This weekend ticks off a Notre Dame road game bucket list. Although the first game of this series came 2 years ago during the forgettable 2016 season (can you remember much from the previous meeting?) it’s this inaugural trip to Lane Stadium that has been among the Top 10 must-visit homes in college football for the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame (-7) at Virginia Tech
Lane Stadium
Blacksburg, Virginia
Date: Saturday, October 6, 2018
Time: 8:00 PM ET
TV: ABC
Series: 1-0-0 Virginia Tech
Third-year head coach Justin Fuente has breathed some respectability into the Hokies going 22-9 thus far after the program slumped to a 29-23 record from 2012-15 before his arrival. Although Virginia Tech has turned into a solid ACC team (Fuente is 13-5 within the league with a division title in 2016) this will be only his 6th game against a ranked opponent since coming to Blacksburg. Thus far, Fuente is 1-4 in those game losing the last 4.
3 Pre-Game Topics
Enter Sandman
A lot will be made about the atmosphere this weekend and not without its merits. The Hokies do have one of the more entertaining pre-game set ups in the country, especially for a night game. The stadium is also at a very high elevation which can cause some issues for visiting opponents.
However, in keeping with tandem that Virginia Tech hasn’t been the same program it once was during the best of Beamer (their last 11-win season was 2011 and the last with 2 or fewer losses in 2005) their home field advantage hasn’t been what it once used to be.
The Hokies have played 7 ranked teams at home since 2011–so on average 1 per season–and they’ve lost every single one of those games. Over that same time frame they are 16-13 at home versus Power 5 opponents.
Miami Redux
Having said all that, last year’s game against Miami shook the program in a way that wasn’t supposed to happen. For one night, the Hurricanes channeled their inner-1989 and turned a usually sleepy, half-empty stadium into a complete mad house.
The Irish have prepared all off-season for the opportunity to perform in a big, loud environment to show that it won’t affect them. This date has been circle on the calendar for a long time because it’s 1 of only 4 true road games on the schedule with Lane Stadium being in a class by itself in terms of fan intimidation.
We’ll also see how Ian Book handles the pressure of being The Guy in a hostile environment. Remember, he was unceremoniously thrown into the fire at Hard Rock Stadium last year which led to a lot of people writing him off for the future based off half a game of snaps.
Let Down Sandwich
While discussing this game with people it’s been interesting to see a bit of a dichotomy in whether this is a potential let down game for the Irish coming off a huge win over Stanford. On the one hand, as previously mentioned this game has been circled for a long time and you would think a ton of emphasis has been placed on staying mentally focused in a tough road environment against a pretty decent Virginia Tech squad.
But, as we often find out the hard way, that’s not how things always work in college football.
2 Key Opponents
QB Ryan Willis
This game looked eminently easier a couple weeks ago after Hokies quarterback Josh Jackson went down with a Malik Zaire-esque ankle injury in their loss to Old Dominion. Then, redshirt junior Ryan Willis took over, did a few nice things to finish the ODU game, then carved up Duke last weekend while looking really effective.
Willis was half way decent (for Kansas standards) as a true freshman with the Jayhawks then following a wrist injury and a Charlie Weis firing he never got back into the mix in Lawrence. He’s not particularly mobile but is a big dude (6’4″, 223 lbs) and will throw the ball up a lot. Actually, be prepared to see a passing offense a lot like Stanford from last week.
ROVER Reggie Floyd
The junior Floyd was the leader of a rebuilt secondary this year overcoming the loss of several players, including a pair of NFL Draft picks. He’s a former safety that is really active near the line of scrimmage with 9.5 tackles for loss since the start of last season.
The Hokies weakest link, perhaps on their whole team, is believed to be their inexperienced secondary. They’ll want the converted safety Floyd to be really disruptive near the line of scrimmage to make up for it.
1 Prediction
When Fuente was hired it was considered a mini-miracle when defensive coordinator Bud Foster remained with the program. He’s now been in Blacksburg for over 30 years and he’s been DC since 1995! Although his best years feel like they’re behind him the results have still been impressive. He’s put together a Top 20 S&P+ defense in 6 out of the last 8 years all with a whole bunch of 3-star talent.
The Hokies did surrender a Foster-era high 632 yards a couple weeks ago to Old Dominion which is a huge reason why their current S&P+ ranking has them at 30th nationally–otherwise, they’ve suffocated their other opponents. Speaking of that ODU game, it may mean something or it could mean very little. One thing is for sure it was really weird, why were you playing a road game at Old Dominion!?
