EDIT: Now with actual facts! H/t to the tkp history department. No more midnight posts for me
I've been sitting on this topic for a while, but I'm finally getting around to throwing it on the forums. As we all know, our first game of the season is the Chik-fil-A kickoff game in the Georgia Dome. I wanted to know what you folks thought about how playing in a dome would impact both teams, and maybe get some insight from more X's and O's minded folks like French and Mason. Some thoughts to get started:
Scot Loeffler at Auburn:
2012 Chik-fil-A kickoff game (Clemson): L 26-19
Logan Thomas' Record in Domes:
2012 Sugar Bowl (Michigan) L 23-20************
Overall: 0-1
Frank Beamer's Record in Domes:
@Syracuse in carrier dome: 1-6
1995 Sugar Bowl (Texas) W 28-10
2000 Sugar Bowl (FSU) L 46-29
2005 Sugar Bowl (Auburn) L 16-13
2006 Chik-fil-A Bowl (Georgia) L 31-24
2009 Chik-fil-A Kickoff (Alabama) L 34-24
2009 Chik-fil-A Bowl (Tennessee) W 27-14
2012 Sugar Bowl (Michigan) L 23-20************
Overall: 3-11
AJ McCarron's Record in Domes:
2012 BCS National Championship (LSU) W 21-0
2012 Cowboys Stadium Classic (Michigan) W 41-14
2012 SEC Campionship Game (Georgia) W 32-28
Overall: 3-0
Nick Saban's Record in Domes (while at Alabama):
2008 Chik-fil-A Kickoff (Clemson) W 3410
2008 SEC Championship Game (Florida) L 31-20
2009 Sugar Bowl (Utah) L 31-17
2009 Chik-fil-A Kickoff (VT) W 34-24
2010 SEC Championship Game (Florida) W 32-13
2012 BCS National Championship (LSU) W 21-0
2012 Cowboys Stadium Classic (Michigan) W 41-14
2012 SEC Campionship Game (Georgia) W 32-28
Overall: 5-2
Neither team would be mistaken for the fastest show on turf. I'm no expert on how much turf actually helps speedy teams, but I doubt the turf will benefit one offense more than another. Kickers normally have excellent games in domes, and -if the game is as close as we hope- a few points will certainly rest on the foot of Cody Journell. In his lone dome game (2012 Sugar) he hit the first four before missing his only kick in overtime. While the team was paying in the sugar bowl, he was repenting for his sins or something. Last year, however, he won the game in OT. Alabama's Senior kicker, Cade Foster, is two years removed from his 1-4 performance in the "Game of the Century." If the game is close, I think Beamerball will play a large part in whether we win or lose. Making the most of our opportunities is the name of the game.
How do you guys see the dome affecting the game?
Comments
It was Justin Meyer, not Cody that kicked the field goals in the Michigan game
Wow, how did I forget that? He was about as much not there as he could be. Still kind of surprised Beamer let him back on the team. I feel really dumb now.
You left out all of Beamer's wins in the Terrordome...
Loeffler was the OC last year for Auburn, who opened the season (and lost) against Clemson at the Georgia Dome.
I see AJ Hughes lofting balls so high into the air that Bama returners lose them in the white backdrop of the dome.
You would be correct. Must have missed that neutral site game when looking through ESPN's old schedules
Leaving out the Carrier Dome, where Beamer is 1-6 so far. But HT is right, the wins in the Terrordome cancel everything else out
I thought I might have left out a dome. I blame myself for not paying attention to vt until #goacc
App State was 6-32 vs FBS teams before they beat Michigan
Stanford was 1-11 the year before they beat #1 USC in LA in '07
And Louisiana-Monroe had never had a winning season in the FBS when they #BeatBama 21-14 in Bryant-Denny in '07
SEEE??!!!!? IT CAN HAPPEN!!!
Too bad Bama was fresh off a 6-7 2006 season, and ended 2007 at 7-6, so it wasn't like they were really Bama again yet.
