The Virginia Tech Hokies won 10-or-more football games a season from 2004 through 2011. Although Tech never filled its empty trophy case over that stretch, that streak, at the time the longest active nationally, yielded satisfying seasons, conference championships and a lot of wins. After the last three years of 7-6, 8-5 and 7-6, I would welcome ten wins, a top-25 finish and upper-tier bowl appearance with open arms.
ESPN ACC reporter Andrea Adelson, believes the Hokies will begin a new 10-win streak in 2015.
Virginia Tech will win at least 10 games. This statement wouldn't be so bold in 2008, but believing in the Hokies makes me part of a very small minority after three straight subpar seasons. The offense looked vastly improved in the spring; the defense should be terrific up front; overall, 16 starters return. Plus, the schedule is among the more manageable in the ACC. Opening with Ohio State is difficult, yes, but the Hokies beat the Buckeyes a year ago and now get them at home. Virginia Tech should also be favored in its crossover games against NC State and Boston College, giving the Hokies a clear edge over Georgia Tech and Miami. The Jackets and Canes each play Clemson and Florida State from the Atlantic. Virginia Tech has to prove it's a far more disciplined team to make this prediction come true. But based on reports from the spring, Virginia Tech should be in line to be a player again in the ACC.
Adelson has been bullish on Tech since the Hokies concluded spring practice. She also believes Tech's offense answered the most questions among ACC teams during spring ball.
While it is true the Hokies went through the spring without several injured defensive starters, there are never major concerns with a Bud Foster-coached unit. What has dragged the Hokies down the past three years has been an anemic offense that has been difficult to watch. So all eyes were on the offense this spring to see whether this would finally be the year Virginia Tech breaks out of the doldrums and resembles a pretty good offensive group. The answers were overwhelmingly positive. Though Michael Brewer missed a few practices with a back injury, he had much more command of the offense. J.C. Coleman, Trey Edmunds and Travon McMillian ran behind a vastly improved -- and seemingly solidified -- offensive line. There is depth at tight end. In the spring game, Virginia Tech flourished in the red zone, another sign of encouragement. If this group continues making improvement, Virginia Tech could finally contend for the Coastal again.
Back to the original question, will Tech win ten-or-more games in 2015? I'm more skeptical than Andrea and her specific reasoning doesn't assure me too much. (Also, it's unclear if she's considering the just regular season or post-season too.)
By virtue of playing under the lights in Lane, Tech may very well indeed be Vegas' favorite against NC State. However, the Wolfpack returns 14 starters of its own (9 on offense), and unlike Tech's 16, that number doesn't include punter or kicker. Jacoby Brissett (23 TDs, 5 INTs) is among the ACC's top returning quarterbacks, the Wolfpack went 4-1 in November and December last season and if State wide receiver Bo Hines didn't transfer to Yale, I'd drop my early money on the Wolfpack.
Tech's better on paper than Boston College, but that's been the case the last two seasons and the Eagles man-balled their way to wins.
I normally categorize games as likely win, likely loss and tossup. Caveat: It's a crapshoot to analyze a football schedule before a single snap. In my estimation, the only likely loss on the schedule is Ohio State. Furman, at Purdue and at East Carolina are all likely wins. Tech's entire ACC schedule is a tossup.
Parity has been the trend in the Coastal Division. Georgia Tech lays the most compelling early claim for why its separated itself from the pack. Paul Johnson's teams have been great when he's had a legit quarterback, and Justin Thomas is a baller. As good as the Bees were last season, they caught plenty of breaks along the way. Finally, even though Johnson has 8 starters back on defense, almost all the skill players around Thomas will be green.
You might be wondering why I don't group Boston College (9 returning starters, T-121st nationally) and Virginia (10, T-114th) as likely wins. The Eagles have been gutted, but Steve Addazio's squad will most likely be an efficient running machine come the end of October. As for Virginia, a rivalry game is never a sure thing, and The Commonwealth Cup has been too close for comfort these last few seasons.
With all of that said, the pieces are in place for Tech to make the double-digit leap. It's been beaten over our heads that every player who scored a point returns in 2015 (although Williams' and McKenzie's status is uncertain). Bucky Hodges is an offensive threat defenses won't be able to account for with just one player. I can't remember the last time Virginia Tech had one of those. For the first time in ages, the No. 1 offense looked competent in Tech's spring game. Yes, they played with a short field for most of the scrimmage against a watered down No. 1 defense, but the offense made plays. The feeling in my bones after the Maroon–Orange Game was, we got something on offense here. Although, an injury at offensive tackle could derail things fast.
Dadi Nicolas and Ken Ekanem are among the elite pass rushing d-end duos nationally. And hey, Tech might have found a reliable third defensive end (Seth Dooley) this spring. The Hokies have more playmakers at defensive tackle than UVa had fans at its spring game. However, there's plenty of inexperience among Tech's defensive back end, especially in the secondary, but does anyone not trust Torrian Gray to have his defensive backs right come September.
I could go on and on about where this team stands in May. For every certainty there's a question, but it's undeniable this is most talented team the Hokies have fielded since 2011. Although, ripe with potential, this team hasn't proven itself a juggernaut. Injuries and intangibles (leadership, work ethic over the summer, camaraderie, etc...) could be what makes or breaks the Hokies' 2015 campaign. I can't go bold and predict ten-plus wins, nor can I knock a half-full glass off the table and forecast a catastrophe. It's too easy to see why this team might be great, or how the wheels may fall off.
What's your state of mind? Do you see Tech returning to form and winning ten-or-more games this season? Does anyone feel good about a prognostication one way or the other?
Comments
I think that with the contributions we had from freshman at the skill positions, Brewer getting more seasoning, having a "trust in bud" mentality about the holes we are filling on the backside of our defense, I am more optimistic about this season than I felt after the second half of last season.
So FWIW I'm in on the 10 win season. It wasn't that far off last year (close out GT, move across the 50 yard line against Wake). But this team will be an interesting watch, in years past the expectations were high and VT would always find a way to fall short; losing big games against quality competiton or dropping winnable games against teams we should beat. This team is going to be one that doesn't have that expectation, so hopefully they surprise some people early, build momentum and grind out a great season.
I mostly agree. Except..."This team is going to be one that doesn't have that expectation". If the media picks them to win the division, then there will be an expectation.
I hate to say it, but I share Andrea's thought process. When is the last time we had even a remotely competent offense? How many close games did we lose last year that could have easily gone our way with a few more points that a random drive got derailed from our lack of offensive talent? I would say 10 wins is a near lock. And yes, the O&M goggles are already making indentations on my face from continued use.
