Andrew Shurtleff - AP

View full size photo »

Brendan from the Wahoo blog From Old Virginia is the only Hoo I can tolerate, so I was pretty fortunate that he agreed to exchange Q&As for this week's game. Enjoy as he brings a little culture to this humble blog and be sure to check out my answers to his questions at his blog.

GC: You're a Michigan and Virginia fan. Has this been an incredibly depressing year or are you a masochist who has been feeding off the pain?

FOV: It's been an incredibly depressing two years. You forget: I'm also a Lions fan. There is one consolation: We haven't lost to Maryland or UNC these past two years. On the whole, though, the new decade will be most welcome.

GC: How many different players are going to take snaps from center on Saturday?

FOV: I don't know, but, the more the merrier. It's desperation time and I expect Groh to empty the bag of tricks and throw the kitchen sink at the VT defense. Simpson and/or Hall in the wildcat, maybe a Riko Smalls sighting, maybe even Nate Collins on the goal line. Who knows? It should be a lot of fun to watch though.

GC: You guys do have a pretty good defense, what will they need to do to keep the Hoos in this game?

FOV: I'm going to go with the blindingly obvious and say, shut down Ryan Williams. There's almost a near-perfect correlation between his rushing yardage and your record. The rule of thumb is: 101+ yards for Williams = VT win, and fewer than that = VT loss. (Duke being the only exception, and that's because of their piss-poor pass defense.)

The other thing is, the defense has to come up with a touchdown of their own, or at least put the offense in easy position to do it themselves.

GC: I'm making grilled salmon with mango salsa for girlfriend4heisman and need a good wine pairing. What do you suggest?

FOV: Ah, I see you have decided to take the evolutionary step out of the crawling-on-all-fours darkness out of the hills of Blacksburg. Capital. When partaking in the common folk activity they call "tailgating", I find grilled salmon as prepared by my chef to be a splendid meal selection. I recommend a fine Pinot Grigio, as its full-bodied flavor will nicely balance the lightness of the salmon. Of course, salmon makes for an excellent combination with wine, as the dark pink hue allows for the truly bold and daring to partake of a dry red wine such as.........ah fuck it. Zima goes with everything, man. Of course, you'll have to go to Japan to get it these days, but your girlfriend will thank you later, for finally introducing her to some real culture.