by Mad Jay
"What mighty contests rise from trivial things!" - Alexander Pope
I do not care about the ACC championship, the BCS or any other lofty goals that the Virginia Tech Hokies may have. If I had it my way, the Hokies would have one goal only right now - beat Maryland on Thursday night. And if Virginia Tech can put a complete game together, they can beat the Terrapins all the way back to College Park, MD.
The Hokies have gone to the well on several occasions this season, and we all know that you can go to the well one-too-many times. The defense has won the game by making a play with less than a minute left in four out of Virginia Tech's seven victories. The other three wins were 63-0 over Western Michigan, 62-0 over Florida A&M and 41-17 over the Duke Blue Devils. Not exactly a who's-who of college football, eh?
So what this means is that when the Hokies are up 27-14 on the road against a North Carolina Tarheel team that has a lot to play for, and Bryan Randall throws a PERFECT 25 yard pass on third down to a wide open Josh Hyman, HYMAN NEEDS TO MAKE THE !@(mailto:*#&*!@%23%5E$&*(!%25^ CATCH! By not making the catch, well, you know what ensued; the resulting momentum shift catapulted the Tarheels into a field goal drive followed by a blocked punt for a touchdown, etc, etc. The offense is not finishing people off and I blame - that's right you guessed it - THE COACHES!
Read this now and remember it later - the offense is going to have to make some plays to beat Maryland. If the game comes down to a close finish - despite home-field advantage, Thursday night national TV and having been in close games all season - the Hokies are going to the well one-too-many times if they want the defense to win it for them again.
Don't get me wrong, I think the offense has done some wonderful things the past two weeks. What I mean is thank God for Mike Imoh and Eddie Royal. And Randall has been up and down, but comes through when it matters. The pass-blocking and lack of tight-end involvement still remain a concern for me, but much has been done to improve the blocking assignments for picking up the blitz. I have been hard on Brian Stinespring and I still don't think he's the right guy for the job, but I will applaud his efforts in resolving the blitz issue........for now. That being said, it had better be resolved for good because Maryland, Virginia and Miami all have insanely fast linebackers.
I know the home of the Fighting Gobblers will be loud and I expect the home team to be pumped up. I expect that if the Hokies can get an early lead, they will not allow Maryland to crawl back into the game unlike the late letdown against North Carolina. Stay warm on Thursday night, Hokie fans, whether through proper clothing or with liquid courage and GO HOKIES!!!!!!
