You may have heard the “swagger is back” for Miami football this season but let’s not let things go to the seventh floor just yet. Yes, Miami is undefeated (so is Clemson), they appeared to completely own Georgia Tech, and they have a new offensive coordinator (novel concept) who has clearly got the offense clicking… but is this finally the mature product of coach Randy Shannon (13-13 career as head coach) or something else.

We will find out if the U is for real this Saturday when #11 Virginia Tech hosts a leap frogging #9 Miami in front of a home crowd and ESPN Gameday some Kroger sponsored tailgate.

Some things to consider for the game:

1. Despite Virginia Tech’s appearance of stout defense this season, they have allowed 200+ yards twice already this season, something you can’t say about Foster’s handiwork for the past three years up to this season and Miami has been running the ball very effectively thus far in 2009. The most yardage is gained in first down plays - look for Tech to adjust this on Saturday or suffer again in the total rush yards allowed column.

2. Two starting defensive lineman for Miami will be incarcerated out for the game. For a young team like Miami this can be a significant change to a formula that has been trying to click for a few seasons now. We need to exploit this as much as we can and hope this helps our offense make improvements this week. Look for big runs through a broken down Miami line.

3.  Bud Foster said Miami’s offense has more overall speed than Alabama and Nebraska. Shit. They lead the conference in total offense. Double shit. We need to again rely on Bud Foster and our defense by shutting down the opponent because we have no idea what to expect from the O. Same old triple shit.

4. In the Washington Post on Tuesday, Stinespring was quoted as saying “I don’t think we played as well” about the Nebraska game and that the Hokies did not “play very well for whatsoever reason” — he later had the whole team watch tape to try and identify the problem. WHAT STINESPRING!? You don’t even have a CLUE what is wrong with the offense? Thats your f’ing job! “Whatsoever reason” is not even close to acceptable. Expect him to learn NOTHING from last week as a result. Let’s hope the team has been passing notes to one another during movie time.

We can consider all these things and many more, but in the end Tech is an underdog (2.5 - 3 points) according to people who get paid to predict the outcome of college football games. This is the kind of game in which Tech likes to shine at home and if we get a couple quick stops of their defense we may be able to rip the young swagger out from underneath the Canes. I see a need for some big turnovers to overcome Stinespring’s shortcomings, nothing new there, but also a steady control of the clock. Even if our offense isn’t productive we need to avoid fast 3-and-out possessions that will force our D back on the field against a speedy Miami offense.

Remember, this is our ACC opener and Miami already has a 2 game lead on us in the Coastal division. We need this game to stay relevant not only for the national picture but also for our conference play.

“If them hoes only knew… they are gunna get mutted by our whole damn crew.” Get loud Lane.

Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 28, Miami 14

The Nebraska VT left me with same feeling as the Days Inn Christiansburg.

It started off nice (free internet, promising lobby, buy one get one free dixie cavern coupons) but once inside my room things looked like real dog shit - the TV couldn’t show the top six inches of the screen, there were absolutely no towels, big slash down the middle of one of the fabric chairs in the room, and the clock displayed illogical digits such as “hO:IL”. It was the hospitality equivalent of our offense on Saturday — but really the Days Inn was all I deserved and likewise a 16-15 victory is all we deserved after the stain our offense left on the field.

Of course the ending of the game will go down in Hokie lore as one of the greatest home finishes, but those of us who watched every snap will know the game was anything but spectacular. Stinestabmyselfintheeye once again proved his inability to prepare for big games and call diverse plays. The opening drive (fueled mainly by a special teams return) may have been a promising start but everything thereafter was a three and out headshake. Horrible play call decisions and failed executions had a few Husker fans near me laughing out “we love this guy Stinespring, he really helps us win games.”

Then of course there was the final drive… but with only “U0:5L” left on the clock Stinespring was effectively removed from his role as O.C. … Down by 5 with less than 1:30 to go you don’t play patty-cake-horse-crap football like he had been calling all game, you go big and choose the Madden 2003 equivalent of “Hot Route” and doing it won the game. That’s exactly what we did, without any help from Bryan Stinespring.

I couldn’t help but feel a little bit dirty after the game ended. Exhausted, pacing back and forth with hands shaking, I felt like I had done something wrong or perhaps I had forgotten that I left an old relative sitting in the rain at a bus stop. I doubt the feeling would be as pronounced if we won games in that fashion more often but really we aren’t a last drive comeback team (sure we all remember the Miracle in Morgantown but that was 10 years ago). Don’t get me wrong, I’ll happily take the “W” but I know we have a lot to fix between now and Saturday when #9 Miami rolls in to town with signs that their swagger has returned.

I still have full faith in the team. Our defense continues to perform beyond expectations and the fans have shown that we have the best 12th (and maybe 13th) man in college football but we will need Tyrod to show some improvement and perhaps the best start would be if we can cut the line from Stinespring’s play calling booth to the field.

I suppose in the end we left the field on a high note… so Go Hokies! - great win - now let’s get on with the ACC.

