The scenario: Tech beats Boston College, Maryland, and Virginia (yes, with the way the offense played yesterday, all of those games are probably tossups).
The hypothetical: You have a time machine like VTimHokie85. Selflessly you travel back to Lane Stadium yesterday, instead of the beginning of dot com boom to clean up on stocks, supplant Journell / fix the running game / get Logan on track and the Hokies beat Duke. This is a oneway time machine, so you can't do anything to fix the Miami game. The assumption is Vegas will be right right (Tech will almost definitely be an underdog at Miami), and the Hokies need your help to win.
Losing at Miami is respectable, albeit it's a rival and the loss would lock Tech out of a trip to Charlotte. The stigma of losing to Duke is worse than the loss itself, and beating the Blue Devils maintains a bit of a status quo in Blacksburg that the Hokies handle business against "lesser" opponents.
So, what's the better loss, Duke or Miami?
Comments
With all due respect Joe are you kidding with this question! I know this is not the Duke of old but it's still Duke football which the D held to UNDER 200 yards and we LOST! The question should be would we rather lose to Duke or LOLUVA? When you do your film breakdown see how many times we actually had a positive running play then trotted that same "package" as the coaches like to call it OFF the field for another. All Shane talks about is feeding it to the hot hand. How the hell is a RB supposed to get hot when he has a positive play then trots to the sideline. Lefty is already on my hot seat limited talent or not they not running what is actually working.
I know the circumstances of the game. Thanks for informing me.
Nothing changes in that scenario. Miami is central to the question because they are the division leader, beating them is what is necessary to get to Charlotte in my scenario.
This thread wasn't about ranting about the game, it was about the bigger picture. If you want to rant about the game, Go fuck yourself, San Diego and do it somewhere else.
So nothing changes if we lose to UVA, dream on. Yeah I know what your question was and I still say its a stupid fucking question and pointless. I thought this was a forum for open discussion and opinions which I posted mine and get your response! Nice mr all powerful editor! Since we're cleverly referencing movies I will reference an appropriate song for you, "fuck everyone but fuck you the most"!
Come on guys
Well that escalated quickly
I still don't know how this question is going over your head.
whatever the circumstances are here, I've seen you pop in and out of threads the last few days and it's good to see you regulate a little Joe.
if there was any time to use "well that escalated quickly", this was the time. perfect
but it's the wrong quote:
How about EVERYBODY just calming the fuck down! I hate seeing all this dissension among the greatest fan base on the planet (at least in Div 1). We've got 4 games left (not including postseason bowl & potential ACCCG).
I agree.
Be angry at Loeffler, Journell, Beamer, and of course Logan. Hell, be angry at Foster (he's the best thing to happen to college football, should have a statue of him outside of Lane stadium, and had his defense playing lights out against Dook, but he can take it.)
Don't turn on each other though. This team could have lost to ECU or Marshall, and Duke is far better than either of those teams. Dook squeaked out a win this week, something our team has been doing all year. So don't act so surprised our beloved Hokies lost; it was bound to happen. And don't be mad at each other; unless of course one of you threw four INTs in the loss this weekend. And if you did, let me congratulate you on being the all time school passing and TD leader.
Miami.
First BC
He's answering the question posed in the post.
In the big picture - I would rather lose to Duke and beat Miami to win the Coastal. I just hope we don't lose to both!
Miami, the only reason I'd take losing to Duke is if we win out from here and get a chance to play FSU.
Much rather lose to Duke and get it out of the way. Sure it looks like a terrible loss, and no doubt it was, but Duke has turned into a respectable program. I surely expected to win, but did not think a loss was out of the realm of possibility.
Miami certainly looks beatable. If it comes down to VT-Miami for the coastal we certainly have a chance to go to Charlotte and lose to FSU by 40.
This is part of the reason I vote Miami. This isn't a year where I think we deserve the Coastal, and Miami has done very well this year. I always have respect for Miami going back to the Big East days, and while I don't like losing to them, I don't feel any great shame in losing to them, even in their down years.
^I would rather see Miami get pasted by FSU than the Hokies. That said, you guarantee me atleast a close loss to FSU (based on excellent defense and an okay offensive production), and blocking Miami from winning the "Tech" division yet again, I'll keep the loss to Duke.
