Ten days removed from an emotional retirement announcement from Frank Beamer, Hokie Nation braced themselves for a sixty minute battle against perennial nuisance Georgia Tech. After looking like they had been run over by the Ramblin' Wreck on their way out of the tunnel, the Hokies fought their way out of a two touchdown deficit to escape Atlanta with win.
Defending Paul Johnson's old school triple option offense requires diligent preparation and disciplined assignment football. Early on, the Hokies' defense struggled to gain their footing.
Quarterback Justin Thomas quickly led the Jackets downfield for an early touchdown, due in large part to a 58-yard pass on only their second play from scrimmage. Two drives later after a Cam Phillips fumble at the VT 45, A-Back Clinton Lynch beat the Hokies around the edge and pushed the GT lead to 14.
In the blink of an eye, a game many had hoped would serve as a springboard toward bowl eligibility and a proper sendoff for Frank Beamer had quickly devolved into a disaster-in-the-making.
Virginia Tech was in dire need of a spark and they got one early in the second quarter. After a VT punt, the Bees picked up where they had left off and began marching downfield in hopes of putting the game out of reach. On 2nd-and-1 from the GT 31 yard line, DE Ken Ekanem exploded off the edge to take down A-Back Mikell Lands-Davis for a 5-yard loss that yielded a third-and-long and eventual punt.
I marked that play in my notebook during the game. After watching 20 minutes of seemingly robotic defensive play, Ekanem's TFL jumped out as the first time the defense had the look of a savage unit hell bent on stuffing CPJ's offense.
From thereon, the defense (mostly) stuck with their assignments and gap fits. The interior linemen were disruptive inside; Ekanem and Dadi attacked the edges; and Deon Clarke and Andrew Motuapuaka fought hard to contain the option. The aggression and effort were reminiscent of the 2013 win in Atlanta.
Probably best remembered for Derrick Hopkins' physically dominant performance inside (along with a Kyle Fuller high five and Hokie Stone brain buckets), the last match-up at Bobby Dodd Stadium saw the Hokies shut down the Bees with seven tackles-for-loss and 273 yards of total offense allowed (156 yards below GT's season average). Thursday night, Bud Foster's unit found their footing after a rough first quarter. Tech finished with seven tackles-for-loss and limited GT to 258 yards of offense (130 yards below GT's season average).
Paul Johnson's offense is a true test of preparation, focus and discipline. I've always admired the annual chess match between CPJ and Foster; a showdown between two brilliant tacticians separated by 160 feet, whose visions are manifested by young men in a battle of wits and execution.
Much like the 2013 unit, the Lunch Pail Defense arose victorious from Thursday night's battle. They buckled down after giving up two early scores, shutting out the Bees on all nine of their subsequent drives. Georgia Tech never got closer than the Hokies' 32-yard-line over the final three quarters of play, and turned the ball over three times in the second half.
So after letting the Hokies' performance sink in, why am I so tepid after-the-fact? On paper, the performance was solid. In reality, I can't help but feel like Tech escaped Atlanta rather than sauntered home with an emphatic victory.
Maybe it's because Tech's no longer playing for the Coastal Division crown. Maybe it's because 2015 Georgia Tech is a shell of itself, ravaged by injuries and devoid of confidence.
I was admittedly nervous heading into Thursday night's game; in hindsight I'm struggling to determine how much of it had to do with watching the waning moments of Frank's career and how much had to do with possibly witnessing an underachieving Georgia Tech team dominate us on national television.
For the players, it must be a strange place to be in, mentally. Playing for pride. Playing to maintain a bowl-streak with debatable importance. Playing for a legendary coach deserving of a positive send-off.
Playing with one eye on the above and the other on a murky future, trying to take things one day at a time while wondering what change may look like in what has been the most stable program in America.
This Hokies team is finally beginning to find their stride in the most critical stretch of the season. Thursday's win will probably be remembered more as the first game on Frank's farewell tour, but the way in which the defense rose to the occasion against early adversity should not be forgotten. After back-to-back physical wins over run-first teams, Saturday's tilt with UNC will be a true test of the defense's ability to contain a dynamic offense.
The Hokies are now one win away from bowl eligibility — which would make it 23 straight seasons, officially the longest active streak in the nation — with games against North Carolina and Virginia remaining. Saturday's game against the Tar Heels will have a lot on the line: The Heels will be playing for their first ever berth in the ACC Championship Game, while the Hokies will be looking to play spoiler and extend their bowl streak in what will be Beamer's final game in Lane Stadium.
Comments
I'm already freakin amped for the game this weekend. It's Monday morning , 7:30am, and all I want is a glass of bourbon with the smell of ribs on the grill followed by Beamer Ball hosing the TarHoles.
I was with you right up until the point you said you put ribs on a grill...
J/K, I'm with you.
Because it took 3 forced fumbles before our offense could get in the end zone in the 4th quarter when we were down 4? And then, we had to start the ball on, what, their 18 yard line? The game felt like half the team was trying their hardest to lose and GT just out sucked us.
Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about the end result and about the defense's performance. I enjoyed watching the game when they were on offense a heck of a lot more than when we had the ball. It does not inspire me with a whole lot of confidence going into the UNCheat game. I feel like this is the kind of game where the bad guys will get their points and we need to keep up or force their hand by keeping a lead.
The game felt like half the team was trying their hardest to lose and GT just out sucked us.
That's an awesome and fitting line. An ugly win in an ugly game. But a win is a win and our defense certainly shut down GT after those first two possessions.
beyond GT out-sucking us, don't forget if not for the boneheaded shove from Errin Joe, we likely would have lost by 1.
You know, people keep saying that but, from there it would have been a 58 yd field goal, II RC wthout the penalty. 5 yards beyond his lifetime longest.
So, I'm going to respectfully disagree.
But wasn't also 3rd and short? Up until that point they had been kind of marching on that possession. Our D very likely could have stepped up and made the stop, but the momentum of that drive was pointing towards they were going to get the first.
Penalty set up a 3rd and long, which we then sacked him for a 4th and 27 or something like that.
I won't say they would have won without the penalty, but they had at least 1 more run to get closer into FG range, with a pretty solid kicker
That play was a sack. Or a TFL.
With the way our D was playing, I doubt they make the next 1 down. The penalty just sealed the deal.
Reminded me of the Jeremiah Attaochu punch in the 2011 version of the Techmo Bowl. In that game it gave us momentum back, and the Joe blunder in this game put them in a really bad spot to give us the W.
I feel pretty good about this game. Aside from two mistakes, the busted coverage on the long pass play and Brewer's terrible pick, the team played really well. The bees couldn't move the ball after the first quarter at all and the good guys moved down the field pretty well. The offense wasn't great, but it was more than good enough to get it down. I don't think this game was as close as the score indicated.
Will we beat UNC? I really hope so, but even if we don't, I think we will give them a better fight than Duke and Miami did. I like where this team seems to be and how they are sending Frank off so far.
Man, I miss those Hokie Stone helmets. I'm not a uniform junkie, but I would love to see those helmets again. They'd look pretty awesome paired with black uniforms, as we're rumored to have for this weekend.
I'm glad that we beat Georgia Tech, but I can't help but feel that they were slightly better and we really dodged a bullet. As far as penalties are concerned, they didn't have any up until the last quarter with a few minutes left in the game when they got their defense got their first penalty of the game which also subsequently gave us a fresh set of downs in the red zone and were only then able to score a touchdown giving us the lead and, ultimately the win.
This isn't the first time we beat Georgia Tech like this either, just thinking back to when Logan Thomas got punched in the head, giving us a fresh set downs which led to a touchdown, and us winning THAT game.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to, at the very least, one more win against you know Wahoo.
Um...scoreboard
yes, we won the game BUT we had 8 penalties to their 3.
Up until their 1st penalty, late in the 4th quarter, we were literally beat in the game...we got super lucky.
GT's not good. They were just really up for us, and we had our usual slow start (along with the perfunctory Michael Brewer INT).
It should have been a two-score victory by us.
If we beat UNC I think they still control their destiny in the Coastal. They would have one ACC loss with wins head to head over UNC, Pitt, and Duke. In fact, they are damn close to sealing it I believe.
Right. As was pointed out in another thread (forget which), basically UNC's magic number is 1. Unless they lose out, they're going to win the Coastal since they hold a tiebreaker over Pitt.
Ah but when we beat UNC, we ruin their chances of a playoff run. I don't care if that means the ACC won't have a team in the playoffs.
clemson?
I fully expect UNC to beat Clemson in the ACC-CG.
If Fedora can identify the weaknesses in Clemson's defense (there are a few, that could be really exposed by a little scheme and adequate talent) that I as a complete amateur have identified, I am not so confident Clemson will beat them if they don't make adjustments.
If WE can identify weaknesses in UNC's offense, so can Clemson.
If by we you mean the population of TKP then yes, I agree. If by we you mean Bud Foster and his staff, I strongly disagree. Venables has a great base defense and has good athletes in his defense, but he did not do a good job of stopping UNC last year with even better players. He also does not seem to make the dramatic and successful adjustments that Bud Foster does. His linebackers and safeties consistently missed their edge and alley assignments against a Syracuse option game being run by a 5th string quarterback who is an above average athlete at best. The most baffling part, Venables made no adjustments. They continued to find success on the ground throughout the game when Clemson's superior talent and size failed to blow up their plays. Schematically, they were being beaten, but talent differential masked it and kept it from being as bad as it could have been. A good offense with more talent and better scheme could do some serious damage to this Clemson defense.
Bud Foster > Brent Venables
I see your point.
The GT game is always an ugly game. The spots on this cat are like every other leopard. Were it not for two missed kicks and an interception, and the score would have (should have) been 27-14.
I could watch that video all day. (Too bad that was probably the 3 minutes of the game that was actually watchable)