"How many close games did we lose last year that could have easily gone our way with a few more points... "
Two or three...about the same number that we won, but could have easily lost. You are what your record says you are.
"You are what your record is"...
This is sure fire way to lose in Vegas. Wins and losses aren't always reflective a team's true level. Last year's bowl game is a perfect example of this. Cincy @ -3 (or whatever it was) was a sucker bet because the public went with your theory when, in reality, VT was team that was 1) better than their record, 2) going to greatly benefit from the extra practice time and 3) would create matchup problems for Cincy on offense and defense.
Records matter of course, but they aren't necessarily a great predictor of future performance.
PS. I believe VT was 2-5 in one score games last year. It wasn't 50/50 ish.
Two or three? I think you may have forgot. Incoming refresher course.
ECU (28-21, one more early touchdown and we at least get a shot at OT).
GT (27-24, one more drive that even equals out to a FG, again shot at OT).
Pitt (21-16, one more drive... Catching a theme?).
BC (33-31, maybe not the offenses fault per say, but still thematic one more drive).
Wake (6-3, literally any drive that could be improved into points would have won).
Thats five.
#facts aren't allowed in arguments. this is the #internet.
Unless they're made up...then they're ok...
You just gave 5 examples where last years VT team could not get it done. "But with one more drive..."
I don't know how many hundreds of football games per season you could look at NCAA wide and say "Well with one more drive...". Basically your point is that they went 0-5 in that situation, but they were better than their record says they were? I love me some Hokie football, but they were exactly what their record said they were last year, which quite frankly was a football team that was just plain not good enough to get it done consistently.
That doesn't mean they can't be much better this season.
That's not really the point, though. At least, to me it isn't. The point is, given what we're getting back this season and the development we've seen in the spring, is the 2015 squad going to be at least "one more drive" better than the 2014 squad? It isn't to say that we were better than our record last year, but rather, how much would we have to improve to be five wins better than we were last season? And based on the examples above, the answer is not much.
^what I was trying to say.
Sorry to reply so late -- I've been in the Holy Land for graduation -- but isn't this the classic argument between "value" stats and predictive stats? Your record tells you the only thing that matters about how good you were last year, but by itself it doesn't tell you anything about how good you will be next year.
Duke, Boston College, and Maryland losses in 2013. Any of the past 3 seasons we can play that game
I think you're missing the point that comes with that claim... Its about whats returning to improve and improve on the outcome of what was already so close to the positive outcome. 2013 into 2014 had a vastly different set of circumstances.
10 Wins would be great and I would be more then thrill and celebrate like Rocky and Apollo
But I don't want to get too excited yet. All I want to see is some form of a competitive offense. It would make me so happy. That would give me a more satisfy feeling that we are on the right path for long term success than the excuse of an easier ACC schedule layout and 10 wins.
And I thought the Top Gun volleyball gif was...well...
This one, especially with Sly rockin' those 70's shorts, takes the
cakepie.#teamcake
Yea, the socks are awesome too!
Minimal depth at DE, LB, WR, and OL; restructured secondary; a new MLB; can Brewer stay healthy and limit mistakes when the lights come on; are the injured guys, including Hughes, healthy...
If we get spring practice Brewer, Matuapuaka and the safeties don't give up too many homeruns, and the injury bug stays away, this team could play in Charlotte. If not we could be looking at a repeat of last year. Odds say something in between...8 or 9 wins and a continuing debate over the future of the head coach. My gut says it's the year of the QB shuffle...an injured-ish and sometimes pressing too much Brewer; a passing game-limited Motley; and Lawson getting some meaningful PT.
Agree.
I am awaiting French's write up on the Mike LB and see what the word is.
I wonder how that position may effect the decisions on the safety position personnel, etc. if more run support is needed.
[homer]
This is the year we make it back to the national championship. this is our year
[/homer]
10 wins isn't unreasonable and it should be expected with the schedule we have assuming no catastrophic injuries.
I see nothing wrong with this.
The Hokies will win 10 games if the offensive line can at least play the other team's defensive line to a draw 10 times.
This team goes as far as the o-line takes us. A 10 win season is definitely possible if those guys stay healthy but we could be scratching by to get into a bowl game like last year if we have a handful of injuries there. I really like our starting 5 but the non-existent depth tempers my enthusiasm right now. I guess you can say I am cautiously optimistic.
Seriously though, I kind of agree with both. We could definately do well for ourselves this year with the schedule we have. Of course we said the same thing last year. If we would have performed the whole year or at least half the year the way we did against OSU we would have had 10 wins. A couple plays against GT, ECU and Wake and there are your ten wins.
Although, I'm optimistic about the season with Brewer having a year at QB and a spring to work as well as everyone getting more expericence. Not ever really concerned about D. Bud usually makes things work to put out a solid D. As long as the line gels like they seem to have and stays healthy we should have a good offense even without McKenzie and Williams playing this year. I say 10 wins and ACCCG appearance with a decent bowl. Even if we lose to OSU as long as we play well in that game I'll be happy. Of course more happy with the win though. Lets just hope whatever happens in that game we don't have a hangover against Furman.
We had a lot of VERY YOUNG guys make really big contributions last year and I think that is going to pay dividends this season. 10 wins may be a touch optimistic, but I think they'll be in that area. If the O-line can protect Brewer we'll at least be in every game to the end, if he gets banged up and concussed against OSU again (I'm still sticking to that one) like last year and is under constant pressure like last year, we might be better off with Motley at QB not because of Brewer but because of the o-line.
Def. MVP - Motuapuaka
Off. MVP - Cam Phillips
Is your Offensive MVP assuming that Bucky and Ford draw double teams and Cam benefits, or do you think Cam leaps ahead of those 2 regardless? Not doubting ,just trying to understand.
I think Cam can and will become a better overall WR than Ford and defenses are (and should) be doubling Bucky every play. I was just trying not to pick the super-obvious guys that even casual fans would choose. I think Cam takes a big leap this year...JMO.
I think the emergence of Eric Gallo and the switch of Yosh Nijman to OT were the two best things to happen to the offense this spring. Yosh will be in the 2-deep and won't redshirt this season - - I think he plays this season at around 285 lbs come September, and he'll be a starer his sophomore year on the other side of Jon McGlaughlin. Austin Clark, Deandre Planin, and Mike Arnold will develop into depth at tackle,. Gallo, Wyatt, and Conte will hold down the interior, giving Billy Ray, Colt Pettit, Tyrel Smith, Kyle Chung, Alston Smith, and Braxton Pfaff the time to develop. Let's keep recruting big offenive linemen, but I havn't felt optimistic about the OL in a long time.
