Virginia Tech 19, Boston College 0: What They're Saying

Links and quotes from beat writers and bloggers on Virginia Tech's shutout in Chestnut Hill.

Face the Nation

The Morning After: ACC Week 4 (D1scourse)
"The Hokies are up to their old tricks. Virginia Tech has shrugged off a slow start to the season now that league play is upon them. The Hokies slugged Boston College 19-0, demonstrating some of their traditional defensive toughness while the offense sputtered frequently leading to a barrage of field goals. So, where have we heard this before?"

ACC Power Rankings: Week 5 (Annette)
"(No. 5 Virginia Tech) The Hokies’ offense still looks average at best. The 19-0 win at Boston College was a coming out party for Bud Foster’s defense. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech’s offense struggled in the red zone and had to rely on four field goals. That won’t suffice against Russell Wilson & Co. this weekend."

ACC Football Power Rankings (ACC Sports Journal)
"(No. 5 Virginia Tech) Hokies handed BC its first shutout in a dozen years. (They recorded the last one, too.)"

Week 4 Recap, Things We Learned, and ACColades (ACC Blitz)
"Coming into 2010, it looked as if the Eagles had figured their offensive problems out. Not so fast. RB Montel Harris looked great as usual, but that was it. The Hokie defense shut them down (and out). Hokie fans can’t be happy with the lack of production on offense though. Kicker Chris Hazley was responsible for 12 of their 19 points."

Virginia Tech Beat Writers

Hokies' offense leaves something to be desired (Aaron McFarling)
"In recent years, Tech's offense has improved as the season's gone on. Maybe that spike will occur again -- only bigger. Maybe this time, the Hokies will hit a gear not seen since Michael Vick dashed through defenses at the turn of the century. Maybe hoping for that is like tossing dimes in a wishing well. If it is, the frustrated players will keep chucking as many coins as they can."

Hokies ground Boston College's Eagles (Randy King)
"Don't look now ACC, but Virginia Tech's defense appears to have officially arrived at the party. Looking much like a bunch that wants to rock and roll like past Bud Foster units, the Hokies' defense out-toughed Boston College in the trenches and hung a 19-0 shutout at Alumni Stadium."

Hokies' defense smothering against Eagles (Nathan Warters)
"Whether it was true trash talk or not, the Hokies players heard some chatter last week out of the Eagles’ camp that didn’t quite sit right with them. The perception was BC wasn’t respecting their defense. So they came out with something to prove. They did that and then some in winning their first game on BC’s home field since 2002, breaking a two-game road losing streak to the Eagles."

Hokies D rolls, O sluggish in 19-0 win (Kyle Tucker)
"Beamer, asked what’s been Tech’s problem in the red zone this season, had an interesting response: "On most of those, our first-down play wasn’t very good." Does he mean play-calling? Or just execution of the plays? Or a combination? I don’t know. I do know the offense made it onto BC’s half of the field eight times – including seven trips inside the 40-yard line, five trips inside the Eagles’ 25 – and got one touchdown, four field goals, punted twice and threw an interception."

Margin should have been larger (Darryl Slater)
"Evans is right in that you can’t just use any play from your playbook in the red zone, because of the tight yardage. But the bottom line is, this offense and offensive line were supposed to be better. And red-zone strategy is something Stinespring discussed extensively in the spring with Kevin Rogers, the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterbacks coach, a job he previously held at Tech."

Gouveia-Winslow gets some redemption (Mark Giannotto)
"Linebacker Jeron Gouveia-Winslow, an Ashburn native, got the first interception of his career in the third quarter, a turnover that ultimately forced Eagles Coach Frank Spaziani to bench his quarterback, sophomore Dave Shinskie. It was just one week ago that Gouveia-Winslow, Virginia Tech's starting whip linebacker to begin the season, saw his playing time drop dramatically after a poor performance in the Hokies' shocking upset loss against James Madison. He played just nine defensive snaps in Virginia Tech's 49-27 win over East Carolina."

Virginia Tech Bloggers

Shutout (The Key Play)
"Tyrod was 16/21 for 237 yards, but it felt like he played much worse. He's doing an excellent job of buying more time in the pocket, but then he's squandering his earnings. There were a handful of plays when he had a lane to run, but he was indecisive and he dragged out the play too far, it then ended up in a loss of yards or an incomplete pass."

2-2 (The A-Line)
"Enter current head coach Frank ‘Uncle Leo’ Spaziani. Two beatings later, Spaz has been out-scored by Tech 67-14. With algroh now devoting his special talents to wrecking the Georgia Tech defense instead of the entire Hoo program [How did that vaunted 3-4 work out against Russell Wilson, O Great NFL Legend?], Uncle Leo is quickly establishing himself as Tech’s favorite opponents coach. Tattaglia had more success tangling with Michael than Uncle Leo is experiencing against Frank."

Dissecting the Hokies’ win at Boston College (VT Campus Blog)
"Against Boston College, the Eagles ran the ball with success until they voluntarily went away from the running game as they fell behind by 13 points (in the third quarter). Not to take anything away from Steven Friday’s excellent performance against a future All-Pro offensive tackle, or Bruce Taylor’s continued emergence as a future star at middle linebacker, but the Eagles beat themselves as much as the Hokies did."

Offense Staggers, Defense Excels in Shutout (VT Fan)
"So far, Taylor’s numbers have been fairly impressive. He’s completed 65-percent of his passes while tossing five touchdowns with just two interceptions. But, where Taylor has been less than impressive is when the play breaks down and all receives are covered. Taylor continues to be Tech’s leading rusher but I have a hard time believing that every receiver is covered on just about one-third of Tech’s pass plays."

Hokies Blank BC 19-0 (Tech Sideline)
The Eagles had 211 yards of total offense against Tech in the first half, but finished with just 250 for the game. Tech's defense was dominant, intercepting two passes and recording six total sacks. Steven Friday got the better of the the ACC's best offensive tackle, Anthony Castonzo, recording three tackles for loss, two sacks and twp forced fumbles."

Boston College Bloggers

Have We Seen The Last Of Dave Shinskie? (BC Interruption)
"Jeff: If Shinskie does not play, why not play Rettig? Marscovetra has not been given a start yet, but he has seen plenty of snaps both this season and last and he has done nothing spectacular, nothing even eyebrow raising. To be a great QB, you have to have a certain "it" factor that Shinskie clearly lacks. Marscovetra also lacks it."

Second viewing thoughts and grade report: Virginia Tech (Eagle in Atlanta)
"Spaz had two weeks to prepare for this game and laid an egg. He had two years to find a functional QB and hasn't. He mishandled the QB situation form the start of spring ball and now is paying the price. Now he has a week to get things right."

Quick, unedited postgame reactions (Soaring to Glory)
"Instead, they continued their lackluster performances and ended up getting blanked against the Hokies. It was pathetic, quite frankly. This was one of the biggest home games they were going to play this year, they got a team that's 1-2 and on the ropes, and they folded up like a cheap tent. BC should give refunds to the ticketholders."