This game on Saturday is super intriguing because there are things on both sides of the ledger pointing to a win or a loss.
In favor of Notre Dame, we’ve already discussed Lane Stadium being a bit of an emperor with no clothes on type of situation. Additionally, the Hokies really aren’t that talented in the national picture sense and as we talked about during the off-season they had to replace a lot of talent, especially on defense. The Irish are much more talented from top to bottom.
It’s also hard to believe this Notre Dame defense is going to struggle against a relatively unknown backup quarterback making his second start with his new program. This more than anything makes me believe the Irish take care of business on Saturday night–this defense is scary right now through 5 games.
National Rankings
| STAT | IRISH | HOKIES |
|---|---|---|
| F/+ | 7 | 30 |
| S&P+ | 9 | 35 |
| S&P+ Offense | 37 | 35 |
| S&P+ Defense | 5 | 30 |
This game shouldn’t be confused with a look-ahead situation. That will, arguably, come next week against Pittsburgh should the Irish be victorious on Saturday. The impending bye week will be looking awfully enticing with one more game to play.
I don’t really have concrete reasons why Virginia Tech will win. If it happens it’ll probably be some mixture of Ian Book coming down to earth, the Bars injury being a big deal, poor special teams, and a few crucial penalties tilting the balance. I had Stanford as the No. 1 loss on the season and following the Josh Jackson injury immediately thought this was game quite winnable. To reverse course does feel like I’m only putting the anti-jinx out into the world.
Unfortunately, there are let down sirens and lights flashing about this game all over the place. Rightly or wrongly, the playoff talk has begun to surround the Irish–and unlike the past month when prognosticators had Notre Dame losing to Wake Forest or Vanderbilt–the media is now completely on board with the picks for this game are now overwhelmingly in the favor of blue and gold.
Further, first-year starting left tackle Liam Eichenberg said, “I’m excited to go in there, kick the [redacted] out of them, get a win, then get out of there” to provide some nice bulletin board material. Oh yeah, he’s the guy who won’t be playing next to senior captain Alex Bars who is done for the season with a knee injury! Let’s just throw in Tech unveiling a statue of Frank Beamer on Saturday, defensive end Houshun Gaines playing after the death of his mother, Justin Fuente playing the hell out of the ‘no one believes in us card’ and this game is a lot more worrisome than the healthy but not-quite-that-large spread suggests.
I don’t think there’s a harder place to win than at Notre Dame when the rest of the world starts telling you how good you are. The distractions, already tough to deal with on a regular basis, come flooding in from more sides. Thinking about Notre Dame’s defensive line in operation makes a pick against the Irish seem silly and yet it’s college football and a loss makes a lot of sense, too.
I’m driving 4.5 hours for this, so you damn well better be wrong here.
I think you’re overthinking this one Murry. You had to bend over backwards to come up with a combination of 4 factors that would lead to a loss. There was a perfectly good reason we lost to Miami last year. Total offensive collapse resulting in large part from poor QB play allowing the D to stack the box and tee off on our offensive backfield. I’m not seeing that happening this year. Hokies will need to defend the whole field. Also not seeing this backup QB be the first to put up 20+ on us (non garbage time). Not with the Irish playing good complementary football and playing better in all 3 phases at the same time than I can recall.
Incidentally Stanford is 20th in F+ and 31 in S&P+. Are the Hokies 21 points better even in Lane Stadium and with the Irish sans Bars?
I think the Irish are focused and so relieved and overjoyed with the Book offensive renaissance that they will be motivated to continue thr dominance. It feels too good dominating for then to let up already. I’m going with 34-13. Irish.
In Eric’s defense, who saw the offense collapsing prior to the Miami game? We had just pounded USC and NC State and then put up historic numbers against Wake Forest. This game looks an awful lot like last year’s Miami game. Miami wasn’t very good last year but put it all together on one night against the Irish. Who’s to say VT won’t do the same?
I think we should win fairly easily. But someone once told me “Winning is hard” and I’m inclined to believe him.
It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibilities that Tech could win this game by a bit and/or Notre Dame could be flat.
But it would be surprising. Miami is Miami and had a ton of momentum/belief with that stupid chain, were undefeated (at the time) and had was more talent than VT- who is on their 2nd string QB and dismissed their leading sacker. On that day, the magic was right for Miami. I think they would have beaten just about any college team who got off the bus that night.
