Easy football schedule inhibits football team's potential

Wednesday, September, 19, 2012; 10:49 PM | 18 | | Print

Here at Virginia Tech, we get very excited about particular things. We love waking up on Sundays and going to brunch at West End, we love the smooth pilsner taste of Natural Light, but most importantly, we love football.

Game days are the most exciting days of the year. The change in atmosphere around campus is undeniable. Everyone is wearing Virginia Tech gear and starting “Let’s Go!” chants, planning to go insane when “Enter Sandman” starts.

The game a few weeks ago, however, was an exception. Sure, tailgates started at 8 a.m. for the 1:30 p.m. game against Austin Peay, a relatively unknown school from Tennessee. But there was no real excitement.

Coming off the thrilling overtime victory in the first overtime game at Lane Stadium against Georgia Tech, Hokie fans were ready for another amazing game, but instead, we gotmake an easy 42-7 steamroll against a school that had no business being here.

Easy games are part of every college football team’s schedule. I understand that. These games allow small colleges to get national attention, especially if they can pull out an upset, and more generally, these small schools get paid a lot of money to come and get beaten. But at what cost? Who really wants to see these games? It is like when your older sibling played you in video games. It was not a fair match-up.

I will be the first person to tell you that I want Tech to have an undefeated season and win the national championship game, but when I see thousands of students and fans leave a game at halftime, receive multiple emails that say tickets are still available, and that the price of tickets is comically low, I wonder if it is really worth it. I paid good money for season tickets, and every game should be of equal value.

Not every game on the schedule is going to be an easy one. We still have to face Cincinnati, Miami, Clemson and Florida State. Those games will be tough wins, but I do not think it is good for the team to be preparing for these games by facing teams like Austin Peay and Bowling Green. No offense to either of those schools, but they cannot compare with the top teams in the ACC.

I would rather us face consistently good teams, so we constantly have to keep our foot on the pedal. Sure, we might lose games, but over time we would be getting better, not to mention the games would be fun to watch.

Imagine if we played teams like Alabama, Oregon, USC, Ohio State and Texas. These games would bring packed houses and be televised nationally. We would be able to show these teams what it is like to play against the Hokies, especially in Lane Stadium. The school would probably be able to raise tickets prices because these games would be guaranteed sellouts.

I understand we have to play conference games, and not every team in the conference is necessarily a good team. But for our non-conference games, we should be playing bigger schools. This will ensure no one wants to leave the game at halftime. Instead, students will be clamoring for season tickets and to win the student ticket lottery.

At the end of the day, these easy games help no one. Sure, Austin Peay got a lot of money from us, but for what? Just to be another notch in the belt of a hopeful college football team? More importantly, these easy games seem to be affecting our team negatively.

I was fully prepared to watch a glorious romp through Pittsburgh’s defense, but instead, what I got was a frustrating game. The offense failed to get into any sort of rhythm and the defense got its pants pulled down by a freshman running back.

Are all these things to blame on playing Austin Peay? I cannot be certain, but if we started having a tougher schedule, with consistently good teams, we might avoid getting beaten by an unranked 0-2 team again.

A version of this article appeared in the Sep 20 issue of the Collegiate Times.

Leave a comment 18 Comments Write a letter to the editor

Adam | # September 20, 2012 @ 8:55 AM — Flag Comment

We scheduled Austin Peay because we had to move some things to be able to open with Alabama next year, thus negating almost everything you said. Austin Peay was a late addition when most teams have full schedules.

As for Bowling Green, they're a FBS team that was 5-7 last year. That's not great, but it's not like they're a bottom of the barrel team or FCS team. We scheduled Pitt before they tanked (not that it mattered in the end) and Cincinnati is a solid team.

We can't play a powerhouse every year, but we've done pretty well to schedule some of the best teams in the country in the past few years. We've played Alabama and USC, play Alabama next year, and have Ohio State and Wisconsin for the following 4 years.

Before criticizing the scheduling, you should look at more than just this year's schedule, and maybe do a little research.

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Anonymous | # September 20, 2012 @ 11:05 AM — Flag Comment

How about we finally just leave the All Cupcake Conference and play meaningful football games in the SEC. 10 wins against the junk of the ACC and a few crappy out of conference teams doesn't mean squat. It blows my mind that people think that this is such a feat. Look at our record against good teams in big games and you see what kind of teams we produce. With a $50 million buy-out thanks to the ACC bending over for Notre Dame, it looks like it may be awhile before we get out.

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Chris | # September 20, 2012 @ 1:56 PM — Flag Comment

"Before criticizing the scheduling, you should look at more than just this year's schedule, and maybe do a little research."

The problem with your suggestion lies in the suggestion itself. The CT isn't filled with the most educated of people. You are absolutely correct in all of your statements. Scheduling is done years in advance. Had we not received an offer to play Alabama to start the year next year, we would be playing ECU instead of AP. Oh well, I'm happy playing Alabama again. Regardless, it's not the schedule that messes with our players, it's the lack of focus. Players admitted to overlooking Pitt. Now that we've been beaten down, let's hope we can pull it together for when we have to play Clemson and FSU. The season is far from over. Anybody expecting a National Championship this year wasn't looking at the whole picture. Next year's schedule is set up for a strong season. Logan should return. Depth on defense this year will help us for next year. We are (hopefully) rotating in young linemen to get them significant playing time. Our team will be more mature, but only time will tell if the players want to win, or expect to win.

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Predictor | # September 24, 2012 @ 5:17 PM — Flag Comment

This will be, at least, a 5-loss season;

Pitt
Cincinnati
North Carolina
Clemson
Florida State

When you're beating the crap out of Bowling Green on points but you still have to pass to get first downs, that says it all. We will lose to Florida State by at least 40. If we lose to Miami, I'm not watching again until both Thomas and Stinespring are gone.

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cheap jordans women | # September 26, 2012 @ 3:24 AM — Flag Comment