Feel pretty good at QB this year and next with Brewer, Motley, and Dwayne Lawson.
Need more WR's.
Need more Mike linebackers. I think Carson Lydon plays this year.
Vinny Mihota kicking out to end has good to make everyone feel better about DE depth. I hope he can be a player out there.
With that, what the hell would we be doing if Wade Hansen didn't develop like he did?
I think the secondary is going to be a young, but is going to ball out like they did vs Cincinnatti. Greg Stroman and Mook Reynolds are going to be good players back there. I think Stroman is the quickest player on the field at all times.
I think Tremaine Edmunds is a defensive end who should help. I think Backer depth is OK for the next few years with Jameion Moss and Raymon Minor.
If Wade didn't develop i'm pretty sure Augie would be our RT and then you could have smith, pfaff, clark or someone at RG. I still think that could be our best line. Also not sleeping on mike Arnold. if he comes in around 290 I think he had the best film of any OT prospect we've had recently.
The best thing that can happen for the secondary is that the DL gels with players coming back from injury and puts fear into every QB we play. Stroman still worries me at DB especially after the spring game.
The mike backer spot is a huge concern. If deon has been granted his redshirt year I think he would have gone down as a monster for us.
I am very high on Mike Arnold.
Isn't this Brewers last year of eligibility?
Si, Senor!
All depends on qb play IMO. 8-9 wins is realistic. If we get outstanding CB/DL play the D may be able to keep us in another game to get back to the 10 win mark. Need JC or the other rbs to continue playing like they did in the last 4 games and a 3rd WR to emerge.
I'm with you, 8-9 wins.
It does seem like we're more capable of reaching the 10 wins this year than we have been the last three. Will we? If the offense really does step up, even just a bit, I believe we can. Hopefully optimistic would be my feeling now, but it's still spring, who knows what obstacles the summer and fall practice will bring. A healthy team would ease my mind, but again, who can count on that?
10 wins is attainable. Last year the injury bug rain a circle jerk of a train on us, and we still managed to come away with 7 wins while seemingly having a few others that we let slip away from our grasp late. Just being able to stay relatively healthy and getting natural improvement from our youngsters combined with the schedule we have...
I'd say 9-10 wins is probably right in our wheelhouse. If things break exceedingly right, 11 or 12 wins is possible, and if things turn to a disaster, we're looking at 7-8 wins. Personally, I see 10 wins and a division title.
Last year we had about 8 games where the final score was within a TD. (Yes, I'm counting the OSU game as well.) We went 3 and 5 in those 8 games, with W's against LOLUVA, OSU and Duke. If we don't beat ourselves with false-start penalties, we're 5-3 in those games instead and could have had 10 wins last year.
Fix the dead-ball penalties and don't beat yourselves and we should have 10 wins this year.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=400547826
In Columbus the home team gets 14 points for touchdowns scored in the last 7.5 minutes...so technically OSU was within a touchdown at the end :P
I'm clearly a Buckeye homer but that game was a lot closer than the final score. If JT hadn't thrown that pick-6 we could very well have gone into overtime. Not taking anything away from what you did as you outplayed us and won; but it wasn't a lock until the pick 6.
Yeah I agree. I was just making fun of the technicality. I will concede that it was a much closer game than the final score indicates, but many games are like that for us (Both of our Chic-fil-a kick-offs against Bama come to mind). If JT made the same read as the WR on that play it was a house-call. I don't know whom of the two messed up but they clearly weren't on the same page. The OP's point is that one or two plays could change the outcome of the game (and I agree with that, generally). Just like we could have won one or two of those 'close' games we could just as easily have lost by more than a TD so frankly I think it's a moot point. The players have to show up and play every play. At the end of the day, people don't care (or really remember) how each team arrived at their final scores. The team with the bigger number on their side of the scoreboard wins the game and that's ultimately all that matters.
I don't deny that the game was closer than the score, but it is the only game that the original poster listed where the opponent never had the lead and as you stated, it was in threat of going into overtime. If Duke's field goal kicker makes one of the his two missed field goals (was perfect on the year before that game), we lose the game. If we don't drive 75 yards down the field and score a TD with less than 3 minutes left against UVA, we don't win that game. There's a very large difference in how close those two games were than the OSU game was last year. OSU was just the best opponent we played in a good game last year.
I cant believe Im saying it but Andrea ( an ESPN analyst ) is right . With a year of experience under their belt I can see VT young players make the leap forward and win 10 games or more this season.
After the spring game, I said to myself, "this looks like a 9-win team." You can make arguments for winning and losing each game, but I think 9-10 wins is indeed possible, even likely. My conservative prediction is 9-3, Coastal title via a tiebreaker over GT because of head-to-head win. If we get 10+ then I'll be pretty ecstatic.
9-3 in the regular season and attain 10th win in bowl game??????
Yep. If we were 9-3 and won the tie against GT, we could conceivably win 11 games with the ACCCG and bowl game.
through 4 weeks last year I thought we would be 2-2. I never would have thought that those 2 wins would include OSU and those 2 losses would include ECU. The point being that this team is incredibly difficult to predict. We are such a hot-and-cold team week-in and week-out; It seems we have been for a few years now. We've played some really good football and some really bad football and it never seems to matter how good or bad our opponent is.
That being said, here are my way-too-early predictions for 2015:
OSU -L
Furman -W
@Purdue -L
@ECU -W
Pitt -W
NCST -W
Miami -L
Duke -W
BC -L
@GT -W
UNC -W
LOL -W
I think we'll lose at least 1 game that we "shouldn't" (Purdue) and we'll probably win a game or two that no one outside of HokieNation expects us to (GT)
Joe is absolutely right, though. There are a ton of toss-ups this season. We really don't have any idea what kind of team we've got and I don't think we're going to really know until about week 5 or 6. I could honestly see us being 5-1 or 3-3 going to Miami.
I'm expecting an 8-win season this year. I know it's a modest improvement and it won't make the fans happy but this is a rebuilding process that will take time. Not having very much depth on the O-line has me pretty concerned. It feels like we have one key injury up front every year so I'm going to account for that. If we stay healthy (big IF) I could see 10 wins pretty easily. Our schedule, outside of OSU, is not very daunting.
I think, in terms of really knowing the team, we have a good idea after game 1 if we win or are in it.
If we lose handily or get injuries, there's no shame in losing to the def. Nat Champs. These things will show and we'll see our weaknesses exposed, which Nat. Champs should do. We'll see if they are fixable.
