Hokies rebounded from early losses to rank third in BCS poll
It has been a season of ups and downs for the Virginia Tech Hokies football team. The month of September was very rough, with narrow, unconvincing victories over the unranked teams of East Carolina and North Carolina, as well as a crushing 48-7 loss at the hands of No. 2 Louisiana State University.
Uneven performances from quarterbacks Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor gave many Hokie fans reason to fear their season might be in jeopardy. However, the early weeks of October brought two sound victories, while both Glennon's and Taylor's playing vastly improved. The Hokies soared in the rankings, and a shot at a national championship no longer seemed so far out of reach.
These hopes all but came to an end on Oct. 25, when Virginia Tech suffered a heartbreaking 14-10 loss at home to Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Boston College. This was a severe blow to the Hokies, who were now looking at a long uphill climb even to win the ACC, much less to play for the national championship.
Luckily for Virginia Tech fans, the month of November brought a fresh start. The loss to Boston College had served as a major wake-up call--the Hokies stepped it up in every category, with four very convincing victories, including sound drubbings of longtime rivals Miami and U.Va. Unexpected losses of teams higher in the rankings allowed Tech to move up, and on Dec. 1 they faced Boston College once again, this time to determine who would be the champion of the ACC and move on to a coveted bowl game.
The Hokies came out in full force, earning their revenge with a 30-16 victory, as well as their second ACC title since joining the conference in 2004.
Despite two regular-season losses, Virginia Tech still managed to come very close to earning a trip to the national championship, finishing the regular season ranked third in the final BCS poll, behind Ohio State and LSU. The Hokies will face the University of Kansas in the Orange Bowl next Thursday. It will be Virginia Tech's 15th consecutive bowl game appearance, and their 21st overall.
Kansas, which should not be playing for a BCS bowl victory, gets in over a Missouri team that dominated them only a few weeks before selections were made.
Offensively, Virginia Tech will need to show many formations to confuse the Jayhawks' defense and keep Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing off the field. Tailback Branden Ore and wide receiver Eddie Royal will make sure they support both of the Hokies' quarterbacks en route to a potential victory.
On the Hokies' defense, Xavier Adibi teams up with Vince Hall for possibly the best linebacker duo in the country. But the pair will need to come up huge like they did in the ACC Championship versus Boston College and will have to be effective in coverage and in putting pressure on Reesing.
Owen Puffenberger is a freshman at Virginia Tech. Massaponax sophomore Matt Kelly contributed to this piece.
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