BlogsBourbon Shots: Annette FAIL Edition
by furrer4heisman
on Jul 2, 2009 7:46 PM EDT
3 comments
Annette has been running a series the last week or so on the reasons for hope and causes for concern for each ACC team. Today, she ran her thoughts on our Hokies.
Biggest reason for concern -- Soaring expectations
There's national title talk. There's preseason rankings. There's uber-hype over the Alabama game. There's everything Clemson faced last season before its season unraveled. If Virginia Tech is going to finish the season where it likely will start -- in the preseason top five -- then the players have to breathe deep and take it one quarter at a time. Virginia Tech is the kind of program that tends to be at its best when the chatter is at a minimum. They were under the radar when Michael Vick got there as a freshman, and seem to struggle when ranked high. Last year, though, when the adversity was at a premium, the coaching staff was at its best.
There are a lot of things that have me worried about the upcoming football season. The "soaring expectations" for a team that has won 10 games or more each of the last five seasons with three conference championships isn't one of them.
There are a lot of things that could go terribly, terribly wrong for the Hokies in 2009. For instance:
- We have no depth at quarterback and a QB that tends to get injured.
- We have no depth on either line.
- Our quarterback may or may not be a bad passer.
- Our offensive coordinator doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the fanbase.
- We're replacing a lot of guys on defense, including two linebackers and one of the best cornerbacks we've ever had.
- We open the season with the By God University of Alabama.
And Annette chose "soaring expectations" as the thing that concerns her the most. WTF? That has nothing to do with what happens on the field. Those same expectations weren't even the reason Clemson fell on it's face last year. The Tigers failed because their head coach was a gutless wonder and their offensive line was 10 pounds of terrible in a five-pound bag. Frank Beamer is not a gutless wonder and our offensive line (if it stays healthy, knock on wood) will be decent at worst.
"Soaring expectations" is superfluous bullshit and has nothing to do with what will happen to the Hokies on the field in 2009.
Join us after the jump for a new Hokie commitment, a tribute to America and links.
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Underplayed ACC Football Storylines
by furrer4heisman
on Jul 1, 2009 4:00 PM EDT
1 comment
Last week I gave you the five ACC football storylines I was tired of hearing this offseason. Here are five I think are flying under the radar and deserve more attention. Add your own in the comments.
Virginia Tech's lack of depth on the lines.
One or two key injuries on the offensive or defensive line could seriously derail the Hokies' ACC title aspirations. And it's happened each of the last two year. In 2008, tackle Ed Wang was injured in the preseason and missed the first half of the year. This led to a complete lack of continuity on the offensive and the Hokies' run game struggled until the last few games. Last year, tackle Blake DeChristopher was injured early in Tech's loss to ECU in the opener. His absence led to more struggles in the run game. On defense, the Hokies have a lot of unproven players after their starting four.
The Coastal is now better than the Atlantic.
Last year the talk before the season was how much better the Atlantic Division was than the Coastal. Well, a year later I think that's completely changed. The Atlantic has two teams (FSU and Clemson) that I think have a realistic shot at winning the division. NC State and Wake have questions on defense and Maryland and BC will be bad this year. In the Coastal, you have two favorites in VT and GT and two bad teams in Duke and UVa. The difference is in the middle. Miami and UNC are better than NC State and Wake in my opinion and have a much better shot at contending for a division crown. The Canes and Heels have two very good defenses.
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Bourbon Shots: The Futility of Preseason Predictions Edition
by furrer4heisman
on Jun 30, 2009 5:15 PM EDT
1 comment
The Nate Irving situation reminds us again why trying to preview the upcoming football season in June is a futile enterprise. NC State has been the darlings of many preseason publications because of its strong finish to qualify for a bowl game in 2008.
However, NC State's defensive struggles last year made me skeptical of their chances to win the Atlantic. But that didn't keep Giggity from proclaiming the Pack would win the division and make it to Tampa. Playmakers on defense like Irving and Willie Young make them a sexy pick, but Clemson was a sexy pick last year because of flashy playmakers.
The losses of Irving and BC's Mark Herzlich are a reminder that if you're willing to prognosticate before August, you better be willing to have everything blow up in your face. The losses of Irving and Herzlich are nothing to sneeze at, both in the severity of their situations and what they meant to their team.
Herzlich was going to be the anchor for a defense that lost a lot from 2008 and NC State's defense played much differently with Irving compared to when he was injured. I wouldn't be surprised if BC and NC State finished No. 5 and 6 in the Atlantic this year. That's probably not how I'll pick it come August, but it wouldn't shock me if we're somehow underestimating the losses of those two players.
The same goes for the Hokies. Right now, everyone is picking them to win the Coastal. Some have them pegged as a national title contender. But the margin for error on this team is paper thin. If the Hokies lost guard Sergio Render or cornerback Stephan Virgil, the 2009 season could all go to hell.
One injury can make the difference, especially for a team like Tech with a lot of unproven and sometimes non-existent depth. It's because of this that predictions made before August camp are almost entirely worthless.
