With nothing else to do (football-wise) I reviewed box scores, drive charts, and some play-by-play for the following big games which the Hokies lost:

1/3/2005 - Sugar Bowl vs. #3 Auburn
12/30/2006 - Chick-Fil-A Bowl vs. Georgia
12/30/2006 - Chick-Fil-A Bowl vs. Georgia
9/5/2009 - Chik-Fil-A Kickoff (Atlanta, GA) vs. preseason #5 Alabama
9/6/2010 - All-State Kickoff (Labor Day Monday, Landover, MD) vs. preseason #3 Boise State
1/3/2011 - Orange Bowl vs. #4 Stanford
1/3/2012 - Sugar Bowl vs. Michigan

What I found was there are 4 recurring themes in these losses
* Slow start on either offense, defense, or both - the team needs better preparation apparently*
* Defense not strong enough up the middle - need to recruit larger DTs and maybe MLB as well
* Offense unable to score in the 3rd quarter - need better half-time adjustments
* Offense settles for field goals instead of touch downs - need to go on 4th & 1 or 4th & 2, and may need some effective fake field goal plays.

Do you guys agree? What do you think the Hokies need to change in order to start beating top 10 teams?

(for the complete analysis, check out my blog: ACC Football Rx - What Went Wrong Va Tech?)

PS. This is my first post on Gobbler Country