You'll get to see Miami get pasted by FSU this weekend anyways.
This sounds like a good Doctor Who episode.
Duke. Hate losing to either, but I just can't stand losing to Miami.
Obviously Duke. Why would I prefer to be knocked out of the division race?
I would much rather lose to Duke...I know it sucks and we were all bitching and moaning last night (including myself), but if we beat Miami in two weeks this site will be back to talking about heading the Charlotte to play the Seminoles as we were before we channeled our inner LOLUVA and got on our knees for Duke.
Lose to Duke all the way. 3 reasons:
#2 but phrased differently...I love it when we beat Miami. I have no opinion of Duke.
Neither? Neither game should (should've been) be lost. That's not an option though. That's in the past and the team has to move forward.
I guess losing to Miami would've been easier to digest but looking at the bigger picture I would rather lose to Duke. We have a lot to prove that game and the ACCCG on the line. I think we are very capable of beating Miami if all points connect and offense plays better than they did yesterday... IF, and ONLY if, the offense plays like they did yesterday I don't see us winning against BC or Miami... It's good that our little wake-up call happened now rather than later.
The first part of this response is my answer. Neither.
Duke. Hate Miami's football program way more than Duke's. Plus this way we aren't necessarily out of the running for ACCCG. Regardless of whether we 'deserve' to be there or not, I always want us to go as far as we can.
This same question could've been posed 3 years ago when we lost to JMU, then proceeded to run the table and win the ACC. Granted even if we lost to Miami that year we still would've been coastal champs. But say Miami hadn't lost 2 other games. I still would've rather lost to JMU and ended up in the ACCCG, than beat an FCS team and have nothing to show for the season at the end of December. Apply this same line of thought to this season: I'd rather lose to duke and proceed to run the table and make it to the ACCCG, than go into the Miami game and lose, basically ending our ACCCG hopes for good.
How about Boise St. or JMU?
As unfortunate as it may be, since the question address THIS SEASON, GUYS, I would rather lose to Duke. In general, I would rather lose to Miami because they are a more respectable team, blah blah blah. But this season, if we lose to Duke but beat Miami (along with everyone else on our schedule), it is a better scenario.
People need a bit of time off of this site to vent quietly by themselves, I believe.
duke already has the two conference losses, so we're still ahead of them. if we beat miami and presumably they get throttled by fsu, then we're in the driver seat. all that is of course if we can navigate the murderer's row that is bc, maryland, and uva.
we don't even need miami to lose to fsu...if we beat them we're driving. Both Miami and VT will then have 1 conference loss and we'll have the head to head tie breaker.
i know, and thats what i meant. i drank a lot of alcohol last night, still a little fuzzy.
Duke. Losing to Duke and beating Miami basically guarantees us the coastal since they probably will lose to FSU. From there if we show up and beat or respectfully lose to FSU, keeping them in check, scoring a couple times, it'll help make the Duke loss sting less.
However, beating Duke and losing to Miami keeps us in the same rut we have always been. Can't win The Big Game. Playing in the ACCCG will do more to our perception than beating Duke ever will, especially after everyone thought we'd be at the bottom of our division. And who knows? Duke has a very good chance of winning two or three of their last four. This will show that Duke is no longer the conference punching bag and actually has some fight to them and in hind sight the loss won't be as bad to us or analysts, but the polls wont ever reflect that.
I'd rather beat Miami and lose to Duke. That would give us the chance to be in the ACCCG and then we can see what our D can do against Famous Jameis & Co. It would finally give the guys on defense to really prove how great they really are. They deserve even more love after this past pitiful offensive performance.
Would rather lose to Duke, beat Miami, and get in the ACCCG. It's all about the hardware.
I kind of think of Miami as the other wvu. Beating them brings a special kind of joy to my Hokie Spirit.
Turkey leg for you! I'll be wearing my "Fuck Miami" t-shirt in two weeks... I also have a couch that I am saving to burn when we beat WVU in 2021.
BEAT MIAMI.
We still control our own destiny. If we win the ACC (Unlikely, I know, but theoretically still possible), and win a BCS bowl (Unlikely, I know, but theoretically still possible), we would be in the same position we would be if we hadn't lost to Duke.
