Ohio State stunned 7.5 point favorite Alabama in the Sugar Bowl 42-35 last night. Virginia Tech beat Ohio State in the Horseshoe 35-21 on September 6, 2014. The Hokies and Buckeyes matchup again Labor Day night 2015 in Lane Stadium. Given all of that, Virginia Tech football players and athletic department employees had takes as Alabama-Ohio State unfolded.
It's only January 2, 2015 and J.C. Coleman seems amped for the challenge.
That team comes to LANE next year!!!!!— J.C. Coleman (@jc_coleman4) January 2, 2015
For those keeping score at home, Bud Foster held Urban Meyer and Ohio State to 327 yards, meanwhile Nick Saban and Kirby Smart gave up 537 yards. Bud is without a doubt the best in the business.
That's why he's the best in the business. #InBudWeTrust @coachfostervt— VT Football (@VT_Football) January 2, 2015
The only team to beat this Ohio State team headed to the national championship? #Hokies— Luther Maddy (@luthermaddy_) January 2, 2015
Co sugar bowl champs— Kenjamin Ekanem (@Ekannibal) January 2, 2015
Yes we did, Logan.
We beat this team??— Logan Thomas (@Lthomas_3) January 2, 2015
I have no idea what this conversation between David Wang and Jonathan McLaughlin is about.
"@Dwang09: Immmmmmm Joey bosa .... @jglock1993" woow!! Really David....— Jonathan McLaughlin (@jglock1993) January 2, 2015
"@Dwang09: @jglock1993 hahahaha I had to man. I had to. #goodtimes #westillwon #coachthoughthewasjoeybosa" hahah ok we did win— Jonathan McLaughlin (@jglock1993) January 2, 2015
C.J. Reavis is direct.
We Busted Ohio State Ass... pic.twitter.com/MAbhD4Wgpd— Cj Reavis (@Veintiuno_Era) January 2, 2015
2014 had its ups and downs but it was OUR year & the memories will last forever #TheFutureIsBright #Hokies pic.twitter.com/B4Vc9oCX5l— Thomas Guerry (@thomasguerry) January 2, 2015
Troll game status: flawless.
#TBT Sept 6, 2014: #Hokies 35, Ohio State 21 pic.twitter.com/GVS2AOllHj— VT Football (@VT_Football) January 2, 2015
Virginia Tech's win in the 'Shoe is what I will fondly remember most about the 2014 football season, but a transitive football playoff win or national championship doesn't mean anything to me. However, Tech's early season win and looming rematch might keep this team highly motivated throughout the offseason. That's a good thing.
Comments
Having that win in our cap means everything to recruits, though. Transitive property or not, Ohio State is going to the title game, and in September we marched into their house and ruined their season opener at night on national television. To recruits, this has to be an easy sell, especially with the injuries we had.
Damn straight!
Boo-Yah!!!!
RIP Stuart Scott...
The really nice part was there wasn't any doubt which was the better team that night. The Hokies beat OSU at home at night in front of a national audience.
But guys, that Ohio State team has improved so much since that game. They're practically not even the same team.
/s
Agreed. They really should put an asterisk next to that W.
just like us and with u, it had to do lot with injuries. I still think getting that w against UVA helped to get Ohio State into the playoff. But I don't think that there should be an asterisk, I think we were a solid team at that point.
I was kidding about the asterisk.
The way the talk has gone just ends up being disrespectful. Its almost like people are saying the Hokies didn't even belong on the same field with Ohio St., and Ohio St just had their worst game ever.
We all watched that game. Our Hokies straight up BEAT Ohio St. I didn't give a good god damn about whether or not they were "complete" yet, whatever that means.
The fact that OSU has 3 QBs that can win tells me two things:
1. They do have good players all around.
2. They run a system that allows the QBs to be good no matter who is under center-Bud seems to have beaten their system.
Their excuses saying that it was JT's first home start and an inexperienced offensive line is BS. VT had a new Oline coach, lost potential Oline starters, had 2 true freshmen running backs, 2 true freshmen wideouts, a first time freshman TE who rivals Slusher Tower in height, a QB who was barely on campus for 3 months and who had previously only played in spread like offenses, two new starters at DE, an experienced first time starter in Chase Williams, a hurt Brandon Facyson, a true freshman kicker, and a true freshman punt returner. All of these guys played lights out at the Horseshoe.
They better show us some respect when they come to Lane, we're only going to be better.
You can change "a first time TE" to "a freshman first time TE, who started learning the position 5 months earlier"
Good call. I'll change it along with something else, which I'm sure all of you will like.
I still can't believe anyone still thinks that Ohio State hasn't gotten significantly better this season. They beat Alabama with a 3rd string QB. You cannot sit here and legitimately think that they are the same team we beat in September.
The only reason people keep harping that Ohio State hasn't gotten better is that they want to hold on to the only good thing that happened this season. They want to believe that we can do it again next season because we're just as good as they are without injuries, but we aren't. They want this season not to be a disappointment, but it was.
These reactions by the players actually have me worried. Ken Ekanem saying 'Co sugar bowl champs' should be embarrassing. It's holding onto the accomplishments of another team because your own pale in comparison. As Joe pointed out, the transitive property doesn't mean anything. Logan's tweet seems more in disbelief that we could actually beat this team than anything else.
All of this belief that Ohio State hasn't improved is just going to result in massive disappointment when they come into Blacksburg and tear us a new one next year.
well, technically it IS the same team.
I think you are going a bit overboard on player reactions, perhaps massively so. I am sure they all know it's going to be a crazy tough game. That being said, VT and these players should be given a hell of a lot more respect for the win than the talking heads and you seem to be willing to give them. The Hokies were the only team to beat them and whether you believe it was a fluke the truth remains that our Defense stopped them better than most and our offense moved the ball enough to win against the same team that beat everyone else.
So if I was a player and seeing the big name team that I beat headed to the national championship game I would be pretty damn proud of myself as well.
Their 3rd string QB is probably better than all the QBs we have on our roster. Their depth chart is full of 4-5* guys recruited to a traditional power by one of the top coaches in the game. Simply put, they're loaded. Look at the game log:
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/ohio-state/2014/gamelog/
Their defense is pretty consistent, aside from allowing huge yardage to MSU. No discernible, progressive improvement.
Look at their offense. The game against VT stands out as their worst performance all year, though the Penn State game comes close. The fact that immediately after they played us, they could rack up 500+ yards for 7 out of the next 8 weeks shows not progressive, but immediate return to playing at the level they expect (which includes conference competition and only one cupcake). They have consistently been an excellent team, and Bud Foster used a perfect game plan to punch them in the mouth. Their MENSA-member OC couldn't out-genius our own genius. We beat them, we were better when we were at full strength. Nothing in my mind will ever diminish that. There can be all kinds of "coulds" and "ifs" about all of it, but it's crap and that's why you settle it on the field. OSU has been a good/great team all year. Our plan and execution beat them. Coupled with a couple of favorable bounces early on, we won.