Linkage
Hokies
- We'll win because I won't be there. (Blogsburg)
- CGB leaves the cage. (College Game Balls)
- BCO's ultimate ACC road trip begins. (Southern Pigskin)
ACC and Opponents
- We did just fine playing assignment football against GT, thank you very much. (Smart Football)
- Paul Hewitt is a centrist. (The Legacyx4)
- Comparing FSU's infractions to that of others. (Tomahawk Nation)
- NU will wear throwbacks next year, but not against us. (Double Extra Point)
- Signs of hope for EKR. Where has that guy been, anyway? Did Chili and Willy Mac fire him? (Annette)
Stuff Only I Care About
- Amalie Benjamin (who I love and in a hearbeat would give up by hard-drinking, road-tripping bachelor ways for) says Lowell is going to the DL. (Extra Bases)
- And twins! (Kurtenblog)
- The good news is we're keeping OMG! The Kaleta!. But there's plenty of bad news. (Die by the Blade)
- Power 90 for the USA match: Awesome. The result: Not so much. (MGoBlog)
- Click here to be amazed. (The Lost Ogle)
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Remembering '99: Q&A with Bill Roth
by furrer4heisman
on Jun 30, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
0 comments
I'll be doing a series of posts this summer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Virginia Tech's 11-0 regular season and trip to the national championship game. I can think of no better way to kick off this series than a Q&A with Virginia Tech play-by-play man Bill Roth. Roth has been with the Hokies for over two decades and took us through that wild '99 season. Thanks to Roth for being nice enough to do another Q&A for the blog.
GC: What were your expectations for the 1999 team? Did you envision the team could possibly go 11-0?
BR: The Hokies were ranked 13th in the pre-season poll, which was at the time, VT's highest-ever pre-season rank. We knew it could be a special season but Tech had started the 1998 season 5-0 and then lost that game to Temple and thus I don't recall anyone thinking 11-0 back in the pre-season.
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OL Matt Arkema from Midlothian HS committed to Virginia Tech today according to the Roanoke Times. Arkema is the 10th player to commit to Tech for the 2010 class. (HT: Tech Sideline)
4 days ago
furrer4heisman
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Bourbon Shots: Get Well, Nate Irving Edition
by furrer4heisman
on Jun 29, 2009 3:15 PM EDT
2 comments
More scary off-field news involving a beastly ACC linebacker. NC State linebacker Nate Irving, destroyer of running backs and devourer of souls, was involved in a single car accident over the weekend that left him with a broken leg and collapsed lung. Reading the statements from the police in the press, it looks like he fell asleep at the wheel sometime around 4:40 a.m. Sunday morning and ran off the road.
Irving had successful surgery yesterday and is expected to make a full recovery. However, his status for the upcoming season won't be known for a while. Also no word on if Orson will assess Fulmer Cup points for the careless and reckless driving citations.
Irving's accident comes a little over the month after BC linebacker Mark Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma. Herzlich, the league's defensive player of the year in 2008, will miss the 2009 season and now Irving's campaign is in jeopardy. If Irving misses the season, the ACC will sadly be bereft of savage linebackers this year. StateFans Nation doubts we'll see him this fall.
Here's wishing Irving a speedy recovery.
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Join me in welcoming Backing the Pack to SB Nation. It's always good to see a new ACC blog aboard the mothership. You might remember Akula Wolf from his previous posts over at Section Six. He's a great addition to the family.
4 days ago
furrer4heisman
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Overplayed ACC Football Storylines
by furrer4heisman
on Jun 26, 2009 1:00 PM EDT
12 comments
As the football season fast approaches, there are a few stories I'm tired of hearing about when it comes to the ACC.
The ACC doesn't have a national championship contender.
Yeah, well neither does the Big East. And right now I'd say Virginia Tech has just as good a shot at the title as Ohio State, which is the team from the Big Ten everyone is touting. The power the last year and this year has been with the Big 12 and SEC. But everything goes in cycles in the college football. The ACC will field very good teams and possibly title contenders in 2010 and 2011.
There are no good offenses in the ACC.
Last year there were some exceptional offensive players in the conference. The problem was there were some really bad offensive lines in the league. And the one team with an exceptional offensive line, Virginia, didn't have the players to take advantage of it. That's changing. Florida State and Clemson will have good lines this year and the Hokies will have one as well if there are no injuries. Plus, a lot of defensive talent left the league after last season (most of it from Wake Forest). The balance of power is slowly shifting to the offenses in the ACC.
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Hokies Football Schedule
@
Alabama
|
Sat 09/05 | 8:00 PM EDT |
| Marshall | Sat 09/12 | 1:30 PM EDT |
|
Nebraska
|
Sat 09/19 | 3:30 PM EDT |
|
Miami
|
Sat 09/26 | 7:05 PM EDT |
| @ Duke | Sat 10/03 | 7:05 PM EDT |
| Boston College | Sat 10/10 | 7:05 PM EDT |
| @ Georgia Tech | Sat 10/17 | 7:05 PM EDT |
|
North Carolina
|
Thu 10/29 | 7:30 PM EDT |
| @ East Carolina | Thu 11/05 | 7:30 PM EST |
|
@
Maryland
|
Sat 11/14 | 7:05 PM EST |
|
N.C. State
|
Sat 11/21 | 7:05 PM EST |
| @ Virginia | Sat 11/28 | 7:05 PM EST |
Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
(updated 2.23.2009 at 12:07 PM EST)
| Atlantic Division | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Florida St. Seminoles
|
5 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
| Boston College Eagles | 5 | 3 | 9 | 5 |
|
Maryland Terrapins
|
4 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| Clemson Tigers | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
|
N.C. State Wolfpack
|
4 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Coastal Division | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Virginia Tech Hokies
|
5 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 5 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
|
North Carolina Tar Heels
|
4 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
|
Miami Hurricanes
|
4 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Duke Blue Devils | 1 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
