Cheese To Go With That Wine

In Spanish the word uva means grape, and it's very appropriate because every year Virginia Tech crushes UVA as if they were grapes.  Wine anyone?

On Saturday, the thirteenth-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies pummeled the Virginia Cavaliers by a final score of 37 to 7 in Blacksburg.

With the win, Tech caps off a season turn-around of epic proportions.  After starting 0 and 2 the Hokies finished the regular season undefeated, as they won 10 straight games to clinch the Coastal Division title of the ACC.  This marks the first time since 2000 that an ACC team has gone undefeated in conference play in the regular season, and the very first time since the league expanded to 12 teams.  Tech now owns the NCAA record for most consecutive 10-win seasons with this season being their seventh.

From a Commonwealth perspective the win marks the Hokies' seventh consecutive win over UVA, and extends the Commonwealth Cup's stay in Blacksburg for another year.  Tech has now held continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup for 2,193 straight days.

The traditional rivalry game against the Wahoos has now turned into a traditional win for the Hokies, and that's just fine with me.  It's so nice not having to worry about my team losing to its arch-rival.  I can't even remember what it feels like to lose to the French, and I would probably go in shock if we lost to them any time in the near future.  I don't think we've got anything to worry about for a good while.  The Hoos have a new coach, but he uses the same approach.  Before the game every year, Virginia replaces their players' names on the back of their jerseys with "Kick Me," and Tech follows the directions.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Hokies commenced the annual kicking.  Scrutinized Virginia quarterback Mark Verica gave the French faithful a reason to throw tomatoes at him.  On a 2nd and 17 from the UVA 8 yardline, Verica completed a pass to Eddie Whitley...who of course plays for the Hokies.  One play later Ryan Williams was in the endzone, and the rout was on. Sacre Bleu!

Tech's three-headed monster rushing attack showed its full potential, as the trio ran amok on the Virginia "Laissez-faire" defense.  Laissez-faire translated from French means "let do," and Williams, Evans, and Wilson did exactly what they wanted to do on Saturday...run and score.

The three backs combined for 177 yards and 5 touchdowns on the day.

David Wilson led the attack, as he racked up 83 yards and a touchdown off of 13 carries.  Wilson also caught a screen pass and took it 20 yards to the house to put the Hokies up 14 to zip.  His maroon #4 jersey in the endzone looks a million times better than a redshirt on the sideline would.

Darren Evans bullied the Cavalier defenders all day long.  On one play Evans treaded over a defender like it was roadkill.  Talk about getting thrown under the bus.  Evans finished the game with 70 yards and a touchdown off of 13 carries.

Ryan Williams started Tech's scorefest, and he finished with the most rushing touchdowns with 2.  His second touchdown was truly Predator worthy.  He took the handoff, ravaged through the defense, and reached the ball over the goal line with about 5 UVA defenders hanging off of him.  He finished the day with 24 yards and the 2 TDs off of 7 carries.

Senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor went out in style on Senior Day.  He went 13 for 23 passing for 176 yards and a touchdown.  On the ground he matched Ryan Williams with 24 yards on seven carries, just minus the two touchdowns.  He left Worsham Field with more records than any other quarterback in Tech history.  He holds the records for the most career passing yards, career rushing yards, career rushing touchdowns, and career total offense by a quarterback.  He also holds the records for most wins by a quarterback with 33.  Today Tyrod was named the first team All-ACC quarterback selection.  He certainly deserves it.

Bud Foster's defense pitched a shut-out up until there was just three minutes left in the ballgame.  Of course by then the game was all but over, and second and third-stringers were cutting their teeth on the Frenchmen.  The defense gave up 291 yards, but held the Hoos to just 70 yards rushing and the one late touchdown.  The Tech D sacked Mark Verica 4 times, and forced the game's only turnover (Verica's interception to Whitley).  Bud Foster's crew defended the Lane against our arch-rivals, and inched closer to Lunch Pail status.  We'll see if they can make it official in the ACC Championship and the bowl game.

