It’s one thing to win a football game on a late September afternoon.
It’s an entirely different situation when the gales of November come early, your offense and defense struggle throughout the first three quarters, and large numbers of people on social media think it’s so bad, both offensive and defensive coordinators need to be replaced.
Yet somehow, on just such a Saturday in Chestnut Hill, MA, the Hokies found a way to win.
As has been famously noted by Mike Tyson, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, and Boston College threw haymakers from the very beginning. Ethan Grunkemeyer has shown himself to be a fine QB but he couldn’t get anything going in the brisk wind and heavy rain. The Hokie running game had been effective in the first three wins, but Jeffrey Overton and Marcellous Hawkins rarely found any seams to run in and even wunderkind tight end Luke Reynolds either struggled to catch balls or when he did, he was tackled for very short gains.
The defense caused me to utter phrases I usually only say when being awful on a golf course. BC’s only consistently successful play was the scrambling and running of quarterback Mason McKenzie, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what was coming when the Eagles needed big yardage. But despite everyone within a thousand miles of Chestnut Hill having this bit of information, the Hokie defense still seemed to find ways to make McKenzie look like the second coming of Michael Vick (or Fran Tarkenton if you’re my age) time after time.
Defensive coordinator Brent Pry’s name was said in vain many times on social media. Offensive coordinator Ty Howie wasn’t receiving comments any more charitable, and it was looking like the classic Hokie massacre in Beantown. Down 14-6 with only 11 minutes to go, this one seemed destined to end with the Hokie D giving up another score or two, the Hokie O throwing an interception or being stopped on 4th and short, and all the good will the first three wins of the season generated being carried out to sea by the raging Nor’Easter.
Except that didn’t happen.
The tried and true script of the Hokies breaking your heart in the end got flipped. Grunkemeyer found his passing touch and three minutes later he threw a touchdown pass to Marlion Jackson. On the two-point conversion, nobody fell down or the ball was thrown out of the back of the end zone, as Overton just powered up the middle to convert and tie the game.
Then the defense that bent from here to Cleveland and back decided not to break. After allowing two first downs, they forced a punt. An offensive line that struggled to find a seam for its running backs parted the right side of the BC defensive line like it was the Red Sea and Overton went 76 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Whoa, I said out loud. In the span of not more than 5 minutes the Hokies went from an almost certain defeat to an incredible win.
The team just grew up right before our eyes.
That’s because every team looks good when the sun is shining and momentum is on your side. But it’s the time adversity is right in your face and you have to figure out what you’re going to do that defines a culture. The Virginia Tech rocket ship took off in 1995 after starting the year with two losses, the second an absolutely awful one in the rain to Cincinnati.
Faced with the choice of a mediocre season or figuring it out, that team got off the mat and won 10 games in a row, culminating in a Sugar Bowl win over Texas. Leaders stepped up. Players believed. They stopped thinking they were out of games – like a notable one with Virginia at the end of that season – and figured out a way to win.
I’m not saying this team will have success like 1995. And I know there are people saying “yeah, but Maryland wasn’t any good” or “one of the wins was over VMI” or “we’re suppose to beat ODU.”
They’re missing the point.
Saturday wasn’t about who the Hokies beat. It was about HOW they beat Boston College. Key players stepped up when needed. Like in 1995, they showed they’re not the Chokies of old, and may just not fold in the end. There’s a new sheriff in town, new players on the roster, and perhaps what fans knew to be true in tough games in the past may not be true in the future.
There’s a lot more work to be done by James Franklin and company.
But maybe…just maybe…this isn’t like your father’s football teams of the past anymore.
Saturday, in the wind, rain and cold, the Hokies showed this one might be special.