Miami also had some belief in themselves for the first time in forever, AND the Catholics vs. Convicts documentary fresh in their memories. Which meant nothing to our guys, but created some imagined historical grievance for their “fans” and team to feel the need to rally around. VT, they’ve got a statue and the first time ND has come to Lane Stadium, but there’s no inherent hate they can draw upon.
Remember the first TD? Berrios mimicked being cuffed as he jogged off the field. That was another level of, as you say, an imagined historical grievance.
Exactly. All this s(tuff) that happened before they were born, but the players were hyped up about it. Ours were not. It made a difference.
I mean, who remembers stuff like that ancient history and makes it part of their football hatred? Oh, and completely unrelated, F— Michigan, those anti-Catholic, anti-Irish racist KKK jerks.
(edited because I forgot this wasn’t the gameday chat)
One demerit for not properly censoring M*******.
HAH!
Like I said above, not real tied to the let down only being in comparison to one football game last year.
To me, I see far more factors for this Saturday. Some don’t agree and that’s fine!
My theory is after predicting the Book switch and being one of the few writers to predict a Wake blowout, you’re trying to rein in your clairvoyance. You don’t want to predict TOO many things correctly.
I appreciate the perspective and insight. Hope you’re wrong but you may well not be.
Don’t worry he is.
Never defend Eric, Burgs.
Miami wasn’t good last year but they were a lot better than VT is this year – particularly their defense, which IIRC was ranked about 30 spots higher in S&P+ coming into that game than VT is coming into this game. S&P+ actually predicted a 1-point Miami win last year; it’s predicting an 8-point ND win this week.
VT got torched by Old Dominion through the air and Duke probably missed 4 or 5 TDs on overthrows and drops against blown coverages. Their corners can’t defend anyone by themselves, maybe not even me, so they’re going to need help. And when they get help, it’ll open up the box for the run game and/or the seams for the TEs. Their OL is not in good shape; our DL will be able to eat them alive one-on-one all night, which is another thing we didn’t have going for us in Miami. Their outside receivers are pretty decent, but it won’t matter much if Willis can’t get the ball out. Their RBs are meh.
I think we have one-on-one advantages all over the place on both sides of the ball, which again, we couldn’t say about Miami last year. I don’t see this team coming out flat or scared, not with veterans who were in that environment in Hard Rock. My main concern is that Fuente and Foster are really good, and they could cause us problems through scheme. If we have that kind of trouble, I think the game will still favor us but it’ll be tight. If we can handle their wrinkles, I think we’ll run away with it.
I also can’t shake the feeling that *they’re* trying too hard – after all, Beamer announced his retirement almost three years ago. Why dedicate a statue tonight? Because ND is visiting, of course. Plus there’s some kind of rumored “wrinkle” to their pregame thingy, they have a ton of recruits coming in… I don’t know, it has a USC 2011 feel to it, only we’re the composed visitors this time.
ND 41
VT 17
They are just so sooooo bad in pass coverage. I think if we can throw the ball all over and open the run game to gash Stan, we should have no trouble wtih the VT hobbit CBs.
Miami wasnt any good? What kind of insanity is this comment? They were undefeated, #7 in the country and absolutely rolling with momentum. There’s a reason their crowd finally decided to show for a game…that matchup was HUGE. They didnt end the season on a high, but they finished #13 in the country. They were pretty solid
Soooo 28-10?
They weren’t elite like they played against us. They went 4-0 in October against 7-6 FSU, 5-7 Georgia Tech, 4-8 Syracuse, and 3-9 UNC with a *total* margin of 18 points.
After our game, they let Virginia hang around longer than they should’ve and then lost their next three games with a total margin of -55 points – 24-14 at Pitt, 38-3 to Clemson in the ACC title game, and 34-24 to Wisconsin in the bowl game.
They were decent, but they scraped by against some cream puffs to build their profile and then spit the bit every time it matttered, except of course for the night they all decided to lock in at the same time.
Not that I’m bitter or anything.
Just went back and looked at the Miami preview from last year. I predicted a double OT win and nearly everyone, including Clay, were like “what Miami isn’t that good.”
Guess those perfectly good reasons weren’t as apparent before the game!
Yeah whatever Murtaugh. Not fair using my own words against me. Dirty pool old boy.
