Losing To UVa Sucks, plus An Editorial

Virginia beat Virginia Tech 35-21 on Saturday in Charlottesville, winning the Commonwealth Cup for the first time in five years. Tech led 14-7 at the half, but the Cavaliers scored on their first four possessions of the second half and capitalized on many Hokie mistakes to bring in the win in the last out-of-conference matchup of these two before Tech joins the ACC in 2004.

The Cavaliers played an outstanding game, led by Matt Schaub’s 32-of-46, 358 yard, 2 TD/1 INT passing day. UVa’s poorly-regarded receiving corps repeatedly beat VT’s secondary for big plays. The other part of UVa’s passing offense was a total of 13 passes for 145 yards from Schaub to TE Heath Miller, of which 10 (by my count) went for first downs. The Tech defense got very little pressure on Schaub all game, and Miller was wide open in the middle of the field all day (at least three additional Schaub-to-Miller attempts went incomplete). This begs the question: how the heck did we control Kellen Winslow and not take care of Heath Miller? (Simple answers: Miller’s better than his press, and Winslow’s worse than his; better VT DL pressure; Schaub is a better QB than Brock Berlin.)

The Hokies’ offense was competent, though Kevin Jones had a bad day (25 attempts for 75 yards). Bryan Randall, finally allowed to play the whole game, went 14-for-26 for 214 yards, with 1 TD and 2 INTs. Randall suffered through a terrible performance by his WRs with several drops, including an Ernest Wilford bobble on the second interception. Marcus Vick joined Randall on the field for several plays throughout the afternoon, with the player not behind center lining up as an inside WR.

Two special teams plays provided the crowning blow for the Hokies. In the third quarter, with the score 21-14 in favor of UVa, Vincent Fuller fell offsides on the left side of the punt block unit as Eric Green raced in from the right, blocked the punt and ran it in for a would-be touchdown. The 5-yard penalty gave UVa a first down. Then in the fourth quarter at 28-21, UVa lined up for a field goal with Schaub as holder and Miller at right end. Had the FG been attempted, it would have been blocked from the offense’s left side; as it was, Miller went about six yards downfield as Schaub picked the ball up and rolled right. Schaub completed the pass, and Miller fought through two Tech defenders for 4 more yards and the first down. Wali Lundy scored on the next play to put the game away.

…and now, the editorial.

This may sound funny, but part of me is glad that we lost this game. Yes, losing to UVa sucks. But my fear as a VT football fan overall was that if we had won, the coaching staff would have been able to whitewash the problems with this team and this program. They can’t do that now. This year was supposed to beat out 1999; instead, it looks more like 1997, a year in which we started 5-0 before closing 2-5 (including a 42-3 nuking by #5 UNC in the Gator Bowl). The talent level was there (except perhaps in the linebacking corps); discipline and coaching were not.

In retrospect, it’s clear that the reason we beat Miami is because, in addition to being as motivated that night as I’ve ever seen a Hokie team, Miami is the only team we play that is less disciplined than we are. Our playcalling, both offensively and defensively, is predictable, and our refusal to make halftime adjustments has repeatedly burned us. The coaching staff views changes at halftime as a sign of weakness; darn straight! But I’d rather see us fix those weaknesses (for example, our failure to cover Heath Miller) than ignore their existence. The same thing can now be said about our football program as a whole. I’m not calling for Coach Beamer’s head, but as a contributor to Virginia Tech athletics, I want to see the leadership of the football program acknowledge the obvious problems therein and work to change them.