Once again it was another impressive win against UVA.  It was like deja vu, and for a good reason.  We've done it seven times in a row, but it never gets old.  I love seeing the Tech players hoist the Commonwealth Cup high in the air.  This year the Seniors actually filled the Cup with water and drank from it.  What a way to go out.

A final farewell goes out to the Frenchmen, or should I say Au Revoir.    

Who Are U?

On Saturday the fourteenth-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies calmed the twenty-fourth ranked Miami Hurricanes by a final score of 31 to 17 in Miami.

It was truly a game of Jekyll and Hyde, with both teams taking the role of Hyde...at least when it came to uniforms.

When I first saw the two teams, I didn't recognize either one of them.  Each team came out disguised in uniforms that were different than their usual uniforms.

The Hokies broke out the tainted all-white uni's from this year's devastating "White Out" game.  Tech added a band-aid to the uniform to patch up the scars from that unthinkable loss, as they plastered a stripe on the center of the helmet.  The stripe featured an orange stripe surrounded by two maroon stripes, which perfectly matched the stripes on Tech's white jerseys.  The stripe was cut off a few inches short of the back of the helmet, and the two maroon stripes were tailored with diagonal cuts that faced each other like so \__/ giving it a "techy" look.  I liked it a lot.  It was a good look for the Hokies.  Also added to the helmet was an orange crown with a white number 9 placed in the center of it. (My only guess for the reasons behind the crowns is that this win would mark Tech's ninth straight win, and give the Hokies the ACC Coastal crown.  That's the best guess I can give you.)

The Hurricanes donned a uniform that they've never unleashed before.  They came out in orange jerseys with matching orange pants.  Both featured dark green accents, and dark green socks.  The Canes also broke out some new helmets...helmets that they should have left in the equipment room.  They were all green with no stripes, with a matching green facemask, and the iconic "U" logo on the sides.  It was yUck.  Now green is my favorite color, but this wasn't just any color green...it was much uglier.  It was pond scum green, or maybe old slimy alligator green.  It didn't match their jerseys, and it sure didn't look good.  You know it must have been pretty gross for a green lover like myself to dislike it so much.

Miami is definitely not the the team that they used to be.  They're not the same caliber team that put "The U" on the map, so I can understand them cloaking themselves in unidentifiable clothing.  They didn't look like the "U," and they certainly didn't play like the "U."

The Hokies, on the other hand, were their same old selves.  The same old Hokies who had won 10 of the last 15 versus Miami.  The same old Hokies who destroyed the tenth-ranked Hurricanes in a monsoon in Blacksburg last year.  The same old Hokies who just won their ninth-straight ballgame.

Tech started out this game with their usual tactic, which entails letting the other team score first and then acting offensively challenged on the first possession.  The Hokies and Canes went tic for tac with each other for three quarters.  The box score read 7-3-7 for both teams after the third quarter (meaning each team had 17 points).  This is when Tech became their same old selves.

Ryan Williams busted the game wide open on his first carry of the fourth quarter, which was also Tech's first offensive play of the fourth quarter.  He took the hand-off and exploded up the middle of the field for an 84-yard touchdown run, obliterating everything in his path.  The traditionally speedy Miami defense got left in the dust by the Predator.

Not to be outdone by Mr. Williams, the Tech defense held as strong as iron.  They forced three interceptions from Miami's second-stringer Stephen Morris, who was filling in for the injured Jacory Harris.  Jayron Hoseley lapped up the first pick of the quarter at the Tech 43, and returned it 23 yards to the Miami 25 yardline.  It was Hoseley's eighth pick of the season, and he leads the nation in interceptions.  Davon Morgan halted the Cane's best chance to score in the quarter, as he intercepted Morris at the Tech 19 yardline.  Tariq Edwards recorded his first career interception, as he scooped the final pick of the game from Morris to seal the deal.

Ryan Williams is back.  Just ask the Miami defense, who got a good look at his back during this game.  He looked 100% healthy to me.  The strength, speed, and power are all back to Predator status.  He led the Hokies in rushing, as he racked up 142 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 carries.  That includes the 84-yard bottle rocket that he set off in the Canes' faces in the fourth quarter.

