Collegiate Times

For the first time since 2007, Virginia Tech football was 1-0. A few weeks later, it was 4-0. Then came the cold, the rain, ACC conference play and the Clemson Tigers — a lot of the Clemson Tigers.

Saturday sucked. After four weeks of an unstained record, our expectations crashed for the 25th iteration of Frank Beamer’s tenure. We watched as the eccentric David Wilson fumbled for the third time in three games, Logan Thomas struggled to find any rhythm, and “Pride and Joy” (the name given to special teams) humbly walked off the field to a chorus of boos after a series of sub-par punts.

The next morning was the hangover, complete with highlights on ESPN and a 10-place drop in the polls, as Hokie fans slowly accepted the game was not a dream. News of another Georgia Tech victory only turned more stomachs — even a division championship won’t be a given this year.

On Saturday night, the collective feeling was of angst and shame. Yet again, Tech laid a dud on the national stage, supported in vain by a terrific defense and a sensational offensive player. In 2009, Tech led eventual-national champ Alabama at the end of the third quarter, only to have an exhausted defense finally give way to Heisman-winner Mark Ingram and the Tide. In 2010, we lost to Boise State and in the “game that shall live in infamy.” We were also steam-rolled by Stanford in the Orange Bowl. And once again, we left something to be desired Saturday night.

There were grumblings that perhaps this is the legacy of Tech football in the 2000s — a good-but-not-great team that gets its 10 wins but too often comes up short in big games. Although many fans would quickly point out that we ought to be happier for our constant success (the folks up in Charlottesville are well aware of how rare a 10-win season is), there is a lot of legitimacy to this.

National championships are nearly impossible to come by — prior to 2010, the dominant Alabama team of recent years hadn’t captured the Coaches’ Trophy since the early 90s. But it is reasonable to demand that Tech show up in big games. In the 90s, Beamer built a perennial winner out of a no-name program, culminating in Michael Vick leading Tech to the national championship game against Florida State.  But in the past decade and into the new one, the program has stalled. After getting to the big stage, Tech has done nothing on it.

Despite our dominance of the ACC, we will be known nationally as a big fish in a small pond. Until winning big-time games against big-time opponents becomes the rule and not the exception, Tech is destined to remain in stagnation. 

We can get a good start on that this Saturday against Miami, in an afternoon game that will be broadcasted nationally on ABC. The ’Canes are not what they once were, but no matter who is dressing for “Da U,” rather for this paper’s money, there are few things more fun than kicking the crap out of Miami.

-the editorial board consists of scott masselli and sean simons

A version of this article appeared in the Oct 4 issue of the Collegiate Times.