BC: Headache Power

Boston College beat Virginia Tech 34-27 on Saturday in Blacksburg, sending the Hokies out of the Big East on a loss. Tech finishes its last Big East season in fourth place, 4-3 in conference (which is an improvement over the 3-4 record of the past two seasons), and stands 8-3 going into their final game of the year next week at Virginia; Boston College ends their season in 5th place in conference at 3-4, and 7-5 overall. Boston College earned a spot in the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl with the win; Tech dropped from the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville to the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, facing the fifth selection out of the ACC.

The game reports all talk about a tight, close-played game that went down to the wire. I’m not going to do that. Virginia Tech lost this game for three reasons: first-half line play, coaching, and good, old-fashioned Big East refereeing. The second half was ultimately inconsequential.

Coming into the game, the matchup of the Boston College offensive line versus Virginia Tech’s depleted defensive line posed a serious problem for the Hokies. Offensive line play has always been a strength of the Boston College program, and the Eagles’ OL has always been larger (although slower) than the Hokies’ DL. The VT first team might have been able to get around that with quickness and mobility; this game’s starters couldn’t. The result was that BC dominated line play in the first half, both in run-blocking and pass-blocking. Poor fundamentals (pursuit angles, tackling) didn’t help containment either. The Hokies made good adjustments at halftime, and played fairly well in the second half (you can’t expect a shutout), but the damage had been done.

On the offensive side of the ball, coaching did the Hokies in. Major media outlets have been all over VT head coach Frank Beamer for his decision to put Marcus Vick in at the start of the second quarter, replacing Bryan Randall after Randall had taken the Hokies out to a 17-10 lead. Please allow me to join in the beatdown. Tech’s offense — really, the entire Tech team — has been psychologically fragile all season, and Beamer replaces the quarterback when the offense is really clicking for the first time since Syracuse?! I don’t blame Vick (he just isn’t ready yet, he’s a freshman), I don’t blame Randall for being flat in the second half (he’s been jerked around all year), I blame Beamer. With this Tech team, you don’t screw with something that works. The switch was a stubborn move, designed to prove his point more than anything else, and it killed the VT offense. Ballgame.

Finally, the referees. I haven’t seen a more blatant hackjob since I started watching football as an eight-year-old Redskins fan. Before the game I made the mistake of presuming that the Big East might at least hate us and Fredo equally, so the bad refereeing would even out — but no. What a freaking joke. And you know the worst thing? We have Big East refs next week for the UVa game, since we’re the road team and therefore are supposed to bring “our” refs. I’d rather have the ACC crew from UVa@VT ‘98, which had a UVa law alumnus as head ref.

I want us to win the UVa game (which, by the way, is at 1 PM Saturday), but I have no idea how the heck VT will pull it off. In pure football terms, the Hokies should win. But this team has not shown any indication that it can fight back when presented with adversity, and this coaching staff has shown an uncanny knack for making the wrong decision at the wrong time, and then stubbornly sticking with it despite all wisdom to the contrary. Tack on the fact that even three-game winning streaks are rare in this series, let alone four (as we currently have). UVa is due for a win, and I see very little reason to think we can take it away from them.