Tyrod Taylor once again had a solid game as the Hokies' field general.  He finished the game 7 of 14 for 94 yards and a touchdown, and added another score on the ground.  Tyrod was uncharacteristically sacked 5 times though, but I don't blame him for that.  That's on the O-line.  At least he didn't turn the ball over.

Danny Coale went from being the sneaky receiver who catches a pass every now and then to being the sneaky receiver who led the team in receiving.  To put it briefly, you could just say that our passing attack was Coale powered on Saturday.  He finished with 83 yards and a touchdown off of 4 catches.  His touchdown was a thrilling 43-yarder.  He was running his traditional route across the middle of the field, and being the sneaky guy that he is he got wide open...as usual.  He made the catch, turned upfield, and took it all the way to the house.  He left the Canes' defense scratching their heads, and wondering "who was that?"

Once again the Hokies defeat the Hurricanes, and once again they score 31 points en route.  This marked the third time in the series that Tech had scored 31 points in wins against the Canes.  The Hokies defeated Miami by final scores of 31-7 both in 2009 (last year) and in 2003.

With the win,  Tech clinches the Coastal Division title of the ACC and can pack their bags for Charlotte for the conference championship.  The Hokies have rattled off 9 straight wins after starting with a dismal 0 and 2 record.  Tech will have a chance to win their 10th game for the seventh consecutive season, as they take on arch-rival Virginia in the Battle for the Commonwealth Cup on Saturday.  The Hokies have won 10 of the last 11 match-ups against the Wahoos, including the last 6 in a row.  As Tech Sideline points out, today marks day 2,187 of Tech's continuous possession of the Commonwealth cup.  It'll be 2,191 by Saturday.  Take that Frenchmen.

InVickable

On Monday night, Philadelphia Eagles' starting quarterback Michael Vick had the best game of his career, and possibly the best single-game performance that the NFL has ever seen.

The Eagles took on NFC East rivals the Washing Redskins in a Monday Night Football showdown, which matched Vick up against the man who basically recruited him back into football, Donovan McNabb.

McNabb, who was ousted by Philly and replaced by Kevin Kolb and ultimately Michael Vick, got revenge on his former franchise in the two teams first meeting in October.  But on Monday night McNabb just had a ticket to the Michael Vick show like everyone else in attendance.

Vick was unstoppable, incredible, and though it might sound a bit cliche...Invinceable.

You could tell he was going to have a stellar game from the start.  How you may ask?  Well it could have been the glimmer in his visor that gave it away, or perhaps it was the 88-yard touchdown pass to Desean Jackson on the first play from scrimmage.  You be the judge.

Vick led the Eagles to touchdowns on every one of their possessions in the first quarter.  That's right I said the first quarter.  No one could believe what they were watching.  It was 28-0 Philadelphia in the first quarter.  But hey, teams have had some pretty phenomenal quarters before right?  Maybe it was just luck?  Nope.

First play in the second quarter Vick drops back to pass, looks right, and fires a bomb to Jeremy Maclin.  It's a 48-yard touchdown pass.  The Eagles are now up 35-0 with 3 quarters left to be played.  That's right Vick gets almost 3 more full quarters to pad his stats.

He finished the game with unthinkable statistics.  He completed 20 of 28 passes for 333 yards, 4 touchdowns, and no interceptions.  That's a passer rating of 150.7, can you say MVP?  It's hard to believe Vick put up those numbers passing isn't it?  He's supposed to be known for his running.  Well he did some of that too.  He racked up 80 yards on 8 carries, and added 2 more touchdowns on the ground. That's 6 touchdowns total in the game.  That's ridiculous...ridiculously awesome.  The kind of awesome that sets and breaks records.

With the performance, Vick became the first player in NFL history to have 300 plus passing yards, 50 plus rushing yards, 4 passing TD's, and 2 rushing TD's in a single game.  He also surpassed Steve Young (who just happened to be commentating this game) for second place on the All-time Quarterback Rushing Yards list.  He now trails only Randall Cunningham, who was considered the first "Ultimate Weapon" quarterback, and who ironically enough also played for the Philadelphia Eagles.  We definitely know who the "Ultimate Weapon" is now.