If we win or keep it close, expectations will run high and the team will have a significant confidence boost and the team will expect to be able to win each game.
We beat OSU last year and everyone thought we were world beaters....I think we could beat OSU to start this year (I don't think we will, but I think we could) but I don't think that will give us a clear idea of what we have as a team. After the OSU game we have a bunch of relatively soft teams so that will mask whichever weaknesses OSU exposes. That might give us a false sense that we've fixed those weaknesses since the OSU game which may not actually be the case. I don't really think we're going to know for sure until we get into the meat of our ACC schedule what kind of team we're going to have this year. Just my opinion.
Loss to Purdue? They were 1-11 and 3-9 these past two years. I can see that it could be a trap game for us, but I just don't see it happening. They have little talent and their QB threw 6 TDs and 5 INTs in the 5 games that he started.
Hey, before the game at Wake Forest last year I had the exact same sentiment. I never would have dreamed that we would be scoreless through 4 quarters against WF. That was exactly the type of game that we seem to have every year and my prediction is that Purdue will be that game. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but I picked it given our history.
You might want to recalibrate that one loss to a team we shouldn't lose to prediction. Purdue is a really, really bad football team. I would give Furman better odds at Lane a week after the OSU game.
you're missing the point. Can you honestly say that 365 days ago you would have predicted a win against OSU and a loss to Wake Forest (a game ending 6-3 in OT, to boot) in the same season?
We should not lose to Purdue. That's why I'm predicting that it happens. VT has an ugly history of losing to teams that nobody thinks they should. Until our team rewrites the history books I'm sticking to my guns on that. We, for whatever reason, seem to always lose one stupid game.
I'm sure a lot of people will predict 8-4 and 9-3 seasons for VT this year and VT very well may achieve that. But I'm willing to bet that our path to that record will look a lot different at the end of the season than what people making those predictions would think feasible before the season starts.
I'll definitely grant you that point.
But... This team will not lose to Purdue. Chalk that one up.
Yeah I really hope you're right. I don't think we should lose to Purdue. I really don't. But we've lost to Temple, JMU, Wake Forest, Duke, ECU, (almost Marshall), bad Pitt and BC teams, etc.
I'm in the camp that we will win 8 or 9 games this year. I'm just making off-the-wall predictions for how we get there because, frankly, I never would have imagined winning or losing some of the games that we have won or lost in the last few years.
OSU -L
Furman -W
@Purdue -W
@ECU -L
Pitt -W
NCST -W
Miami -L
Duke -W
BC -W
@GT -L
UNC -W
LOL -W
That puts us at 8. 10 is a bit bullish for me.
Don't think we can pull off the OSU upset, I think ECU is another early season letdown type game. GT is a tossup for me but I'm a pessimist.
Could see Duke flipping too.
ECU lost their whole offense when carden and hardy left IMO. pitt and nc state are the first two that really worry me after OSU.
Pitt we play at home, not at the house of Hokie horrors known as Heinz Field. So I feel pretty good about that one. NCSU, however, could be sneaky good this year.
My gut tells me.....
OSU -L
Furman -W
@Purdue -W
@ECU - W
Pitt -W
NCST -W
Miami -L
Duke -W
BC - L
@GT -L
UNC -W
LOL -W
But I agree with you at 8. Here's hoping for more.
As much as I'd hate to lose to BC on/near my birthday for the third damn year in a row, I think this is pretty reasonable. We might slip up one more time and we might pull one more out, but I'd say an over/under of 8 wins is about right. Here's hoping we kick chestnut hill in the nuts, continue our winning streak (4 out of the last 5) in Atlanta, pretend it's 2013 and smack Miami in their place, and give Buckeyes a flashback of last year.
If we're doing the whole schedule, here's what I have -
OSU - W
FUR - L
@PUR - W
@ECU - W
Pitt - W
NCST - L
MIA - W
Duke - W
BC - W
GT - W
UNC - L
UVA - W
It would be soooooooo VT Football to win the OSU game and then lose to Furman. The Purdue, ECU, and Pitt wins will be blowouts and the media will start talking up the Hokies again. Then they'll drop a game to NCST. Because, that's how we roll. They'll reel off a few more, then drop the UNC game, because they always have trouble with the Heels following the GT game. The UVa game will be a do or die for the Coastal, and I predict something along the lines of #380bro.
They'll lose the ACC championship game, which will be OK, because they'll get the invite back to the Belk Bowl, and we'll have the Charlotte logistics down pat for a raucous, economical, and efficient bowl game celebration. The opponent will be Michigan, and the double down revenge victory will be win number ten.
For the record, we play AT Miami. Not that that has seemed to matter the last fews years (consistently winning in their empty stadium, blown out on Thursday night in our packed stadium).
hell, with 10 home games we should be in pretty good shape!
The offense was demonstrably better this year in the spring than it has been in several years.
A healthy Brewer and simplified offensive blocking schemes with improved players make last year's offense so much better. 2 WR with good hands and instincts and a Hodges that runs improved routes while having a line making holes for RBs.......
Special teams continues to improve with punterswag being healthy, identification of run back personnel and a year's practice blocking for every kickoff, will show results. Not to forget a FG kicker that can take the heat. Man he was good in the bowl game.
DE will get some rest with the depth improvement over last year's snap totals. Fulller won't have a broken hand and Fascyon will be repaired.
The Offensive coordinator won't be a new Dad and the improvement in sleep and routine that accompanies that detail.
I'm optimistic.
So Loeffler's wife is not pregnant? You're sure?
There's that but, there is already somewhat of a routine and responsibilities understood and the necessary support roles defined and backups in place.
I just love the idea that Loeffler was bad at his job because he's a new father. That's a first world problem, right there.
Can you be an Offensive Coordinator in Denmark? Because they get like 6 months off for paternity leave.
No, I don't think he was bad at his job because he was a new father.
Those are your words, not mine.
As a boss, I take into account the activities and limitations that change when a parent has a new child come along, particularly if the child is colicky or such.
It's obvious and we help people through those stages.
Take a look at some pictures of Scott mid season last year and you tell me if he's someone rested, fed and prepared to make stressful game time decisions at the snap of a finger and have a complete grasp of all the details. He looks like he hasn't slept and showered and eaten properly, lives on caffeine and carbs and off his game because of it.
An excuse? NO. Human, yes.
That's just what he looks like. Not much to smile about when you're offense is ranked in the 100's.
Sometimes I wonder what you'll talk about if Loeffler's offense is successful.
would gladly cross that bridge if we ever get there...
Me too.
