The seasonal Turkey options are back at Wawa and they are still the best thing one can buy with a touchscreen.

Wawa (as evidenced by the official Sheetz Versus Wawa Competition) as a whole doesn’t top the mighty Sheetz overall - but this one dish: the Wawa Gobbler Turkey Sandwich complete with stuffing, gravy and cranberry spread (now available on a wheat roll) - is unstoppable. Welcome back my friend.

After falling to a score of 10-0 in the Wake Forest game things didn’t look good… and I’m not referring to the buffered video connection for ESPN3 that froze every few seconds. The Hokies offense was sputtering, unable to score a first down, and the defense was giving up big plays to team that frankly has been non-existent in the ACC.

But then, almost in sync with the fans who poured out of the Wake Forest mini-Lane replica, the team turned it on. The emphasis is TEAM. In season’s past it would feel like the defense would carry the team and we would be hoping for a defensive touchdown to secure victory or that only one dimension was working, such as the running game, and that would become the story of the offense for the day. After ECU it looked like we were heading for the same kind of season - run and non fun - and then after Beamer’s partial brainfart against Clemson it was looking as though there wouldn’t be a cohesive plan on how the team was going to function for the rest of the season. But now, with Thomas in more of a groove, it looks like the defense, running, passing, and even kicking game may all be working as gears in the big Orange and Maroon Machine.

According to WP, the Hokies are averaging more passing yards per game (227) than any other team during Coach Frank Beamer’s 25 years in Blacksburg and the team is attempting more passes per game (28.3) than it has since 1995, when an NFL-bound Jim Druckenmiller was a senior junior. The article continues to show that the average yards per pass and average yards per catch have gone relatively unchanged. The reason for the change? After nine miserably predictable years with Stinespring we now have O’Cain making most of the play calls - and as a former QB and friend of Logan Thomas it shows immediately to the fans. The team is more FUN to watch and its not to say the Hokies have abandoned the running game, either, with catch-a-rabbit David Wilson tallying 903 rushing yards and O’Cain is still calling running plays about 60 percent of the time this season. Its a welcome blend that is like moving from Tecmo Bowl to Madden 2003.

That Daria-like hipster of ESPN commentating, Heather Dinich, was at the biggest game on Saturday as far as impact on the Hokies schedule is concerned. UVA surprised everyone with a solid first half against Georgia Tech that turned in to a defensive lock down and win for UVA. For a brief moment UVA actually looked… well, cool. But then they showed too many babies and upset overweight white people wearing boat shoes in the stands to allow that sentiment to hold for very long.  The big win allowed the Hokies to have a better chance of taking the Coastal division and has offered some breathing room for the team to focus on each game ahead and not looking toward Georgia Tech as the one hurdle before a potential rematch against Clemson. With that potential comes a chance to see if this complete package Hokies squad can redeem themselves.

Here’s to looking forward to next week’s Homecoming and last Saturday home game of the season - this season is flying by and its about time the TEAM arrived.

According a friend in Columbia Heights, and confirmed by this Huffington Post piece (notice the circlejerking of article links here) Chipotle has silently rolled out a second rice - brown rice - to the burrito production line. I didn’t believe it until I went and saw with my own eyes - and of course tasted with my own mouth.

Chipotle Brown Rice nestled behind the standby

I suppose its not surprising… that one metal bin behind the white rice has been waiting patiently for YEARS all alone like a magician’s hat turned upside or a butler holding the lid to a gourmet serving tray waiting to lift and reveal some regal meal. That bin sat lying in hopes of some epic and  ridiculous addition to the long-standing staples of the Chipotle menu selection and likely the bin is a little underwhelmed.

Granted the newcomer doesn’t exactly wow but it is good to know there are now options for what spongy goodness will hold our burritos and bols together. The brown rice is obviously aimed as the more “healthy” alternative to the white rice, but portion size aside, Chipotle really didn’t need to push a healthy agenda. After all there are salad (hold the dressing) and bol combinations that are decently healthy on their own but this effort by the big C just may pull one more calorie-conscious patron in for a lunch break, so why not?