The NFL Hall of Fame requested Vick's jersey from him after the game, which will be put on display in Canton.  Talk about foreshadowing.  If Vick keeps up this level of play, he'll certainly join his jersey in the Hall one day.  He's got plenty of time left before that though, with plenty of records to break (along with defenders' ankles).

One things for sure though, it'll be hard for him to surpass the night he had against the Redskins. Then again, he is Michael Vick.  He makes the impossible possible.

Above The Tar Heel State

On Saturday the sixteenth-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies stumped the North Carolina Tar Heels by a final score of 26 to 10 in Chapel Hill.

Virginia Tech is above the Tar Heel State in a geographic sense, and more importantly in a football sense.

With the win, the Hokies have now defeated all five FBS schools from the Tar Heel State this season.  East Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, and most recently North Carolina have all fallen victim to the Hokies.  You can honestly say that Tech has single-handedly whipped the state of North Carolina, and in just one season.

The Hokies' success against the Tar Heel State reaches far beyond just this season though.  Since joining the ACC in 2004, Tech is 22 and 3 against the Division 1 schools from North Carolina.  The three losses came in 2004 at home against NC State, in 2008 in Charlotte against East Carolina, and last year (2009) at home against North Carolina. Wake Forest and Duke have yet to beat the Hokies, while the other three teams have failed to defend their own stadiums against Tech.  That's right the Hokies have won every away game in the state of North Carolina since 2004, including the one on Saturday against UNC.

The first half of this game looked almost as bad as last year's lackadaisical 20-17 loss at home to the Tar Heels.  The most exciting thing that happened in that game was when Tech students launched paper airplanes from the stands onto Worsham Field.  The most exciting thing about Saturday's game was the second half...at least for the Hokies.

North Carolina carried a 10-9 lead into halftime, as the fans took a nap.  The Tar Heels scored the only touchdown of the first half on the first drive of the game.  The rest of the half was a soccer match between Tech's Chris Hazley and UNC's Casey Barth, which Hazley won by a count of 3 to 1.

I don't know what Frank Beamer said at halftime, but it woke the Hokies up.  In the second half Tech's offense put up 17 unanswered points, as Bud Foster's defense pitched a shut-out.

Tyrod Taylor and T.J. Yates entered the game in a battle for the ACC's best passing efficiency.  Without a doubt, Tyrod won that battle.  Taylor went 13 of 28 for 249 yards, and two touchdowns, while Yates finished 18 of 33 for 197 yards, and 4 interceptions.  So at the end of the day, Tyrod Taylor > T.J. Yates.   There's just no contest.  Unless it's a Tony Romo look alike contest, then Yates has the advantage.

Tech's defense may have helped out Tyrod a little bit in that battle.  They sacked Yates 4 times, while forcing him to throw 4 picks to the Tech secondary.  Jayron Hoseley racked up 2 of those picks.  Both of his interceptions were dangerous deep balls that would have set the Tar Heels up for scores.  On the second pick Hoseley looked like the receiver on the play.  He's got 8 interceptions on the season, maybe we should try him out on offense?

Eddie Whitley had the best face-guarding interception that I have ever seen, and in the endzone no less. I mean I really really hate face-guarding, but Whitley made me hate it a little less for a moment with that pick.  He mirrored the receiver, saw where his hands were set up, and grabbed the ball away from him when it got there.  It was textbook face-guarding.  It was an incredible catch.  It was nerve-racking.  Next time do me a big favor and turn around Mr. Whitley, unless you can do that every time.  Then you can face-guard all you want.

Davon Morgan had the other interception of the day, as he picked it off at the 12 and ran it back to the 37 yard-line.  Morgan has a nice collection of interceptions on the season.  He's broken quarterbacks' hearts...and arms...literally.

