Recent Comments
The scheduling shouldn't matter when you play a team who doesn't even make the FCS tournament that season.
See: Ohio State, Florida State.
All of that is very true, but the inconsistency of this team can't be denied either.
At some point you have to consider the fact that maybe this football team isn't as good as you think they are.
That is true... Still can't deny he was one heckuva college coach, though.
That JMU game was just completely idiotic scheduling. No one schedules a game five days after a huge, highly ranked opponent.
All I'm saying is that every team we've lost to this year (1) is in the FBS, (2) has a winning record, and (3) is bowl-eligible. Our team had a TON of questions coming into this year, was bitten by injuries at unfortunate times, and still was in the thick of the conference championship hunt coming into today (heck, we still are). Before this season, no one knew if we'd even have a winning record. Given the product that has been put together, we're a decent team that has lost to decent teams. This whole thing is getting blown ridiculously out of proportion.
Why thank you. And I understand completely. You are not alone in being frustrated by a fan base that demands excellence and is hesitant to commit enough to make consistent excellence reasonable.
Jimbo was in his first seasons as a head coach, though. You'd think after 27 seasons of being a head coach at the FBS (formally 1-A level) level Frank Beamer would have figured out what it takes to prepare a team to beat teams they're favored over consistently.
And Carroll was cheating his ass off.
First off, the man's got ridiculous resources to work with, both in terms of donor money and talent (and those are related). Next, he's gotten his fair share of breaks along the way. Texas' QB getting hurt in the '10 title game (not to mention blocking a kick to keep Tennessee from pulling the upset that same year. If you've gotta bank on blocking a kick at the right time, you're not gonna win too often), having a couple teams ahead of Bama lose last year, etc. My point is that even Saban can't pull it out every single time without some help.
We shouldn't have to use the "pull a JMU" card, though. Another loss on the coaching staff. It's on the coaches to bring back a team after a tough loss like Boise State, and is led by the head coach.
We played four teams ranked in the top-25 that year, albeit all were in the bottom half. Still, I'd call that schedule harder (in terms of number of top-25 opponents) than what most top-25 teams play nowadays.
And you, my friend, are exactly what is so great about our unique Hokie culture.
My above comment is not a complaint, just an observation.
Not every team can have a Nick Saban or a Pete Carroll. I'm grateful for Beamer, he's still one of the best coaches in the country, and plenty of schools would love to have him.
Dude FSU fans were calling for Jimbo's head for a year or two when they weren't impressive, it wasnt instant success there either, patience man, to do it right it takes a few years. Hell even Nick Saban had a rough first year with bama and he sold his soul!!!
Nick Saban has taken Alabama to the highest level, what, 3 or 4 times? And Pete Carroll took USC there 3 times as well.
The top teams do this all the time. Play one or two strong opponents, crush the weaker ones, and rely on perception to get you to the top (or keep you there).
Well there ya go. Generally, the top 25 is where good teams belong, great teams belong in the top 10 and elite teams belong in the top 5. I think this team has shown enough to let us know they're capable of being a top-25 team, they're just too young and inconsistent in key spots to prove it every single week.
Not to rain on the parade of the 1999 season... That was a wonderful season in which very talented players were coached to win. But, we didn't play the greatest schedule in the world that season. Yes, we murdered almost every team we played, but if we had played a couple more top 25 teams it could have been different. Great team, nonetheless, though.
Beamer already has taken us to the highest level. I realize that was 14 years ago but I find it difficult to day someone can't do something they've already done.
Give this time... Maybe with new coaches on O we get there, maybe we don't... but if we get back to ACCtitles we're winning the right way I'll be happy.
Again... In very grateful that we have Frank
Bama isn't lucky to have we the title as many times as they have recently and prob will again this year. Do you know why? Ill say Saban is illegal recruiting ill give you that. But he still has his team ready to play every single night and gets them ready for big time games. It's not luck. Saban has a cutthroat mentality when it comes to losing and I wish Beamer had the same. Don't get me wrong, I want Beamer to win it because wish do believe he runs the cleanest program in the country and if he does win it I want it to be the right way.
Both teams are bowl-eligible. Should we have won? Maybe. But it's not like we pulled a JMU here.
Okay, perhaps calling Duke unranked is unfair at this point, considering they're 8-2. Losing to BC and UMD is still unacceptable, though.
Nice post man. I agree something is not working and it needs to be fixed. I know stinky held us back for quite sometime but the thing is, it should have never lasted that long. If you ain't cutting the mustard then you need to go. It's simple as that. One thing I think a lot of fans are not looking at is the how much more mediocrity can Foster take? One of these days if something doesn't change we are gonna wake up and see him coaching somewhere else and I don't know about you but I want foster on the Hokies side. You can say what you want but he always has his defense ready to play and they given us a chance in 95% of our games. Maybe we need a lunch pail offense and lunch pail special teams? Maybe if they had the same mentality of our defense we could get some where.