OSU didn't get significantly better over the year; the stats just don't bear that out.
Their game against Navy was not good. They got better after our game, especially JT. He grew into a Heisman caliber QB. To suggest otherwise is nuts. I don't know how many people on this site have ever played sports before, but those who have, know that a team or player can most definitely improve or diminish over a season.
They can, but they also didn't play against the best pass rush and second best passing defense (caveat: advanced stats, depends on who you ask, but still... Bud Foster) the rest of the way. Are we really surprised he looked like a Heisman contender in games against Illinois, Cincinnati and Rutgers? The biggest improvement was up front, but I'm still not sure those guys have a much better time of it against the lunchpail if they played later (if everyone was still healthy of course).
Then we completely disagree. I guess we have to wait until next year. Although I hope you end up correct.
I don't think anyone is denying that the Ohio St. team that showed up last night would likely defeat the Hokies right now, for a myriad of reasons, including but not limited to the significant # of injuries VT has had vs almost none for Ohio St. outside of their QB (who was replaced with another top level talent)
But are actual wins no longer valid anymore if it is unlikely that you would defeat a team a second time if you were to play them later? Because that seems to be what some people are suggesting.
Ohio State's schedule:
7 of those next 8 games you mention were against 5 teams with defenses in the bottom half of the country. Looking at the statistics, the four games immediately following the loss were against teams in the bottom 40 in Total Defense, with three of those being in the bottom 40 in Scoring Defense.
Simply put, any 'improvement' they show would likely be masked by the fact that their games immediately following the Virginia Tech loss were against absolutely abysmal defenses. You dismiss their improvement as the stats not bearing out, but you cannot deny that the statistical inflation from playing defenses that poor would mask the improvement they made in those games.
You could actually argue that they showed no improvement until after the Penn St game, at which point they have blasted every elite defense they have faced since, but besides that the Buckeyes have demonstrated a marked improvement over the course of the season.
All teams get better over a course of a season. VT would have been significantly better if they hadn't been injured, but OL play (in the run game) improved, as well as other things. The problem here is there isn't much of a control. We don't know the results of a bunch of "what-ifs," and those defensive stats don't necessarily correlate to the outcome (i.e. MSU has a better defense than UMich, but OSU racked up a ton more yards and more points against MSU, which is the better defense, then dropped against UMich for some reason). Aggregate statistics are, admittedly, lacking in nuance. They got better, sure, but significant (that word has a very specific meaning in statistics, and nothing anyone has shown has shown significant difference)? I am not convinced.
EDIT: afterthought. The aggregate season statistics of the opponent aren't necessarily a good judge of how good the teams were when they played. It doesn't account for things like injuries, suspensions, etc. Were all teams playing at that level during the game against OSU? Hard to know without much more analysis. Stuff happens that's hard to quantitate. We had a great passing defense over the course of the season. But ECU torched us for a quarter - in part because Facyson was playing hurt. If he's 100%, those first few throws don't happen. If our All-American Kendall Fuller doesn't slip and fall during the GT game, they don't get that big completion that leads to the tying TD. A lot of stuff happens that the numbers can't show; that is a danger in aggregate statistics.
Well said. We all know what the issues were with this year's team... that's well documented. But the fact of the matter is we beat a highly-ranked Ohio State team in their house in front of 107,000 fans. We played lights out, and all the stars aligned. We were injury-free for the most part, totally prepared and ready to rock. I was there.... it was beautiful....Even the Tech bench was completely fired up, turning around, raising their arms and into our large contingent of fans who were yelling themselves horse and were CLEARLY heard throughout the stadium. Our team was focused, totally prepared, and gave their complete all. We probably would've beaten nearly any team in the country that particular night. A young team loaded with freshmen, injury skewered and inconsistent throughout a season turns in what we ended up turning in. But also don't forget...we lost 3 games by 3 points or less this season...that's 10 wins right there, if we could've finished...but.....
we lost 3 games by 3 points or less this season
And a total of 5 games by 7 points or less. Had the ball bounced different, injuries been less, we all would be saying this is the season that was instead of the season that could have been.
Article here: http://www.dailypress.com/sports/virginia-tech/dp-spt-obit-tech-football...
FTFY
The VT-anOSU game was the training ground for anOSU's run through the rest of their season. They beat several more teams with good defenses, but the VT crucible made them what they are now. That is certain.
You can't use statistics to back up one claim and then dismiss them when they go against your opinion.
Furthermore, I don't buy injuries at all. While they seem bad, go look at the depth chart from the Ohio State game and then the one from the bowl game:
OSU game depth chart: http://www.hokiesports.com/football/notes/20140906.pdf
Bowl game depth chart: http://www.hokiesports.com/football/notes/20141227.pdf
The bowl game guide even includes the list of players sideline or missing the season due to injury:
Out for Season:
Brent Benedict (leg) OL
Desmond Frye (shoulder) DB
Kalvin Cline (knee) TE
Brandon Facyson (leg) DB
Sean Huelskamp (knee) LB
Luther Maddy (knee) DL
Shai McKenzie (knee) TB
Colt Pettit (shoulder) OL
Braxton Pfaff (shoulder) OL
Mark Shuman (knee) OL
Marshawn Williams (knee) TB
Missed Signigicant Time
Trey Edmunds (clavicle) TB (missed last 6 games)
Jonathan McLaughlin (ankle) OL (missed last 3 games)
Chase Williams (knee) LB (missed 4 games; returned)
Jerome Wright (knee) TB (missed last 2 games)
Benedict and Shuman were sidelined before the season started, so they are irrelevant as far as injuries are concerned. If we can beat Ohio State without them, then they shouldn't matter in the injury discussion.
So, since the Ohio State game, of significant contributors, we lost Jonathan McLaughlin, Brandon Facyson, Luther Maddy, McKenzie, Marshawn Williams, Trey Edmunds, and Chase Williams. That's 1 OL, 1 DB, 1 LB, 1 DT, and 3 RB. The other injuries were players that did not see significant playing time this season.
Let's talk specifically about the offense:
Taking into account that J.C. Coleman was a starter at various points over the last two seasons with significant playing time, the losses at running back are exaggerated. He's not some walk-on 3rd or 4th stringer, he's a starter.
Along the O-line we only lost McLaughlin. The offensive line line-up remained constant from the Ohio State game through the Pittsburgh game, and then was rearranged. At that point we were 4-3, with the offense under-performing. If our offense woes were related to O-line injuries, then how can you explain us losing 3 games before any injuries along the line? It just does not make sense that we play that poorly before the injuries if you are going to argue that the injuries made a difference.
No, I'm qualifying a position to provide context. Where is your numeric evidence that OSU got (as you have said before) "significantly better" as the season progressed? I haven't seen any. There are numbers to back up my claims, though I freely admit that they're not infallible. But I'm using per-game stats to describe matchups, whereas you've got season-long stats that hide fluctuations and individual matchup information.