Tech's defense also racked up some huge stops on the day.  The biggest stop of the day came in the last quarter of the game on the Hokies' last yard of defense.  It was first and goal North Carolina from the VT one yard-line.  UNC tailback Anthony Elzy takes the hand-off and dives for the endzone.  Jeron Gouveia-Winslow has a big name, and he makes a big play.  He smashes into Elzy and dis-lodges the ball.  That slippery pigskin eludes multiple Tech defenders, and squirts out of the endzone.  It doesn't matter though, it's a touchback for the Hokies!  First down...Hokies! (in Lane Stadium announcer voice)

With Dyrell Roberts injured, Marcus Davis got the chance to start and he had a career day.  He really stepped it up for the receiving corps.  Davis was instrumental in Tech's offensive production, and the win.  He was on the receiving end of both of Tech's touchdowns.  Davis also led Tech in receiving with 4 catches for 81 yards.  It's good to see that we have another solid receiver that we can count on and go to when our other receivers are having a bad day.

Speaking of receivers having a bad day,  how about Jarrett Boykin?  Boykin is usually Tech's go to guy, but in this game it seemed like every ball that went to him went to the ground.  He dropped three catchable passes from Tyrod, and each one would have given the Hokies a first down.  Boykin did somewhat redeem himself with a long 43-yard catch, and he did gain more yards than any other Tech receiver with 85.  Everyone has a bad day, and I guess Boykin's really wasn't that bad.  It was just unexpected.  Luckily Marcus Davis had an unexpectedly good day to make up for it.

The David Wilson-less rushing duo of Ryan Williams and Darren Evans carried the load for Tech.  Their stats were almost identical.  Evans hammered away at the Tar Heel defense, forcing 5 UNC defenders to take him down on one play.  He finished with 90 yards off of 14 carries with his longest run being 33 yards.  A solid performance.  Almost equally solid was Ryan Williams.  He rushed 15 times for 83 yards with his longest run being 31 yards.  Talk about a balanced rushing attack.

From a Beamerball perspective, things couldn't have been much better (well maybe with a blocked kick).   Senior kicker Chris Hazley made all 4 of his field goal attempts, including a career long 52-yarder.  He also converted on kicks from 38, 26, and 23 yards out.  Punter Brian Saunders averaged 44.6 yards off of 5 punts.  His longest was a 65 yard boomer.  And to top things off.  The punt team recovered a fumble from UNC's punt returner.  The returner signaled for the fair catch, he muffed it, and the ball bounced right to a Tech gunner.  It was one of those trademark Beamerball plays.  We'll see that on a highlight video one day.

The Hokies won this game fair and square, but at one point it looked like the officials tried to slow things up.  The referees called a pretty fair game, as they flagged 8 penalties on UNC and 9 penalties on Tech.  On paper it looks fair, but on tape it looked bizarre.  A colleague of mine, a certain Mr. Whitesell, alerted me to the strangeness of three of Tech's penalties.  Between the two of us we had never seen any of these calls before, or at least not in the context in which we saw them called on Saturday.  The first was an illegal fair catch signal by Jayron Hoseley.  I've seen plenty of times when a guy called for a fair catch and then tried to run, but Hoseley just called for the fair catch and caught it.  The refs said his signal just wasn't good enough.  The second was offensive encroachment on tight end Andre Smith.  Offensive Encroachment?  I thought encroachment was only for the defense.  I've seen an overabundance of false starts and a fair share of lining up in the neutral zone calls, but never an offensive encroachment.  The third was a sideline interference call on Frank Beamer.  The refs said he was on the field, and hence interfering with the play.  Beamer may have barely been on the field, but he was over 20 yards away from where the play was taking place.  It was a ridiculous call.  It forced a patented "Who Farted?" look from Beamer, and it was much deserved.

But not even bogus calls could stop Virginia Tech's magical momentum.  The Hokies have now won their eighth-straight game, and are undefeated in conference play with a 6 and 0 record.  Tech only needs to win one of their last two games to win the Coastal Division, and punch their ticket to Charlotte for the ACC Championship.  I expect them to win both, and the ACC Championship.    

