One of the big questions this week was, "Will the week off help or hurt Virginia Tech?"
No one really knows, but I can tell you this: I liked it. It gave me a chance to recharge my batteries and take a breath before the college football season renews in earnest for the Hokies this coming Saturday at ODU.
If you're like me, you love watching college football, not just the Hokies, and a Saturday off for the Hokies can be a lot of fun, provided there are some good games on TV. The games this past weekend weren't scintillating, for the most part, but I enjoyed the day nonetheless.
It set me to thinking about the past, when college football regular seasons were only eleven games, so teams would get two bye weeks per year, instead of just one. And if you played on Thursday night, like the Hokies often do, you would get three or four Saturdays off to watch the rest of the college football world.
The bye weeks are also a nice break for those of us who write about teams, because, well … it’s less work.
The 12-game regular-season schedule was instituted in 2005 (per Chris Coleman; I'm too lazy to check), so any season before then would be 11 games. I randomly decided to look at Virginia Tech's 2002 schedule, to count the number of Saturdays off. That's not really a good example, because (a) that was a rare 12-game regular season that year, having something to do with when it started and when it ended, so the NCAA allowed a 12th game; and (b) the Hokies played a preseason benefit game, which added one more game to the schedule, in this case, a Hispanic College Fund Football Classic against Arkansas State.
It all created a 13-game schedule and a bowl game, for the ultra-rare 14-game season, without playing in a conference championship game, and without playing in the playoffs. Here's how it looked:
First of all, wow, that's a mess of open Saturdays. Here's the breakdown (regular season only):
- Wednesday games: 1
- Thursday games: 2
- Saturday games: 8
- Sunday games: 2
- Open Saturdays (Aug. 31 - Dec. 7): 7
Seven open Saturdays to watch college football! August 31, September 7 and 14, October 5 and 12, and November 16 and 23.
So that's not a good example, with all the extra games and odd days. Let's look at 1998 instead:
That's more like it; only 11 regular season games, and a normal start weekend and end weekend.
The days of the week aren't shown explicitly on that schedule, but the October 8 game is a Thursday game. So the breakdown for 1998 was (regular season only):
- Thursday games: 1
- Saturday games: 10
- Open Saturdays (Sep. 5 - Nov. 28): 3
The Hokies got two Saturdays off, October 3 and 10, thanks to the Thursday game, and another true bye on November 7.
Compare that with the 2017 schedule:
Record: 9-4 (5-3 ACC) |
||
|---|---|---|
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME, TV |
| Sat. 4/22 |  Spring Game |
2:30 |
| Sun 9/3 |  WVU @ FedExField |
W, 31-24 |
| Sat 9/9 |  Delaware |
W, 27-0 |
| Sat 9/16 |  @ECU |
W, 64-17 |
| Sat 9/23 |  ODU |
W, 38-0 |
| Sat 9/30 |  Clemson |
L, 31-17 |
| Sat 10/7 |  @BC |
W, 23-10 |
| Sat 10/14 | ||
| Sat 10/21 |  UNC |
W, 59-7 |
| Sat 10/28 |  Duke |
W, 24-3 |
| Sat 11/4 |  @Miami |
L, 28-10 |
| Sat 11/11 |  @GT |
L, 28-22 |
| Sat 11/18 |  Pitt |
W, 20-14 |
| Fri 11/24 |  @Virginia |
W, 10-0 |
| Sat 12/2 | ACC Champ. Game | TBD |
| Thu. 12/28 |  OK State
Camping World Bowl
Orlando, FL |
L, 30-21 |
There were three Saturdays there to watch college football, other than the Hokies, due to the two Sunday games and a Saturday off, but most notably, last year's schedule only included one true bye week: October 14.
That's a grind. That's why I'm not too broken up about the Hokies not playing this past weekend. It can only be a good thing for this guy, arguably the most valuable player on Virginia Tech's team:
And whatever's good for that guy is good for the team.
What Florida State's Struggles Mean for the Hokies
I'm really trying to continue to enjoy Virginia Tech's 24-3 win over FSU in week one, but it's getting harder and harder as the games go by.
In case you missed it -- and I doubt you did, because it's the talk of the college football world, despite ESPN's attempts to promote Alabama 24/7, did you see my not-so-subtle jab there -- Florida State lost to Syracuse 30-7 in the Carrier Dome this weekend.
Syracuse outgained FSU 441-240, and the 'Noles converted an ugly 1 of 14 third-down conversions. I could go on and on about how uninspired and poorly-coached Florida State looks right now, but this isn't a Florida State web site, and there are gobs of articles on the topic, if you want to go check them out.
Suffice to say that FSU's freefall devalues the Hokies' win in Tallahassee on a weekly basis. Perhaps Hokies can take comfort in the thought that perhaps it was Virginia Tech that broke FSU football. Snapped them. Like a twig. Like stepping on a grape. Like sitting on a cracker.
Florida State's struggles don't upset me, because they're currently on track to not make a bowl game, and that's a good thing for Virginia Tech. The Hokies have the longest current bowl streak recognized by the NCAA, but the truth is that Florida State has the longest true bowl streak, currently standing at 36 years:
- FSU: 36 years
- VT: 25 years
- Georgia: 21 years
- Oklahoma: 19 years
- LSU: 18 years
Florida State had to vacate the 2006 Emerald Bowl due to NCAA violations, but we all know they played in it, and we all know that not only do they have the longest current bowl streak, but they also have the longest bowl streak in the history of college football, beating out the 1969-2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Just insert Florida State, 36 years, 1982-2017, at the top of this graphic that was tweeted out by @VT_Football last December:
I don't really care that FSU's struggles are "devaluing" Virginia Tech's win a couple weeks ago. I'm homing in on the fact that the 36-year FSU bowl streak could be in jeopardy.
