Tech needs to run to win. Good luck with that ...
So it didn’t snow so much last night after all and there was no snowball fight amongst the hacks this afternoon. Just as well. Even better weather news, though, is that we’re all headed to sunny Tampa in a couple of days.
To me, it’s a chance to lay on the beach for an afternoon. To you fine folks, it’s a shot at seeing your team win a third ACC title in the five years since joining the league. By the way, it’s a little stunning that the ACC has that stat WRONG in the official game notes. They say if the Hokies win this one, they’ll take their SECOND league title since joining the league in 2005.
Oops. OR … their third since joining in 2004, to be exact. This Tech team gets no respect, does it?
But while we’re talking titles … how ‘bout this crazy thought I had randomly today while riding to practice: The Hokies can honestly say they’re just a single win away (in 2006) from at least playing for the ACC title every season since they joined the league. In 2006, the Hokies finished a single game out of the Coastal and they CLOBBERED the eventual league champ, Wake Forest, that year. Also, had Tech beaten a mediocre FSU team in the ’05 title game … you could argue this program is a couple of bounces away from being 5-for-5 in conference championships. Pretty impressive.
I’ve criticized this year’s offense plenty in this space, and in print, but I am happy to give credit where credit is due. For whatever reason, in whatever way, this team has won at an amazingly consistent rate over the entire time I’ve covered them – which has oddly coincided exactly with their five years in the ACC. I’d like to take a minute, then, to thank coach Frank Beamer for almost always assuring that I ring in the new year in some warm locale.
Now back to your regularly-scheduled noting of negative numbers …
So, I was working today on a story about Tech’s offensive line facing Boston College’s two freakish defensive tackles – Ron Brace and B.J. Raji, both All-ACC guys – yet again. It’s the fifth time Brace has seen the Hokies’ interior linemen – Nick Marshman, Ryan Shuman and Sergio Render – and the third time for Raji, who didn’t play last season.
Those two guys really make the Eagles’ defense go. They clog the middle, often require double-teams, and free up linebackers Mark Herzlich and Mike McLaughlin (174 tackles, 20 tfl, 7 sacks, 7 interceptions between them) to make big plays.
Because of Brace and Raji, NO ONE runs on Boston College. The Eagles rank seventh nationally against the run. Tech and Georgia Tech are the only two teams with at least 150 rushing yards against the Eagles this season.
But the Yellow Jackets, a prolific option-based offense, were held 120 yards below their season average and 110 of the Hokies’ rushing yards came on Tyrod Taylor scrambles.
Tech’s tailbacks, Darren Evans and Josh Oglesby, went for 40 yards on 23 carries. And this is not new.
Here’s a look at Tech’s rushing numbers in its last four meetings with BC:
* Oct. 18, 2008 at BC – 38 carries, 150 yards.
* Dec. 1, 2007 ACC title game – 36 carries, 98 yards.
* Oct. 25, 2007 at VT – 41 carries, 116 yards
* Oct. 12, 2006 at BC – 28 carries, 33 yards
That’s 143 carries for 397 yards in four games. An average of 2.8 yards per carry.
Clearly, that ain’t gonna get it done. The staff’s stated goal on offense this year is to win by running the football. That’s been the norm under Beamer. And when Tech out-rushes its opponent, the Hokies are 154-30-2 under Frank. They’re 20-59 when they’ve been out-rushed.
Food for thought. And now some quotes for conversation …
OL COACH CURT NEWSOME
ON WHY BOSTON COLLEGE GAVE THE LINE SO MUCH TROUBLE LAST TIME: “They’ve given everybody trouble. They’re seventh in the country against the run and they’re eighth in the country in total defense. They play pretty good against everybody. Not just us. They’re good.”
ON WHAT HE SAYS TO HIS INTERIOR LINEMEN WHO HAVE TO FACE THOSE BIG D-TACKLES AGAIN: “You’ve got to compete. We won some battles, we lose some. We’ve got to win a lot more than we lost last time. Nobody’s been able to run the football on these guys. We had some yards rushing. We may have had as many as anybody against them. We need to be better in protections. They do a lot, they send a lot of people at you. There’s a reason they’re so good in turnover margin. There’s a reason they are what they are.”
