Bye Week, Volume 1 (Deep Breath edition) ...

Looking for a little silver lining after the loss to Georgia Tech that knocked the Hokies out of the national championship chase?

Well, here’s the main one: If Virginia Tech wins out, there’s still a very good chance the Hokies claim the Coastal Division title and will get a shot at playing for the ACC crown and in the Orange Bowl.

Also, if the Hokies win out -- very, very possible with the remaining schedule – taking the ACC and Orange Bowl titles ... they would record the first 12-win season in school history. That’s no small feat.

I know fans want the big, big prize. But I’d caution against losing perspective. This is still a good football team and it is an excellent program that has risen from total obscurity to the point that a SIXTH CONSECUTIVE 10-win season ... might be a disappointment to you, the faithful. Think about that one.

Also, note this: While it was absent for the first 37 minutes of the game against the Yellow Jackets, the Hokies’ offense continues to show flashes of life and big-play potential. It is still not the consistent, clock-grinding, methodical offense you folks (and the coaches) want, but it’s better than what you’ve had.

Virginia Tech racked up 195 yards and 21 points in the final 23 minutes of that game. QB Tyrod Taylor and RB Ryan Williams are major, major playmakers. Williams continues his climb toward the very top of the heap among running backs in this country.

Taylor, it seems, has blossomed into a full-fledged quarterback. A true dual threat. He ran when the Hokies needed it against the Yellow Jackets. And he ran well. He also picked Georgia Tech apart when he got a chance (although he threw just 14 passes).

Taylor threw two interceptions, but neither were his fault or the result of poor judgment. The first was heading to a wide-open receiver but was tipped up into the air at the line of scrimmage. The second was a Hail Mary on the last play of the first half. Beyond that, he made great decisions and great throws.

Taylor now ranks fifth nationally in pass efficiency and LEADS THE NATION (tell me you predicted that and I’ll call you a liar to your face) in yards per attempt (9.8).

Williams, meanwhile, now has 999 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing and receiving in seven career games. He was sick as a dog all last week, shut down in the entire first half against the Jackets ... then ripped off a runs of 21 and 66 yards during the Hokies’ comeback bid. He caught a touchdown pass, too. The kid is a player.

So is Dyrell Roberts, who made an incredible 40-yard catch on his back Saturday and returned a kickoff 58 yards right when the Hokies really needed it (although they then wasted that great field position). Roberts is second nationally in kickoff returns and Brent Bowden is 12th in the country in punting average.

So ... Will the Hokies play for a national title this season? Nope. Are they still pretty freakin’ talented? Yup. And might this still be an impressive year? Uh-huh.

Oh ... and ... will just about ALL the big-time playmakers for this team be back next year, with a much softer schedule and the bad taste of blowing this year’s title run? Yes, sir.

So take a deep breath. Virginia Tech tripped over itself in Atlanta. And Georgia Tech, led by an offensive genius, played its guts out against the Hokies.

It is – as coaches like to say – what it is. It’s not, however, the end of the world (or season). And now here’s what the Big Whistle had to say after a day to think it over ...

HEAD COACH FRANK BEAMER

OPENING REMARKS: “The plans for this week: We’ll practice tomorrow (Tuesday) and the next day, then take a couple days off and come back Saturday to start our preparation for North Carolina. It was a tough loss. Give Georgia Tech credit again. They did a nice job, did a good job. I think for us right, it’s go on and be as good a football team we can be and see what happens. I think there’s a lot of football to be played and we need to take care of what we can control.”

ON THE TIMING OF THE OFF WEEK WITH ALL THE SICKNESS AND INJURY: “I think from that standpoint, it is good. It’s kind of midway here. Rest our bodies a little bit and rest minds a little bit and get ready for a tough five-game stretch coming up.”

ON HOW BANGED UP/SICK HIS TEAM WAS AGAINST GEORGIA TECH: “We had a couple guys, but again, having some time here helps that situation.”

