If you’re trying out a boxing career, it’s probably not the best idea to schedule Evander Holyfield for your first fight.
That’s been the mentality lately at Virginia Tech, and it’s clearly backfiring.
For the third time in four seasons, the Hokies played in — and lost — a crucial early season game against a premiere opponent.
For the third time in four seasons, the Hokies cost themselves a shot at an unbeaten season and a national championship.
This time around, it was Boise State ripping the souls out of the Tech faithful with a five-play, 56-yard drive in the final two minutes to win 33-30.
“I really wish in college football we had an exhibition game or a scrimmage against somebody other than yourself,” said Frank Beamer, head coach.
Beamer’s wish could easily be his command.
Eight ACC teams opened their seasons on Saturday against lower-level FCS opponents. All eight won, by an average of more than 30 points.
Instead of introducing seven new defensive starters against the nation’s highest-scoring offense from a year ago, they could have tuned up against a creampuff in Blacksburg.
That’s what Miami and Florida State did. Both of those teams cruised to wins at home Saturday before showdowns with No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Oklahoma, respectively.
The Hokies played undisciplined, immature football against Boise State, which is to be expected with so many newcomers on such a huge stage.
The miscues started on the game’s second play, when quarterback Tyrod Taylor lost a fumbled snap deep in Hokie territory.
“(Center Beau Warren) thought I was in the shotgun,” Taylor said.
It continued on the next Tech possession with a blocked punt by Boise State, which led to a 10-0 Broncos’ lead just five minutes into the game.
“It was a new guy communicating to a new guy,” Beamer said. “We turned their best punt blocker loose.”
That doesn’t happen in week two or three.
Usually reliable kickoff man Justin Meyer kicked the ball out of bounds after the Hokies’ first touchdown — with the wind at his back.
“We made some critical (errors) that just aren’t Virginia Tech,” Beamer said.
And the biggest blunder of them all came from redshirt freshman D.J. Coles, who committed two fouls on a single play that led to the Broncos taking a 17-0 lead.
All in all, four special teams miscues contributed to a 20-point swing in the first half, yet Tech amazingly only trailed by six points at halftime.
Once the Hokies regained the feeling in their stomach from being kicked so hard early, it was an inexperienced offensive line that was the ultimate downfall.
Taylor had little or no time to throw on more than a few occasions. Running back Ryan Williams was limited to 44 yards on 21 carries, a 2.1-yard average falling far short of his 5.6-yard clip from a year ago.
“As far as frustrating goes, it was a little bit,” Taylor said.
Most of the penetration came from the left side of Tech’s offensive line, where the inexperienced linemen Andrew Lanier and Greg Nosal were stationed
“There was a lot of times I got the ball and there were defenders in my face,” Williams said.
What Taylor managed to do with a lack of protection and a running game was simply miraculous. He accounted for 259 of Tech’s 314 total yards.
Unfortunately for Beamer, there weren’t 22 guys dressed in black with 28 starts under their belt.
Less than one minute after the Hokies took their first lead of the game at 21-20, new starting linebacker Bruce Taylor missed a routine tackle on Boise State’s D.J. Harper, who sprung 71 yards to pay dirt.
“We don’t usually miss tackles,” Beamer said.
Maybe the usual Hokies don’t, but wide-eyed linebackers in their first true game action do.
On the game-winning touchdown pass, Boise State receiver Austin Pettis left Tech linebacker Jeron Gouveia-Winslow in the dust for a wide-open catch.
Gouveia-Winslow had never started a game before, let alone been tasked with stopping a preseason All-American wide receiver in the red zone.
The Hokies showed they were talented enough to be a national title contender when they outscored Boise St. 30-9 after building up a 17-0 deficit.
It takes more than talent to win football games. It takes a cohesive, well-oiled team to band together in crunch time and then follow through. It takes a team that has played together before.
That’s 95 percent of the rest of the country’s method. In fact, only one other game during the first week of the season pitted two top-25 teams.
Everyone else gets it.
Tech has played for a national title. The Hokies don’t need to clap their hands and bang their chest for attention. They have their own brand.
From now on, they should quietly go about their business until they are ready to face the big boys.