In sampling the new rice I can report that its not too far of a departure from our old friend and coagulating champion, white rice. The flavor is helped primarily by a still clear and present dose of cilantro and salt, and if one gets their burritos full of spice and Tabasco the difference in the two rices is almost negligible. Its good news to me as someone who tried brown rice sushi on one occasion and thought I had bitten in to the paper lining of a tunafish can but it may give those hoping for a drastic flavor change some reason to gripe that its too little of a change to warrant that magical new slot on the menu.

Give it a go, its supposedly more healthy, or at least it looks that way…

After weeks of anxious Hokie football and concern that we had a Glennon-like holding pattern at the helm of the Virginia Tech offense. Logan Thomas went and put on a clinic en route to a come-from-behind victory at Lane Stadium.

The word “relief” can not even begin to explain how I felt after watching the end of the game and not so much because the Hokies could piece together a good last second drive to win. See I didn’t even see that last drive. In fact I thought we had lost to Miami for several hours after the game ended - that’s how wasted I was - I RAN like wolves were chasing me away from TOTS upon losing the lead late in the 4th and didn’t turn back to a tv/phone/human being for a few hours. It was only once someone said in response to my moaning: “What the hell is wrong with you? The Hokies didn’t lose” that I found out what happened. I just watched the entire game and last drive for the first time on Hokie Replay sponsored by Stop In Food Mart and one massive Cameltoe. Now with a clearer mind and cleaner blood I can say that it was a terrific game of near perfection for Thomas: His 300+ yards and 5 touchdowns with only two incomplete passes in 25 attempts (one right through the hands of Wilson and one shuttle pass to avoid a sack). That performance was enough to award him [Rivals Player of The Week].

Although one game is not going to convince all of the Hokie Nation it is a substantial step in Logan’s 5 game career and reminded me somewhat of Tyrod’s amazing come from behind win against Nebraska. It was after THAT game that Tyrod began to really rise up to the occasion - his confidence high and his focus narrowed - that allowed us to have one of the most successful offenses in a long while. Isn’t it fitting then that Tyrod was on the sideline and was able to give Logan some pep talk words before the final drive. Those words have been printed almost anywhere the game score was memorialized: It came down to that last possession and Tyrod told Logan: ‘This is where legends are made. This is where you make your legacy. Go ahead and do it.” Tyrod was also one of the first to celebrate with Logan after the 19 yard TD score.

Some other things to note:

1. THANK GOD WE PUT IN BRANTHOVER: Did you hear the thunderous applause his (first ever) 52 yard punt garnished from the crowd? Looks like you listened Beamer and though it was a game or two too late the fans appreciated the move to put the redshirt freshman in nonetheless. Oddly enough Branthover’s first kick was even better than the 52-yarder, falling dead on the 5 yard line, but a false start penalty erased that one, which leads me to…
2. STUPID STUPID STUPID: A flag for unsportsmanlike conduct on Virginia Tech’s Collins nearly cost us the game. Its the U - they are thugs - they will get in your face - don’t piss away the game and give a free set of downs when a punt is coming just because you want to act like them. That literally cost the team 7 points.
3. PLAY CALLING SHOULD COULD HAVE KILLED US: Now I am happy about the outcome but watching that final drive again is about the clearest example of play-calling stupidity I can point to this season. On the final set of downs before Logan ran in on Miami’s entire-team fake-out we RAN THE BALL 4 TIMES IN A ROW. Okay, that may be fine and dandy in some situations but when the clock is your enemy more than the guys in the white helmets, your quarterback is walking on water with perfection in his passes all day and just moved the chains twice with excellent tosses, and you MUST get a touchdown of the game is over what the f-shit is the plan of 4 plays right up the middle? Lucky break coaches, your head would be on a stake if that drive went the other way or time expired.

WTF!?

