Bowl Game Mirrors Season, or Hope You Took The Over

As I’m posting this from a Starbucks on Euston Road in north London, in which direction I was flying on Friday night, I wasn’t able to write a game report for the Insight Bowl. Therefore, BTN would like to welcome guest writer and fellow Hokie Matt Hemler, and thank him for what I think you’ll agree is a high-quality game report. Now, on with the show.

In a game that was a metaphor for Virginia Tech’s entire season, the Hokies played well early and faded late, finding a way to lose in a 52-49 shootout with the California Golden Bears that saw well over 1000 yards of total offense in the Insight Bowl at Phoenix’s Bank One Ballpark Friday night.

Tech looked good early, staking themselves to a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. They stifled a rushing attack that had led the PAC-10, averaging 300 yards per game. Sophomore QB Aaron Rodgers missed receivers and was not as effective after Cal’s opening drive. Kevin Jones, in his last game in a VT uniform, played well, gaining 83 yards on 8 carries in the first half, finishing with 153 yards.

But in the second quarter, things started to fall apart for Tech. In the second and third quarters, Tech was outscored 35-7, giving Cal a 42-28 lead at the end of the third period. Three missed field goals by PK Carter Warley, including a chip shot from 29 yards, proved costly, each leading to a Cal touchdown on the ensuing drive. Warley also kicked the ball out of bounds on two kickoffs, giving Cal a shorter field. Each of these miscues also led to Cal touchdowns.

Tech answered at the end of the third/start of the fourth with a touchdown, but Cal came right back with a 13 play drive that spanned over 7 minutes and was capped by a 1? yard reverse to WR Vincent Strang, stretching the Bears’ lead back to 49-35.

Tech’s offense refused to lay down and quit, though. An answering drive of their own was mounted, finishing with a pass over the middle to Chris Shreve with under four minutes to play to make it 49-42. Brandon Pace came in to handle kickoff duties and Cal’s return man flubbed the ball out of bounds at the 11-yard line. A delay of game penalty gave Cal 1st and 15 at their own 6. Tech’s defense stood up and held Cal to three and out. Then DeAngelo Hall stepped in. Hall fielded a punt at Tech’s 49 on the right side of the field and sidestepped one tackler. Shedding another, he broke left, picking up a wall of blockers as he went. Slipping through the arms of the punter, he scored to tie the game at 49 apiece with under 2 minutes to play.

Then, just as it looked like the tide had turned, another kicking mistake gave the game to Cal. Brandon Pace kicked the ball out of bounds for a third time, giving Cal the ball at the 35. They drove down to the Tech 15, and with 2 seconds left on the clock, senior PK Tyler Frederickson, who was only 14-29 on the year with five kicks blocked, stepped in and calmly split the uprights to give Cal the victory.

Offensively, Tech looked very good, not turning the ball over and barely getting penalized in the process of hanging 42 points on the Bears’ defense. Cal got to QB Bryan Randall a few times, but he was smart in protecting the ball rather than forcing it into coverage as he had a few times this season. Redshirt freshman Marcus Vick appeared several times at flanker and caught the first catches of his career, including a gorgeous over-the-shoulder pass from Randall that went for a touchdown in the first quarter. Expect to see more of Vick at flanker next season if he can get the kind of separation he managed against Cal DBs.

In his swan song, RB Kevin Jones was outstanding, showing excellent field vision and patience. Cal had not allowed a 100-yard rusher in its last five games, going 4-1 over that stretch. Jones, however, showed why he has elected to forgo his remaining eligibility in declaring for the NFL draft. His patience, as well as speed getting to the corner, stymied a Cal defense that stacked the box fairly frequently in an attempt to stop him.

Tech’s defense was another story, however. Against Cal’s potent running attack they looked good, and with Cal’s leading WR Jeff McArthur out with a broken arm from a freak accident in practice(he snapped his ulna against his knee going down for a low pass in warmups a few days ago), there was hopes that a pass defense that has occasionally been suspect might step up. Not so. Tech’s pass rush was nonexistent, and Rodgers had plenty of time to step up in the pocket and pick apart the Hokie coverage. He exploited Tech’s tendency to rely on man coverage in stopping the run, and when the Hokies turned to a zone, he found his fullbacks and tight ends wide open in seams over the middle for large chunks of yardage. Rodgers finished with 394 yards passing and accounted for 4 of Cal’s 7 touchdowns, two passing and two rushing. Unknown quantities in Cal’s WR corps provided the plays, primarily Strang and Chase Lyman, who had only picked up 107 yards receiving all season. Cal was perfect in the red zone, going 7-7 with six touchdowns and the game-winning field goal.

Special teams, normally a Tech hallmark, were just as bad excepting Hall’s punt return for touchdown. The 29-yard miss by Warley could have at least forced overtime, and his misses from 40 and 45 could have sealed the game. His two kickoffs out of bounds were costly, and Brandon Pace’s kick out of bounds helped Cal along the way to the winning field goal. Head coach Frank Beamer frequently looked flabbergasted and even angry, showing more emotion than Tech fans are used to seeing from him(except the infamous helmet-slapping incident with Ernest Wilford in the Hokies’ loss to WVU).

This was Virginia Tech’s first contest against an opponent from the PAC-10 conference, but they won’t have to wait all that long to play their next one. Tech has confirmed that it will be playing the Southern California Trojans in the 2004 BCA Classic this August at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. Tech will need to spend the offseason trying to figure out why its defense and special teams have been so lackluster down the stretch, and hopefully get them ready to face an extremely good USC team that should arguably be playing in the Nokia Sugar Bowl.

Tech finishes the season 8-5, and fans must look back at a bowl that was much like their season as a whole. The Hokies looked good early, but underachieved late, finishing mediocre and out of the top 25 for the first time in several seasons.

Your intrepid guest writer is now off to Houston for the EV1.net Houston Bowl, where the Naval Academy Midshipmen are playing the Texas Tech Red Raiders in their first bowl game in 7 seasons after a miraculous two-season turnaround under head coach Paul Johnson. Navy’s triple option, the nation’s leading rushing attack, will try to control the ball and keep it out of the hands of Texas Tech QB BJ Simmons and the nation’s leading passing attack. Will Navy’s old-school power running game prevail against this new-fangled forward pass? Watch here for a possible wrapup (if Josh is feeling nice and lets me write one).