This is a rebuilding year. A win over a top 15 team will help our program more in the future than a loss to Duke will hurt it.
I vote Duke as well only if it means we beat Miami.With the Defense we have I would love to get a shot at FSU and let Bud get a shot at Winston.
As long as the networks don't put a bye week in front of ACCCG. Give the Time Machine to the Defense so they can get some rest.
If in this scenario a loss to Duke guarantees a win at Miami, I'd choose the Duke loss.
Regardless , losing to Duke is horrible. I don't care how improved they are this season, this offense, as anemic as its been, should be able to put up more than ten points against DUKE. Duke's defense had been comically bad all season up until yesterday and we made them look like All-Americans.
Sorry cannot lose to Miami. I hate them so much
Has anyone considered that Dook may be better than Miami?
If you've watched any Miami football this year, you'll realize they're terrible! Squeaking out a win over 1-5 UNC and WF in their last two games tells me this Miami team is going to get a reality check soon. I could actually see LOLUVA beating them again this season.
Hopefully they are top 10 when we play, and I like our chances against them more than Dook (and BC). Unfortunately, our offense will have to get better to win out.
At this point, I'm not quite sure. Losing to Miami would've hurt less and been better for us in the rankings, but would've out of the acccg almost certainly...
But losing to dookie...that hurt, a lot. And killed our ranking. But we are still in contention for the coastal..
Both are terrible outcomes..
If I had to choose, I pick losing to duke and beating Miami.
After considerable amount of thought I must conclude with the majority of Hokie Nation. My first response is neither. However a loss to da U is less of a letdown to our rankings and sos respect than is a loss to Puke. Even a Puke team that has "improved over the last few yrs." Seriously, when asking fans what their marquee win was against this yr, it will be us. When asked which win made them bowl eligible this yr, it was the win vs Tech that got them the 6th win for a 2nd season of bowl eligibility. A tech team that never scored more than 10 pts on them.
Regardless with how much Cutcliffe has "improved" them, this will go into the annals of signature historically embarrassing & unacceptable losses along with Temple (98'), Boise St & JMfU ('10), and ECU (08'). And Cincy ('12). I would be remiss if I didn't point out that ALL of these losses have occurred under Beamer's "leadership." I'll be honest, if I were a younger, newer AD at Tech, I would honestly lay into about some of his methods and practices as well as about these losses.
JMU game after the Boise Game was embarassing, but the Boise game in and of itself was not. Boise was ranked higher at the time, and actually had one of their most decent teams that year.
I feel like we just went straight into JMU way too quickly. I know it's been said before, but I really think it's true. I've come to stop being embarrassed by that loss. That loss didn't define our season. It also doesn't impact this year's season.
What got to me about Boise though was they coughed it up later in the season. Bama, LSU, USC, etc, all went on to win the BCS championship after they played us.
I get what you're saying and I begrudgingly acknowledge all that Peterson (sp) has done there (I can only imagine what he could accomplish if he was coach at Tech). However, I had spoken to a number of fans from big time programs and they were FULLY expecting (and in a way supporting) us to be the stopping point and the team to expose them. Therefore, it is, consequentially, another loss and ultimately another failure in the history of our program and Beamer's coaching tenure with us.
I would ONLY rather lose to Duke than Miami, if this scenario also assumes that the Hokies beat BC, UVa, and Md.
If the Miami game is all for naught, I would rather lose to them than Duke at home, at 3:30.
That was disgusting. I wanted to stop and take a shower in Cassell before getting into my car Sat.
Look, its like this - Lose to Duke and win the rest which includes beating Miami. Then beat FSU, then beat Alabama who loses in the SEC championship game but winds up with an at large BCS bid. That is what I want. That and some wings, and beer, and a ticket oak.
I would much rather lose to Dook. Why? Because, for one, unlike national-media perceptions, I've been watching Duke's steady rise under Cutcliffe and have respect for him and what he has done at that program.
Also, Muck Fiami. There are four teams I never want to lose to and hate when we do - Miami, GT, FSU, and Dabo Swinny. I would hate to lose to UVA, but I don't remember what it feels like so I can't rate it accurately, but let's say it would surely top the list.
I think I've just blocked out any memories of UVA beating us. Too painful and sad. Sort of like a lot of our bowl games.
