Following the Georgia Tech loss back in September, I wasn't truly aware of how much worse the Hokies' season could actually get. With the defeat, Virginia Tech fell from its near top-10 ranking all the way down to 22nd in the country, as well as losing its sole complacency amongst the top of the Coastal Division, but after last night's beating up in New England, I honestly don't know if things this season are going to get much better.
I'm sure the majority of you are reading this just to see the angle a fellow blogger takes after witnessing his respective team get absolutely massacred, and on a Thursday primetime national audience no less. I say this knowing that on several occasions I make it a point to glance around the blogosphere, just to see to what tune others address their team's play.
As I was somewhat defensive of the Hokies' performance in their loss to the Yellow Jackets, in no way am I going to acknowledge VT's cohesive assembly of horrific play last night as any bit positive.
Against the Eagles, every aspect of Frank Beamer's team was atrocious. Throughout it all, I only found two names even worthy of being commended for their performances: Linebacker Vince Hall, who was making plays all over the field and had he not been doing so, well, Lord knows how much more of a blowout the Eagles would have landed, and kicker Brandon Pace, by default, as he did what he was asked to do, going a perfect 1-for-1 from distance.
But that's pretty much how bad last night's game was -- I'm giving kudos to the kicker for making a 36-yard field goal.
The loss though really shouldn't come as that big of a surprise to Hokie fans -- I know I wasn't too shocked. We've been seeing the Hokies struggle (sporadically) since day one. If you think about it, Tech even had miscues in its season opener against Northeastern, so to realistically expect them to beat higher quality conference opponents such as Georgia Tech and Boston College, all the while making the same kind of mistakes, comes to me as unfashionably absurd.
Though Tech's struggles are a mild collection of a number of things, the Hokies' biggest flaw, it's youth and inexperience amongst the offensive line, is what's really shooting this team in the foot (or at least is the most obvious in doing so). In VT's first four contests, this setback was discreetly exposed, highlighted by the team's close result against Cincinatti. It would only be a matter of time before Tech's troubles up front would be severely exploited, and BC (as well as GT) did just that last night, taking advantage of numerous slipups in pass protection and poor run blocking to turn the tides in their favor.
Bottom line, this was a God-awful effort, not just by the o-line, but by the entire team all the way around. Having said that, offensive line coach Curt Newsome really does have his work cut out for him. If we don't see any any types of improvement this year, there's no telling how ugly things might just get.
Finally, on an off topic note, with receiver Josh Hyman getting a one-game suspension following a DUI early Friday, and this following the Morgan-Ellis incident of two weeks ago, I have to say, forget the on-the-field struggles, but are the Hokies' ever going to get their off-the-field act together? I mean, the antics have to stop, by everyone -- one bad apple can really spoil the bunch, and with this team, that is entirely the case, as exampled by Marcus Vick. It may be preaching to the choir, but I'm tired of seeing this school represented by a group of hoodlums who can't seem to stay out of the negative limelight. It's time for some change -- either start recruiting some guys with some sense and/or class, keep a stern eye on those who can't stay out of run-ins with the law, or both. Period.
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