Winning close games is a learned skill. I am interested to see if all the Hokies' close wins ultimately benefit them down the stretch.
UNC is 12 pts away from being 8-0 & 10 points away from being 1-7.Wake is 3 pts from 7-0 & 14 from 2-5.FSU is 14 from 7-1 & 12 from 2-6.Pitt is 11 from 7-1 & 24 from 0-8.Miami is 21 from 8-0 & 17 from 1-7.VT is 7 from 6-1 & 16 from 2-5.BC is 5 from 6-2 & 21 from 2-6.— Rise of HaleTweeter (@ADavidHaleJoint) October 27, 2019
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Hypothetical:
If we had won the Boston College game by 1 point but everything else remained the same, what is the perception of this team?
Assuming for the sake of this discussion, everything remains the same but in BC's last series, AJ Dillion fumbles on the BC 40, we score and we subsequently make a 2 pt conversion.
Well...we'd be ranked for starters
Getting thumped at home by Duke is much more damning than a close road loss to Boston College.
Agreed. I realize the schedule hasn't been Murderer's Row but it's funny to think a 6-1 team would be cause for panic (especially after last season).
True, but the BC game was within reach up until the end. The Duke game however...(sigh)
Hear. hear. However, if you flipped it and the BC game was a blowout, and the Hokies had beaten Duke by one, they'd probably be ranked. Games 1 and 2 get blocked out by now by pollsters.
Well we'd be a one-loss team. That puts us in sole possession of first place at the top of the Coastal division. Potentially in the top 25, though that loss to Duke could definitely hold us back. Depending on how we looked, it might mean that I wouldn't have felt like the sky was falling by time that Duke loss hit the books. I'd be more optimistic.
Having said that, we are in control of our own destiny at the moment, but not having that second loss would give us a little breathing room against Wake or GT, which we could use.
And the Coastal wheel of destiny would remain intact, so we've got that going for us.
Normally I think you can tell a lot about the close games. Many teams fire their head coach for a 5 win seasons in which they are something like 20 points from being a 10 win team. A few plays and that coach had a solid season. New coaches come in and players have more experience and get 10 wins. Its magically the coach some how. And then those coaches dont do as well and the cycle repeats because switching coaches hurts recruiting temporarily. I am mainly thinking of Kevin Sumlin at A&M, but Michigan saw this too. And even VT (though have Evan's helped a lot)
But this year in the coastal, I have no idea, these teams are all perfectly mediocre.
I agree it's a learned skill. Clemson started to develop it as we started to lose it. In the 2000's there was always a feeling that we were in every game, and I always trusted our defense and playmakers to be the difference in any close game. Slowly over time we lost that, culminating in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, both 7-6 seasons, but I think only 2 of our twelve losses were by more than a single score (tOSU in 15, Miami in 14). Both of those teams should have been 9-3ish and both seasons we found ourselves losing too many close games.
That said, in small sample sizes, the unmentioned part of luck in one score games can be the difference. One fluke fumble, a tipped pass interception can be the difference in any one score game, one snap can flip the game. So it's difficult to assess in our 2019 season so far if we have recovered that mentality, or if we have simply had good fortune in those Miami/UNC games. It's certainly a bit of both, but I don't believe it's enough to know for sure how that split is divided.
Game of inches and such
indeed, just ask Oklahoma!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7bgtu2O4E
Thanks for the excuse to post this gem
Underrated movie, if nothing for Pacino
The ball also has an odd shape. It seems that when it bounces the direction of trajectory is somewhat unpredictable.
Close games rely a bit on confidence and luck.
The harder you work, the luckier and more confident you get. It's a cycle that feeds itself, and if you can win some of those, you have confidence you can do it again.
VT, under Fuente, has had some spectacular comeback wins. Not giving up until the final whistle is a great skill to develop.
Luck is where hard work meets opportunity.
If you're consistently lucky, it's because of hard work.
Except in some gambling?
What? Mike Postle works so hard he has obviously damaged his neck.
How thin are we talking?
Are we talking thin like a deli sliced turkey breast thin or clone of Karen Carpenter thin?
The width of a hummingbird's beak.
We are about 36" shy of being 4-8 last year (2 potential game locking plays: UNC fumble at goal line + UVA missing the fumble recovery in the endzone)
Yep we were very fortunate last season to avoid a record more reflective of the downturn we had last season as a team.
And we already have those plays this year...Could very easily be 3-4 (0-4 ACC) if any number of a few plays go the other way. But they didn't and we are 5-2 and control our own destiny in the ACC Coastal!
The Coastal division ma arguably be the worst division in P5 football, but it sure does produce some of the best and most exciting games.
3-8. That game against Marshall would never have been played
Ah you're right, nice catch
This is why I disagree with the popular "bad ref calls don't decide games" trope in a lot of situations