ON EVERY TEAM’S STRUGGLES RUNNING ON BC, BUT OBVIOUSLY NOT BEING ABLE TO TOTALLY ABANDON THE RUN, SO … “Our biggest deal right now is just winning your one-on-one battles and competing. I don’t think it’s a question of schematics. We’ve played each other several times. It’s those times in protection that you’ve got to lock onto a guy and finish or run-blocking, staying on blocks. It gets back to fundamentals with everything.”
ON WHETHER HE DOES ANY EXTRA MOTIVATION WITH HIS LINEMEN THIS WEEK: “We watched our last game with them today. And what we’re trying to do is fix anything that was broken. They understand. I don’t think our guys – as much as people want to say they do – I don’t think they mind competing against people. They don’t. I think we’ve done some good, solid things. I think the last time I checked, we’re third in the league in rushing.”
ON WHETHER THERE WAS ONE THING IN PARTICULAR IN THEIR LAST MEETING THAT GAVE THEM TROUBLE: “No. We couldn’t get anything going. We couldn’t get any consistency up front. There were some short-yardage things in the second half. And we just never got consistent at running the football.”
ON HOW HE FELT ABOUT HIS GROUP, AFTER STRUGGLING AGAINST DUKE, THE WAY THEY PLAYED AGAINST VIRGINIA: “If everybody’s into yardage, we had yardage. I guess that’s what we’re judged by anymore. I don’t know what we’re judged by. I know we’re going to the ACC championship, and I know sometime, the offense has to be a part of that. I thought we stepped up to the plate a little bit last week, and I’m proud of these five guys. We were able to move the football. I think the one thing I’m most proud of is 81 plays. When you have the football 81 plays, you win games.”
C RYAN SHUMAN
ON THE ROUGH ROAD TO TAMPA: “It wasn’t as smooth, but we reached the ultimate goal and have a chance to make a splash in the BCS, pull off the win on Saturday.”
ON WHETHER, AT ANY POINT, HE THOUGHT THIS TEAM MIGHT NOT MAKE THE TITLE GAME: “I don’t think that ever happened. This team stuck together. We’ve always practiced hard and played hard and pushed ourselves to get better. It hasn’t always carried over to executing in the games, but I think as long as you approach every day where I’m going to try to get better and play my hardest and show everybody I’m here to try to win games, I think it all works out. And we’re here to try to win one last one.”
ON USING DOUBTERS AS MOTIVATION: “The way I get motivated to play games, I try to prepare myself individually to win my individual battles to help the team win the game. Obviously, we need to work together as an offensive line. But I always just say, ‘Play good.’ You play good and take care of your business, it always seems to happen. I put a lot into it this year and it’s paying off. I think everybody has. We all prepared ourselves for this season. It hasn’t gone the way we wanted it. It wasn’t as smooth as we thought it would be. But we’re here, and we have a chance to get back to Miami.”
ON HOW MUCH HE HATES LINING UP AGAINST BOSTON COLLEGE’S FAT BOYS UP FRONT: “They’re not that fat. They’re pretty solid guys, pretty explosive athletes. We’ve been playing against each other so long, you know the guy. We have a friendly little battle, a clash every time we play each other. They’re good players, two NFL players, so it’s always a challenge, always just a little bit more preparation when you know you’re facing something like that.”
ON TECH WANTING TO RUN THE BALL TO WIN, BUT BC NOT LETTING THAT HAPPEN: “It’s a challenge. It’s two big bodies. You get one of them blocked … we’ve got two hats on one guy and one hat on the other guy … they’re good players, they make plays, they stuff it up. If you put two hats on this guy, you’re not getting to the mike linebacker, who’s a good player, or you’re not getting to the sam linebacker, who I know is a great player. They’re good players and the scheme they run is a physical style. Obviously we want to be physical at the point of attack, too.”
ON WHETHER LINE COACH CURT NEWSOME MOTIVATES THE LINE A LITTLE EXTRA WITH MIND GAMES OR WHAT-NOT THIS WEEK: “When is that guy not motivating us in some get-in-your-face type of way? He’s a very fiery guy. He gets his point across. But we’re at the point where we know what we have to do and we know if we win the battle, we’re going to win the game.”
ON WHETHER THERE’S SOMETHING TECH CAN DO SCHEMATICALLY TO HELP OR WHETHER THEY JUST HAVE TO BEAT THEIR INDIVIDUAL MAN HEAD-UP: “We need to win individual battles and execute. The scheme they run, we’ve got to recognize what they’re doing, what they’re moving, blitzes that are coming, and just take care of business.”