But hey, its a win and it likely pushes Miami out of the way for the Coastal Division crown. Now we need to gather this momentum, bottle it, and inject it to all the players asses Roger Clemens style. Here’s to looking forward to next week and a hopeful rising star in Logan Thomas.

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen in Dupont is Chipotle’s new Asian concept restaurant and I was finally able to get out there to give it a taste. The efficiency, ordering process and overall feeling is definitely Chipotle - but the flavor is anything but. Just take a look at the menu below to see its a whole new world of flavors (which was likely the point):

The prices are staggering close to Chipotle but essentially there are two entree choices: bowls and banh mi (something I never knew existed until now). Where Chipotle’s meats normally would be are round bowls offering grilled chicken satay (spicy!), pork and chicken meatballs, grilled steak or organic tofu. Then you choose a type of rice or noodles along with a number of veggies, sauces, and other toppings and spices - highlighted by healthy offerings of cilantro. The beer offering has been stepped up to BeerLao, Singha, Chang, and (horray for Von) Dogfish Head 60 Minute and there is still bottled drinks and fountain sodas. Sadly they had run out of brewed Iced Tea, the sole blemish on the evening.

To make sure I got the full effect I ordered tried three different entrees (two bowls and one sandwich). The flagship seems to be the meatballs - which I ordered over rice and added a splatter of veggies and other toppings and I was very delighted with the clean and flavorful bites that were produced. I then did a mid-spice bowl with noodles, which although good, simply didn’t feel as hearty as the rice offering (perhaps the jasmine rice reminded me of the Chipotle rice I love so much). For the sandwich I said “make it hot!” and they did not let down. The spicy heat index easily passed that of ANYTHING I have had at Chipotle - but the hard bread was so tasty I still devoured every last bit.

In the end I can’t see Shophouse spreading like a money printing wildfire the way Chipotle has, but I think every city and well traveled strip mall could support at least one location. Its also a different enough taste from the staple offerings of Chipotle that I don’t see how they would cannibalize one another’s sales. Its a brave attempt in one sense for Chipotle to break its mold with this Asian “experiment” but consistency is something Chipotle does so well that its no surprise they could swap continents and still get great culinary results.

There was that annual event called “Take Back The Night” in Blacksburg which essentially was when a large group of Hokies gathered because their fraternity/sorority made them in recognition of ending sexual assault and abuse against women. That phrase takes on new meaning after watching Clemson’s 20 point win over VT on Saturday night. It was the first time we haven’t scored a touchdown in Lane since 1995. Lane Stadium at night is OUR stage - its our time to shine. Not since 2005’s loss to Miami can I recall such an egg laying on a national stage when the lights are on. 

We were who we thought we were…

Now this doesn’t exactly come as a surprise given what we had seen from the team as they cupcake-walked through the start of the season. The same issues (kicking, Thomas’ lack of touch, offensive play calling decisions, special teams) existed against Clemson, its just Clemson is far too good of a team to allow us to get a win with how our team plays.

Some thoughts about the first loss of the season and looking back on how far we haven’t come this far in to the season:

1. Scott Demler needs NEEDS NEEEEEDS to be cut/benched/munged. There is absolutely no excuse to kick that poorly on a top FBS program. Put in the true freshman or have an open casting call for a new punter (heck it worked wonders at Boston College).
2. Stinespring’s Ghost is alive and well. O’Cain’s play-calling ranged from yawn-inducing to downright moronic. On plays where we should be having Logan Thomas rush forward for a yard and a first down we are pitching the ball to Wilson on an outside route. How is that we NEVER pass when we need to? (Sure you may say “uhh you do know you are watching the Hokies, right?” but after Wilson scrambled for a big gain and tired out the entire Clemson defense, and as our best RB rested his lungs and legs on the next down we go and hand the ball off AGAIN, talk about a perfect time for an aerial strike). I screamed for a play action pass play the entire second half - when one finally came in the forth quarter it produced 15 yards and a first down, but then it was back to the same old Tecmo Bowl bullshit running plays. The commentators mentioned this glaring issue more than once during the broadcast.
3. Mental Errors. Granted, we had the “givin’ him the business” ref on the field and every down there seemed to be a yellow hankie on the field, but some of those were simply unacceptable mental errors by the team. I do believe the personal fouls were almost all horseshit calls though.
4. Logan Thomas. Ohhh Logan, you scare me so much when you release the football. First off if its a pass for a receiver any closer than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage whatever “touch” you are putting on the ball looks like its got a fucking rocket attached to it. If you are going for the big play, you are forgetting to yell “Fivvvee-Hundredddd” before you let the ball fly.
5. Frank Beamers wardrobe. Frank has worn his wifes designer sunglasses, bizarre windbreakers, and now a soaking wet bright orange fleece that looked like an Odd Lots clearance item only Bill Belichick would be envious of.