As for injuries, the constant shuffling at various positions led to a cascade of problems. When we're inserting the D-III DT transfer as our RT, pass pro when into the toilet. I'm not trying to knock Hansen, but we were in dire straits and he wasn't ready to see the field. That alone caused a bunch of breakdowns. Various guys missed time within games that aren't listed on the charts, but caused shuffling along the O-line. Everybody seemed to have to know their own position, as well as one to either side of it. I'll leave the better assessments to guys like French, but it seemed to me (and many others) that guys weren't strong in their starting roles for most of the year and making them shift around made it worse.
As I pointed out, the Offensive Line makeup did not change until the game against Miami. It was constant during the first seven games, through Pitt. In fact, the only changes along the offense were re-arranging the RB depth chart. Marshawn was the starter after Ohio State through UNC and was back for Miami, BC, and Duke; Shai started Ohio State, and was 2nd string through the WMU game.
The injury argument just does not hold water. The offensive lineup was perfectly consistent until the Pitt game, and that was caused by benching, not injury. At that point we were 4-2. You may be able to chalk Pitt up to RB injuries, but the RBs only got 18 carries that game; they never had a chance to demonstrate their ability.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2014/team/742/total/offense/gamelog.html
We struggled to run the ball against competent defenses before the injuries at RB, which demonstrates a lack of ability across the O-line, and O-line that did not change in the first seven games. Before any changes were made to the offensive line, we were 4-3. The injuries were not the problem.
TLDR: We only lost one O-lineman this season. Through the first seven games our offensive line had the exact same composition, and we were 4-3. Before losing top two RB, we were 4-2. Injuries had little to no impact to how this season played out.
The offensive lineup was consistent and underwhelming. Put Benedict and Shuman in the mix (guys who were easily/arguably excellent fits for what Searels was trying to do), and then throw Teller in there, and the late-season surge we saw with the ground game could have happened much earlier. Not to mention the presence of a couple older guys up front may have helped our pass protection issues.
First, you two quotes up there are taken completely out of context, and actually make perfect sense when taken together. The stats don't bear out that OSU got significantly better, and there's also a lot of stuff that the numbers don't take into account.
Also, it wasn't just the injuries to the starters that killed us. Our running game still struggled vs. OSU (125 yards on 41 attempts - 3.0 ypc), but Brewer and co. made just enough plays to keep the chains moving and score. Benedict and Shuman would have been outstanding fits for Searels (can you imagine a guard combo of Benedict and Teller run-blocking? My goodness....), and would have at least provided good depth and competition, especially when McLaughlin got hurt. That line was shuffled and reshuffled over the course of the year, and it's not at all a stretch to think having those 2 guys would have been anything but a benefit during that process.
On the defensive side, Maddy was our second-best player (behind Fuller), and the absolute leader up front. His quickness, toughness, and leadership up front was sorely missed, as was his presence during physical games like Miami and PItt. Throw in r-freshman Motuapuaka, playing one of the most demanding positions on the defense (behind probably boundary corner), and things are just not going to end well when the middle of your defense is wrecked like that.
We were in a bunch of close games this year that went the wrong way. It's those kind of games (and shoot, even against Miami, if those 3 fumbles don't happen and the middle of the D is a little more stout... ya never know) where you miss your playmakers and leaders. It's not just the amount of injuries we had but who they happened to. Shoot, even Kendall was banged up most of the year.
... and we don't have the plug and play depth that a team like OSU has. For example, OL was so thin that we played a D3 DT at tackle when 1 injury happened. We played a FR at LB when Chase went down. We lost 3 LBs (JC starting in the opening game was more about the youth and Edmunds not 100% than was better than the others).
I haven't seen anyone say that they haven't improved. They certainly have. What I have seen is comments that the W was a complete fluke, which also isn't valid. That W was part perfect match up for VT (our strengths matched up well with thier weakness, just like WF's strengths matched up well with our weaknesses), time of year, before their OL and QB completely put things together, anOSU underestimating VT, VT players all playing their best games of the year at the same time, plus a bit of luck (dropped pass or two, Barrett missing open WR's, at least two "NO-NO-NO... YES-YES-YES" passes by Brewer the likes of which hurt the team, when his luck ran out, later in the season).
No one should be saying that VT beat the team that we saw last night, but they also shouldn't completely discount the W as pure luck.
Look at VTGuitarMan's post right above you then:
And VT_Fencer's that started this comment chain:
I guess everyone just believes it was only minor improvements on the Buckeyes?
I won't discount it as luck, but I will discount it as the perfect storm in our favor. The circumstances were right for an upset. This is what allows the Oregon States and the Stanfords to beat the USCs, the Kentuckys to beat the LSUs, the Appalachian States to beat the Michigans. It isn't a fluke in reference to the game itself, but in the scope of the season it becomes one.
Hell, if OSU wins it all against Oregon, us beating them might actually turn into the most flukey game in CFB history.
I agree with "they didn't get significantly better". They got better, but virtually all teams do, unless they are dealing with injury probs like VT had this year. Even then, a team that recruits like anOSU (or Bama, USC, FSU, Texas, etc) has serious talent sitting on the bench. Teams like VT can't handle large numbers of injuries, esp at a single position. The drop off from 1st team to 2nd is meaningful. The drop to 3rd and 4th is astounding. The fact that they anOSU could plug in a seldom used qb and blow out Wiscy, then beat everyone's #1 is proof that they can just plug in the next man and not lose a step.
I don't agree with VT_Fencer. If anOSU had struggled a bit to get going vs the cupcake and then started in conf by winning close games, then gradually increasing MoV to blow outs, I would agree, but that simply didn't happen. They went from losing to VT, to blowing out teams in 7 out of the next 8.
Did they improve over the course of the season? Yes. Was it a huge improvement? Nope.
Dude are you even a Hokie fan? If you can't take pride and enjoyment from beating a top ten on the road on national television, I don't know how you will ever be a happy fan. Sure Ohio State improved, all teams do over the course of a season. But, you're missing the point. The hokies Beat Ohio State at the Shoe...that just doesn't happen often.
All of the arguments are completely discounting the fact that two teams can be on different ends of the spectrum and yet the lesser team can still present detrimental matchup nightmares. I'm tired of hearing about the first time starting qb. Brewer had like 5 minutes more experience than J.T., and Ohio State proved that they could whip up on Wisconsin with yet again another first time starter.
We beat them by matching our strengths against their weaknesses. I fully expect the rematch to be even tougher, and I would probably not bet on the Hokies to win; however, as with every game I watch them play, I know that they can win.
Come on now. This is uncalled for.
We should be able to have this kind of good debate without silly "no true Hokie" accusations.
Not saying anything about being a "true" fan, just wondering if he's a fan in general. Usually I only have to defend quality wins with opposing team's fans.