Ok no those reasons were not apparent before the Miami game. We’re so high right now just lo ike we were then. But now we have a quarterback who doesn’t routinely make us question the coaching staffs competence, intelligence, visual acuity, and worth as human beings. I think that, thr offensive balance, and the dominant defensive play are distinguishers. Also we’re significantly more battle tested than VT. They’ve played no one and will have a bit of a shock in playing us I think.
I mean yeah VT could put it all together like Burgs says, and ND could collapse via Murtaughs 4 enumerated weird wild factors. But which is more likely? Just because a bad thing happened once with a different quarterback doesn’t mean it’s more likely than not it will happen in the same way again. What’s our confidence level in a win here? Mine is much higher than in a loss.
Even without the Miami game last year it wouldn’t change my perceived let down factors for this game.
That’s the thing about let down games, you can’t really judge them based on things like transitive wins. Also, another thing about let down games is that fans tend to fight they’re gonna happen. A “bad thing happened once” versus the giant scroll of let down games in Irish history probably isn’t a road we need to walk down.
As discussed below, I think our good play is still a little fresh for the let down. To me this game is more like NC State last year. Also wasn’t Miami more of a face plant than a let down game? I mean we really sucked it up in multiple phases. Not to say it won’t happen again, but we’ve answered some questions at QB and those answers have had a dramatic effect on the whole offense. Also isn’t our D playing more dominantly than pre-Miami last year? What’s our YPP given up at this point in 2018 vs. pre-Miami in 2017?
I don’t think Miami was in the let down game territory coming off Wake Forest the week prior, kinda my point.
It was a big road loss which is comparable in that sense.
Not to quibble, but was Miami really a Let Down GameTM? Our D had displayed cracks the week before against Wake. Wimbush was our QB and the offense clearly had fundamental issues with him at QB. As of now, the 2018 D has not shown cracks really (at least not since Vanderbilt) and we don’t have the same fundamental offensive issues on offense with Book at QB. Now, that’s not to say we’re perfect. OL has to show us they’re up to the challenge this week. As a program we need to show we can win on the road and in November. But i think overall we’re a much more balanced team than the one that played Miami and the defense isn’t limping into that game like they did against Miami. I think the balance lessens the chance of a Let Down GameTM versus the 2017 team that played Miami.
Are you arguing with yourself lol?
Hmmm I didn’t think so…. although to converse with an equal I am forced to do so….
I really don’t see this as a let down game, though. Ball State? That was a let down game. Bad lower level team, right after a huge opener. This is nothing like BAll State, other than the fact it follows another big game. This is also a big game, against a good team, on prime time. This team remembers what happened when they took a team lightly. I also don’t put much stock in the surroundings. As many have said, they all re,ever what happened in Miami last year. They are not going to repeat that mistake (for all the reasons previously mentioned.) If ND loses, I think it will have been because of turnovers, injuries, or a combination. Sure it’s possible, but not likely. ND 33 VT 17.
Kelly has never been great at foreseeing problems but he has been good at fixing them once they rear up a few times. Winning on the road has been a problem. Clearly the Miami game last year, overwhelmed ND’s psyche. I think Kelly has targeted fixing that since last November. It was even emphasized in winter workouts. I think this team has circled this game for a while, to prove that they’ve learned how to handle tough environments. There will not be a let down.
I get that this feels like a setup for the classic, deflating, why do I do this to myself, ND let down game. I just don’t see it, though. Is it just me, or is it completely absurd that Virginia Tech is even ranked right now? They have a loss to Old Dominion, and wins over the Florida State School for the Blind, William & Mary, and Duke. Duke is not too bad a team right now, but really, If you take away the brand name of FSU, this record would seem about right for a middling team in the MAC or something. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched a ton of VT football this year, mostly highlights and a little channel flipping, but they just don’t look like a good football team. They look like a decidedly lower tier of talent than what ND has. Willis got a lot of passing yards on weak, sloppy passes that ND’s secondary would feast on.. if he even has time to throw them. I think ND wins with a two possession lead.
It is really crazy that they are ranked. No doubt about that.
The dominated a “helmet” team we all recognize in FSU–sure, we all know that FSU is horrible NOW, but that impression is strong with 87 year old AP voters.
87 one year olds are voting on the AP now?
Quantity over quality???
87 one-year-olds gives you more man hours of experience than 2 43-year-olds. Or 3 28-year-olds. And there’s no substitute for experience. Look it up.
