An Offense for the Ages

Sitting 1/3rd of the way into the season (assuming we get to see a bowl game) I am astonished at how good this offense has been. We can talk about a questionable quarterback decision in game 3, but beyond that, this team has been downright legen...wait for it...dary in it's productivity.

At this point in the season, the Hokies have played the #s 6, 7, 8, and 10 rushing defenses in the conference and are still leading the country in rushing yards per game (minimum 2 games). A truly impressive feat.

My curiosity got the best of me and I thought I'd take a trip down the rabbit hole to see how this team's offensive production stacks up to other Hokies offenses going back to 1985 (the furthest back I could get stats on HokieSports and also, my birth year, so this spans my entire life)

At the current pace, the 2020 Hokies are on pace to shatter, break, or threaten a number of records in the book.

The one most likely to be broken is Team Rushing Yards. It appears the record is 2975 held by the 2000 Hokies, and their three headed monster of Michael Vick, Lee Suggs, and Andre Kendrick. If bowl stats were allowed to count, that team would have finished with 3286 yards on the ground, through 12 games. At the torrid pace this team is racking up yards, 2000's official and unofficial records will be smashed, as the 2020 Hokies are on pace for 3744 rushing yards, through 12 games. Another 300+ performance next week against Wake would push this season's output beyond 3 entire seasons.

Add those numbers to the current passing yards pace (which is on track to be somewhere around the cutoff between middle and bottom outputs) and the 2020 Hokies are on pace for 5814 total yards, which trails only the 2016 Hokies yardage of 6223, which was bolstered by 2 additional games.

The 2020 Hokies also are outscoring every previous season, with an average of 42 ppg, which leads the 1999 season by .6 ppg, although those numbers drop slightly as a result of the Sugar Bowl.

Scoring...The only guaranteed way to beat your opponent. The 2020 edition of Hokie Football is on a scorching pace towards 63 total touchdowns, which would break the unofficial record of 61 in 2000, and shatter the official record of 55 (also 2000). This feat is getting done on the ground, as the hydra that is our backfield is on pace for 45 rushing touchdowns, which would come oh so close to the record 46 (guess again, 2000)(although not come close to the unofficial 52 of 2000, that Gator Bowl was ridiculous).

15 current rushing touchdowns is already more than 6 previous seasons' worth and getting our average next week, against Wake, would surpass another 10, meaning that in 5 games, the Hokies offense would have score more rushing touchdowns than 16 of the previous 35 seasons.

The truly mindboggling part of this entire season, is that we were without our most dynamic quarterback for 10 of the 16 quarters played so far, and had our 3rd string QB in for the better part of a quarter in which we scored 17 points. Questions arise, how badly could we have won our first two games if QB1 was playing? Could we have won game 3?

Well, in 6 quarters with QB1 on 17 possessions, we punted 4 times, scored FGs on 3, missed a FG on 1, and scored TDs on the remaining 9. With QB2 and QB3, on 33 possessions through 10 quarters, we punted 13 times, scored FGs on 4, turned the ball over thrice, ran out the clock once, and scored 12 TDs. Simply doubling QB1s output from his third of the season thus far, in place of QB2/QB3, and the Hokies subtract 5 punts, and instead, score 2 FGs and 6 more TDs, for 48 more points and the season looks absurd.

Do we win game 3? Maybe. More timing and the wheel route to Mitchell probably goes in, we don't try to go for 2, we score a TD earlier in the game, and that's 12 more points right there. Factor in a Field Goal and it's a different game, when we're up 4 on UNC's last drive. I know they were knocking on the door late in the fourth, but do ghosts of goallines past haunt them again?

Five more TDs in the other two games and it's a coinflip as to who has the better offense in the ACC, Virginia Tech's 54 ppg or Clemson's 48.4 ppg.

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Recovering scientist working in business consulting

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I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

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Tyrod did it Mikey, Tyrod did it!!

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"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

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I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

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"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

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If you don't want to recruit clowns, don't run a clown show.

"I want to punch people from UVA right in the neck." - Colin Cowherd

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"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken" - Colonel Sanders via Ricky Bobby

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Amateur superstar and idiot extraordinaire.

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"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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"Runs up the hill! Into the Tech student section! Here in Charlottesville!"

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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Proud author of one plaid comment.

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Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

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Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

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Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

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Doesn't matter if it's cake or pie as long as it's chocolate.

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"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

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Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

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Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

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Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

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The doll's trying to kill me and the toaster's been laughing at me.

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Proud author of one plaid comment.

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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VTCC '86 Delta Company, Hokie in Peru, Former Naval Aviator, Former FBISA, Forever married to my VT87 girl. Go VT!

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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VTCC '86 Delta Company, Hokie in Peru, Former Naval Aviator, Former FBISA, Forever married to my VT87 girl. Go VT!

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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VTCC '86 Delta Company, Hokie in Peru, Former Naval Aviator, Former FBISA, Forever married to my VT87 girl. Go VT!

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VTCC '86 Delta Company, Hokie in Peru, Former Naval Aviator, Former FBISA, Forever married to my VT87 girl. Go VT!

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Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.