First of all let me say, what a game! Yes there were issues with all phases 3 of our team on Saturday, but in the end the players put together a great effort to damn near beat a pretty dang good team. They never gave up, and the stadium was packed.
Now to my topic. I live on a farm in Augusta County, which is a 2 hour drive in good traffic to Blacksburg. While I do have a full time job off of the farm I help as much as I can whenever I can, and in order for my father and I to go to games I help to get things done before we leave. We have sheep, cattle, and two chicken houses on the farm. So, my Saturday went like this:
I got up at 4:00 to feed the sheep. It's lambing season so this takes a while. By about 5:30 the sheep were fed and I met my father at the chicken houses where he walked through one house while I walked the other (they are big right now and it takes about an hour to walk one house). By about 6:30 we were done with the chickens and I headed home for a shower and to change for the game. We met and left for the game around 7:45, hitting the interstate at about 8:00. Things were going good until we ran into a back up around Roanoke, which slowed us down.
We got to our lot around 10:45, had enough time to throw some turkey sausages on the grill (first food I had all day) and head for the game. After the game we stuck around until Bud Foster got up for his interview on the Jumbotron, then we hung around with some friends in the parking lot for a little while. We usually stop in Christiansburg for supper and by the time we got back on 81 it was after 6. We immediately ran into a back up caused by an accident at the 124mm which took us nearly an hour to get by. It was after 9 by the time we got home, I quickly got changed and headed to the chicken houses to help walk through the chickens. We had arranged for someone to feed the sheep while we were gone. I finally got back home after 10 to carry my youngest up to his bed (he had fallen asleep on the couch). By then I was so worn out that it took me over an hour to get to sleep.
And that is why I hate noon kickoffs. I understand that it is actually a good time-frame for TV viewers and all, but it really sucks for trying to attend the games.
As for the game itself, I only really have 2 issues.
1) When we were kicking off after getting within one score, why kick it out of the endzone. When the other team is expecting an onsides kick and has everyone up with a man at the 5, I would love to see a team either squib it hard through the line, or pooch it over the line. Put a live ball on the field and cause a scrum. IMO it would work at least as well as kicking onsides in those situations.
2) Why in overtime did they bring McMillion back into the game when he had been out most of the 4th quarter? We had something that had been working with a certain personnel group, I say keep working that. Other than that it was a great effort, yes there were breakdowns and questionable calls (and some bad reffing), but overall they never quit and never gave up. Great game.
Comments
This might be the most Virginia Tech post ever.
- mention noon kickoffs - check
- mention a farm - check
- mention special teams - check
You sir are awesome.
mcmillion wasn't in during the 4th because we were playing from behind and sam was in for pass protection. the run game was non existent during that period because we pretty much had to throw to win. once OT started you kinda settle down and go back with what worked for much of the game. mcmillion running the rock. I know lots of ppl aren't happy with the OT play calling but I am not one of them. mccmillion was pretty successful running the football all day. im glad we went back to the run game in OT. yeah it didn't work but if we would have came out and chucked 3 incompletions we all would have wondered why mcmillion wasn't in. I was actual not happy about mcmillion sitting the whole 4th and sam getting so many carries, sams a great player gives his all. but he only gets what is there to be taken. he isn't going to make something out of nothing. the same complaint we have about our other RBs the only difference is he does it with so much heart and effort we appreciate it much more.
fwiw I hate noon kickoffs too, lol. get off work Friday at 5, pick up the kid from school run home and grab everything I forgot to pack in the am and then on the road for a 9 hour haul. stopped in charlotte around 1am got about hours of sleep and then on the road at 8 to get into Blacksburg around 10 by the time we set up to tailgate we are taking it back down and headed to the stadium. I want to go out on a limb and say most of the people attending games are not with in a 2 hour drive of the stadium so your really not heading out the door any later than 8am. here in Jacksonville that's what time we get to the tailgate for 1pm kickoffs. maybe that's because the jags are so bad that you need extra time to drink away your sorrows.
My biggest issue with McMillion coming back in was that he had sat the whole 4th quarter (or close to it) and was coming back into the game cold. If he had been in and out and was still warm and loose, then no problem. But our offense was working, mixing in the run and pass, with the personnel group that we had in the game for most of the fourth. Why go away from that when we had the defense on their heels?
am I the only one who giggles a little every time people talk about having UNC on their heels?
Pun was intended. Like when I yelled at the defense to "Kick the TAR out of them".
My biggest issue was that no matter who was in Lefty forgot he was allowed to run between the tackles...
I grew up in Stuarts Draft! Ayyy Augusta County!
Completely agree on your reasoning on noon kickoffs.
I thought the same thing on the kick after our 1st score in the 4th. I was hoping for like a really high short kick so our headhunters could race down the field in hopes of a bobble, etc.
I have a lot of thoughts on the play calling, so I'll just let this be my only statement.
This is the type of post that UVA fans laugh at. It's also the type of post that makes Hokies most proud.
Thank you for keeping farming alive. It's never glamorous work, its rarely even satisfying. You're fighting the wills of weather, animals and markets perpetually. It takes long days, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. But it is the essence of who we are as Americans, and specifically, as Hokies.
Edit: I would have pooched it over the line as well.
Thank you.