ON WHAT HE DOES PERSONALLY TO GET READY FOR THE REMATCH: “You just want to play good, try to learn from your mistakes, watch film, see what you did last time, see what they were doing. It’s two very stubborn schemes. You know, we want to run the ball first. They want to stop the run. We want to be physical. They obviously want to be physical. It’s always a battle. It’s almost boring to the point where you know what you’re going to get day in and day out when you play Boston College. When you see them so many times, you get to know them. And it kind of gets a little bit old.”
ON HOW, IF IT’S ALMOST BORING, YOU GET EXCITED FOR IT: “Because you’ve got a chance to go back to Miami for a week. I had a pretty good time in Miami last year.”
ON NOT ABANDONING THE RUN GAME JUST BECAUSE BC IS VERY GOOD AT STOPPING IT: “Of course, we’re going to come right at them like we always do, like we came after Virginia last week. We’ll try to do the same thing, try to execute a little better. We’re just going to try to turn it around.”
ON QB COACH MIKE O’CAIN SAYING THE PROTECTION HELPED TYROD TAYLOR HAVE HIS BEST GAME LAST WEEK, KEEPING HIS LINE OF SIGHT CLEAR: “We played well. I think everybody played legit, they stepped up. We just need to step it up another level. I know we’re practicing hard. We’ve got to turn our game up, obviously, with the type of players they have. If (Taylor) has time, he can pick you apart with his legs and his arm. So we’re just going to try to make it an encore performance.”
ON WHETHER HE CAUGHT THE MARYLAND-BOSTON COLLEGE GAME ON TV LAST WEEK: “I saw that Ron Brace guy, he hurt his toe. That got me a little excited.”
ON WHETHER HE CARED WHO THEY WERE FACING IN THE TITLE GAME: “Who knows? I wasn’t really paying attention. I was celebrating. We were all celebrating. We were back. Whoever we played, it’s going to be a challenge. Florida State had a great defense, too. They were the fastest people I’ve ever seen in my life. So, not really (didn’t care who the opponent is). Just another game. It just means a little more.”
ON WHETHER, HAVING SEEN BC’S D-TACKLES SO MUCH, THEY SPEAK BEFORE GAMES: “It’s more like we talk throughout the game. A little friendly banter. I mean, we got after them pretty good (last time). We were throwing them around a little bit. But obviously it didn’t show up in the stats. We need to step up our run game, especially the inside zone and power plays and stuff like that.”
ON BEING SICK, AS A SENIOR, OF HAVING HEARD ABOUT THE LINE’S STRUGGLES EVERY SINGLE SEASON AND WANTING TO HAVE STRONG PERFORMANCES IN HIS FINAL TWO OUTINGS: “It’s been up and down all year. Of course we want to go out with a bang. I want to play well and execute and win the game.”
ON WHETHER HE HOPES TO BE ABLE TO SAY, ‘LOOK AT US NOW’ AFTER THIS NEXT GAME: “Just look at us going to Miami. That’s what I want to be saying. So, yeah, it’s been up and down, but the whole league has been up and down. I think we deserve to be here just like anybody. We won some games early, then lost some games late, then we picked it up at the end. All that counts is we’re playing this week, we’re practicing again, for a higher purpose. For a championship. That’s all that matters now.”
ON BEING HEALTHY AFTER GETTING HURT AGAINST DUKE: “Oh, I’m healthy. I’m ready to go. After the little Duke scare, I’m good. I just got rolled up on. (RG) Sergio Render, just jealous, he’s trying to end my career early. (Smiling) He’s done it to me a couple times. Just fell right on it again. Beau stepped in and did a nice job, but I’m back, so I’m good.”
ON ALL THE CLOSE GAMES, SEVEN OF THEM DECIDED BY A TOUCHDOWN OR LESS: “It’s always going down to the wire. It seems like I’m always playing in the fourth quarter. It’s a little bit different, especially early in my career we had a lot of experience, a lot of talent. The inexperience this year just led to close games. We haven’t really pulled away, but we’ve found a way to win.”
ON HAVING BOTH OF BC’S D-TACKLES IN HIS FACE: “Yeah, I’m definitely right in the middle of both of them. We’ve shared some times together, those two guys and me and Nick and Serge. We’ve played against each other a lot. It seems like it’s getting old.”