Battle Of The Techs

Last Thursday, the twentieth-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies stung the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by a final score of 28-21 in Lane Stadium.

In my opinion, "The Battle Of The Techs" has become the Hokies' biggest rivalry game.  Unlike VPI's traditional rivalry with UVA, the Va. Tech/Ga. Tech match-up is always competitive...and it actually means something. When the Gobblers take on the Ramblin' Wreck, it's a war.  It's a war that determines not only who the best "Tech" is, but also who's the best team in the Coastal Division.   Since the inception of the ACC Championship Game in 2005, the winner of the annual VT/GT match-up has gone on to represent the Coastal Division in the conference title game.  The Hokies defeated the Jackets in 2005, 2007, and 2008 to advance to the ACC Championship in each of those years.  Georgia Tech won in 2006 and last year (2009) to head to the conference title game.  With the way things are shaping up, this year will be no different.

With the latest win over the Jackets, the Hokies gain a commanding two-game lead in the Coastal Division and control the road to Charlotte.  Va Tech also picks up their seventh straight win, and garner the best record in the ACC at 5 and 0.  Now to the game...

We've seen some amazing games between the two Techs since the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004.  Whether it be Bryan Randall leading the Hokies to a comeback win in 04, or Calvin Johnson putting on a wide receiver clinic to give the Jackets a win in 06...they've all been exciting.  This year's game followed suit.

Georgia Tech jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead thanks to quarterback Josh Nesbitt.  Nesbitt, who scored 3 TD's in last year's 28-23 GT win, looked to be on pace to dominate the Tech defense again.  Things looked dismal.  It appeared that Bud Foster had yet again failed to figure out a way to stop the Jackets' triple-option attack.  The Hokies' offense was halted and forced to punt on their first possession, but no one gave up.

On the Hokies' second possession Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Williams led the offense downfield on a 77-yard scoring drive.  Williams capped off the drive with a 4-yard TD run, and Tech was back in business.  Bud figured out how to slow up the GT rushing attack, and forced a 3-and-out.  Tyrod paired up with David Wilson this time to march down the field.  The Hokie offense made it all the way down to the GT 8 yardline.  On third down Tyrod drops back to pass.  The Jackets only rush three, he has all day to throw, eleven seconds to be exact.  It's like a backyard football game, he just has to wait for someone to get open.  He finds his target, fires it into the endzone, and it's...picked off by the Jackets.  Talk about a Buzzkill.

Bud's defense comes back out and stimey's Ga Tech.  It's another 3-and-out.  The Jackets punt it away to  the always dangerous Jayron Hoseley, but it turned out to just be dangerous for the Hokies.  Hoseley fumbles it away to the Jackets, and in VT territory no less.  The Ramblin' Wreck is set up at the Tech 47, and ready to drive up the score.  Second play of the drive, GT tailback Anthony Allen breaks off a huge 33-yard run.  The Jackets have a first and goal from the VT 10 yardline.  Tech's defense holds on first and second down.  It brings up a crucial third down for both teams.  Then the Hokies get their biggest break of the game.

Nesbitt drops back to pass, he rolls left, he fires to the front corner of the endzone, and he's...picked off by Davon Morgan.  Morgan flies out of the endzone and down the sideline.  Nesbitt tries to make the tackle, Morgan jukes him and runs through Nesbitt's arm before he's tackled.  Nesbitt's still down.  The impact of the blow broke his right forearm.  He's out.  It's a huge break for the Hokies, and an unfortunate one for the Jackets.  The first half expires.  Georgia Tech takes a 14-7 lead into halftime, but the damage is done.

A stalemate ensues in the third quarter.  The GT offense clearly misses their starting playcaller, while the VT offense is smothered by the "straight-Jacket" defense.  The Hokies finally find a rythm, as David Wilson jets for a 15-yard score to tie the game.  Bud stumps Paul Johnson's offense again for another 3-and-out, and the Tech offense comes to life.  Darren Evans bruises his way down the field.  Evans carries the ball five consecutive times, and drives the Hokies all the way down to the GT one yardline.  On third and goal Tyrod fakes the handoff and hits tight end Andre Smith for the score.  It's 21-14, and Tech takes their first lead of the game with around six and a half minutes in the ballgame.

