Bowl. Eligible. Jackets.
It’s barely October.
Game Recap in Three Sentences
Tech stormed out to a quick 15-0 lead before settling into a roughly equal game after that.
The offense once again shined with 270 rushing yards and three TDs on the ground (fitting for an afternoon where Paul Johnson was on the sidelines).
The defense allowed VT to hang around for a while but it still never felt like we were in any real danger of losing the lead.
Above The Line of the Week
- Malachi Hosley. It feels like I put him on here nearly every week, but he certainly earned it with 11 carries for 129 yards and a score. He was ripping 10 yard runs all afternoon and is quickly rising up my rank of favorite players to watch.
- Morning runs in the fall. I crushed 6 miles on Saturday in the crisp autumn air before heading over to campus and it is life-changing after running in 98 degrees all summer.
- Haynes King. This was one of the most pure, distilled King performances you’ll ever see: 20/24 for 213 yards and a TD through the air with 60 yards and two TDs on the ground. I’m absolutely begging the school to start his Heisman campaign as a RB.
Unformed Thought of the Week
I’m debating calling this the most complete game I’ve seen from this team even though it was
sloppy at times. The offense was often unstoppable, the defense came away with a turnover and some big stops, and special teams made several big plays (even though we had a kick blocked). It was far from a pretty game but I still felt like I could see the potential in every unit, even if it wasn’t for all 60 minutes. SP+ now has us as the 21st best offense, 53rd best defense, and 34th best special teams; that’s the most well-rounded set of ratings we’ve had in a long time.
5 Star (7 Star, 5 Star) Developmental Program Haiku of the Week
Running, running, gone
Ho-kie? More like let’s-go-Key
Things are getting real
Livin’ on a Prayer
If you had told me back in July that today we’d be sitting at 6-0, #12 in the country, in the driver’s seat of the ACC, and in the Playoff discussion, I’d have told you to seek help. Even the most generous of predictions had us losing a couple of games by now. Somehow though, this team has found a way to win its way directly into the national spotlight. It feels miraculous to be here but that doesn’t make it any less real.
How did we get here? Mostly on the tireless back of Haynes King. Any discussion of a midseason MVP starts and ends with him. He’s not exactly blowing people away but he sure is bludgeoning them to death. The 71% completion percentage for 971 yards and 4 TDs is a lukewarm game-manager line, but the real nitro sickos stuff is the 87 carries for 440 yards and 9 TDs. It probably goes without saying that those are all team highs. And oh yeah, those 9 rushing touchdowns are also good for second-most in the country. A blunt weapon in human form, King is the guy when we need three yards on a crucial third down; his legs have been essential in each of our wins. Beyond that though, it sometimes feels as though he’s dragging us to victory through sheer willpower and guts. Just “leader” doesn’t begin to describe it; King is the leader, the face, the engine, the heart, and the soul of this team.
The second person we should thank for our current position is Lady Luck herself. It’s hard to say that we did much more than escape Colorado, Clemson, and Wake; there’s a razor’s edge between 6-0 and 3-3. I suppose you could argue that we put ourselves in a position to win those games and that counts for something, but we also put ourselves in a position to lose several times as well. We’re far from being a dominant team and a lot of things have had to go our way to keep our record unblemished. I don’t say this to take anything away from what this team has achieved though, every great team has relied on some amount of luck. I would like to rely on it a bit less in the back half of the season though.
Speaking of the back half, here’s a quick rundown of what I’d like to see:
- A more complete passing game. We’ve got tons of WR talent but we seem reluctant to really push the ball downfield, instead opting for low-risk short passes and screens. At some point we’ll need to throw our way out of trouble though; good defenses are going to figure out how to slow us down on the ground and we’ll need to adapt.
- Fewer penalties. Stupid false starts and holdings are killers for a ground-first offense like ours and we have to stop getting in our own way so much. On the defensive side, we’ve allowed way too many dead drives to continue by committing a PI or hold. Cleaner games mean more opportunities to give ourselves breathing room.
- Fewer big plays allowed. The defense does a solid job of holding offenses to low-yardage plays most of the time, but there are still way too many third-and-long conversions and busted coverages. I don’t profess to know enough to diagnose the underlying problems here, but even just giving up 3-5 fewer of these per game would make a huge difference. The defense getting off the field earlier translates directly to the offense being able to churn away more clock and grind opponents down.
Here’s the biggest reason to believe: this team has yet to play its best. We’ve certainly played well, but we haven’t played near what I think our potential could be. I don’t want to get off the ride yet.
Halfway there.
Look Ahead
Up next is Duke (10/18, noon). This is probably our biggest test yet; the Blue Devils are a very solid football team and currently the favorites according to ESPN FPI. Their two losses are to good teams and they’ve dominated in all of their wins. This is not a game we can afford to be sleepy or sloppy in – coming away with a win is going to require consistent and disciplined football, something we haven’t really seen much of this season. Any designs on playing in the ACC Championship probably hinge on this game: there are several teams at the top right now and even a single conference loss is going to take us out of the running. If people are really going to start believing in us, this is the win we need to get.
Programming note: I was back on the sidelines Saturday so be on the lookout for the 35mm pics to be posted later this week (hopefully tomorrow)!
