Running With The Pack

On Saturday the Virginia Tech Hokies traveled to Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina to take on the twenty-third ranked and undefeated NC State Wolfpack.  It was a match-up of folkloric proportions.

To begin this story, we travel through the briars and thickets of the North Carolina Triangle's backwoods.  We make our way to a raging wolf's den, and it's not just any ole wolf's den.  It's the treacherous den of the Big Bad Wolf.  Inside we find a heroic Fighting Gobbler who has come to slay the sly, villainous Wolf.  The two skirmish, and at first things go in favor of the Wolf (as they do in all fables).  The Wolf thinks he has the Gobbler just where he wants him, but the Gobbler is much too strong and smart for the haired one's trickery.  The wily Gobbler plays dead like a possum, and the Wolf takes the bait.  He strolls leisurely deeper into his cave to prepare his stew-pot for his feathered foe.  The Gobbler sees his chance, and he takes it.  He springs back to life, and he huffs, and puffs, and blows down the house of the Big Bad Wolf.  The fabulous fowl stands victorious on the rubble that was once the wolf's den, and gobbles gleefully.  It was a tiring battle, and it leaves our protagonist hungry like the Wolf.  The scene fades out.  Now we find our heroic Gobbler resting comfortably in his warm burrow located in a cozy Burg of Southwest Virginia.  There's a soft glow from the fireplace mixed with the chalky gleam of a full Fall moon.  No wolves will be howling at this moon tonight though.  The Gobbler chuckles as he rubs his full belly, and rests his feet on a brand new Wolf rug.

Now to the game.  The Hokies started this game just like they did in the opener against Boise State...down by 17 points.  It was an ugly first quarter to say the least.  The Wolfpack looked like the undefeated team that they were, as they scored 14 seemingly easy points in the first quarter.  It was sickening to watch Russell Wilson complete a play-action pass for a touchdown to the running back that he FAKED THE HAND-OFF TO.  I mean really defense? The guy who's supposed to be the decoy not only fakes you out, but then catches the touchdown pass too. That's unacceptable.  The Tech offense struggled out of the gates, as they performed their trademark "3-and-out on the opening drive," on their first possession.  Andre Smith gift-wrapped an interception for NC State that led to their second TD.  The O-line couldn't do anything right.  During the first quarter, the Wolfpack D-line spent more time in the backfield than any of Tech's tailbacks.  I mean we do sub our running-backs in and out a lot, but come on that's ridiculous.  Things looked dismal, but they would get better...better than Mama Bear's porridge.

The Wolfpack started the second quarter off with a field goal to go up 17-0, but at least the defense kept them out of the endzone.  That sparked some much needed confidence, and the team came to life.  It was like the light bulb flickered on for our defense.  They started blitzing and pressuring Russell Wilson.  At first he looked un-phased, but he eventually came unraveled.  Before the game, ESPN announcers Ed Cunningham and Ron Franklin made a bold diagnosis that Russell Wilson was "allergic to interceptions."  All I can say is Wilson must have done a lot of sneezing after this game.  Tech's defense forced him to throw three interceptions, all to the same man...Jayron Hoseley.  Two of those interceptions were critical to the outcome of the game.  The first was when Hoseley picked off Wilson in the endzone, as the Wolfpack were set up at the VT 15 yard-line.  The second was the game-sealer.  NC State had the ball with 1:19 left in the game.  Wilson drops back to pass, the pressure comes at him, he looks long and throws up the cheese...and Hoseley picks him off and runs it all the way down to the NC State 6 yardline.  That drove a silver bullet into the heart of the Wolfpack.

Ed and Ron had it wrong all along.  Wilson isn't allergic to interceptions, he's allergic to Jayron Hoseley.  One final thought from our (possible) final encounter with Wilson.  It's actually a question.  A question I've wondered ever since I've heard of Mr. Wilson.  Is his middle name Spalding? or maybe Starter?  I mean his first and last names represent second-tier athletic companies (Russell, Wilson), so why wouldn't his middle name follow suit?  We definitely know one brand that it couldn't be...Champion.

Back to the Defense.  Ever since Jayron Hoseley's first punt return TD, we knew he was going to be a phenomenal player.  His efforts earned him ACC defensive back of the week.   Aside from Hoseley, another young defender really caught my attention in this game.  That being red-shirt freshman Antone Exum.  Exum came in off the bench at the Free Safety position, and really played well.  He had two horrible pass interference calls on him, but what I liked was that he was looking for the ball on both (bogus) penalties.  He showed great coverage all game long, and finished with a tackle, two assists, and four pass break-ups (tied for game high with Hoseley).  Exum has good size and speed, and most impressively great awareness in the pass coverage.  He looks a lot like the  old number one who used to be so good in the secondary...Victor "Macho" Harris.  I'm not going to compare them too much because Exum has A LOT to prove if he wants to be considered in that comparison.  I do think Exum can end up in the same place as Macho...the pro's, but once again it's really early to be saying that.

Our offense really stepped it up as well.  The O-line improved by leaps and bounds blocks.  Tyrod shunned his early game jitters, and started throwing more confidently.  He finished 12 of 24 for 123 yards, and 3 TD's (with 1 pick).  He really made the difference in this game with his legs.  He had some big runs including a huge 71 yarder that set up Tech's first TD.  I've also got to give a rare shout-out to Bryan Stinespring for his play call that gave the Hokies their first lead in the game.  He lined up offensive tackle Andrew Lanier as a receiver, but as the up-receiver on the line.  This allowed Andre Smith to line up looking like a tackle, while still being an eligible receiver.  Tyrod takes the snap, Smith releases and sneaks into the endzone, then Tyrod hits him for the easy pass-and-catch for six.  It fooled the Wolfpack defense, and surprised me.  Way to go Stiney.  Also, check out our offensive production by quarter.  We climb right up the latter.  Seven points in the second quarter, 14 in the third quarter, and a whopping 20 points in the fourth quarter.  That's what I'm talking about.  Darren Evans was a beast all game long.  He punished the NC State defense.  He was the hammer, they were the nail.  He finished with 2 touchdowns and a 10.7 yard-per-carry average (and no fumbles).  What a bruiser.  His last TD run with 28 seconds to go was icing on the cake.

We also saw the return of Beamerball in this game.  David Wilson's 92 yard kick-off return for a touchdown was the igniting point that woke up our team.  It was the flip of the switch that took our team from OFF to ON.  The decision not to red-shirt him looks better and better every week.  Also, we almost blocked two kicks.  Almost doesn't cut the mustard, but we're getting closer boys.

The Bottom Line is that on Saturday, we saw a Virginia Tech team that we've never seen before.  The Hokies fought back from being down by 17 points to WIN the game.  That's the largest deficit that Tech has overcome to win during the Frank Beamer era.  That's huge.  This team does not quit.  No matter what, they don't quit. We've seen the Hokies battle back from a 17-0 deficit twice this year.  They ultimately lost in the opener, but they won this one...and in Fairy Tale fashion.  Just ask the Big Bad Wolf.