The Jackets won't go away quietly though.  They ramble all the way down the field, and Orwin Smith scrambles 9 yards for a touchdown.  The game is all tied up at 21 with just two and a half minutes remaining.  The Tech offense will have a chance to put this one away...or will they?

Georgia Tech kicks off, but it's a short kick.  David Wilson grabs it at the ten, and proceeds to do what he does best...run fast.  He flies past the Yellow Jackets' special teamers, and cuts it up the sideline all the way to the house.  It's a 90 yard kickoff return touchdown to put the Hokies back up immediately.  It's 28-21 Va Tech.

That should do it right? Case closed? Nope, not quite yet.  The pesky Yellow Jackets keep buzzing around.  Georgia Tech magically finds a passing attack through back-up QB Tevin Washington.  Since it is Georgia Tech, the passing attack was just one pass but it was a big one.  Washington dials in a 38 yard pass to Kevin Cone to bring the Jackets down to the VT 37.  The clock is just ticking away.  Paul Johnson haphazardly sandbags all three of his timeouts, as the clock goes down under a minute.  Washington rushes down to the Tech 16 yardline.  Fourteen seconds left.  Timeout GT.  The Jackets have two chances at the most to get in the endzone.  Washington drops back, he's got a man open.  He fires to the corner of the endzone...and it's intercepted by Rashad Carmichael.  Game over. Hokies WIN!  It's the fly-swatter for the Jackets.

This is by far the most resilient Virginia Tech team I've ever seen.  Not only have the Hokies bounced back from an 0 and 2 start, they've also come from behind to win games.  That's something Tech just hasn't been able to do in the past.  In the opener against Boise State, the Hokies came back from being down 17 to take a lead until the final minute of the game.  Against East Carolina, Tech trailed by 10 points twice in the game, and then bounced back to win 49-27.  Once again Tech fell behind by 17, this time against 25th-ranked NC State.  The Hokies rallied back for a 41-30 win in Raleigh.  And of course in this game Tech was down 14-0, but battled back to win 28-21.  This team just won't give up.  Resiliency is a hard trait to obtain, but it's a great trait to have.  It sure makes me sleep a lot better at night. But with that being said...

The beginning of this game was scary.  I was like, "here we go again."  Luckily Bud figured out how to slow up the triple option attack just enough to where our offense could outscore them.  Davon Morgan helped him out a bunch when he crushed Nesbitt's forearm.  Bottom Line: Bud's got to figure out a better way to stop that rag tag triple option attack, for my sake at least.  I hate watching those jobbers rattle off huge runs against us.  It's bad for our reputation.  We need to tighten up the defense overall, as we have a habit of giving up huge plays this season.  I'm not too worried though, Bud will get it done.

The offense also scared me.  Seven points in the first half doesn't cut it for me.  Not when we have the athletes that we have.  With that being said, the three-headed running back scheme is working out well.  We've been spreading the wealth, and everyone's been sharing the load.  Evans, Williams, and Wilson each had a distinctive drive of their own in this game that resulted in a touchdown.  If we keep triple-wielding with the runningbacks, we may keep all of them for 4 years because they want have the stats to go pro.  It's a good situation to be in.  Our receivers need to step it up to keep our offense balanced.  Other than Jarrett Boykin, no one is really doing much.

Not red-shirting David Wilson is the best decision of the year.  He came through and won this game for us with the big kick-off return TD.  It was a big relief for Tyrod and the offense, and a big relief for me when he ran that puppy back.  I'm assured that we would'nt have won that game if it made it to overtime. They had momentum.  They could score once they reached the red-zone, and we were slowing up.     Thanks Frank for not red-shirting David Wilson, and thanks David for winning the game for us.

Once again history repeats itself with another Va Tech/Ga Tech thriller.  Hopefully history will also repeat itself when it comes to the winner of this battle going on to the ACC Championship.  One thing's for sure though, it's up to the Hokies to decide.