Is the newest generation of Virginia Tech football fans spoiled?
That seems to be the case now that the Hokies have cruised through five straight 10-win seasons, a statistic that head coach Frank Beamer likes to throw around whenever he is faced with criticism.
Tech still has a shot at getting another 10-win season if it wins out, but students do not seem to care.
Those who are attending Tech now grew up watching Michael Vick break opposing defenders’ ankles with ridiculous juke moves and throw bombs downfield with a flick of the wrist for touchdowns. The Hokies even reached the national championship game in the 1999-2000 season, and had a few plays gone Tech’s way, there might be a crystal football on campus.
At the start of this fall, students and media alike had their minds on national championship possibilities again for the Hokies. After a close loss to Alabama, that dream was shattered, but fans did not seem to mind settling for another Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.
Now, with losses to a good Georgia Tech team and a mediocre North Carolina squad, disinterest in the Hokies seems to be spreading rapidly among students.
Student tickets cannot even be given away, and the apathy within what should be the most fervent supporters of the team is appalling.
Yes, Thanksgiving approaches, and after a long semester a break is certainly deserved, but shouldn’t a 3:30 p.m. game against an ACC opponent in Lane Stadium be a bit more thrilling than a day at home with mom and dad watching the game on television?
There are only so many times available as a student to tailgate all day, watch the Hokies play in Lane, and then celebrate their victory all night.
This newfound student apathy was most apparent during the Thursday night North Carolina game. Sure, that may not have been the most intense game ever played in Lane, but the interest in watching paper airplanes fly onto the field far exceeded interest in the actual game.
After the game, Mitch Ingram, a freshman, created a Facebook group called, “Lane Stadium paper airplane throw,” and he says that within 20 minutes, 300 facebook members were a part of the group. Now, a day before the North Carolina State game, more than 3,100 members have joined.
During the game Saturday, the group has planned a coordinated paper airplane throw at the end of the third quarter.
Students seem to be more hyped up about the paper airplane throw than the game, though.
Ingram claims the airplane toss serves as mainly a fun way for students to participate in the game, but he also believes that some are using it as a symbol of frustration with the perceived underperformance of the team based on preseason expectations.
Maybe this disinterest in the team now that expectations are lowered is warranted after so many years of preseason hype and midseason letdowns.
Students and alumni alike have expressed their desire for a more explosive offense in recent years, yet nothing appears to change, especially within the offensive coaching staff. Tech seems to have put together a better offense this season, but the numbers are aided by statistical anomalies against Marshall, Boston College, Duke and Maryland.
Those teams do not exactly represent the cream of the crop for Tech’s schedule.
One might argue that throwing out all the good offensive games would obviously make the team look bad, but the offensive performances against legitimate defenses tell the real story.
Tech did not score more than 17 points against Nebraska, North Carolina, or East Carolina, and while the Hokies put 24 points up on Alabama, they were aided by a Dyrell Roberts kickoff return for a touchdown and only managed 155 total yards of offense.
Against Nebraska, the Hokies needed a miracle to win, and the offense played well against Miami, but one good showing out of five proves exactly why fans are so distraught.
In a return trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech, the most important game of the season, the Hokies dominated the Yellow Jackets’ offense in the first half but only produced three first-half points on offense. The only team to defeat the Jackets this season, Miami, scored 17 first half points which made Georgia Tech’s run-oriented offense obsolete.
Once the Jackets made some halftime adjustments against the Hokies defense, the game was over despite the Tech offense’s best late game efforts, and the season was then deemed a failure by many.
Now, with three total games remaining in the season and a chance at obtaining 10 wins, many Tech fans feel they do not have much left to look forward to except what now seems to be the usual domination of the University of Virginia, but at least they can look forward to what should be an excellent display of paper airplane tossing Saturday.