ON QB TYROD TAYLOR’S CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT AND THE BIG GAME HE ENDED UP HAVING EVEN IN A LOSS: “He gives you hope. There’s no question about that. The first interception (against GT), the ball got tipped. The second one, he’s just throwing the ball up and hoping we can come down with it on the last play of the half. But he’s really played well. He was 10 of 14 for 159 yards ... had 13 carries for 63 yards. I think this football team can be one of the very best we’ve had. But we’ve got to continue. I felt that way last week, felt like we were coming along. Saturday wasn’t lack of effort. It was lack of execution at times, but I don’t think it was lack of effort by anybody on our football team. Our goal is to come on and be one of the best football teams ever to play here at Virginia Tech.”

ON WHETHER HE HAD LET HIMSELF START TO THINK MAYBE THIS WAS THE TEAM THAT COULD GO BACK TO THE NATIONAL TITLE GAME: “Well, I think we’ve got a good football team. There’s a lot of good football teams out there. And there’s a lot of football to be played yet. So I’ll get ready for North Carolina.”

ON WHETHER THERE’S A COMMON DENOMINATOR FOR THE DEFENSE ON THE GAMES THEY’VE PLAYED POORLY: “Saturday, Georgia Tech did a very good job of executing. The fact is that they’ve run that offense for a long time, have seen about every defense and for us and the teams that’s playing them, you usually see that thing one time a year. But I do think this: We looked hard at the film yesterday and there are some things that we’d do differently. The more you play against that offense and study it, the better everybody will be against it. But when you try to get ready for it in one week, it’s difficult. The name of the game ... is executing what you’ve got.”

ON SS DORIAN PORCH MENTIONING A CHANGE TO GT’S BLOCKING SCHEME AFTER HALFTIME: “I’m not sure if Dorian’s talking about the way their slots were reading our people and according to how we reacted, they would block one or the other guys. Or the last play that went to the end zone, they came back and cracked on our quarterback support. They hadn’t been doing that. But we were taking the pitch a different way, too, so then they adjusted and came back and cracked on the guy that had the quarterback and freed him up to run. So I’m not sure which one Dorian’s talking about.”

ON WHERE HIS TEAM IS MENTALLY RIGHT NOW: “We meet this afternoon at 3:15. We’re going to put this behind us and get going again. There’s a lot of football to be played. We’ve got us a good football team. We’ve got to keep building to being a really good football team. We’re going to keep going in that direction.”

ON PUNTER BRENT BOWDEN HAVING A BIG-TIME SEASON: “I think he’s really concentrated on his height, and as he’s concentrated on getting the ball higher, the distance has been good. And it really helps the coverage when you get the ball up in the air and get the head hunters on down the field. He has really studied punting. He’s studied the pro people. He gets the ball out of there. Hopefully he’s got a future in the NFL.”

ON BOWDEN HAVING TO FORGET ABOUT STATS AND JUST KICK, BECAUSE HE GOT IN HIS OWN HEAD, HE SAID, LAST YEAR: “I think he understood: You’ve got the capabilities; You’ve got the talent; Just go do it. Quit worrying about what-if. I think he’s done a good job of that this year. He hasn’t let his mind tie up his kicking.”

ON HAVING 195 YARDS AND 21 POINTS ON OFFENSE IN THE LAST 23 MINUTES AGAINST GT, BUT STRUGGLING SO MUCH IN THE FIRST 37 MINUTES ... AND WHY: “I think, certainly, Tyrod made some big plays and got things going. Whether it’s offense or defense or special teams, it’s execution. Executing what you’ve got.”

ON RB RYAN WILLIAMS TALKING ABOUT INTENSITY AFTER THE GAME AND NOT WAITING UNTIL LATE TO HAVE IT: “I don’t know that ... I don’t fault our effort or intensity. For whatever reason, we didn’t execute in some areas as well as we needed to.”

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