Highlights were there I suppose, the defense looked good and David Wilson - who is absolutely fucking insane - knocking out a Clemson tackler cold on a punt return brought a smile to my face. But just like the chipped away glitter on Wilson’s helmet, the Hokies underneath the hype really are showing us that they are a lackluster offense.

Now the Hokies still control their destiny in the Coastal division but for now it looks like even if the team is able to mop up the egg and make it to the ACC Championship we will be playing Clemson for a second round. Unless there is major improvements behind center and on special teams and kicking I can’t see that moving the game to a venue CLOSER to Clemson will turn out any differently than last Saturday.

Its time to take back Lane next Saturday, which is an afternoon game, maybe we can make baby steps toward taking back the night as well. Here’s to looking forward to next week - as it can only get better from here.

So we see that the Hokies could stand up to the mighty Thunder of Marshall but it was another unspectacular game.

The play calls were a bit concerning and Mr. Thomas, though you are compared to Mr. Newton, you are not Mr. Newton. We need the coaching staff to do some heavy lifting for the game against Clemson - which may be the Hokies biggest test of the season.

This is where I would normally say “Here’s to looking forward to next week” but I simply can’t … Tech favored by 6.5 points? I think that’s a bet many Hokie fans would bet against.

“Its a win”, that’s what people who don’t watch Hokie football have been telling me when seeing that I never was fully comfortable during the Arkansas State game, even when the win was guaranteed.

I fully expect more Hampton Road and Roanoke Times articles this week that “inform” me that Logan Thomas has been getting better and threw a pretty darn good game despite how it felt as we watched on TV. It feels like there is a roulette wheel spinning with every snap to Logan and it could be a spectacular (insert one of the following: run, pass, interception).

But as my friends have asked me to do, I do need to remember that the team won and won by a comfortable margin. At least that’s two weeks in a row that the Hokies didn’t score the games first points and still fared fine in the end - a stat that had haunted the team in the past.

Thanks for the GIF, /r/VirginiaTech.

Surveying the land before next week I hope that the short-distance-but-long-drive to Marshall will allow for some adjustments. Sadly I don’t think any adjustment can fix Dyrell Roberts broken arm (sustained on the opening kickoff) so he’s likely done as a Hokie. The kicking game has continued to struggle and that needs to be fixed. Defensively things are chugging along but the potency of Clemson’s offense evidenced by their dismantling of Auburn is a challenge unlike what the Hokies have faced thus far. I’d like to see all the three sides of the ball click against Marshall to set up a full throttle Hokies team for our ACC opener.

For now it looks like the 10/1 Saturday Night game against Clemson will be the Hokies first ranked opponent and hopefully the Lane faithful will come out in full force to support after the team comes back from Marshall because at this point in the season they need it. Here’s to looking forward to next week in the meantime.

Back up to 3:30pm on Saturday. You had your Tech gear on, were 3 beers in and ready to start watching Virginia Tech take on ECU on ACC Network. Only, you weren’t watching VT/ECU, no you had to watch THREE FUCKING OVERTIMES of Iowa State/Iowa, a game so incredibly insignificant that the Cy-Hawk trophy is now an off-spec white football branded with the school’s logos and the game is being carried on ACC Network… wait a second… why in the land of fuck was the game even on ACC Network and why wouldn’t a station called “the ACC Network” not cut in to a live game of the flagship team of the Coastal Conference? Well after 4 quarters of bed-shitting pain I think we all would have been better off if the Iowa State debacle continued for 17 more overtimes.