Here's Florida State's schedule:
The 'Noles will have to win six games this year to go bowling. There may be some 5-7 teams that get to go bowling, but the rules for qualification for 5-7 teams are a bit of a gauntlet, and FSU doesn't meet the last turn in the gauntlet, per this tweet -- home in on the very last part:
Only get bid @ 5-7 if all these happen:
a. there aren't enough teams 6-6 or better (even if played 2 FCS schools)
b. there aren't enough 6-7 teams (teams that lost in conf champ game or played HI)
c. school has the highest APR among 5-7 teams
FSU's APR is lowest among P5 schools— Donald Hanauer (@TaikishiL5R) September 17, 2018
If you assume six wins are necessary, the Florida State that we currently see is going to have trouble reaching six wins. If and when they fail to get to six wins and they instead spend the holidays at home, Virginia Tech will truly have the longest current bowl streak, assuming the Hokies do make a bowl game this year.
Virginia Tech can then set their sights on that 35-year streak posted by Nebraska from 1969-2003, and for those who don't believe in asterisks, that 36-year streak posted by FSU from 1982-2017.
If the Hokies can keep their streak going, they'll play in their 37th straight, NCAA-record-setting bowl in 2029. TechSideline.com and I plan on still being here to record that momentous day.
Sure, everyone makes it to a bowl game these days, so who cares, right? Clearly not. Nebraska's streak ended in 2004, when there were 32 bowl games. The regular season was only 11 games that year, and by my count, 12 teams with a 6-5 record played in bowl games that season. Nebraska only went 5-6 that season, so they missed the (rather large) bowl game boat.
If Virginia Tech breaks Nebraska's record, the Hokies will truly deserve the accolades.
Perhaps the best thing you can say about a long bowl streak is that during the streak, your team never truly sucked. That's faint praise, but it's a lot more than many storied programs have managed. The winningest college football programs of all time are Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, and Nebraska, and of those five teams, they've all had losing records at least once since 2011. Virginia Tech has not.
So watch and enjoy the terrible spectacle that is Florida State football 2018, and root, root, root for the 'Nole team, because if they don't win, it's not a shame. It devalues Tech's 2018 win, but it leads to far bigger, better things.
By the way, per this Wikipedia link, Virginia Tech is No. 21 all-time in college football wins, going into the 2018 season. That's pretty darn impressive.
Remove the Division III and Ivy League programs, and the Hokies move up to No. 15. Really impressive.
Back to the Subject of the Hokies …
Now that I've worn out the bowl game topic, looking around the ACC, I see very few gimmies for the Hokies.Duke: Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Durham, Duke ran their record to 3-0 with a 40-27 win at Baylor. The game was a statistical deadlock yardage-wise, and a look at the videos from the game reveal a lot of explosive plays by Duke … admittedly against very little QB pressure or much defense at all.
I really like that the Hokies' game at Duke is scheduled as a night game (7 PM on ESPNU or ESPN2), and I challenge Hokie fans to take over Wallace Wade Stadium that night. Get your tickets at GoDuke.com. The Virginia Tech section is the East side, and if you use the promo code "vateacher" your tickets will only be $35. I just bought four. See you there.
Duke has their issues -- their backup QB Quentin Harris, subbing for the injured Daniel Jones, was just 12-of-30 -- but overall they're well-coached, they've got some athletes, and they give the Hokies fits. This one should be a good one. Duke is hiding just outside the top 25 this week, at No. 27 (Coaches) and No. 28 (AP).
Speaking of the rankings, four ACC teams are ranked now.
Boston College: Here's another one that's starting to worry me. Everyone knows about A.J. Dillon, but QB Anthony Brown threw for five touchdowns and no picks against Wake Forest on Thursday, completing 16-of-25 and throwing for 304 yards.
Brown is inconsistent with his arm, but it is strong, and when he throws it well, deadly. He tossed some pretty nice balls against Wake, but then would sail it well over open receivers. Still, he completed 64%.
Pittsburgh: The more I ponder it, the more I think the schedule for Virginia Tech this year is very favorable. The FSU trip was perceived as a tough one, but now that that's over, the biggest road hurdle is at Pittsburgh. Heinz Field is always tough, and Pitt bounced back from a humiliating loss to Penn State to beat Georgia Tech 24-19 this weekend. I appreciate the Panthers handing GT a loss, but unfortunately, it means that Pitt won a game, haha. That's how divisional play works …
All in all, it's shaping up to be an exciting, challenging season. I like that most of the teams left on the Hokies' schedule worry me, but I can see a path to victory against all of them. And I can also see the Hokies staying ranked all year long, and drawing a lot of attention for most of their remaining games.
None of this changes the fact that Tech is still very young, and a few key injuries could rock the boat. Tech has their issues, but so do a lot of teams in the top 25. This is the year I thought the Hokies would start to turn around and really look like Justin Fuente's team, and I don't see anything that changes that sentiment.
Time to check out now. I know it's a little early to take my leave, but lots of prep work for the ODU game awaits, and without a game to dissect, it keeps MT a little short.
Don't forget to get those Duke tickets, and we'll see you at ODU this week and in Durham next week.