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Logan's Run.
Yes.
That was epic Logan there. I loved how the sideline got all pumped, too and it gave me goose bumps. He was (and has been) our offense and leader and I wish him well at the next level. I just want to give him a bro hug for all that he's endured during his time here and I thank him for it. What a true warrior on the field.
This question has been on my mind for a few years, too. I think it comes down to a few things, and I think the magnitude of their effect is in this order:
1) Hokie fans travel well. "Wait, what?," you say? "This is a reason we don't play well in bowls?" Yup, and here's why: VT fans travel, therefore we are an attractive bowl team to select, therefore we get a 'higher' bowl game, therefore we get a better opponent. So I think the fact that we are an attractive team for a bowl to select due to our fan following and coach gets us a better bowl than we sometimes deserve and we end up playing a team that is probably a step above us. I think this happens on a fairly regular basis. That brand recognition will really get after ya.
2) We tend not to win big games. There must be something going on here, because, as we always hear, we have a very poor record against very good teams. "Wait," you might say, "but everyone has a bad record against good teams." You're right, but most teams that have been as good as us also generally have a few wins against equal or higher caliber teams, or at least a few more than we do. Arizona beats more good teams than we do.
3) I gotta think at this point that we treat the bowl like a holiday/vacation. I know Beamer has said that he has tried to turn bowl games into a business trip, but I still feel like it's a bit of time off for everyone. I have no evidence to support this statement, just gut feel. Can't blame them, though, I wouldn't want to spend my xmas break between semesters on business if I were still in college.
Those are my thoughts.
Usually, I don't upvote profanity or all caps or attacks on one guy in particular. However, that Zumwalt guy can go find a lovely hole in the ground and fuck himself. High hits, leading with the crown of his helmet, dirty player.
I'm committed to Ford after only seeing a highlight video. Let's Hackenburg the hell outta this thing. The rest I can't really disagree with. I have been too busy to think of Hokie stuff since decadeofdominance.
AND FUCK THAT ZUMWALT GUY!!!!!
Always great to see CBS and ESPN vie for the annual 'Best SEC Suck-Up' award!
It may have been a bit of both, but I think the injuries we suffered in this game were most of that. I think if Clein and Logan hadn't gone down hurt, the whole game would have been very different. UCLA didn't come out in the second half like Stanford did a few years back in the OB and find a weakness and exploit it as much as we let it slide away with two picks resulting in two TDs (much like we had a few plays break open the score against Alabama).
Hundley had most of his success in the first half when plays broke down and he had to scramble (much like CJ Brown at MD did against us). The long TD pass for the last score was the only one that frustrated me a little, because we had played pretty well up until that one. The score was already out of reach, but, like I said, it wasn't because we just got flat out outsmarted like Stanford did to us. Once the air went out of the balloon (with about 11 left in the game), it was just a formality. We didn't have the fight after that.
To add to what some others said above, I didn't like the way their linebacker played, either. I thought most of his hits were pretty high. Tough kid, looked like he wanted to prove it. Otherwise, I wasn't entirely impressed with any of their stud kids in this game, Myles Jack (who I've seen before and was very impressive in other games) or Barr (who I didn't really notice this game, except for when he was being blocked by Sam Rogers).
Oh, and Sam Rogers's brother is now a folk hero for us, too.
Oh, and Verne, Chris MANGUS. I love you, guy, but you and Danielson were a disaster tonight.
Yay! Never too early to start thinking about next year.
I wouldn't be surprised to see much more shakeup on the offensive line and to see a new face or two at WR.
It comes down to an overall team loss. No one helped the team at all including the coaches.
Leal looked as expected. And played as you'd expect a 2nd string to play.
The defense was the weakest link, and bud proved that his defensive scheme is suspect against a scrambling qb, even with prep time.
The rb's were meaningless and the the o line was no better than the first game of the season.
Overall I'm not impressed with these coaches. They still don't use players to their strengths and never know how to put them in positive positions.
Oh well next year will be interesting to say the least. I don't think we have the fire power to match up with any decent ranked team.
Cheers to a new year
Ok, lets take some positives out of the game shall we and especially from the younger guys? Mangus looks good and needs more touches next season. He ran hard, fast, and aggressive. Carlis Parker ran good on the jet sweeps and showed a lot of speed. To bad for the Kline injury, but he made a great play on the pass over the middle almost for a score. Kendall and BFace continue to impress, but had some mishaps today but that was acceptable and they will be beasts next year at their respective positions.
I think some of it has to do with how we prepare for bowl games. The execution and fundamentals dropped off, even from players who normally execute at a higher level during the regular season.
We tend to recruit talent at around 30th in the nation on average. It should be noted that these are both offensive and defensive players, but I refuse to believe that we are recruiting worse offensive players than a UTEP or New Mexico. We may very well be recruiting an 80th ranked offense, but certainly not a 118th ranked offense. So, I too am puzzled by just how bad the offense's output is.
Im definitely looking forward to the offensive talent we have coming in.
That great run of his brought back memories of 2011. Even with the Sugar Bowl loss I felt his best years were ahead of him, that we really had a special talent at QB. I will never understand why things didn't turn out better for him, and I will always feel for him. Despite this, he never quit and he continued to lead the offense through two tough seasons. I hope he makes it at the next level.
Sir, you just won the most backhanded compliment of the day award.
Look at the injury report. 2 All-American CBs, starting TE (probably our best offensive player), starting RB, backup TE, starting QB (2 picks that result in touchdowns = good way to get blown out). We were at a talent disadvantage going in. Throw in injuries and poor tackling, top the whole thing with a couple turnovers, and you've got a blowout.
Couldn't agree more.
We do struggle against dual threats for sure. And Ucla is a very talented football program. It just seems like every big bowl game we are getting destroyed. Ill be honest I didn't expect to win today regardless, but I also wasn't expecting a blowout. Just made me wonder why
If you look at Rivals data the past five years for UCLA, you can see they've recruited a lot better than we have. Their coach is young and aggressive. They were far better prepared, but they had the talent edge going in. Think about how many Bruins you saw on both sides of the ball who were better than our best.
"We" can't find "the root of the problem and fix it." All we can do is hope that the coaching changes we've made will improve recruiting and performance.
That's what happens when you play good teams. They have a good chance to beat you. This year was a perfect storm of injuries, lack of talent, turnover and a very talented opposing QB perfectly equipped to beat Foster. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way. Deal with it, learn from it, move on. Beamer's the guy to lead the program for the foreseeable future.
Let's not forget Cline either.
He showed us today that he can be a great NFL TE. I really hope a team gives him a chance.
TechHokie13 has it right. Toughness is certainly not lacking in the VT locker room.
I guess this assumes Maddy declares for the draft as well.