56 Minutes of Dominance...

An absolutely gut wrenching loss last night for the Hokies. In a national showcase game that served as the start of a pivotal weekend in college football, the Hokies defense revisited prior years with a dominant performance over the course of the first 56 minutes of the football game. Unfortunately, Boston College QB Matt Ryan chose that moment to legitimize himself as a Heisman trophy candidate and future first round NFL draft choice, leading the Eagles to consecutive touchdown drives, with the final score coming with 11 seconds remaining, in a scene that reminded me of the loss the Hokies suffered in 1998 to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. In both cases, the QB made a throw across the field, barely avoiding the outstretched hand of a Hokie defender, and subsequently booted their breakfast all over the sideline.

In this case, the loss was more costly as the Hokies removed themselves from the group of one loss teams trying to claw their way back into the National Championship picture. Even with a win, the Hokies would have struggled to remove the images of their early season lopsided loss to LSU from the minds of the voters. However, by demonstrating some of the same deficiencies that have plagued the team and performing in a way that has not been characteristic of Hokie football, they gave Matt Ryan and BC an opening that they took advantage of.

In most losses of this fashion, fans seek to assign blame. After all, someone must have screwed up, right? There is no doubt that mistakes were made by the Hokies in this game. WR Josh Morgan was unable to handle the onside kick that gave the Eagles their final possession, which also required the defense to return to the field with little time to recover from BC's last long drive. QB Sean Glennon, who effectively managed the game in the first half and made several plays with his arm and his feet, reverted to the form that led to his struggles last year and his benching at the beginning of this season. In the first half, Glennon made quick and decisive decisions in rhythm, choosing to make quick reads and, if the receiver wasn't available, made plays with his feet. In the second half, Glennon began holding the ball, not trusting the scheme or his receivers, getting out of rhythm, taking sacks. The failure to generate any sort of drive placed greater pressure on the defense. RB Branden Ore came through with a solid game, performing as if healthy for the first time this year. However, at a pivotal moment in the game, immediately after DB D.J. Parker had intercepted Ryan in BC territory, the coaching staff inserted RB Kenny Lewis, Jr into the game, a questionable move that resulted in two runs with minimal gains. At that point, why isn't the workhorse, the rusher that you have stuck with all year in spite of his being less than 100%, who clearly is the most talented back on the roster, in the game? Some have questioned the strategy of rushing 3 and 4 lineman on the last two drives. However, the Hokies D had generated pressure all night with the 4 man rush (one of the hallmarks of a Bud Foster defense). On the game winning drive, the Hokies were consistently generating pressure on Ryan and actually had him scrambling from sideline to sideline.

Individually, none of these plays cost the Hokies the game. Realistically, they didn't lose as the result of these plays or decisions collectively. Instead, the Hokies were beaten by a QB who had the best 4 minutes of play of the college football season, making pinpoint throws while running for his life. It is a credit to the defense and the coaching staff that they managed to make that same QB and his offense look harried, confused, and inept for 56 minutes. The Hokies can only hope that they can build on those 56 minutes and, should they win out, get an opportunity to take those 4 minutes back from Matt Ryan in a rematch in the ACC Championship game.