I've had the same question.
Not a "true Hokie fan" question, more so an "actual Hokie fan" question. Legit quality wins against top level teams are a point of contention these days?
There really is no debate going on. There are just a couple of people making negative comments about why we should not have been able to beat Ohio St because they have improved throughout the season, which is an argument that makes absolutely zero sense in any realistic/practical point of view.
The Hokies did beat them straight up, and then the EXACT SAME Ohio St. Team played very well the rest of the year. Just not well enough when they played us
Gotta say, I have the same question as well.
There are all types of fans but at a certain point if a "fan" can't enjoy the successes of their team if those successes aren't winning national championships every year then I really wonder why they choose to associate themselves with VT, or any team that isn't playing for it every year. The fact is that there is only 1 team that wins the championship and no matter what people claim should be our benchmark for a successful season the Hokies are a team that, at least for now, will be the underdog knocking off the big boys. We don't have the donor support, the number of fan base, the facilities, the location, the budget, etc of the big boys. So the mere fact that we compete with them more often than not, and beat them as we did with anOSU, is incredibly powerful and something I would expect a Hokie fan, who understands our position in the football echelon, to be proud of.
Further to that, how many times in the past 5 years has it been said that if VT wants to be considered "back" we need to win the marquee games. We laid a lot of turkey eggs when faced with P5 teams, and ranked teams, in bowls and otherwise. This year we beat several ranked teams and topped it off with a big win against a team competing for the National Championship, who is otherwise undefeated. This is precisely what everyone has been clamoring about for years and years. It should be recognized more often.
look back to when we lost to Boise St. the discussion was how VT was viewed as a stepping stone to establishment. If you beat us then you were considered in the discussion, and a lot of teams beat us to get into that discussion. So why is our win against anOSU viewed any differently? We are not a perfect team by any means. yet we are also not a healthy team, a veteran team or a rebuilt team either. This season had huge ups and downs, but if those people asking when the rebuilding comes and calling for coaches heads stopped their blasting and look at this season objectively it is the prototypical "rebuilding type" year. We played up and down to the level of our competition and when we had to really step up our team, made up of primarily freshman and first year talent, stepped up in a huge way and found a way to win. This is exactly what you want to see in a rebuilding year with such limitations, especially with our injuries. And as Mason pointed out, we were close to winning a lot more games.
You can be a pessimistic fan if that's who you are but don't take away what has been accomplished.
Hall of fame caliber post right here. Taking the pulse of the fanbase.
Some people never enjoy it. Hell, man, just listen to Finebaum after a Bammer loss. These people are following a quasi-NFL team and they're miserable.
Being a fan of VT football can be exasperating at times, especially when we play down to the level of our competition. But there have been so many great moments over the last 18 seasons of Hokie football in my life, and that's what I remember and choose to focus on.
Some people would just rather be miserable I think. It's the only thing I can think of to rationalize some of the behavior I consider irrational.
I don't blame the players for boasting about the win but they better get their heads right prepping for the game
God forbid we're not already displaying 100% focus on that next game, which is 9 months away.
I'm guessing that the coaches and team leaders won't let this team lose focus and understand that a highly pissed off anOSU team is coming to Lane, with the entire off season to prep for the game.
You're entitled to your opinion.
But by your own admission, there is no empirical data to support the claim of a significant offensive improvement by the Buckeyes subsequent to playing us.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." - Lord Vader
Oh lord, you can't really think that can you? How often do I see people harp on the fact that stats aren't everything when arguing in favor of the Hokies? All the time. OSU might be the best team in the country now, they were not at the start of the season. They got better, that happens in sports.
Yeah, I'm pretty much with you on this. I'm not discounting the genius of Bud... but I think anyone who thinks our Military Bowl team could match up with this OSU Rose Bowl team is looking through seriously Maroon tinted glasses. VT is pretty fragile. I'm not saying they give up, or even that they get injured easily although after this year it sure seems that way. I'm saying that you take out any single starter at this point, and we have nobody of similar caliber to insert with the expectation of no dropoff.
Our win vs. OSU early in the season wasn't a fluke, but there is no question that, top to bottom, this OSU has far more talent to lean on than we do.
Barrett missed on some easy scores vs us. He made some bad decisions that you'd expect from a young QB. Brewer mades some bad ones as well that game, but got away with them. Later games he did not.
So yeah, I'm super psyched that we beat a team that may just win the Championship this year. Beats the hell out of previous years when we just lost to the eventual Champion in that regard.
I just don't see any good argument that OSU hasn't improved considerably. I mean, you can throw in statistics which are simply numbers on paper and make an argument, but using the eyeball test, it seems pretty open & shut that OSU is operating far more smoothly now than they did against us.
Would we be competitive? Absolutely. But 9 out of 10 times, with the teams as they stand now, I think OSU handles us.
Now, next year, with a team full of healthy starters, and a 2nd team full of guys with solid live-game experience, and a bunch of guys on Offense that have internalized Left's schemes, and an O-line that is looking like it's finally getting the size and schematic understanding it needs to just play instead of think? Yeah, I think next year we will match up much much better, even than we did when we beat them earlier this year.
Here's what I believe.
Immediately following the game against us, OSU averaged 56 points a game over its next 4 games, and proceeded to average just shy of 48 points per game for the entire rest of the season. There was no gradual improvement, they were that good literally the next week after playing us. So to argue the improvement angle is to accept that their improvement was like flipping a switch their very next game. I have no empirical reason to believe that's the case.
I also have no reason to think that if we played tomorrow, Bud's defense would suddenly be woefully less successful in containing their offense as it was in early September.
I believe we went into the Horseshoe and straight up beat the team that's about to play for the national championship. I don't think luck had any more to do with that win than luck factors into any football game. I think Bud Foster's defense might be the best designed and best prepared defense in college football to stop what Urban Meyer tries to do on offense.
I also think that we have endured so many deflating losses to elite competition that a segment of our fanbase has developed Stockholm syndrome. We've become so accustomed to losing to top teams that when we finally beat one, we have to rationalize it by saying that they weren't ACTUALLY that good when we played them. Some people just can't process the fact that we can beat anyone.
They were that good, we were better, and after that game our seasons took divergent paths. That's what I believe.
I like your style.
Our seasons took divergent paths you say? Almost as if we got worse and they played better? Good lord, I thought this was supposed to be where the rational Hokie fans were. That team doesn't play for the national championship early this season. They got better as a team. You think we could have played for a Natty and beaten Bama? Hell, no. It was a good win, but let's not act delusional here.
Thanks for the snark. Always good to know when you can't actually respond to my points you'll just launch into ad hominem attacks. Stay classy.
So I added some snark, so what? What are we English gentlemen discussing eggball with one another over a spot of tea? This is football, the fans have attitude. Plus, I did respond to your point, it was in the first two sentences.
