On Saturday, November 15 in the year 2003, it took the Virginia Tech Hokies a missed extra point by the Temple Owls in overtime to come away with a victory in Philadelphia. That’s right, the Temple University Owls. Let it be noted that this day will be a turning point in the future of the Virginia Tech football program. Not an embarrassing loss at West Virginia, or a dominating win against Miami. No, November 15, 2003 and the following week of practice will show where this program is going.

In the last four weeks, we have experienced some extreme tumult in the Virginia Tech family. The Hokies played one of the worst games I’ve witnessed in my 18 years as a Hokie fan, in Morgantown, West Virginia. This was only to be trumped by an incredible experience in thrashing Miami the next week in Lane Stadium. The next week, the Hokies traveled to Pittsburgh and came up short, despite 241 rushing yards by Kevin Jones. And then Temple came. Those scary, scary Owls.

I didn’t believe I could feel any lower than that Wednesday night against West Virginia in October, but the Temple game proved me wrong. But my feeling was not pain, or sadness, or agony. It was one of disappointment and disgust. I have no doubt in my mind that this year, the Hokies assembled one of the most talented teams in the country. But that wasn’t the problem in this game. Up until the 2000 season, I never thought I’d say that the coaches weren’t what I expected, but following that 11-1 season, it has become all too much the norm in Blacksburg.

We have the talent on the Hokies; I strongly believe this to be true. And so believing this, how is it possible that a team of this caliber go in to Temple and play so woefully poor? We must look deeper to find out. And when I look, sadly, I find the troubles to be within the coaching staff.

I am in no way insinuating that changes need to be made with the staff, though that could be the case. But it is truly depressing to watch such a talented group of players come out and perform as they did. How can this coaching staff not get this group motivated? Can they not just play for themselves? Play for the pride of the game, to be better than your opponent. Coach Beamer will go on the post game show, and the press conferences and say how this Temple team came out to fight, and were motivated, and just played their tails off. That’s not it, Frank.

It’s time to stop making excuses at Virginia Tech. We have too good a team to be making excuses for poor play. Yes, you’re not going to come out every week with the same intensity, but this is inexcusable. It’s time to start taking responsibility, not placing blame. Tell your players, and yourselves, that you didn’t do your job well this week. Because you didn’t. True, sometimes, the other team is just the better team one week, but that’s not always the case, and that shouldn’t always be the answer to the questions. Sometimes you just have to have the gall to step up for what you did and just say it wasn’t there. Sometimes it’s not, but let’s not hear the excuses when we know that some of these teams aren’t better than us.

I’m not a coach, and I don’t call the plays. But sometimes I just don’t understand the calls. Why are we having this quarterback controversy? (And yes, it now is one). It’s throwing off the team chemistry, even if they are both great talents. Why aren’t we running the ball in the fourth quarter after KJ has put up 135 yards? I don’t know, but as I said, I’m not the coach, and I’ll try not to judge.

We, as fans, deserve more. 10,000 travel to Pittsburgh. 15,000 to Philadelphia. 10,000 come out, two hours before the Miami game, to pump up these players before the biggest game of their lives, and most of ours too. These fans love this team. Do we deserve an apology? Maybe. I know I’ll never give up on this team for the remainder of my living days. It should be the same in the locker room. If you can’t show up to do your job against an inferior opponent, I just say don’t show up. The fans always show up, no matter the weather, opponent, record. Whatever the circumstance, we as Hokie fans are a mainstay for Virginia Tech football.

After all of this, I offer a suggestion. Take the empty trophy case out of the Merryman Center until we can put something in there. Perhaps we’re thinking about it too much. Yes, if we finish out, 10-2 is a good year. But that shouldn’t be a way out of playing poor football. The Hokies made mistakes, let’s talk about them and work on them. Not settle for 10-2. If 10-2 is a good year (and I believe it is), then we don’t deserve a trophy case reserved a National Championship trophy. If that’s our goal, then make it the goal, don’t settle for less.

Voice of the Fan Archives