But, yes, we definitely have a chance. Our 2004 game against USC is probably a pretty good comparison, coming off a pretty bad 2003 season and facing the #1 team in the nation on neutral turf, a game we could've won with a couple breaks.
A couple breaks? Bullshit. We needed ONE FUCKING PASS INTERFERENCE CALL to not have happened. I still saltier about that than Danny Coale's catch.
Amen, brother. I don't mind losing a game where you just get out-coached, or out-matched. Those things just happen sometimes. But a damned official screwing the pooch is not the way you wanna lose. Makes me wanna jam my foot straight up somebody's Ron Cherry.
Give him the business!
EDIT: Having trouble getting embedded video to start where I want it. Skip to 38 seconds. #RonCherryforACCCommish
Was at a cookout in '07 with an ACC ref who, not knowing that I was a VT fan, said that it was the worst officiating call he'd ever seen. The ref who made the call was not responsible for that part of the field. We were up by 3 in the 3rd and had momentum. We had crushed them defensively until that point.
but thats the thing, it was in the 3rd quarter. it was a bad call for sure but there was a lot of football left. once adibi got hurt reggie bush just ran roughshod over us. that call didnt lose the game for us.
It was one call that halted one drive in the 3rd quarter. It cost us a shot at a score, field goal at least but maybe touchdown. Either way, it didn't set them up with anything special, they still had to drive down the field to score.
A total swing of up to 7 points. We ended up losing by 11, that's not the only thing we would've needed.
I'm really starting to not appreciate how we all like to use the refs as an excuse. Maybe we could play well enough to get far enough ahead that one or two terrible calls aren't going to cost us a game.
Momentum is a hell of a drug. Before that call, it was our ballgame, though it was close. After that, momentum was heavily in USC's favor. One call CAN change a game.
Like a certain catch call
I would argue that Danny Coale's catch didn't affect momentum at all. We had had the advantage pretty much the whole game, and that play would have been the end of the game. Losing out on that call still gave a FG opportunity, and I don't think we can blame the referees for our kicking situation. The play that really lost us that game, if only one could be pointed to, did involve Danny Coale: his fake punt. If not for that, we'd have won in regulation. All that being said, it was a catch.
Agree 100% that blaming the refs is not a good look for a fan base. Adibi getting hurt against USC (and Bush all of a sudden looking like a Heisman candidate as a result), and the decision to fake punt against Michigan were much more damning in each of those excruciating losses, in my opinion anyway.
Having said all that, though, it is very natural - and not totally wrong - to feel slighted by what have to be two of the more atrocious officiating decisions in the last decade plus. They may not have changed either outcome by themselves, but it's impossible as a fan to not wonder 'what-if'...
I completely understand that the call happened in the 3rd and a lot of football was left. I do not blame refs for the outcome of games, except in this case. The PI call affected how the rest of the game was played.
Here's a hypothetical situation:
VT scores and is up by 10 late in the 3rd. Does that effect how USC calls plays in the 4th? Would Adibi have gotten hurt? Would the momentum have stayed with the Hokies?
You can't change the past, but it's always fun to argue for the alternate ending. Knowing that the ref who made the call was not responsible for that part of the field helps to fuel my argument. Oh, well.
That PI still chaffes me...
I've been to 3 games in the Super Dome, and as much as I want us to play in the Sugar Bowl every year, I can say that we have not been good there.
Except when we beat Texas and nearly beat Auburn and knocked them out of NC consideration.
We were very good against Michigan. Hell, we won. Its not our fault the officials failed to recognize that fact.
just think, if they recognize it we've won 4 out of our last 5 bowls, 2 of those bcs.
I disagree. We played very well against Michigan and should have won the game. Other than a few mistakes (Tony Gregory's kickoff return fumble and the fake punt) as well as some horrible calls (PI on Jayron and I won't mention the other, but it was a catch), we dominated that game.
Given the past few years of a noted decline in Beamerball, this statement scares the shit out of me.