Have ya'll not read the things about Scot sleeping in his office and working out at 2am and getting 2-4 hours sleep a night? I remember right before his baby was born Shane joking that he wasn't sure how Scot could get less sleep.
We all know how jobs are in college football. I don't know the details of Scot's personal life, but with the money he makes, and the time spent on campus (if those reports are true), I don't think having a newborn at home is affecting anything. I think Mom's getting help from a nanny while Scot's at the office all the time.
Like I said, I'm just sort of putting the pieces together here. I don't think a new baby affected anything.
I also think Scot is learning how to be an OC. I don't mean Xs and Os, I mean work/life balance. I'm hoping last year was his awakening that burning the candle at both ends takes a toll down the stretch. And hopefully, with his system installed, he doesn't have to work himself to the brink like that again. There's simply no way we were getting his best effort down the stretch simply because he'd taxed himself to the brink.
2 words: support staff. Everyone was crying and throwing a fit and going into conspiracy theories (no, not literally everyone, and mostly on other boards, but still) about hiring Lawson's OC and how it was a packaged deal and all that. But the reason Loeffler had to sleep in his office (and why I was surprised and a little proud that he actually made it home often enough to conceive said baby) is that he had to do everything himself. All the film breakdown, statistical analysis, self-scouting, everything. The man never stopped working. There are only so many ways you can draw stuff up on paper, so he spent darn near every waking hour looking at how he could possibly attack a superior opponent just about every week. Don't underestimate the value of Lefty not having to do all the legwork this season.
I agree. I almost said something about work/life balance and how he needs to figure a better system out because he has to realize that working like that doesn't always produce the best results.
I don't want to toot my own horn but I'm damn good at my job. When my child was a newborn, things were sliding backwards quickly for me at work. I don't think it excuses some of the performances we saw, but it's a useful piece of info when attempting to explain.
^
What he said.
I think 8-4 regular season is realistic and would be welcome after the last few years. We are way too thin at too many positions and have been stung by so many injury bugs the last few years that expecting any more is just setting yourself up for disappointment methinks...
Yeah but, karma, baby.
You can't get injury killed 2 years in a row, the universe won't allow it.
I wish you hadn't written that.
It allow won't universe the, row a in years 2 killed injury get can't you.
There....fixed it.
.uoy t'nac teg yrujni dellik 2 sreay ni a wor, eht esrevinu t'now wolla ti
this is starting to remind me of that Enter Sandman cover...
I don't know, hell even last year with injuries the games we lost were by a TD or less right? Except Miami but after Enter Sandman that game didn't really happen. If we didn't spot ECU 3 TD's, kicked a FG in regulation time against wake and Brewer didn't play for the Bee's against GT our 10th win could've been our Military bowl victory last year. I say we get 10-12 wins this year between the regular season and post season play.
I can see a 9-10 win season, but I never saw the season as an accomplishment if we got 10+ wins (and that's it... no ACC game/championship, bowl game win, etc.) as a lot of fans did during streak of 10 wins. Sure it would be a great improvement from the past 3 seasons, but for me.... again just me..... I don't see just 10 wins as a "accomplishment". For me, anything less than getting to the ACC Championship game, is a disappointment for me.
YOU
ME
DUPREE?
Did someone say "YOU"?
With our schedule, in our division, if we get to 10 wins we're winning the Coastal.
I agree. I really would like to see 10 wins, but the years we didn't get to the ACCCG but still had 10 wins were mediocre to me as well. I wasn't super pissed about the year as 10 wins is nothing to laugh at but there was definately a large piece of me that was disappointed to miss the ACCCG. If we get 10 wins then we should get to the ACCCG this year.
We only missed the ACCCG in '06 and '09. And we toasted Tennessee in '09, which made up some of the sting of not making the ACCCG in my mind.
I forgot to ask this on the spring game follow up, but it's still pretty relevant. But why is the offense 'so improved'?
Passing
9 - 27 for 145 yards Total. 1 td 0 interceptions
On 27 passing plays sacked 3 times
Brewer 4 - 8 for only 60 yards
Running backs were better...(Personally, I think its from using JC Coleman more)
But compared to who was on the field I expected so much more. Of the top 30 Tacklers from 2014, 8 played in the spring game. Thats a lot of new faces, to have such a poor performance against.
Also compare to our next opponent, OSU quarterbacks 34-75 for 461 yards with 5 interceptions and 4 TDs
More TDs scored in this spring game than the previous two combined.
If we had a never-ending stable of 5* and Heisman-caliber QBs, I'd expect the same. Can't compare apples and oranges.
Also, when would you ever expect us to attempt 75 passes even in a spring game? They still had a lower yards per completion than our 9 completions but a higher YPA. In the end, you're looking at a situation that is completely self-contained. You can't compare because Spring Games are run different with different rules and scenarios. In the end, the progress seen from the offensive line, our running game, and our WRs left most with a feeling of hope rather than a feeling of worry.
In thinking about that stat line a bit more, if we transpose that onto Brewer after 2+ games, everyone will be calling for his head. The total accumulated yards looks nice, but the INT:TD ratio is terrible and the completion percentage is bad, too. Still, any comparison between our QBs and the anOSU stable of guys is just an exercise in futility, I think.
In reality, it's just not a good stat line. People can just nitpick positive things from it more easily. "Look, they had 34 completions and over 450 yards of offense including 4 TDs!" Conversely, they had 41 incompletions and 5 INTs. Spin it however you want, but the positive is just inflated by the large numbers.
1 punt return 1 fumble return
td drives: 2 plays 17 yards, 2 plays 28 yards, 2 plays 12 yards and 5 plays 37 yards.
longest sustained drive of the game was 12 plays 48 yards and a FG.
There were positives to take away including scoring in the red zone, but if you are just looking at the score it's misleading IMO.
I think we just need to distinguish between "improved" and "good offense." We don't know if our offense will be good, but given the utter ineptitude that we usually see from the offense during the spring (or, alternatively, the simple fact that the defense plays at an otherworldly level compared to the offense), I think the red zone efficiency speaks to, at minimum, improvement. Whether that has any bearing on the success of the season is unknowable. But all I know is, for me personally, after 2012 and 2013 spring games, my thought was "oh, sh*t" but after this year it was "not bad."
agreed and it's not like it will take much for our offense to be considered "Improved" considering the performance the last two years. I've just seen some people acting like it was an outstanding performance and I think if anything it showed how much room for improvement we still can make.
Well considering one of our biggest Achilles' heels recently has been red zone execution, seeing multiple short field touchdown drives is encouraging.