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I mean, at least they made the SportsCenter opening highlight reel…

Well here we are 0-1 and still hungover from Saturday’s loss to Alabama. The Hokies may have been dethroned from the top 10 but that doesn’t count them out in any way whatsoever. Its time now for the Hokies to regain focus, learn and move on with the season and ACC play.

And what better way to get things started at Lane than a nice Conference USA opponent like Marshall? Consider this to be the 50cc Mushroom Cup race of the season - its a great way to build some confidence and remind our team that we are capable and ready for a higher level of play. That’s not to say we should ignore Marshall, they did come of a win last week and have more talent than the last time VT played them… But we really can use this as a “revenge game” to fix our shitty play calling (diversify Stinespring, diversify) and silly mistakes on the field.

I’m not going to pretend to know anything about the Thundering Herd - you can go to TechSideline for an analysis that actually examines how they match up against the Hokies. All I do know is this is the easiest game of the year and we NEED to use it to its fullest potential. We should be renaming the Hokies to the Bufflekills by the end of the first half.

I want demand to see polished performance, smart play calling, and effective use of our RUNNING quarterback on Saturday. Last week, Foster and Beamer did what they have done consistently year after year (produce a great defensive performance and well… lose to a top 10 team, respectively, sorry but Wilbon does have a point) but unlike our consistent O.C. they DID DO WELL in preparing their side of the game - but Stinesprainintheass didn’t do his homework,  stunk it up as if we have ZERO talent on the field, and did nothing remotely interesting with our offense after we waited all off season with our breath held hoping for a change. I want to see change this week in a game we almost definitely should win. If you are scared to take a chance in this game then don’t even put on a headset for the rest of the year. Just let our guys go out and call one of 4 Tecmo Bowl plays from the huddle all season.

We have talent and a great team this year (we scared Alabama fans for 3 quarters) and Marshall should be used to address coaching and game play flaws from last week as we get ready to take on Nebraska and our ACC opener against a Miami team that looked pretty scary on Monday night.

Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 34, Marshall 12

Okay, its here… the start of a new football season, one of the biggest games in VT history, a BCS caliber kickoff game between two top 10 teams, everybody gets laid, free hat, etc, etc…

Virginia Tech starts the season with a huge target on their back with a #7 preseason rank. The team has a chance to address the lofty rank and quiet would-be ACC naysayers this Saturday night when they take on Alabama at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The scenario may seem oddly familiar since this is the same stage in which an over-hyped Clemson team fell to Alabama at the start of season last year, but this year there is a new cast representing our conference and the stakes seem much more real as both teams are ranked higher than Clemson’s 2008 preseason rank of 9th place (Alabama was 24th).

Breaking down the game, USA Today shows a spread favoring Alabama by 6.5 points (a 1.5 point jump from the opening line when we had a healthy Darren Evans on the roster) with an over/under of 38. These are some pretty big number considering we are dealing with two very strong defenses between the two schools.

Analysts who believe Alabama will have the edge probably think that Tyrod Taylor and his supporting cast will have a tough time moving the ball down the field against such a strong defense. In response, let’s not ignore the fact that Alabama was less than spectacular at holding back Utah in their BCS bowl game at the end of last season. Granted our offense is not as potent as Utah’s “score happy and procreate later” style of play, but in front of a crowd of screaming ‘Bama alumni and one super-extended Mormon family, the Utes managed to score 21 unanswered points in the first quarter and go on to win handily against a favored team.

Only the Jonas Brothers were able to fill the Superdome with more screaming preteens

To win, the Hokies need to make a crimson turd out of Alabama’s quarterback Greg McElroy and make sure that any balls that do make in to air come amidst heavy pressure. If the new QB can’t get in to a rhythm with his receivers it will hopefully allow VT to create some turnovers and score in the fashion we do best. As for offense, perhaps losing Evans has a silver lining for this game… Evans, who was coming off an MVP performance in the Orange Bowl, was probably at the top of most of Capt. Predictable’s (Stinespring) play call charts. Since Alabama has a very strong front seven we may have saved a few 3-and-out drives by avoiding the “run up the middle and its gotta work” mentality. With a good mixture of plays that address the running game shuffle and that utilize Tyrod’s athletic ability to move around and down the field with his arm and legs we may be able to keep Alabama’s defense from locking in.

Alabama recently extended Nick Saban’s contract until 2090 when he is expected to coach from a bright red coffin adorned with a wireless headset.  His mind may be thinking long term at this point, he has already mentioned how important this game is to ensure his National Championship path. More importantly his team may think that an ACC opener is a walk in the park after last year’s pillow fight with Clemson. It is a Clemson team that also may have some doubt after looking like a distant SEC second when they lost to Utah back in January. Hopefully these things combine to offset the team’s ability to really prepare for what might as well be a BCS bowl game. The momentum from Virginia Tech’s bowl win carries over while the hangover lingers just another week for the Crimson Tide and the Hokies start off the season 1-0.

Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 24, Alabama 14