Another regular season behind us, another ACC Championship, another trip to the Orange Bowl, and another year of wondering what Acme Corporation strategy our offensive coordinator, Wile E. Coyote, will employ this week to try to catch the road runner. This has been the most emotionally draining season we can ever remember….and in just a few hours we will board a plane to Miami for some fun, sun, and miniature-umbrella-topped bourbon and cokes. Damn, we love bowl games.
This year’s game is all about revenge. Not for the 1946 Sun Bowl which we lost to Cincinnati 18-7, nor for the 1995 16-0 shutout humiliation we suffered at home en route to the 1995 Sugar Bowl title….no this is just general revenge against the Orange Bowl itself. Twice we’ve gone to the Orange Bowl. The first time we lost to Nebraska, like we were supposed to. We were a pesky upstart, and they were in between national championships. We played well, they patted us on the rear, and then kicked the crap out of it. Last season, Kansas was the upstart, and we were the established program. They were supposed to lose; we were supposed to win. It’s the college football circle of life. Hakuna matata. But our offensive coordinator had different ideas. At half time, he pulled Coach Beamer aside and told him of a new idea he read about on the internet, the forward pass. He wanted to try it out in the second half. Instead of running the ball down their throats like we should have, he closed his eyes, reached into a hat, randomly selected passing plays that in no way resembled the down or distance, and then called them down to the sideline, presumably using two tin cans attached to a very long string. As you may recall, this resulted in yet another humiliating bowl loss.
Fortunately, we get a do-over this year against the upstart Cincinnati Bearclaws, not just Big East champions, but also a tasty, sugar-covered treat. Who knew a member of the donut family could be a fearsome mascot?
Five weeks, two games, and a partridge in a pear tree ago, we told you we were facing a series of one-game mini-seasons: UVA, the ACC Championship, and the Orange Bowl. Win each one and we stayed alive for the next. Win all three and this season became a success, the Tyrod redshirt burn was worth it, and the foundation was laid for a young team with a bright future. This Orange Bowl is probably the most important bowl game we’ve played since the 1998 Music City Bowl. Perhaps even since the 1995 Sugar Bowl. We have to win this game. This is our sixth BCS bowl, and we’ve only won one, 13 years ago. Generally, we’ve stunk it up in bowl games. We haven’t won a bowl game of any significance since 1998. All of that should change tomorrow.
Cincinnati is ranked 12th after an 11-2 season. But they became 11-2 playing the Division I-AA schedule most refer to as the Big East Conference. They struggled with Rutgers, they lost to UConn, their marquee wins were over Pitt (28-21) and West Virginia (26-23). We aren’t ridiculing them. They are a talented team, but if we are half the program we think we are, we should punish the Bearcats (really, Cincinnati, make up your mind, bear or cat, which is it?).
Offensively, they have played four quarterbacks due to injuries just like us. They settled on Tony Pike, and they are pass-happy. They have the ability to score a lot of points and do it quickly. Fortunately, they have only faced one defense even close to as good as ours (Oklahoma) and lost that game 52-26. Their running game is average, and their offensive line is suspect. They give up 2.3 sacks per game. We will stick with the tried and true Bud Foster formula: shut down the run, pressure the hell out of the quarterback, and wait for mistakes. This should all go according to plan with relative ease even with Jason Worilds and Brett Warren out with injuries (Nekos Brown and Barquell Rivers will start in their places).
Like most weeks, the real question is just how bad will our offense be? The past three games have seen great improvement for us moving the ball. Tyrod is starting to hit his stride, and Darren Evans has emerged as a real running back. They will both need to play very well because Cincinnati starts 10 seniors and a junior on defense. Much like the ACC Championship game, this one will come down to Tyrod making plays. And we think he will. Taylor is poised to emerge as a real star next year, especially after a spring to work on mechanics. He has the legs, leadership, and ability to win already. The second Boston College game really showed his ability to win games.
On special teams, we find ourselves outgunned for the first time in a while. Cincy’s punter is the best in the nation, they have a great field goal kicker, and a great return game. We are strong punting and kicking field goals, but our return game has been spotty and kick off coverage has been awful. We really need to step it up to match that effort. Also, we are guaranteeing a blocked kick in this game.
Simply put, we have to win this game, if for no other reason than the earth beneath Blacksburg may open and swallow the university whole if we lose. We can’t even contemplate the consequences in Techtown of another major bowl game loss, especially to a Big East team. We just have to win. Anything else is too scary to ponder.
One final issue we have with Cincinnati is their logo which was obviously stolen from Chick-fil-A. Which brings us to next season. In what can only be described as a shocking reversal of strategy, Jim Weaver, acknowledging that scheduling all our games on the road this year did nothing to deter tailgating, has abandoned his strategy of opening the season with joker patsy opponents you’ve never heard of and, instead, has scheduled Alabama in the season opening Chick-fil-A Classic in hopes that a season-opening blowout loss will decimate the program and allow us to face one of his favorite directional schools in the magicJack St. Pete Bowl.
Fellow tailgate freedom fighters, you have earned this bowl game. No one has worked as hard with so little offense and so few decent home games as you. You stayed positive and tailgated your little hearts out. You could have quit. No one would have blamed you. We lost four games and easily could have lost seven. But you refused. You drove to North Carolina. You flew to Nebraska, and Massachusetts, and Florida, and Florida, and Florida. You showed up for Furman and Western Kentucky with your $44 face value tickets that were selling for $3 and/or a can of vegetables in Lot 1. You believed we could stick it in even though in your heart you knew punting on first down was our best offensive strategy. This Orange Bowl Championship is for you.
Va. Tech 30, Cincinnati 13.
I believe.
Copyright 2008 by noisemakers. All rights reserved.
Could someone please explain how Pitt almost covered the spread in the Sun Bowl without scoring a single point? Someone please put the Big East out of our misery. Know who would make a great Big East team? University of Richmond. |