Looking at the spring game, what areas are you claiming showed how much room for improvement there still is? The first team offense was efficient on every series. I didn't see any glaring deficiencies given the situation the offense actually faced.
Two years? I think you may misremember the situation Loeffler walked into. Which is shocking, considering the, uh, lack of warm fuzzies for the previous administration.
I mean, it wasn't perfect (no spring game is - shoot, Alabama's QBs have thrown like a dozen picks combined in their past 2 spring games), but it wasn't complete ineptitude. Were the stats there? Nope. But Loeffler wanted execution with the basics of the basics. For the most part, we got that, plus no injuries. Therefore, successful spring game.
Also an illustration of the inherent deceptiveness of "total offense." You can only gain the yards between the line of scrimmage and the end zone. That's why I've always thought percentage of potential yards gained would be a better metric to judge an offense by than the total offense stat. If you get the ball on your own 20 and gain 30 yards before you punt, you've gained 38% of the yards you could have possibly gained. If you get the ball on your opponent's 20 and have a 20 yard touchdown drive, you've gained 100%. You've done everything you could possibly do. But in the total offense stat, that punt at the 50 looks better than the red zone touchdown drive.
I think the issue here is that everyone expects to see an Oregon Offense. That seems to be everyone's gold standard. VT is never going to have an offense like that as long as Beamer is at the helm. We don't need to have a flash-and-dash offense to win games as long as we have Bud Foster. All we need to do is control the ball, play field position, and capitalize on opportunities to score without shooting ourselves in the foot. In that respect, I think our offense showed marked improvement this spring. We were continually beating ourselves last year and I'm willing to bet that there will be significantly less of that this year. No, we're not going to light up score boards to the tune of 70 points week in and week out, but I do expect us to be more efficient and make fewer mental mistakes that lead to unfavorable outcomes (turnovers, long down-and-distances, long field goal attempts, etc). I think we're going to win some relatively low scoring games this year. The keys will be taking care of the ball and preventing our defense from consistently having to work in tough situations. I think we're going to see lots of 20-something to teen-something types of wins this season.
don't expect to see an Oregon offense. I'd just like to see one consistently around the 40-50 rankings to go along with our defense. Also would like to have one that has a base identity that I don't feel we've had lately. If we are going to be a power run team then commit to that and be good at it. If we are going spread do the same, etc.
And that is exactly what the spring game was. But College Ball has moved on from that.
VT 2010 averaged 401 ypg vs 2014 365 (Trending Down)
UVA 2010 averaged 404 avg vs 2014 374 (Trending Down)
GT 2010 averaged 413 ypg vs 2014 477 (Trending Up)
Duke 2010 avg 381 ypg vs 2014 398 (Trending Up)
Marshall 2010 avg 314 vs 2014 559 (Trending Up)
ECU 2010 avg 438 vs 2014 533 (Trending Up)
Our B+ Defense almost won the game just like the entire past 3 seasons have been so close (Only 8 of the top 30 D were playing)
It's not about being Oregon. It's about the lack of offense completely. Top 10 Offenses Last year averaged 534 ypg total offense. At 96th VT has 365 ypg.
Oregon (3rd)------Clemson (58th)--VT (96th)-Wake Forest (Last in Offense 2014 126th)
The offense averaged 24 points a game while the defense averaged keeping opponents to 21 points. That is to many close games. There's a limit to what the defense can do and has been put to. The offense's slow crawling play style isnt helping the defense out when no points are scored.
If VT Offense was an employee at a big business like where I work, its performance would be graded annually on a 5 Point Bell Curve. 1 - 5 based on how everyone else faired.
VT would be a 4. Needs Immediate Improvement and after a year of no improvement if still a 4 rated you will be let go. On a Bell Curve VT has been a 4 for the past 3 years compared to D1 Teams
The key here is capitalizing on opportunities to score (touchdowns). Especially in the red zone. Even in our recent good years (2004-2011) we couldn't consistently finish drives with TDs. 2010 was one that really sticks out. I kept saying to myself, you can't win games with field goals. The only reason the 10 win streak stayed alive in those years was the defense keeping the other team from scoring at all. And when the defense got out matched, we lost.
It makes my blood boil to think about how many games could have been won, even in those successful seasons, if we'd have finished drives the right way instead of settling for a chunk of time and 3 points.
this comment might not go well here but here goes---> sometimes kicking is winning and in Franks past that seems to be his mindset. Don't get me wrong i'm 100% sure he would love to get TD's but maybe just maybe he is telling loeffler to not get fancy with it and run simple stuff.
On the flip side we did have a dumpster fire the year loeffler got hired and we all know the o'cainspring era so ill leave that alone.
There's a lot of truth to this. Frank had never been bothered with having to punt when the alternative would be a high risk play on a long third down which could result in a short field for our opponents. I think it's wrong when people say Frank doesn't want to score every drive, but he would rather punt than risk a costly turnover. Essentially if we get behind the sticks, he's okay flipping the field and leaning on our defense.
I see the logic here. It's not a bad strategy on paper. But what about red zone play? That's where my emphasis is. Trips into the red zone that weren't finished with touchdowns.
Totally agree. A field goal inside the 20 is basically losing four points instead of gaining three. But I don't know if Frank sees it that way. Obviously Frank will take the three if we get behind in down and distance, but it sounds and looks like finishing was a big focus this spring and the spring game results look promising.
This is the reason you'll see Loeffler get much more aggressive in opponent territory. I lost count of the number of fade routes I saw us run. You think Lefty was just calling those for fun? The goal is no longer to get the ball inside the 10 and pound it in. If we get inside the 20 or 25, we're taking shots at the end zone.
Yeah, I think we're seeing improvement on this. Hopefully the philosophy is changing and the days of this are in the past. It just took so long, probably because Illinois is right and Frank doesn't see a field goal as 4 pts lost.
And honestly, there are situations where taking the three points is the smartest play, even inside the red zone. But in general, even if you settle for three with the ball at the ten and it's the right call situationally, the offense failed on some level just by getting you in that situation.
I'll always take a field goal over a punt, every time. But what we had for years was a system that was consistently forcing us to settle for three when we should have been able to get seven. The first three quarters of the 2012 Sugar Bowl comes to mind. Everyone fixates on the replay screwjob, but honestly we should had been up 21-17 going into the 4th. We owned that game but came up short on every scoring drive. It was infuriating to watch. Put an offense that can finish on the field and the review of Coale's catch would have just mattered to over/under bettors.
