squad last season, but those kind of results have to make even the most level-headed people see a cause for concern, right? Well, it seems like quarterback Michael Brewer is confident enough to look the ghosts of old losses in the eye and tell them to leave his team alone.

"This is a new year," said Brewer. "This team doesn't have anything to do with the previous teams that have lost there. We've just got to show up and get off to a good start, just like we did at North Carolina, and protect the ball and find a way to put points on the board. And if we do that, we'll be fine."

That's all well and good, but that's coming from a newcomer, someone who doesn't know any better. Is it more of a struggle for some of the older guys? Maybe some of the ones who've been around a little while?

"[The losses are] always motivation, something to look forward to," said senior safety Kyshoen Jarrett. "You know I've definitely looked forward to, going back and playing those guys at their stadium, and getting a W.

"Because last time we were up there, it wasn't good at all. So, you know, just playing good ball. I'm definitely looking forward to it and I'm sure everybody else on the team is. That's the mindset we've been having all week."

The team seems ready, it's leaders seem focused on the now, not the then, and the fans? Well, my girlfriend decided that enough time had passed when she broke out her old #32 jersey this year.

The game she decided to bring it back for? Ohio State.

Maybe superstitions don't matter, or maybe it just takes a fan to break out of them. Whatever the case may be, it's a new season full of new players, meaning that it may be just the right time to shake the Pittsburgh jinx once and for all.