But hey, how bout we play your conjecture game?
Seems to me like all I said above was as follows: we straight up beat OSU, luck was no more a factor than in any football game, Foster has the best D in college ball to stop Urban Meyer's system, and we were better than them on the field.
Where is the irrational argument in there? Oh wait, there isn't one.
Did I say anything about us being able to beat Alabama to play for a natty? No, that was the straw man you propped up. We match up poorly against what Alabama does on offense. We've seen that twice. But we weren't talking about Bama, so please stay on subject.
Point is, after OSU, injuries and QB growing pains made us lose five games we could have won. We got blown off the field once. We were annoyingly close to having an amazing season. But we didn't. We finished 7-6.
And one of those seven wins was kicking the shit out of one of the teams that's about to play for the national championship.
Ok, I'll say it again for like the 6th time now. I'm not saying our win over OSU was a fluke, or all about luck, or OSU just playing bad. My argument that many people are not buying is that OSU got significantly better through the season and that we got worse over the season. I'm saying that at that game, maybe VT and OSU were more equal at that point than many people wanted to admit. But, obviously, or maybe not so obviously, we are not the same teams anymore.
And I'm just saying when you're being called to lay any evidence on the table to back up your opinion, you're just calling the people who disagree with you irrational and trotting out a veiled version of the transitive property of football.
What!? You are talking about evidence? They are in the national championship for god's sake? Are you a football fan? Just watch them play and you will see with your own eyes how much better they are now. Do you only rely on stats to make an opinion about a team?
So your whole basis for believing they are significantly better on offense than when we played them is, in a nutshell, "We can't possible beat a team that's good enough to play for a national championship."
Don't want to put words in your mouth so please, if I'm misjudging your argument, here's your chance to correct me.
This pretty much it actually. Or, you know, win 59-0 against Wisconsin. Duke Johnson gashed us, but I'm sure we would be able to contain that scrub Melvin Gordon. I don't know what to say. You clearly believe that that OSU team, with a first time QB and an Oline that had barely played together would also lay a beat down on those teams I just mentioned. Just don't be too surprised if we lose by 40 next year to the number one team in the country.
STOP THE PESSIMISM PLEASE
The glass can be half full. Try on the homer glasses, they fit fine.
Not pessimism at all. Realistic though. And I just don't like being overly optimistic, you do you if that's what you like. Saying that a team that started the season losing to what would end up being a very average team and ending up in the national championship sounds like the most rational thing a person say to me.
This is where we shake hands and walk away, dude. I got nothing left to say to you.
How about we come back to this after we beat OSU next year and you rub it my face? I would actually love that.
Now we're talking. Those O&M shades look good on you.
Not a chance in hell.
If we beat OSU again on Labor Day, I'm tracking your ass down and buying you a drink.
Because I'm classy like that.
If we win, you can find me downtown.
Look for me. I'll be the guy wearing a Virginia Tech shirt.
I'll be the one with a VT shirt, swinging around in a circle over my head.
TBH, I might be the guy in a VT shirt in the back of a squad car.
So being able to beat OSU means VT automatically can do what OSU did this season or the teams are radically different today than what they were on that day? You do know that the transitive property really doesn't apply to sports, right?
I'm confused as to what you are saying and why you are saying it to me because that is what my point is too.
As a JMU alum, I have to bring up the 2010 season and the parallels there. JMU beats a ranked Tech team in Lane Stadium in the second game of the season. Then, Tech goes on to win 11 straight games, including wins over ranked NC State, Miami, and FSU teams, while JMU limps to a 6-5 season ( albeit with lots of close losses ).
Clearly Virginia Tech became a better team over the course of that season. The only difference is because JMU is an FCS school, it is ingrained for their fanbase to think a win like that had to be a fluke, whereas an ACC team's ( even one that finished 3-5 in conference play ) fans would never think such a thing.
Ohio State fans can say they would beat Tech now because they made the National Championship. Tech fans can say they'd beat OSU now because they already beat them once this year. It is the beauty of hypotheticals; You never have to back up your claims.
I don't know who would win if the two teams played now, or replayed the September game with the same teams. However, if I am trying to be impartial ( which may or may not be a good thing here ), there are 2 points that have to be made;
1. Virginia Tech did not kick the sh*t out of OSU. First Downs were 21-19 Tech, Total Yards were 327-324 OSU, and Turnovers were equal at 3 apiece. Virginia Tech won the game by disrupting the O-Line of OSU and holding them to 4-16 on 3rd Down conversions. That was the key stat. Still, Ohio State had an opportunity to tie the game in the final minute, with the final score looking more gruesome than it really was because of the game ending pick six.
2. Next year's game is going to be the most anticipated game on both teams schedules. However, I would take it to the bank that Ohio State players would be willing to lose that game if it meant beating Oregon for the National Championship next week. So, in the end, Tech's victory this year makes a nice trivia question in the future while Ohio State winning next week would go into the record books.
Welcome to the board. Have a leg to get you started.
You raise a very interesting point about parallels to the JMU loss at Lane. However, I don't think it's a particularly accurate comparison for a couple of reasons. In 2010, VT was coming off a crushing late loss to Boise State on the road (neutral site, but still a travel game) and then played JMU five days later. In many ways, it was a perfect shitstorm that culminated in a very good FCS team being the better team on Worsham Field that day. However, I do believe VT plays JMU 100 times, VT wins 98 or 99 of them. I might be a Hokie homer in that opinion, but my point is there were significant extenuating factors that played into the JMU loss that were absent in the OSU game.
Still, an interesting comparison. Kudos.
As for your final points, "kick the shit out of" is a subjective term. Granted, it's usually reserved for 62-0 drubbings, but I'll explain why I use it to describe the outcome of the OSU game.
And as for the record books, without looking it up, who won the BCS championship in 2009? I know some people out there are going to know it right off the top of their heads, but in general the people who remember it are the fans of the program that won it, and the fans of the program that lost that game. Hats off to OSU if they beat Oregon, and I hope they do. But I'll take the trivia question.
First of all JMU Alums should be banned....no, I'm just kidding. I could point to a dozen factors that make the JMU and Ohio State games different. But, I don't want to take away from the excellent game that JMU played, so I won't bother. I sometimes like to think of it this way: If the teams played 10 times, what would the head to head record be. I would guess that the Hokies beat JMU the other 9 times. I would think that Ohio State would beat us at least 6 out of the remaining 9. What does any of that mean? Absolutely nothing because the teams only get to play once. Each W should be enjoyed by the victors and loathed by the defeated; that's what makes sports fun.
Actually, our defense against Alabama wasn't too bad. It was special teams.
Apparently 7 freshman on the field for kick returns is a bad idea against quality kicking teams.
Our offense maved the ball ok and actually did score but it was run up by kick returns.
You think that VT was a better team later in the season, than when we played anOSU? Talk about delusion.
