I asked you if a A Hokie Fantasy Can Come To Life In Columbus? Lo and Behold, it did! Without a doubt, Coach Beamer pined in his aww shucks matter of factness before the game, "...our young players are green, but they are excited to play on a big stage..." Play? Not only did the Fab Freshmen play, but dominated, controlled and created havoc for sixty of the most well played minutes in a national showcase since beating Texas 28-10 in the Sugar Bowl on New Years' Eve twenty years ago. Sure there were some mistakes, like the 10 penalties, and three turnovers (including one gift that directly led to the Buckeyes briefly tying the score at 21 with just under 12 minutes remaining) but what makes this team different is how well they took advantage of the opportunities in front of them.
Led by the grit and determination of a Texas-born and bred football player, Michael Brewer is officially the mailman - he can deliver, especially when the weather looks poor (like when you're looking at 3rd and 17 from inside your own 10). Damn proud of this kid, damn proud! Not only leading by example, but as cool as the other side of the pillow this cat was. Early on, with crowd noise an issue, and plays coming in to the huddle too slowly, Brewer asserted himself to the coaches on the sideline emphatically. The problem was corrected in short order. This game was a total team effort, and a total team victory. I don't remember a team that comes close to where this team is this early in the season to play as well and as disciplined as this team played tonight.
Notably, the Hokies ruined two long-standing Ohio Stadium win streaks. The Buckeyes hadn't lost a home opener since 1978, and they also had a 64 game win streak vs unranked teams in the Horseshoe. It's a stroke of bad luck that VT was the "unranked" team they faced considering that throughout the 64 game streak, the Hokies were likely ranked 90% of those weeks.
Here's My Top 5 Recap on my Fantasy Night:
- The Grand Stage of Ohio Stadium. The stage wasn't too big for the Hokies as the assembled 107,000 masses were kept quiet for the better part of the "60 Minutes of Hell On The Olentangy." From the entrance, the Script O, the traditional Buckeye Battle Cry to the game itself, the 2014 version of VT Football stood tall in the moment, flourished and finished!
- The Noise, Block O and Brutus. Aside from the second series where the legs of J.T. Barrett carried OSU to the end zone and then knotting it up at 21, the Buckeyes had a tough go of it having little to get excited about or even to run around the sidelines to cheer about.
- The Streaks. The home field winning streak of 25 games led by Urban Meyer has come to an end along the bank of the Olentangy and it couldn't have happened to a better guy than Coach Beamer...I'm sure Cheryl and Shelley will still be friends. Though it wasn't technically a top five opponent, the victory should be savored as such. They were a top five team last week, and likely have a shot at finishing the season in the top five when all the games have been played.
- Victory is Sweet. Even though I read enough crap from THE OSU fans about how we didn't have a snowball's chance, victory is sweetest when you don't rub their noses in it. We just go about our business in a lunch pail fashion, enjoy the plane ride home and get ready for ECU next week. We actually have been here before, so we can act as though we are in familiar territory.
- TBDITL. I tip my hat to Dr. Chris Hoch and Lisa Galvin, Associate Band Directors. Aside from the victory itself, was seeing TBDBITL playing Tech Triumph on the field in the Ohio Stadium before Carmen Ohio...class act...pure CLASS!