As the parent of a 1 year old who has slept over half his life, you need to adjust your experience ratios
Sleep half their lives, but rarely the half you want…
still better than the coaches poll
I loved Eichenberg’s quote. Your characterization of it seems to fall for the click-baity headlines bouncing around Twitter — “Notre Dame OL thinks they will kick the **** out of VT”
Aside from it being a generally badass line, have to love someone stepping into the role that Bars may not be able to play while he’s injured (i.e. OL leader alongside Mustipher).
Yeah, I love that he has that mentality. And let’s be honest – VT doesn’t need bulletin board material to get up for this game. They were gonna give ND their best regardless.
Agree there for sure. I think that’s a comment that will pique the interest of fans more than anything else. Is it shocking that a 6’6 310 pound guy whose job is to keep slamming his head/body into other very large men is going to be aggro about it? No. That’s the point of football. I’d prefer athletes give interesting quotes rather than speak in cliche. But of course, now that you say it, you better be ready to go out there and live up to it.
A case could be made that maybe the second worst player among the starters, who could have a hard time without Bars, and is going to face Gaines probably not the best guy to say that?
I don’t know it would be different coming from someone like Tranquill.
good point and serious question–how has the OL that we saw against FMichigan and Ball State been giving up so few sacks and running the ball so well since then? Is it solely Book’s zone-read-iness and RPO-iness and ball-spread-iness backing defenses off? I know we haven’t seen a defensive front 7 like Michigan’s since, but then we couldn’t run and gave up sacks vs. Ball State too. I don’t know I was rewatching the game and it seems like we ran that GT counter play (or reasonable facsimile thereof) a lot and to good effect on the ground. It also seemed like the TE’s were the best run blockers and the OL often whiffed or did just enough for the play to be successful.
So thinking about what I saw, it looked to me like scheme was getting backs free in the run game, improve passing and zone-reads/RPO execution was forcing the D to back off, and pass blocking was just better/executed against non-Gary/Winovich people.
It wasn’t just Book or just zone-read/RPOs because the Oline’s biggest one game improvement was between Ball State and Vandy when Wimbush was still in.
The two biggest improvements have been the tackles are being a bit more aggressive pass blocking because the first couple games they were sitting back too far waiting for the DEs and then missing the wash. And second the pulling linemen hitting somebody (anybody) in the run game and to some extent these things are both technical, so they made material technical improvement after seeing how they performed against BSU.
New OL coach could be a factor. Seems logical to me that a unit so dependent on working together takes a bit longer to gel.
Who’s the worst guy starting? Ruhland?
Yeah probably.
My choice might be Mack
Before Wake Forest that would’ve made sense, but why now? 7 catches in the last two games plus a really sweet TD. 4th on the team in catches, 4th in receiving yards, 5th in yards per reception. And he’s been blocking.
He still had a bad drop last week. He is who he is.
I would not mind seeing Kmet targeted twice as much as Mack.
I can’t disagree with those reasons and I’m terrified of this game. I hate all the playoff talk! Hopefully the kids could stay grounded.
Definitely can see the Miami comparisons, but I think ND comes in focused for this game. Rather than Stanford leading to a let down, I think it focuses them to “this could be for real” but VT still holds enough threat that they get back to attacking their prep.
I think our offense could struggle a bit in comparison to the last two games, but I also don’t think they’ve seen anything like our D-line and we force some fumbles or bad throws for INTs (or both). In the end I’m feeling ND winning by 2 TDs+ is more likely than a VT win of any kind.
Do I think we’re a top 3 team? No. Do I think that we are significantly better than VT? Yes, and I think it’ll show by the end of the game.
I agree especially with the conclusion. And other than being a night game on the road, I don’t see much parallels to Miami.
I have a lot of confidence in the gameplans that Lea and Long have developed and the execution under Book has been flawless, and the defense has been consistently great all year. Notre Dame should be the better team and win this game.
Top to bottom, Tech in my mind is a similar team/mentality to Stanford but lesser (and no JJ Arcega-Whiteside or Bryce Love to be found). More spread in concept now with Fuente but still.
Yeah this game has a more 2017 NC State feel, road setting notwithstanding. Just dominated a rival, now taking on a slightly less touted but still feisty ranked foe with a good defense. Team should be focused to continue dominance, especially heading into the Valley of the Shadow of Death or rather of a Really Bad Head Cold That You Should Be Able to Kick Soon.
I love me some sandwiches, but one sandwich that I hate, is a letdown sandwich.
Turkey sandwiches also suck, but I’ll eat one this week
I worry about RB depth, and I think a Book letdown is likely at some point.
