Sunday, November 11, 2007
Hokies expel ghosts
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
BLACKSBURG -- The ghosts didn't stand a chance.
Not when the interceptions started coming, the noise started rising and the 18-year-old quarterback started to become something special.
The ghosts didn't stand a chance. Not when the offense started cranking, the defense started sticking and the crowd at Lane Stadium started sensing the end of a 31-year futility streak.
The ghosts are gone now. They disappeared around 8 o'clock on Saturday night, when Virginia Tech's players picked up a cooler of water and dumped it on their coach's head. The ghosts had long since fled by the time Florida State coach Bobby Bowden came to midfield to concede defeat to Frank Beamer for the first time in eight games.
The ghosts took one last look at the scoreboard on their way out. Virginia Tech 40, Florida State 21.
They were no longer welcome here.
n n n
Tech was a better team than Florida State. The standings said it. The polls said. The oddsmakers said it.
But did anybody really believe it?
Maybe you did, but there were a lot of people who didn't. Several ESPN college football analysts confidently predicted a Seminoles victory. Fans on the message boards were cautiously optimistic, liking the physical matchup but still fearing that "here-we-go-again" sensation they'd felt so many times before.
The main reason? The ghosts. Twelve straight losses for Tech against FSU, seven coming while Beamer was the coach. And they weren't just any losses. It seemed every critical moment in this program's recent history had something to do with FSU. Even in 2004, when the Hokies made a magical run to the ACC championship, critics noted that the schedule makers spared them having to play the Seminoles.
"They'd always spoiled our dreams," Tech linebacker Xavier Adibi said late Saturday evening. "National championship, they spoiled our dreams. ACC championship, they spoiled our dreams. They left us a bad taste in our mouth for about 30-something years."
And they needed something big to wash it out.
n n n
Somehow, they were alone.
In the dormant minutes between the moment the third quarter ended and the fourth quarter began, Tech receiver Josh Morgan stood alongside freshman quarterback Tyrod Taylor, talking about poise.
"You feel all right? Morgan asked his friend. "You doing OK?"
Morgan already knew the answer. Tyrod Taylor is always doing OK. It didn't matter that Taylor had thrown a interception in the third quarter, helping FSU rally from a 20-6 halftime deficit to take a 21-20 lead. It didn't matter that the crowd was standing in stunned silence, fearing the worst. It didn't matter that Tech's offense had gone limp in the third quarter, gaining just 30 total yards after a hot first half.
Morgan could tell Taylor's nerves were fine. So he moved on to motivation.
"When you really think about it, when did everybody start talking about Michael Vick?" Morgan recalls telling him. "When he played great against Florida State. Even though it was a loss, that's really when it all started.
"If we want to be great, we've got to overcome this," Morgan continued. "We've got to come back and win this game."
Taylor smiled at Morgan. Yes, Michael Vick. He always did like that guy.
And then he played like him.
Taylor threw on the run connected on a deep pass to Justin Harper. He ran in the go-ahead touchdown on third-and-goal. He floated the two-point conversion pass perfectly to Zach Luckett.
When control was lost, it was Taylor who found it.
"All the specialness and all the talent in the world just came out of him," Morgan said. "He played perfect in the fourth quarter, made plays and led us to a victory."
n n n
The flurry that followed left no doubt. Interceptions by Chris Ellis and Brandon Flowers. Another touchdown. A safety.
The crowd noise kept rising ... and rising ... and rising.
"They might as well have been on the field, it was that loud," Ellis said.
And it wasn't just the fact that the Hokies were beating FSU; it was how they were doing it. For the second straight week, their offense looked like a legitimate, big-time threat. Harper had a career game, catching five passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. Taylor threw for two touchdowns and ran for 92 yards, including that go-ahead touchdown.
And just two weeks after blowing a 10-point lead in the final minutes to Boston College, the Hokies showed they could not only hold a late lead, but extend it.
"We've just got that fight in us," Morgan said. "When the play needed to be made, that's when everybody came together and made a play. That's when Justin got that catch. That's when Ty ran in the end zone for a touchdown. That's when we got that two-point conversion. That's when Chris Ellis got that interception. That's when Brandon Flowers got that interception.
"When their numbers were called, that's when everybody showed up. I think it does show something about character."
Something worth celebrating.
n n n
The clock ticked under a minute. Athletic director Jim Weaver paced the sidelines, sporting a dark suit a derby hat.
Weaver was smiling. Everybody was smiling -- until the public-address announcer asked fans not to rush the field when the game ended.
Boos rained down from the stands. Weaver shook his head. The administrator in him knew that announcement was worse than not saying anything at all.
"Why don't we just invite them out here?" he said.
Sorry, Jim.
They were coming either way.
They'd waited a long time for this, and finally it was safe.
Finally, the ghosts were gone.