No one has said anything about our current team beating that team now. Ohio State got beat plain and simple. Their team stayed consistent for the rest of the year, VT got worse which is why, sure, we probably wouldn't have the same chance to beat Ohio State if we played today.
I've said like 5 times now that WE got worse and THEY got better. Not the other way around.
Don't forget Bama struggled with WVU early. That's 7-6 WVU...as in the same record as 7-6 VT.
Bama -- and the SEC west as a whole -- were a bit of a paper tiger. If OSU plays Bama early, they very well may have beaten them then too.
Unlike most, I not only thought OSU would cover the spread, but they would win straight up.
Or Bama got better as the season progresses as well. They were playing with a first time QB.
You must be a real blast at parties...
I would never downvote it, but all of your posts on this subject reek of incredible negativity for no reason I can fathom. I don't think that anyone is denying that Ohio St. has improved since week 2 (as almost any team is wont to do barring major injuries).
But outside of their QB, literally every other player that started that game for the Buckeyes against us started the game against Alabama. Virginia Tech beat them straight up.
Furthermore, I don't understand where fans having fond memories of one of the biggest wins in program history is "holding on" or trying to create some false hope for the future. Our eyeballs all worked that Saturday night. We saw what Virginia Tech could be as a team. There wasn't anything fluky or lucky about that win.
We were the better, and luckier, team that night. There is no doubt our seasons took different paths after that night.
Certainly our seasons took different paths after that game.
But I fail to see how that invalidates the win, which is what a lot of the talking heads seem to be suggesting with their "But that wasn't the complete OSU team yet" type of chatter.
It wasn't OSU at its best yet. Look at them now compared to when we played them. The receivers were dropping passes, the Dline was missing tackles. Now, that team has helped carry a team led by a third-string QB. Admittedly probably a better QB than most in the country.
And why were the receivers dropping passes? Because our DBs were draped all over them all game, getting in their heads and taking them out of their games. And they were dropping them because our pass rush was destroying their QB, leading to bad, inaccurate throws. As for missing tackles, I just rewatched the game last night. I did not see a ton of missed tackles. What I saw was getting our playmakers in space through Lefty's scheme. By and large, their defenders made the tackles when they were in position.
But basically what you're saying is, they weren't as good then because we beat them. And yet, as has been pointed out time, and time, and time again, is that there is no data whatsoever to support the claim that their offense improved gradually throughout the rest of the season. They were firing on all cylinders the very next week and continued at that level for the rest of the season. Now if you want to argue that their confidence as a team grew with each successive win, that's one argument, but that's not the same thing as being better. And I still say, you put Foster's defense up against that offense today, Foster shuts them down again. I have no reason at all to think it doesn't happen again.
Seriously, what is everyone's obsession with data when it makes us look good. I'm not taking away from that win. Being in the Horseshoe that night was the greatest night in my entire life. But that OSU team was not playing well as a team at that point compared to now. Yes, Foster's defense was clicking, yes, our offense was making clutch 3rd down conversions. Although if you watch the game, the drops they had were bad, like wide open bad. Kinda like our game against Bama last year, where our receivers got a hell of a lot better through out the season.
I just rewatched the game last night, actually, and what I saw was blanket coverage by our DBs taking away catch after catch from their receivers eventually getting into those receivers' heads and taking them out of their game, forcing mental errors, and coupled with a pass rush that harassed their QB all night, in general preventing them from getting into any offensive rhythm all night. It was the classic psychological warfare that is a staple of Bud Foster defense, and it shut down an offense that would immediately turn around and post 50+ a game for the next four games.
Couple that with a QB making his second start. Making bad throws and reads, then yes together those two makes it hard to pass. Against today's OSU team though, it probably wouldn't have shut them down though.
Same with our QB and ours just did a better job that game.
And their OLine wasn't out 2 potential starters already by that game.
Their Oline wS Bette than ours but our slime was Better than their Oline.
What start was Brewer making for VT again?
You seem stuck on this "against Ohio St. Now" angle. We played them in week 2, what would happen now means nothing in the context of that win.
I'll be shocked if that happens. Tech is going to struggle to win, but I doubt we get run off the field.
Foster is going to have an entire offseason to game plan, he's the best in the business. He's going to have a very good front seven, his corners will be improved over what he had against OSU this year, the only concern are the safeties... although I'm really high on some of the young guys and they'll be coached by the best secondary coach in the country.
Offensively, it's reasonable to expect every position group to perform better than they did this year. Brewer will be in his second year in Loeffler's system and will be fresh ( I think some of his issues came from getting beat up all season long), the WR's will be a year older, same for the tight ends who will also add Kalvin Cline. Not sure who is going to start at running back, but whoever gets the carries will be at least as effective as last year's group. Most importantly, the offensive line will be bigger and stronger and we should expect to see them to continue to improve in the run blocking game. Lastly, say what you will about Scott Loeffler but he has shown time and again that when given time to sit down and draw up a game plan he has created enough wrinkles to put his guys in positions to make plays. Next year, I think we'll finally have enough talent to take advantage of those opportunities.
So no, I don't think we'll get blown out by Ohio State. Nothing has really changed. Foster is going to overplay the run game and make Ohio State throw the ball just like this year, except he might be fielding an even more talented defense. Loeffler will want to control the clock and look for the right moment to take some shots, except he should be fielding an even more talented offense.
It's also at Lane. I think it's a good matchup for Virginia Tech.
AND I am already negotiating my soul with the devil to make sure I am there to attempt to deafen the OSU offense. Saban's has not answered my email asking for tips on the devil's weaknesses.
Fuck yeah, Mason!
I'm pumped up now
Agree, bro. But the point is - since we have the trash talk rights now, and that right will be gone forever if we lose this September (when are we going to play them again?), our guys are doing that now.
Overall, I do think they have gotten somewhat better since that game, but at the same time, Tech's problems were at least in part due to the horrendous spate of injuries to several of our key starters (our depth never being great).
2015 - who knows what is going to happen? OSU cannot afford to lose to us twice in a row, especially after a championship appearance/win. (I think they are going to care more about the Tech game than the CG this year - LOTS of recruiting perception riding on that game for both teams). So they are going to come out swinging. For us, Bud will be Bud and dial up Bud things. But our players - trash talk now or not - better prepare like never before in their lives.
Winning a championship means a heck of a lot more than beating VT in the regular season, in terms of fan excitement, donors, and recruiting. I truly doubt they're looking past winning a title just to get revenge on us. Plenty of offseason time to focus on VT.
I meant in the big picture. Did not mean to imply that they are thinking about that game now over the NCG.
Wait, are you being sarcastic or not? They most definitely are not the same team from when we played them, to think otherwise would be to disregard any and all football knowledge a person could have. We are probably a little bit worse than that game, but their improved meant as a team is incredible.
If I misunderstood your post, then disregard this post.