One thing I find reassuring is VT’s secondary. They are apparently young and were largely why they were upset by ODU. If our passing game stays functional, I think we should be okay.
> If our passing game stays functional,
(If Book stays healthy)
That. Also, I agree with Eric that at some point, Book will have a bad game. Let’s hope it’s against Pitt.
For as bad as our schedule looks, I can think of reasons to be scared of every team (except Florida State). Pitt is awful, but they have one game every year that is pesky at best and an upset at worst. I just hope that even if Book has a bad game, we’re good enough to work around it.
I’m hoping he has his bad game October 20.
He had it on September 1st, tough to measure up as a holder when you’re filling in for holder of the year (finalist) MVG!
We either win big (I was going to say blow them out, but I mean more like last week–control the game, look dominant, but is 24-17 in the 4thQ and then smothering them to make it 38-17 a blowout? Not quite I think) or it’s a super close toss-up. All in how quickly we can start and get ahead of the atmosphere. Anyone who thinks that either their game against FSU or their game against ODU is representative is fooling themselves–it’s somewhere in the middle, as FSU is just trash and they clearly overlooked ODU, who was hyped for the game of the season. Who will be hyped for their game of the season this week? Virginia Tech.
I think ND is better, and I think Book is the difference. He’s unflappable. It’s not reasonable to expect that he’ll continue at the level he has the past two weeks, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a mistake or two, and be off. But one of the ways he appears to be TFR 2.0 is that it doesn’t seem to affect him so far. Rewatching the Stanford game last night, I was amazed at how much pressure he was under (our O-line was not doing a great job, to be honest) and he so calmly moved around in the pocket, or got out of the pocket, and made plays. Even if it wasn’t a big play, it wasn’t a sack (he was sacked once, which is a testament to how well he did getting away from some crazy pressure).
I wouldn’t be surprised with either a 38-17 game that mirrored last week or 27-24 with either team winning, I think. But overall I lean towards us winning by a comfortable margin. Not because I think ODU factors anything into it, I just think we’re better.
Wait Tech has 6 more games on the schedule AT Old Dominion. What? Why in the world would they do that? Can you even imagine ND fans if Swarbrick schedule a 12 year home and home series with Ball State?
Unless Tillery/Kareem/Okwara all get hurt (which might not be impossible based on how many times Kareem has already been helped off the field this year), I don’t see any way we aren’t consistently hitting their QB all game. I don’t see Tech scoring 3 TDs against this defense, and I don’t see this offense scoring fewer than 3 TDs against Tech. So as long as we don’t get slaughter on special teams (gulp), I think we cruise.
“Wait Tech has 6 more games on the schedule AT Old Dominion. What? Why in the world would they do that? Can you even imagine ND fans if Swarbrick schedule a 12 year home and home series with Ball State?”
Hey, an easy win is an easy win. Doesn’t matter where it occu…::Check’s VT’s results::…oops, never mind.
I think most people who question it don’t understand Virginia geography and demographics. ODU is in the Norfolk “Tidewater” area, which is a huge hotbed of HS talent. VT has always made recruiting there a priority. VT is practically in Tennessee, on the other side of the state, in the mountains. They decided to play ODU at ODU for the same reasons ND does the Shamrock Series. It’s easier to get the CROOTS in their prime CROOTIN’ grounds to a game against a local team that they should easily dominate. I mean, it’s a flawless plan, except….
I mean, just suck all the fun out of it…
Nothing is more fun than watching a top 25 team schedule something for CROOTIN’ purposes only for it to blow up in their faces. (pay no attention to our New Yawk Yankee Irish uniforms…)
This is absolutely correct. Playing in Hampton Roads is very good business and smart for Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech has dominated the 757 pulling a ton of talent out of there from the days of Bruce Smith to Michael Vick to Kam Chancellor and D Hall and every Fuller brother there is. They don’t quite have the area completely fenced off (Percy Harvin was a rare miss due to track and field considerations) but it’s pretty close.
Playing ODU should basically be a cakewalk, showcase for all the local talent and easy win. Problem is no one told ODU this year.
ESPLOSIVA played for VT?
He was a Pennsylvania Fuller, not a Hampton Roads Fuller.
If Muncie, IN, were a recruiting hotbed where ND pulled most of it’s talent, then yes, I could see doing it (the fanbase would still kill Swarbrick). See my response to Drick, but the VT scheduling on the ODU game is all about recruiting, with the (misplaced) assumption that the games would be easy wins.