I remember our last loss to UVA.
It was 2003, and Matt Schaub's senior year. It was a one-score lead for them late in the game when Groh and his minons converted a fake field goal to seal the game. That's when I got a phone call from my best friend, a UVA grad, who called to rub it in. Real classy of him.
You don't want to see UVA beat Tech.
All the UVA closet football fans will come out from under their rocks and taunt, tease and tout like you wouldn't think possible. There are 100,000+ UVA fans in Virginia (mostly in hiding) and they will desend on Tech fans like a plague of vermin the second their football team ends this historic winning streak.
I've never understood why they fired Groh.
Also, yeah. Yeah, I know a lot of those fans too. I went to highschool with a bunch of them. The weird part is I went to Blacksburg High.
and the announcer yelled "HEATH MILLER THE TECH KILLER!" i will never forget that shit.
and yeah the hoos have so much pent upped hokieangst the shit talking would be insufferable, but ultimately innefective.
There are four teams I don't want to lose to ever:
1) LOL
2) The Cousins
...
4) Whoever we're playing next.
Agreed that losing to Duke is embarrassing on the national level. All of us Hokie fans were excited to be ranked fairly high and getting some positive national attention. However, we really hadn't earned anything yet. It was a premature in my opinion (no disrespect the defense) to have us as a top 15 team. If you were to ask a fan of a non-ACC school they wouldn't care as much as we do about us getting upset by Duke. Teams ranked in the 10-25 range lose every weekend. Luckily for us our biggest regular season game is still ahead and a dominant win against Miami on the road will reassure the fans, recruits and national media that we are a good football team. From this point on it is about learning from the clemson we just pulled and get back to work. Personally, beating Miami (a media darling. also, still not sure how they still have an athletic department after the boats and hoes situation) will do more good for the program than losing to Duke hurts us.
Much rather lose to Duke and beat Miami. VT still controls their destiny to get to Charlotte.
Fuck Miami. If we would have to go 1-11 every year in order to beat a top 10 Miami team every year, I'd take it.
Ehhh.... I think you forgot about LOLUVA. The only way I'd give that up is a MNC.
I'm a current student from Out of State. The game against UVA has no extra meaning to me, and it never really has. I'll gladly accept a win over them, but beating UVA does not come anywhere close to beating Miami for me.
I'm not sure you understand how much losing to UVa hurts.
I was an out of state student too. I understood the rivalry from a VA school vs VA school standpoint, but joining the MVs really helped indoctrinate me into the fun and excitement of hating on LOLUVa.
Duke. I can't remember a great season since 1999 that VT has had without a terrible loss on it's schedule. VT now has that loss out of the way and it is time to win the ACC for the typical #goACC moment.
Maybe one day, VT will become elite and not have that let-down game. Until then, let's lose to Duke, it's no worse than UNC, NC State, JMU, BC, ECU, Pitt, Cincy, and the list goes on and on. Hell, the UVA loss 9 years ago was terrible. It's actually probably easier to name the bad teams VT hasn't lost to: UMD, WF.
I'd take the Duke loss and a Miami win. I have a lot of respect for what their coaching staff is building down and I can easily see Duke
becomingremaining relevant in the ACC at least for the duration of Cutcliffe's career, they're almost a microcosm of What Beamer has done at VT, a patient coach building a program. Duke gets ok to good athletes and is starting to turn them into good teams, while Miami gets good to great athletes and finds ways to lose to LOLUVA. During the last 6 years against LOLUVA, Duke is 5-1. Over the same time period, Miami is 2-3 and has lost 3 straight)Also this was mentioned above, but I want to see Miami lose 3 straight. I honestly think Duke is one of the better teams in the Coastal. Its feasible for them to win out. I expect them to finish at least 8-4, beating NC State and either Wake or UNC, and while Miami has better Athletes, I think duke is by far the better coached, more disciplined team. I don't think they have the defense to stop Duke Johnson, but Miami's will have just faced the best 2 defenses in the ACC (both top 10 nationally). FSU is 1st in Scoring (4th nationally), Second in Yards Allowed (8th nationally) and VT is 2nd in Scoring (5th Nationally), 1st in Yards Allowed (third nationally) so their offense may be a little worn down by then.
Hate Miami. Lose to Duke.