They've improved, but it wasn't like our game against them was a complete fluke. They had no answer for Bud Foster and a healthy and well-executed offensive attack moved the ball. Yes, our offense played one of, if not their absolute best games that night, but that doesn't mean the loss to VT and then playing for a national title is all on them improving as a team.
Heck, look at Urban Meyer's statements after the game. He says they got out coached and out played. How is that a fluke?
Uhhh, yeah because at that time they weren't the team they are now, so it didn't look like they would have killed us on any other day. That is why I'm saying they improved so much.
Good thing that they flipped the "turn into NCG caliber team" switch, immediately after VT beat them in their place. I'm thinking that we need to have a donor campaign to buy VT an easdy button that does that for our team.
There is some sarcasm in that post. Has Ohio State improved over the season? Yes, but the degree to which they have improved is debatable. Does that improvement invalidate our win? No, which is why I posted this in the first place.
Much could be said about wether or not our win was a fluke or the outcome would be different if the situation was different. We played it out on the field and we won. We played like we were capable of playing and if we do that again on this Labor Day, we will beat them again. One thing is for certain; we will have their attention and they will be ready to go, but so will the Hokies!
Lane is gonna be electric come Labor Day night. To say that I cannot wait is an understatement.
I MUST make it down to Blacksburg for the game next year. I must.
I have already took that Tuesday off so I can drink DT after our win
No matter what, at least we can say we got a big win against a big time program. People taunted as being "Chokies" or non-elite or whatever but since 2008 we've beaten Nebraska twice, Tennesee and now Ohio State. Our main goal now should be to stay consistent over the duration of the season. We had some close games against BC, WF, PITT, GT, and possible even ECU. We could be talking about an 11 win season.Again all winneable games.
I think the team needs to focus on preparation like they did against UVA and Cincy. There are no gimme games, everything needs to be earned. As Andy Bitter mentioned in the POD cast, all three phases of the game showed up at the Military Bowl and that's what we need to do week in and week out in order to get back to ourselves.
Great point, and too expand watching the bowl games, it was obvious which teams were prepared and which were not.
And I hate to do it, but I've gotta be impressed with how Clemson came to play. I'm not trying to hype the Dabo short-bus, but the boys showed out, as did fellow ACC'rs GT.
Maybe some off-season conversations could be helpful.
I, for one, am happy that Chad Morris took the job at SMU
If he does well there he will be at a high P5 job soon.
As long as we don't have any "Mission Accomplished" or some embarassing as hell shirt after we beat them again, I'll be very satsified.
Speaking of shirts, I really liked the ones OSU busted out for the trophy ceremony: "Won, not done"
I think that's the message you send after a win in September.
I wouldn't have mind those as much, but I would rather just keep the shirts to bowl games and I guess now, playoff games. imo making shirts for beating a highly ranked team during the season seems a bit amateurish, again imo
It does, but if you're gonna make a shirt, at least make one that doesn't imply the season is over.
Also, I've noticed Oregon players wearing them too. Looks like it was a playoff thing, which I'm still pretty ok with.
Yea I mean they did technically won the Rose bowl and still got the trophy for it even though it was the semifinal for the playoffs which seems very odd to me. Is the loser of the championship game suppose to be content that they won the Sugar/Rose bowl and got the trophy for it even though they lost the championship game? Seems very odd, not too sure how to add that up. I mean I get the March Madness with their trophies for getting into the Final 4 but at least that means they won their regional, but getting to the final 4 actually means something, especially that you are starting with 68 teams. Right now, you are only at 4 teams in the playoffs and just by winning your semifinal game, you should get the trophy for the respective bowl? I don't know, I really don't care tbh just like I said before, seems very weird to me
It did make the endings of the games feel weird, in that the teams that won really couldn't celebrate the way you normally would see a team that just won the Rose Bowl (or whichever "BCS" level bowl) do.
Yea I had the same feeling. Like if I were a Oregon or OSU fan, I would be fucking pumped that we won just because we were going to the National Championship and not the Rose/Sugar bowl. I would care less about getting a trophy for each respectable bowl, even though I know it looks nice in the trophy case
Well, winning the Rose Bowl is no small achievement. Teams have been getting Rose Bowl trophies for 100 years or so, so why would they stop now that it's a semifinal game? Shoot, we got a trophy for winning the Military Bowl. Is Oregon/OSU less deserving simply because they have another game still? I don't think it's weird at all.
Of course its no small achievement, but you could tell Oregon knew they had more business to take care of so there wasn't as much celebrating as there has been in past Rose Bowls. Yea we got a trophy for the miilitary bowl but thats what we were playing for. Oregon and OSU were not playing for the Rose/Sugar bowl trophies, but getting to the National Title game.
That's true, but I think Oregon knowing they were going to win it for a quarter and a half probably dampened the end of game celebration.
Yea I'll agree with that. Im not sure I would rather have it that way (knowing that you won way before the game is over) or have it come down the last drive/play, be very nerve racking, not knowing the outcome and then win it, knowing that you just clinched a spot in the National title game.
Which is in the hallways of Jamerson if anyone wants a picture with it or whatnot.
You know, because nobody else celebrates getting to the championship game with a trophy
Yes, getting to the title game is a great accomplishment, and should be treated as such. Will winning the bowl mean as much as winning the title game? Absolutely not, but it means something, and they have something to take home from it. Have to say, wish we had something else in the case from 1999 other than the Big East trophy.
All of those they won their respective Conferences, and some (NBA and NHL) had to win best of 5 or 7 games in the quarterfinals, semifinals and conference championships.
Considering how meaningless any individual regular-season loss is in any sport other than FBS football, you could argue that both OSU and Oregon had to win 13 games to reach the finals.
Yea I can see your argument for that.
I liked those, too... but I think those were the Nike standards for the winners of the Rose and Sugar Bowls... Oregon had them as well, but, for the most part, didn't bother wearing them, only the hats...
I did find it interesting that Ohio State left the Sugar Bowl trophy on the stage after the presentation. Found it to be very NHL-esque, where the conference champions generally leave the trophy on the pedestal and don't bother touching it, fearing a jinx.
So does the winning team get shirts that state "won and done" next week... and then they all get drafted by the raiders?
ummm, no the Raiders don't draft winners.
Wait your telling me Jamarcus Russell and Terrelle Pryor didn't pan out?
Both got "paid out" is that the same thing?
All those "mission accomished" shirts should be collected and burned
A little OT, but what I'm really hoping for coming out of this season is that we'll continue to see more and more big-time matchups early in the season, because the committee didn't punish OSU for an early loss in a "risky" game.