ON HOW IT IS FACING RAJI: “It’s physical. You hurt after the game.”
ON WHETHER THE LINE WILL CHANGE ITS BLOCKING SCHEME AT ALL TO COMPENSATE FOR THE EAGLES’ D-LINE: “They know what we’re going to do. We know what they’re going to do. So not really. We’ll have some wrinkles in there in the game plan, but we’re going to try to run the ball and execute a little better.”
ON THE EXPECTATION FROM BOSTON COLLEGE: “We’re just going to get a physical style of play, aggressive style of defense, a lot of blitzes, a lot of good defensive players. You expect that out of Boston College every time you play them.”
ON RENDER BEING NAMED SECOND-TEAM ALL ACC LINEMAN: “Congratulations, Sergio. Second-team All-ACC. He’s a good player when he’s not taking me out. (Smiling) I’m under the radar. He’s the stud.”
ON HIS FATHER, THE FORK UNION COACH, CRITICIZING VIRGINIA COACH AL GROH AND EVEN TECH O-COORDINATOR BRYAN STINESPRING ON HIS RADIO SHOW: “(Shaking his head) Yeah, he has a radio show. Look, he goes in there and the guy’s like, ‘This is what we’re talking about.’ And he just goes off. He’s good, he’s on a whim. He’s quick. Everybody knows he’s just trying to be controversial. I think one time he said that Virginia should hire him. So who knows?”
ON WHETHER HE’S GONE ON THE SHOW, TOO: “I have, actually, many times. I think I’ve been on the show like five times. It’s pretty fun. It’s actually a pretty good time. I’ve learned from the best, I guess. He’s a character. He’ll tear you apart.”
ON HIS DAD SAYING GROH SHOULD BE FIRED: “I’m not touching that. He’s my father. His radio show is separate from my opinion.”
ON WHAT HE SAID EARLIER ABOUT PUSHING BC’S D-LINE AROUND SOME IN THE LAST MEETING: “Well, they got us, too. Don’t say it like we were killing them. Trust me. Our running back had 21 carries for like 20 yards. So don’t take it like that. That’s all we need.”
ON HOW NASTY BC’S GUYS CAN BE: “One guy took the Notre Dame guard and tackled the running back with the guard. He wasn’t doing that to us. There was one time he like power-bombed the Notre Dame guard into their running back for like a 6-yard loss. They’re the best guys we see year in and year out. The best guys I’ve seen in three years.”
ON THE ACC TITLE BEING HEAVILY ON THE LINE’S SHOULDERS: “Yeah, it’s on us. This is what we’re preparing for, a physical battle.”
ON WHETHER DOMINATING THIS GAME AS A LINE WOULD MAKE THE REST OF THE SEASON’S STRUGGLES GO AWAY: “The past is the past. We’re going to try to win, and it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen.”
ON WHETHER IT’S STRANGE THAT THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR WILL HAVE A SMALL CROWD LIKELY: “We’ve been playing each other the last few years in Florida, and they’re in Massachusetts, so obviously it’s a long ways away. I’m sure it would be more fans if it was a Florida-based team. But we’re not worried about that. We’re just trying to win. It’s not Lane Stadium, but we’re not expecting it to be Lane Stadium.”
ON WHETHER THE ACC TITLE GAME IS A MICROCOSIM OF THE LEAGUE THIS YEAR – TWO TEAMS WITH TOP-10 D’S AND BOTTOM-30 O’S IN A CONFERENCE WITH SEVEN TOP-25 D’S AND SIX BOTTOM-30 O’S: “I mean, yeah, we highly rely on our defenses. I don’t think there’s any secret about that. We’ve got good players on the other side of the ball. Lots of ACC teams have good defensive players and good defenses. It’s nothing new. It’s always a challenge. Like I said, it’s been rougher than we thought. But, hey, we’re going to try to execute and win one more game. The (offense) that makes more plays, scores more points (will win). We’ve got to produce some points and try to make it happen.”
ON THE STRUGGLES IN THE RED ZONE, ESPECIALLY LAST WEEK, AND PROBLEMS ON THIRD- AND FOURTH-AND-1: “They killed us. Short-yardage hurt us all year. We just need to be better, stay on people, recognize certain stunts.”
