From Hype to Gripe

So, I’m sure most people watched the Virginia Tech and Alabama game this weekend. We had all been anticipating that game for months so finally game day was here! I had so many feelings and emotions running through my body that it was ridiculous! I, of course, was excited from all of the hype and anticipation that was built up but at the same time I was nervous and discouraged because everybody was picking Tech to lose and not giving them any chance to win. I wasn’t too worried though because one of the main reasons that people were saying Tech would lose was because Darren Evans wouldn’t be playing, but we are very deep at the running back position, and I knew Ryan Williams would run well. Another reason I was hopeful was because Alabama has a freshman quarterback and a new offensive line, so they would be inexperienced; and if we blitzed them hard, it would throw them off and rattle them enough to make mistakes and not play up to par.
Saturday night eight starts to roll around and I’m getting myself all pumped up and excited for the game as one of my best friends gets to my house to watch the game with me. I’m watching the BYU and Oklahoma game as I wait for the commercials to end and the real game to start! At this point I’m so nervous that my stomach is up in my throat, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. As I’m waiting for the opening kickoff, I cannot keep my legs from bouncing up and down to save my life from all the nerves, and my friend is just laughing at me because she is a tech fan, but doesn’t get into the games like I do. Alabama kicks it off and right from the beginning we fumble the kickoff which did not help my nerves any. However, I ignored it and looked forward to see what the offense would do. Just as the kickoff had let me down, so did our opening possession: three and out. This was followed by an Alabama field goal which did not give me a good first impression of our team. Our second possession was a three and out followed by another ‘Bama field goal. Overall, I thought that the defense played very well for awhile. Greg McElroy only went 2 for his first 12 passes and was even forced into throwing an interception.
Unlike the defense, however, our offense did not show many signs of life. I was not until the third or fourth possession that we even drove into Alabama territory. That was short lived and that drive ended just like the previous ones did. It was frustrating to watch Tyrod Taylor play, because he was not on his game at all. Many of his throws were shaky or erratic, and many completely missed the mark all together and sailed way out of bounds. Another thing I was confused about was why he did not run the ball more. He is a dual threat quarterback so why did they not take advantage of his running ability to spread out the defense and keep them on their toes? As I thought about it, one conclusion I came to was that, because we do not have much depth at the quarterback position with two inexperienced freshmen, it would have been bad if Tyrod had gotten injured. Even still, it is important to be aggressive and to use the strengths that each player has, and I think that if Tyrod had scrambled more, it would have opened up both the passing and running game more, because the defense would have been cautious about him running the ball. Instead, Alabama put solid pressure on us all night that wore us down. Our running game was not very effective and their defensive line was getting into the backfield way more often than it should have. I cannot say that I was entirely surprised that our offense played so poorly however. Virginia Tech’s offense has never been its bread and butter, and I saw a stat during the game that said that Tech was 111th in the nation last year in pass yards per game. I mean, really? It does not look like that stat will improve much judging by Saturday’s game; Tyrod ended up going only 9 for 20 with not even 100 yards along with negative rushing yards for the game. Shall we blame Stinespring for continual lack of production on offense? I think it might be time for him to go.
Not all of Tech’s performance should be criticized, however. We showed many bright spots in our still young team that I was pleased with. Ryan Williams did a great job filling in Darren Evan’s spot, rushing for 71 yards on 13 carries including one spectacular run down the sideline that was finished by a strong dive for the pylon for a touchdown. He also had a great catch that put Tech deep into Alabama territory which set up another touchdown run. Dyrell Roberts had the clear play of the game for the Hokies with a 98 yard kickoff return that gave Tech the lead by one. Later in the game, he had another strong kickoff return to close to midfield. Roberts will be an exciting and promising player to watch this season and I look for many big things to come from him. Tech’s defense played well, all things considered, through three quarters. Alabama did not score at all in the third quarter and after the game clock hit 00:00, we still had the lead.
Unfortunately, a football game is four quarters long, not three. As soon as the last quarter hit, everything went downhill. Alabama quickly drove down the field and scored a touchdown which was followed by a two-point conversion that killed our momentum. After that point, I believe our defense was a combination of tired and unconfident and could never get a good push to stop Alabama’s offense. So after all was said and done, I was furious and extremely disappointed by the 34 to 24 score that I saw on the television. I went upstairs quickly so I wouldn’t have to talk to anybody about the game and went to bed. Ironically, my alarm that was set to go off the next morning was a song, and the first thing I heard Sunday morning were the lyrics, “one final heartbreak.”