I didn't see the big improvement either, but if you aren't positive you are just called a NATT. The biggest improvement seemed to come from one of the scrimmages prior to the spring game where the offense seemed to be pretty flaweless, which i did not see. In the spring game, I thought brewer played about his average and had the one great throw to ford. This was also keeping in mind that while we were going 1s vs 1s it was far from the starting lineup we'll have against OSU on defense and was playing true freshmen CBs at times.
For me it's 100% eye test as spring game statistics are meaningless. The offense looked the part in the spring game.
Agree completely. The QBs can't be tackled so they get "sacked" a lot in the scrimmages. There is a constant shuffling of QB, line, RB, the plays are pretty vanilla. But when they needed to execute, they were able to, a lot of the time, which is better than none of the time the past two springs. They definitely looked the part of a legitimate D1 middle of the pack offense or better. Playmakers at every position and a line that can create a hole, and hold up decently for passing.
I usually err on the side of optimism, so 10 wins doesn't seem unrealistic to me. I think we've been an average offense away from ~9 win seasons the past three years. If this offense turns out to be as good as advertised and demonstrated this spring (competent), then we're going to do some damage.
I feel for the first time since 2011, we have the potential to win 10+ games. We have the talent, and for once I think we have an offensive scheme that will contribute to wins. I don't think 10+ wins was achievable the last three years given the situation our program was in.
Whether we make that milestone or not depends on injury. An injury at left tackle could derail everything. An injury at DE could or safety (either position) could hamstring the defense.
Then again, giving conditional answers to these kinds of off season questions is the coward's way out. I say yeah, we hit double digit wins this season.
I don't have any idea. I thought we would be really good in 2012.
The last two years have not just shown a dip in some talent/depth areas. I think we have ever forgot how to win or we've learned how to lose. Plenty of games that should have gone our way haven't. It's a bit cultural.
It could also be a sign of poor preparation. Sure seemed like we were out prepared by the opposition in about six games last year. Halftime adjustments haven't been great either. And it's not just on offense.
Honesty, I'll be disappointed if they don't win 10 games. That D alone would get us to 7 or 8 wins
You can't? I can:
~ HorseOnATreadmill, via thekeyplay.com, 5/11/2015
Bold... and ROBUST.
BooooYaaaa!
RIP Stuart Scott
Gotta love it...
Its a lot less funny when you find out that UVa beat us in the 'Fan Zone' battle during the Commonwealth Challenge this year...
https://thecommonwealthclash.com/fanzone/fanpoint/index.php
To be fair, baseball and basketball seasons were a lot more recent than football season.
Maybe we win ten but we lack depth on the O line and we are still suspect imo at O tackle. Our OC was and still is suspect .
We will be better and I hope that we get there but I think 8 or 9 will be tops.
You're a very suspicious person, IMO, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
If the improvement on offense continues into next year with solid offensive line play, and they can avoid injuries there, I think 10 wins is very attainable.
Even with things not going well at times last year, they were always competitive and in the game. Even the 3rd qtr in Miami they were starting to turn things around (fumbles were killer that quarter).
I think with a young but more experienced and hungry, balanced team the goal should be to win every game. Just start with #1, BEAT THE BUCKEYES!
AA is correct that the schedule is easy this season, but it's not really any easier than last season when we had BC & Wake as our cross-division opponents (they were picked to finish 6th & 7th respectively in 2014 ACC preseason voting).
I believe our defense will be elite this season. I also believe you could make a good argument the overall talent at WR, TE and RB this season is the best Tech has ever had. A 10-win season comes down to quarterback play though. We have never won 10-games without good quarterback play, regardless of the other weapons. I'm still not sure what we'll get at QB this season. The only chance I had this sprint to watch the QBs was during the Spring Game, and they were pretty average. Neither Brewer nor Motley was terrible but neither was great either. With the wet conditions, I gave them a little bit of a pass on some of the misthrows, but I left Lane still not sure what to expect from them this season. My gut says Brewer will start against Ohio State but Motley will also start at some point this season. I have a slight preference toward Motley but also don't have confidence that he can stay healthy for a full season. So, I see QB as a mixed bag, which makes it impossible to call for 10+ wins with sort of confidence.
Maybe I'll feel differently after August practice, but right now I'd put the over/under at 9 wins.
" I also believe you could make a good argument the overall talent at WR, TE and RB this season is the best Tech has ever had."
Whoa, I am just as optimistic as the next guy, but thats.... thats bold
I don't know if it's that bold. We've had some talented RBs, TEs and WRs but when was the last time we had all of those positions stocked with talent at the same time?
Better question: when did we have talented RBs, TEs and WRs at the same time and utilize them properly? Talent + Loeffler = (say it with me people) wowsers in my trousers.
now this is fair. this talent with the proper guidance could be g.o.a.t. level if things fall our way.
The way he's utilized guys like Cline, Hodges, Malleck and Rogers (TSL had a great article recently about how Rogers' production in his first 2 years exceeded the rest of our ACC-era fullbacks combined, FWIW) makes me think that with good OL play and solid decision-making from his QB, he can create an offense that's extremely difficult to defend.
2010 - Each group has a current NFL player on it. (well I think Andre Smith is still on a team).
2004 - Royal, Morgan, Hyman, Clowney, King, Imoh, Humes.
Just to name a duo.
fair enough. In CFB time 5 years is a pretty long time. Either way, I think TechHokie13 nailed it with the key word "utilized"
agreed
Precisely.
I think most would agree Bucky, Malleck and Cline is the best set of TEs we've ever had. In most years, any of those guys would start for us (heck, Cline *did* start most of the season for us in 2013).
I won't claim it's our best set of RBs. There might not be a KJ or David Wilson. But there is a lot more depth than any year I can remember. Our top 4 (Williams, McKenzie, Edmunds and Coleman, assuming all are healthy) are all guys who have been starters at some point. Have we ever had a better 5th string RB than Travon McMillian??
Comparatively, the WR corps is the weakest of the 3 units, but it's better than a lot of the WR units we've fielded in years past. Isaiah Ford had the best true freshman WR season in Tech history. If he duplicates his catch total from 2014, he'll be Top 8 all-time in Tech's career receptions list by the end of his true sophomore season. Pair him with Phillips (40 catches, 500 yds as a true freshman), and Knowles (who College Football News named an Honorable Mention All-American in 2013), and role players like Caleb, Newsome, etc. and that's a good group, especially when considering we won't dip as far down the WR depth chart by virtue of the number of two TE sets we are going to use.
You could make an argument for 2004 or 2010 or some other years. But there is definitely a valid argument this year's group may the best when looking at all three positions as a whole.
Not taking away from cline performing admirably but he started because we had absolutely no one else to play at TE. Not sure he'd have started for many of our teams in the past as a freshmen, but it remains to be seen how much he's able to develop considering he's only played football a few years.
