Sunday, November 25, 2007
Hokies marching to new beat
Aaron McFarling
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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Frank Beamer danced to rap music in the postgame locker room. I did not see this, unfortunately. But according to those who were there, this actually happened.
The dancing would not be described as "good," according to witnesses. Technically speaking, it was closer to awful.
But it was spontaneous and it was fun. In those ways, it was a lot like this Virginia Tech team.
Take a risk. Put yourself out there. Try something fresh and exciting and potentially humiliating. That's what Beamer and his staff have done this season, and that's why Tech is now 10-2. That's why the Hokies were able to gloss over an middling day by their defense and defeat Virginia 33-21 to win the ACC's Coastal Division championship.
Everything changed this year but the ending. The records were different. The rankings were higher. Tech's offense was more complex than it had been in years, featuring the passing game at least as much as the run. The Cavaliers were much improved, and in close games, they'd been as clutch as any team in recent memory.
But the final scene at Scott Stadium was one we've seen so often before: Tech players hanging around in the end zone, waving a flag in front of their fans. Tech's defensive players shoveling sod into a lunch pail. Recruits at the rivalry game -- and there are always recruits at the rivalry game -- standing on the field in their high school letter jackets, pointing and giggling at the celebration.
To get to that point, though, Tech had to reinvent itself in midseason. It's the ultimate in oxymorons: Tech had to change to maintain the status quo. The offense that showed up against LSU and North Carolina and Clemson would not have won this game. Not a chance.
So go ahead and upgrade this new-look offense from "weird" to "wonderful." The two-quarterback system the Hokies are using is no longer just an oddity. Over the course of three games, it has established itself as a lasting, legitimate threat. You can see it in the eager nature of the players who run it, the way they bounce in and out of the huddle, ready to snap the ball again.
That's why it didn't matter when the Cavaliers took the lead late in the second quarter. It didn't matter when they scored a touchdown late in the third to pull within two points, inviting a hungry crowd back in the game.
This offense no longer shrinks in the face of such challenges.
"We're going to respond," said starting quarterback Sean Glennon, who threw for 260 yards and a touchdown. "I don't know if we had that swagger in us until the second half of the season."
That swagger is shared by Tyrod Taylor, Tech's freshman quarterback who scored two rushing touchdowns. The second one dazzled, as he outkicked defenders Jermaine Dias and Nate Lyles to the pylon on third-and-goal, pushing the lead back to nine.
"He's going to be a very dominant force in the ACC and in the nation," UVa defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald said. "He's a fast, elusive player."
In other words, he's the kind of player you want on the field, even when your starter is playing well. And to their credit, Beamer and offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring have found the way to do that. Right now, those two men are playing all the right hunches.
You can certainly give some of the credit for the resurgence to healthier linemen and a crisper Branden Ore, because those are factors. Ore's 147 yards Saturday were a season high and had plenty to do with the outcome.
But in the past, the Hokies might have relied on those elements alone. They might have settled for an improving offense instead of an explosive one. This year, they've gone that extra step, introducing an array of new headaches for opposing defenses.
UVa was simply the latest victim. The Cavaliers are disappointed in the outcome, sure, but they are also proud of what they've done. They should be. A bowl win would give them 10 victories, an unthinkable total after that opening day fiasco at Wyoming.
UVa coach Al Groh set his jaw in the postgame interview room and talked about those positives. He talked about looking forward to playing another game.
"The only problem with it," he said, "is that it won't come soon enough."
The Hokies' next game comes in six days. It's in Jacksonville, the place they wanted to be when they set out on this journey four months ago. On Monday, they'll gather as a team and begin devising a plan to defeat Boston College, the team that handed them one of their most stunning defeats in years.
Until then, though, they can crank up the volume and dance a little more.
They've earned it.