Back when I lived in Charlottesville, I made the drive to Norfolk several times, as well as the drive to Blacksburg 1 time. Both of those drives were annoying as hell; I can’t imagine combining them. So yeah, if Norfolk is a recruiting hotbed, I can imagine that this scheduling decision isn’t a horrible idea.
68-12, mark it.
One more point would be NICE
I just don’t see VT getting 13
Referees have a role to play in this… VT often plays aggressively in the secondary, with lots of holding and bumping when defending 1:1. If referees don’t call it, this is a very effective way to shut down the passing offense and look like a “Bud Foster” defense that then turns the front seven loose because the wideouts can’t get space. So, I think if referees call two or more PI or defensive holding calls on VT, ND will win. If it’s under two, I think the legend of Bud Foster defenses is rejuvenated and ND loses a close game. I think ND generally does not get these sort of calls, so I tend to agree with Eric’s prediction.
The thing is, this is exactly how Love plays CB. He’s…handsy. So as long as they call the game even, rather than on ND but not on VT, I think we’re okay.
Ask Arcega-Whiteside, Love is just trying to live up to his name by giving out lots of hugs to WRs.
Pre Va Tech Depth Chart Notes:
Bars is definitively out for the season. As a result Ruhland is now the only lineman listed twice in the depth chart, as the starter at left guard and the backup at center. The 6th and 7th guys in regardless of who else might go down are presumed to be Banks and Lugg.
Tony Jones Jr is listed on the Irish depth chart this week and the coaches are being cagey about whether he’ll play with an ankle sprain suffered last week. I initially had him listed as injured but removed the injury tag and moved him down the depth chart. Get ready for Number One Back Dexter Williams.
Drue Tranquill has a fractured metacarpal and after some research it’s unlikely this will require his arm to be amputated so apparently he’s going to play through it.
The “materially banged up but expected to play effectively” list is getting longer and the bye week will come at a great time for the Irish regardless of the next two results. Kraemer, Hainsey, Kareem, and Kmet are all expected to go. Armstrong is still expected back after the bye.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tuz1FdIW9k2JGIFk7CiWwDHx_hvHRoIqHSMGVQRiGBM/edit?usp=sharing
Also, is elevation really a concern? Blacksburg is 2000 feet above sea level. We’re not talking CSU here.
But WHICH sea?
Yeah, we really need to know the elevation in regards to Lake Michigan. Or maybe the St. Joe River. Or St. Mary’s Lake. Screw the sea.
^^ This guy us on a bit of a roll today. ^^
As a life-long Virginia native and big sports fan I’ve never once (before today) heard anyone mention the elevation in Blacksburg as a potential pitfall.
The weather can be quite nasty at times, but with the forecast as overcast skies and temps in the high 60’s it should be about as ideal as possible for October.
I am currently, and grew up, in Amarillo, TX. Smack dab in the middle of the great plains. Elevation 3,600′. I have never once considered this to be an “elevation”.
17th highest in the country, I think? At one point the highest in Power 5 but it may have been passed by Utah maybe? No, not crazy high but still.
Folsom is 56xx ft in Boulder
Rice–Eccles is 46xx in SLC
Martin Stadium is 25xx in Pullman
56 feet that high?
Seeing as how ND is at about 700 feet, this seems pretty meaningless. I do a fair amount of outdoors trekking and from my experience a 1300 foot elevation change is not even going to be noticed.
I think the average hiker is not going to notice that, but when you think about guys, especially big linemen, fully exerting themselves in a football game, I think every bit of conditioning advantage/disadvantage you have is at least somewhat meaningful, especially if the game ends up being a nail biter.
Feed Dex. Dude’s been way higher than that.
Holy hell, dude. Comment of the freaking day
I mean, he’s probably got the munchies, even.
“the real problems with altitude don’t begin until about 3,000 feet above sea level” From an article in Human Kinetics. At 2000 ft. there should be no issue.
So, that explains Colorado.
There are four states whose lowest point above sea level is greater than 2000ft.
I feel like you couldn’t see the joke through the smoke, tlndma.
I live in Mass. Law passed last year. I knew what you meant. Had no bearing on my post.
I’m going to throw this out there even though it might end up not being that close, but the sneaky interesting game of the week is the much-mocked Florida State Seminoles visiting the #17 Miami Hurricanes. This is the game that could completely change the story line of a talented team’s season. Maybe Miami can pin their efficiency down better than a BVG led defense, but a really fast team with nothing to lose in a rivalry game could be a recipe for some fireworks.