The Ohio State win in retrospect is maybe the biggest game we have ever won at VT. What team that we beat has FINISHED higher than tOSU will in 2014? Miami 2003 finished #5. Also, this got me thinking about some of our big-game losses over the years, While we undoubtedly should have won more of them, we have played some very difficult games:
99-FSU undefeated
01- Miami best college team ever assembled BY FAR (gore, portis, andre johnson doesn't even get us started good)
04-Auburn undefeated
04-USC Natty champs x3(reggie bush)
07-Kansas' best team ever
07-LSU natty champs
09- Bama natty champs
10-Stanford with Harbaugh and a Sr. Andrew Luck-there best team ever
13- Bama-natty champs
14-tOSU WIN
The Boise State and Michigan* games as a W would have us all feeling better about ourselves!
Also, love the CJ Reavis tweets-yes gonna bring the swagger back to DBlock and lead our D for 3 years IMHO
I've said for years, Schedule VT early and win a NCG. Who else plays so many OOC big teams at just the right time!? In '04 we played the TWO best teams and gave both a scare! By the way, none of those teams you listed overcome an early loss to VT and compete for the NC. Just ask tOSU, who "lucked" into the playoff by whupping a good Wisc team.
This year I think we actually beat the (future) National Champion. A win for the ages!
"Is Ohio State a completely different team now than when we played them?"
WHO CARES. You can't go back and replay every loss at the end of the year to see if it would turn out differently. We won that game, we should be happy that we won, and that's the end of the story. In the end, only one stat matters:
You can debate the hypotheticals all you want, but there's a reason teams actually play the game- to decide the winner. Doesn't matter how- just win.
This here.
Whether Ohio St. is playing better now than at the start of the year is irrelevant. You don't get to play each game more than once, so you have to be the better team on the field that day. They wern't that Saturday night. The ultimate result of the season as it has played through to this point has literally no bearing on what resulted when we played them. It can be debated, discussed, rationalized, excused, etc into infinity and it changes nothing.
Actually, it can happen. Last year, Stanford played UCLA to close out the regular season, and then played them again the following week in the Pac-12 title game. Won both times.
And Oregon got to play Arizona twice this season, with drastically different results.
He said each game, not each team.
so can #braxtonmillertoVT start trending?
Okay, but VT lost to Wake Forest. So by this logic that one win proves superiority, Wake is a better team than VT and should go to the national championship. Right??? Congrats, Ohio.
I'm simply amazed to see an actual WF Football fan on the net. Props to you. I also greatly enjoyed all the times this past decade y'all beat fsu.
Welcome.
Out of curiosity, how did you stumble across this discussion? Twitter? Google? Long-time lurker? Looking for our reaction? Did someone give you a "hey go check out The Key Play, they're melting down right now"-type tip?
I'd say beating a team DOES in fact prove superiority. Right place, right time, right plays, right amount of determination, etc. People discussing different times with different plays and so on are just silly. So yes, this year you guys beat us and were superior in our match up. Transitive property is more of a what could have been, wishful thinking, day dream type of exercise that I would hope people don't take seriously. That's why the game is played. Life is a game of inches, any given Sunday (Saturday) and all that.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program
YOU GUYS WE FOUND ONE
Seriously though, you're welcome anytime
Ohio State senior receiver Evan Spencer said, "Failing against Virginia Tech is why we're so successful now."
They should carve that on a block of Hokie stone.
Here's to tOSU gaining equal success next season in Lane Stadium.
I was watching highlights of the 2004 USC game when Tech was unranked and USC was #1. This game was considered a neutral sight game, but it was played at the Redskins' stadium, so it's pretty clear that the stadium was 80%, if not more, Virginia Tech fans.
The team came out firing on all cylinders and the crowd was going insane. Unfortunately, an awful offensive pass interference call on Josh Hyman with the Hokies up 10-7 in the 3rd killed the momentum, and USC ended up winning 24-13.
I can honestly see Tech coming out Labor Day like they did against USC in 2004. I would not be at all surprised to see Ohio State ranked #1, as they are returning almost all of their starters on both sides of the ball, not to mention at least 2 of their 3 star quarterbacks. The game will also be played in front of a dominant Hokie crowd. The Hokies will also be coming off about the same season they did in 2004 coming off the 2003 season. The 2003 season was a nightmare, in case anyone has forgotten.
The only difference between then and now is one, Tech has better coaches, I believe, and 2, Tech has more experience. Keep in mind, Josh Hyman, Josh Morgan, Eddie Royal, and many other Hokies were freshmen, and many other players had never started a game before. Next season, everybody that scored a point for the Hokies is returning, and the entire defensive line that pretty much manhandled the Buckeyes in Colombus is returning. Both safety positions are a concern, but I have all the faith in the world in Torian Gray to get whoever it is that may start ready.
Get ready, because Labor Day could be a good one.
I am a junior at VT and was a fifth grader at that game. I don't even need to go back and watch the game to tell you that that pass interference call was crap.
This thread has turned into a who would win now conversation. Based on the original content of the post, I expected there to be more discussion on whether or not it was a good idea for Tech players to add bulletin board material for OSU's locker room for next year's game? It has been discussed ad nauseam by ESPN that Tech was OSU's only loss, so what is the point of Luther Maddy personally pointing that out? Regardless of whether or not that was Tech's biggest non-conference win in history, you got to act like you have been there before and stay humble; at least until after you beat them again, after which there will be no repercussions for talking smack.
So you are saying that a player that actually played the game and actually beat OSU on their home field can't take pride in it and say a few words, because you as a fan who did none of those things have heard it be droned on about on ESPN? ... come on, is that even a serious question?
And in regards to being humble, it's not as if he is talking smack about OSU, he's simply stating that we beat a team going to the championship game. There is nothing not humble about that.
This brings up the question of what constitutes bulletin board material. As far as that goes, nothing above makes the cut in my book.
Pointing out that we were the only team to beat an OSU this season isn't going to remind any Buckeyes of that fact. Trust me, they remember. Nobody on the team is even saying we're going to win next year. The closest is JCC's exclamation that they come to Lane next season, but even then, that's just excitement for a huge home game.
It'd be a bit of a bitch ass move to try not to shake the boat for fear of mighty some Ohio state university or another. We respect them, but we aren't scared of them. We punched them in the mouth in their house, and our guys are winding up to try to do it again when they come to ours.
So it will be ok to talk smack after a second victory, but one isn't enough? Why are people so afraid to enjoy the Ohio State win? I would imagine if we all just be very very quiet, the OSU players and coaches will forget all about it and there won't be any bulletin board material. That's crazy talk. The VT game is already circled on their schedule!
I said in another post our fanbase has developed Stockholm syndrome. I was being cute, but the more this sort of talk goes on, the more I think we really have developed such a crushing inferiority complex from years of narrowly losing the big game that some fans just can't handle the big win. Which is really sad to see, because I developed my love of VT football through the David and Goliath wins that built the program. Here's hoping the current staff gets us back to playing our best in our biggest games.
Agreed. No clue how this would possibly be seen as bulletin board material. If the Ohio St. players would require a simple observation about an objective truth (that they lost to us let season) to motivate themselves enough for next years game, then they would be seriously lacking in their preparation.