As for the WRs, I want to see them continue to improve. I thought coming into last year we'd see improvements out of our returning 3 guys who all had 500+ yards the previous season (Knowles, byrnes, Stanford). Only byrnes even came close to his prior season. Isaiah ford had the best season of any tech freshmen WR, but it's hard to say if he was our "best". He was forced to play way too much and we passed the ball more than we did when we had better WRs like eddie royal IMO.
Keep in mind that even though Cline got thrown in way too early and only had about a calendar year of football experience in his life, he still was more productive (a product of talent but mostly scheme) than most other TEs in the Beamer era. If everyone stays healthy, I think he could easily get another 20 catches or so this season.
you also have to take into account how much more we throw the ball now then we did earlier in the beamer era. I don't equate him catching more passes to being more productive then let's say a guy like jeff king, greg boone etc. who may have allowed us to be much more productive in the run game as well. The TE is just a position we haven't utilized very well in the passing game until recently.
That's my point. Imagine if Loeffler was the coordinator when we had Jeff King or Boone or Andre Smith. Shoot, even the fullback is getting in on the action. An offenses that uses all 6 skill position players is harder to defend than one that only uses 3 or 4. And Cline, even with his lack of experience, was still good enough to be productive in the offense Loeffler ran in 2013. Now, he should be good enough at the very least to give Ford or Philips a break every once in a while, while still being a threat the defense has to account for.
2 years since 1999 stand out to me. 2004 and 2010. 2010 was the bets chance we had at going to the MNC game since 1999. Bold prediction: 2015 is shaping up to be one of those stand out years, and if it's not 2016 will be.
Definitely seems to be about a 5 or 6 year cycle
2007 we were also extremely close to making the MNC with our senior group of WRs, Ore, Tyrod, and potentially our best D in the Beamer era. We were 3rd in the final BCS standings, and if not for the Matty Ice comeback, we likely would've been in the top 2.
2007 was a good year. And even with the Matty Ice loss and LSU, if Tennessee had beaten LSU we would have gone to the big game. I don't know why 2007 doesn't stick out more to me. It should. I think the losses were too heartbreaking and then we lost to friggin Kansas.
Probably because that was right when we started scraping the bottom of Stinespring's barrel as OC. Forgettable years from an offensive standpoint, absolutely inexcusable when you consider the talent we had on roster.
According to the standings, it did look like we should have been in the top 2. But by the end of that season, with the importance of the polls in the BCS formula, I think voters would have just bumped LSU above us anyway.
10-4. A 9-3 regular season (6-2 in ACC), win Coastal division, lose ACC championship game, and win bowl game.
I didn't predict an OSU victory last year, this year, I don't predict an OSU victory too. If I put NCSU, Miami, GT and BC as 50/50 games, I can see a 9-3 regular season, 6-2 in conference. I'm not sure if we get in the ACCCG at 6-2, but it might.
I'll go ahead and say 10-4 w/o an ACC title.
These wins go to 11.
I like the team to win 9 games in the regular season and be spurred on to win another in the post season.
OSU -L ... Will be closer than the experts think
Furman -W
@Purdue -W
@ECU -W ... lost a ton from last year, basically all of their playmakers that gave VT trouble are gone
Pitt -W ... tough game but think VT comes up w/ 1 win out of combo of 2 good teams in Pitt and NCST
NCST -L ... they might have the best QB in the ACC, tough physical gm against Pitt might leave VT injured
@Miami -W ... no Duke Johnson and revenge factor, Miami plays FSU before and Clemson after
Duke -W
@BC -W ... only 3 offensive starters coming back w/ entirely new OL and QB
@GT -W ... VT has extra time to prepare for option
UNC -L ... UNC returning a ton and have a feeling that they will be good next year
UVA -W ... London's last game
Exact same for me. Top it off with an acccg loss to Clemson and a russel athletic bowl (somehow the accs number 2 bowl now) win over Oklahoma or Texas
10-4 loud and clear
2015 - 2016 Season
VT will win 10 games, in contention for ACC Championship
lolUVA will lose 10 games, no more timeouts for Timecop
LOLUVA's upcoming season:
The two witnesses are just reporters, I assume
Considering they're running away from the program, I assume they're early declarers for the draft.
I thought it was emblematic of fans.
Yeah, next year will be the year he finally runs out of timeouts. Too bad, really. I love him there.
I'm thinking that I love that "more ___ than UVA had fans at its spring game" is a legitimate idiomatic expression around these parts. And that we defenestrate tOSU in front of a full crowd of travelling fans and go on to win the Super Bowl.
For me, it all starts and ends with line play. Teams impose their will upon other teams by dominating in the trenches. The 2011 offense had 4 senior OL starters and was the last OL with the capability of dominating DL's and creating the holes necessary for VT's run-oriented offense to succeed. The DL looks stacked, and I am not worried about the DE depth at this point. In Bud, we all trust.
So the bottom line for me is, will Tech's OL be able to push around ACC DL's enough to give us a power running game and back to 10 wins? I think yes, based on what I have seen this spring. While the only 3 conference games I feel confident about VT winning are Pitt, Duke and LOLuva, I like our chances in the other 5 as long as we lose no more than 1 starter on the OL not named Teller. He is my bell cow for the season. Let there be many glorious Beefy Fritos Burrito nights come this fall.
7-1 ACC, 10-2 in regular season, lose ACCCG, win bowl game, 11-3 going into the off-season with Bristol on our minds. (Sets down glass of maroon flavored Kool-Aid)
I would say that I expect no less than 8 wins, feel that we should win 9, and believe we can reach 10. Anything more than 10 will be due to the football gods smiling upon us and the ball bouncing our way. We have the talent and potential, but the depth and a few question marks remaining leave doubts.
Maybe. I hope so. I want us to. I believe we will win more than last year. I believe we are moving in the right direction. I'm thinking about getting on the hype train, but looking for the passenger option.
Give me College Football Playoffs or give me death!
I'm just over here waiting for billdozer's new trailer
Regular Season 12-0
ACC Championship 13-0
Playoffs 15-0
We'll probably be the answer to a trivia question in 10 years, "Who was the first undefeated team to win the CFB playoff?"
I think if honesty is the best policy, this is how we all feel. You sir, weren't afraid to slap it down on the screen.
I like the cut of your jib. You can be my wingman any time.
This brings to mind...the last time we were in the national championship game was the second year of the BCS system. This is the second year of the CFP....
It's a sign!
And if we go to a new playoff format in a couple years....