Last week’s game against App. State gave us Hokie fans some swagger back in our step. Everything looked like it was already coming together for the team and though we knew East Carolina wasn’t a walk in the park, its a non BCS team that we were heavily favored against. But once the game began it looked like the Hokies offense was going to be lucky just to find a way to take a big fat zero off the scoreboard. A terrible kick, a dumb back-of-the-endzone INT, several other near pick-offs and an officiating crew that had absolutely no problem finding a way to throw a hanky at the Hokies left much to be desired when it was all said and done. And going back to that endzone interception - why in the hell do you call that play? It was a mess, the height matchup didn’t favor VT, the team had been running 6-7 yards on each play and thats all we needed for the TD. For ONCE I was actually thinking “Oh please run the ball up the middle” and those scumbags go and do the exact opposite. You just can’t win as a Hokies fan.

I can’t recall just how many times I screamed profanity at the TV, likely because the 15 pitchers of beer consumed between 4 people, but also because I felt like I was watching a team that was nothing like what we saw in week one. They were slower, having trouble with players much smaller, making costly penalties and generally lacked any luster on offense. Sure Josh Oglesby helped save the day, Wilson was consistent enough to make sure Beamer got his 200th win and silently Jarrett Boykin surpassed Ernest Wilford as the school’s all-time leader in receptions (who knew), but it left me concerned for every single remaining game on the schedule this season. Of course the defense was on top of things with a bunch of sacks and it didn’t seem like there would be many Michigan-type big plays with the tight coverage and responsive tackles during the day - but we need both sides to perform if we are to have a chance against (unranked) ACC opponents in October.

Still, a win is a win, and I gained additional respect for ECU - what with those badass helmets and midfield logo how can’t you like them at least a little bit - but it was still dumb to play two games on the road down there, especially after what happened in Charlotte a few years back.

Next week will be an ACC Sweeps week of amazing games all day: VT at 4pm, WVU/MD at noon, Auburn/Clemson at noon, UVA/UNC at 3:30pm, Criminals Unite for Miami/OSU 7:30pm, and then the big daddy of the season Oklahoma/FSU at 8pm. Here’s to looking forward to next week.

Virginia Tech is holding its own in the Coastal Division but now with the U and North Carolina facing pretty serious NCAA problems there may be a lot to gain for the Hokies.

Virginia Tech (and probably UVA) can expect to take more recruits from both the bad boy schools’ home states. Carolina is self-explanatory… and VT has gone to Florida before for talent in the past but competing with FSU and Florida next to Miami and every other school who knows the state is full of top-grade players has made it tough. If Hokie recruitment shuttles down there it may be a different offer made to students - come to the school that is almost certain to make the ACC Championship game (something Miami has yet to achieve) and a team that is/appears much more squeaky clean with the good ol’ boys of Virginia at the helm.

Newport News Daily Press pointed out that prior to Miami’s 1995 NCAA sanctions in which the team went in to a temporary moratorium, Virginia Tech had been 0-12 against the Hurricanes. Since the first sanction, the Hokies are 11-5 against the U. Of course the Hokies have been considerably better overall since the early 90’s but it was definitely assisted by the failure of Miami in the Big East: One team’s plummet is another’s rise to power.

Of course there is no telling how heavy Miami will be hit, a lot of people are yelling “Death Penalty” but keep in mind its only happened 5 times and after the SMU punishment that basically flopped the Southwest Conference and some have speculated that it would never be implemented again for a BCS conference program again as a result.

Update - So I wrote this one anticipating a much larger fall-out for Miami. It looks like it won’t have much impact at least for now. As a casual fan, the NCAA looks like a joke to me and so probably every Athletic Director feels the same way. I’ll just stop the blog post here.