Miami is somehow a 13 point favorite. That seems like a good money making opportunity to me.
Miami made their own ND-ish QB change to replace a 50% veteran QB with an unknown younger player who has turned out to be more capable and explosive. They looked really good against UNC. Granted, UNC.
But FSU has been dog poop. I actually liked the U to cover the points.
FSU is a hair’s breadth from walking around campus looking for fat kids to try out for O line. Their line is truly atrocious. I think Miami is going to cover that no problem.
Easy money.
Okay, go ahead and gloat. I did not see that coming.
Irish 41 to 20.
I think things get a little sloppy. Loud environment for us. Backup QB against a good defense for them. We’ll see 4 total turnovers during the game and as long as they aren’t all us giving the ball away the D will lock them down and we’ll move the ball against a bad secondary enough to secure a comfortable-ish win.
Take my hand
We’re off to never never land
Jack Nolan just reported that the Irish have landed in Roanoke. Which is only moderately closer to Blacksburg than South Bend. South Bend might not be the ideal vacation spot, but at least it has an airport.
It’s only 45 mins….JFK to Yankee Stadium is ~1 hour, MIA to Hard Rock is ~30 mins, LAX to the Rose Bowl is ~ 1 hour
Yeah, but knowing that isn’t helpful to the joke.
My in-laws live in that region of VA. That’s a small, small airport.
Question: are we significantly overplaying the “hostile environment = 2017 Miami” story-line? I know it’s fresh, but it represents the most extreme example of ND under Kelly getting undressed in a primetime night game. I’m not willing to say that Hard Rock Stadium was THAT much louder than Clemson in 2015 or FSU in 2014, both games in which ND probably should’ve won. Hell, the 2012 team won at Oklahoma where Bob Stoops was nearly untouchable for 15 years.
ND got blown out against Miami because they just didn’t show up, period. Add in the fact that Miami was the first team smart enough to ignore Brandon Wimbush’s passing and that made for a non-competitive game. I feel like if this team loses it will be because they just lay an absolute egg because VT is not better than us. I just hate the “crazy atmosphere” excuse because other ND teams have handled that problem with far more aplomb.
We are something like 2-16 (someone can give you the true number, this is a guess) on the road against teams that finish the season ranked. Maybe we should have won those games but we didn’t and that’s the concern.
That said, I think you’re on to something and gave you an up vote for questioning #TheNarrative
Va Tech is such an inferior team compared to most of the ranked opponents we’ve played under Kelly that I’m in borderline no-excuse territory: we should win this game handily. Even if it’s at Lane Stadium, which has been perfectly accommodating to every single ranked team that’s played there since 2009.
I’m still nervous that they’ll blow it, but if they do it would prove this team was never a true playoff contender because those types of teams routinely handle their business in games like these.
>I’m still nervous that they’ll blow it, but if they do it would prove this team was never a true playoff contender because those types of teams routinely handle their business in games like these.
So, like Miami last year.
A Book in hand is better than 2 in the Wimbush.
Different qb, worse opponent, no rivalry/hate factor, better defense, less hype around the game, ODU…..this is not the same
Nah, I don’t really think it’s the same either. But given the part I quoted, WE (ND) are in the same situation–trying to prove we’re a title contender. If we handle our business, then perhaps we are. If we lose in Blacksburg, just like when we lost in Miami, we are not a legit title contender. (Miami being a better team than this year’s VT, any loss to VT has the same functional effect of proving we are not a title contender as the blowout loss to Miami did). Maybe if things break right we could be in the playoff talk at 11-1, but the VT loss to ODU would be a weight dragging us down, and the system is designed to find reasons to keep us out (any 12-1 conf champ is ahead of an 11-1 ND by default, no matter who we lose to).
Unless there’s just an atrocious ref-job in this game, there’s no excuse to lose to this team. Miami last year was sooo much better than this VT team which showed in that game. If they can’t win tonight then they wouldn’t deserve a playoff slot.
I’m being pretty harsh but that’s what happens when you’re a title contender playing a team that was bowled over by Old Dominion.
Right. I’m agreeing with you. I’m not saying VT is like Miami last year. I’m saying that we, ND, are in the same position–a title contender, looking to prove we belong. The Miami blowout loss proved we didn’t. A loss to VT, even a close one, would be a big flashing neon sign that we’re not a playoff team.