Game Thread: The Military Bowl: VT vs Cincinnati

[wildturkey]

Dec 27th: Virginia Tech vs Cincy at 1pmEST on ESPN

No thread yet? Meh, don't worry. I checked out long ago too. Might as well make one and slug through it.

Game preview: You guess is as good as mine if we bother to show up and play. Maybe we found an offense in the last month?

 

[HoHumHokie]

Surprisingly a lot of the college football "experts" and beat writers are picking the Hokies. Guess they figure if Beamer can't talk, then he can't screw things up by accidentally calling a fake punt on our own 35 yd line on 4th and 20.

 

[Sleepy T]

It will be interesting to see how Shane conducts himself as the "field head coach. Will we see chest bumps and flying butt bumps???

I like the Lunchpail D in this game. Lots of pressure, a formidable secondary. The biggest question is what kind of offense shows up. I think it is looking increasingly likely that Loedfler is around for the crest of Beamers tenure, but I don't think Loeffler is out of the woods yet. If he goes and lays a total fuckin egg (aka Wake Forest) he could still be shown the door IMO.

 

[VTscores]

Virginia Tech wins, 33-17!

Nice job by the Hokies going out on a bowl win, and ending the season with a winning record. Now they need to get all their players back, and finish out the recruiting season. I'm looking forward to next season.

 

[Cobrabit]

Woohoo!

 

[Sleepy T]

Nice victory in front of what looked like a nice Hokie crowd. Game ball goes to JC. His back was against the wall a couple months ago and I was as critical of him as anyone. He has put this offense on his shoulders and stepped up to the plate. Without him, this is an even uglier year than it already has been.

If we can get some better And more consistent play at OL and QB (yeah, not sure Brewer is it) and are able to stay healthy... Could be in for a much better season next year.

 

[sparko]

https://soundcloud.com/img-audio/virginia-tech-img-bud-foster-post-game-interview-12-27-14

Have a serious man crush on this dude. Listen to the end. Just get the feeling that regardless of whether he becomes the next HC or not, that CBF ever coaches got a team other than VT

 

[hokiecheme11]

Great game out of JC Coleman and I thought Greg Stroman had a great game as well.

 

[wildturkey]

Pretty solid game overall. It wasn't perfect and there were some rough patches but overall, it was a good team win. Special teams played very well for the first time in a long time. Defense did a good job adjusting after giving up some big chunks early. I thought they went to sleep a tad in the 4th but you can easily see how happened given the circumstances. And the offense played about as good as you can expect given all the injuries and inconsistencies. SL made a good adjustment at halftime, the OL really started pushing people around, and JC ran his ass off. A well deserved game ball to JC too. I didn't think he ran well enough last year to get much playing time and this year at the start he didn't look good either. But he kept at it and when his number was called again, he really stepped up. He's been great the last couple of games. That shows a lot of heart and its an example of good leadership to younger players to not quit if you get benched.

 

[hokiecat]

What a great way to end the season. Shane actually looked pretty coach-like on the sidelines. Just let Bud handle the D and try not to screw up the rest of the team. Special teams were actually special. It was like Beamerball again. Punt downed inside the 5. Making long FGs. The KR led to a FG just before halftime.

As mentioned above, SL really got the running game going midway through the game. I was joking to my buddy that it took Wang's injury for the run game to get going. Hopefully the 4* recruits we got this fall pay some dividends in 2015. It was great to JC succeed. I'm not a big fan of his due to his lack of size but the guy competed great and racked the yardage. Too bad one of his biggest runs was during a commercial break. ESPN FTL.

The only real downer for me was they'd say something like "Frank is still a volcano of emotion even in the press box" and then they'd show him and he'd just be standing around.

I was out at a hockey game last night so I didn't get to see where the defensive TD ranked in Play of the Day. Does anyone know? I assume top 5.

 

[HoHumHokie]

Anyone heard how serious Beamer's situation is with his health? Have to think Bud knows more about it than most....evident at the end of this interview.

 

[Sleepy T]

Well from what I have read and what they have said, throat polyps are not cancerous and this shouldn't be a huge deal going forward. I imagine Beams will be back in full capacity in the spring, to much chagrin of many I am sure.

This may be more to do with the stress of the year, the ups and downs, the contract, Beamers health, the lashing from the fans etc. and is just Bud releasing a little bit.

From the way he speaks, it should be quite apparent that these coaches put a lot into this team and work their ass off to win.. Every week. Many of these guys think of this gig as more than just a job and a paycheck. This is their home, their livelihood.

We should be gracious that they feel this way. Many on the boards are screaming for changes, wholesale changes. They want some up and comer to swoop in and save the day. Replace the entire staff!! Either that guy fail miserably or he will use it as a stepping stone job to something possibly even bigger.

I personally want Bud as next man up. I think he has the passion and the want to (and possibly even a fresh set of ideas and perspective) to keep on taking this program forward.

It blows me away that some of these pricks on the other boards are so shortsighted wrt what these people have done and continue to do for the program. Funny things is I would imagine the vast majority of them do not contribute a dime to the program but want to speak like they are writing Whit letters and that their voice means something. Gimme a fucking break.

Sorry about that. Rant over..

 

[sparko]

i could live with Bud getting a shot. I've heard too many people say that it won't happen to believe that it will happen .. but if not -- Bud is set up and getting paid and got a 5 year deal. Some aren't crazy with the notion of forcing an incoming head coach to HAVE to keep Bud .. but damn -- why wouldnt you want to? I know the dude can't recruit so well but does it really matter? Look at the product that he puts on the field.

 

[wildturkey]

i could live with Bud getting a shot. I've heard too many people say that it won't happen to believe that it will happen .. but if not -- Bud is set up and getting paid and got a 5 year deal. Some aren't crazy with the notion of forcing an incoming head coach to HAVE to keep Bud .. but damn -- why wouldnt you want to? I know the dude can't recruit so well but does it really matter? Look at the product that he puts on the field.

Of course it matters. Because other schools can show off what they can do well on the field AND show up to your house too. If Bud showed that kind of emotion in a kid's living room, a couple of those defensive recruits we see flee the state each year might stay home, which is possibly all we really need (one or two top prospects each year on top of what we're getting now). Those kids don't get to see that though. They don't follow the program as intensely as we do. That's why its important for him (and Beams, and all the coaches really) to get as much personal contact with a recruit as possible. That's just the way it is nowadays. The program cannot reach the heights we want it to with just coaching alone. Bud needs to do more recruiting wise as is but he absolutely must do it if he becomes the HC.

 

[VTscores]

i could live with Bud getting a shot. I've heard too many people say that it won't happen to believe that it will happen .. but if not -- Bud is set up and getting paid and got a 5 year deal. Some aren't crazy with the notion of forcing an incoming head coach to HAVE to keep Bud .. but damn -- why wouldnt you want to? I know the dude can't recruit so well but does it really matter? Look at the product that he puts on the field.

Foster puts a good product on the field, but yes, recruiting does matter, and the next head coach at Virginia Tech needs to be better at it. Football is a game of inches, and college football today is a game of recruiting. Winning high profile games helps.

If VT wants to get to the next level, they have to be able to beat Florida State, and Clemson, and those teams recruit at a very high level.

 

[awaz]

I thought that was one of the better performances of the year for the Hokies. I thought they played pretty well in all phases.

I also really liked Shane's enthusiasm on the sidelines. He seems like a very fun coach to play for and could get a lot out of everyone.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

I tell you what guys, I know some weird cohort of fans that I just don't get root for the occasional loss to catalyze some sort of change or whatever, but fuck that noise.

Winning fucking rules!

#Hokies