1) What kind of atmosphere/turnout do we expect on Sunday? Will the crowd be 50-50 or closer to a 60-40 Carolina lean? Will this be closer to a WVU/VT FedEx environment or a VT/Arkansas Belk Bowl? HokieSports has us as "sold out" of our allotment of tickets, but there are a substantial number of unsold club-level tickets behind the Tech bench on Ticketmaster. (These are not verified resale tickets; it appears as if they have not been purchased yet.) Those are prime seats but absurdly priced. Who fills those? — csw94
Chris Coleman: As far as the absurdly priced prime seats are concerned, I don’t know. I don’t watch much NFL these days (though maybe that will change now that the Packers traded for Micah Parsons), so I don’t think I’ve ever watched a game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but here’s a screenshot from Ticketmaster of what csw94 is talking about:
Are all of those lower-level midfield seats actually club seats? That’s what the graphic seems to indicate. And look at that price. Sheesh. A whole bunch of those seats haven’t been sold, and that’s the case for both sidelines, not just Virginia Tech’s.
There just aren’t many sporting events that I’d pay that type of money to see. I actually paid slightly more than that for World Series tickets back in 2021, but this Hokies-Gamecocks matchup isn’t exactly the World Series. I paid a lot for a Tottenham-Arsenal ticket back in the spring of 2022 as well, but again, VT-SC isn’t the North London Derby. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good matchup and should be entertaining. But is it important in the grand scheme of things? Is it an event that, when I’m on my deathbed, I’d say, “Man, I’m really glad I dished out several grand (including accommodations and travel) to watch that game, because it was truly special.” Nah.
Even regular seats down low in the corner are priced at $280 on Ticketmaster, which is absolutely ridiculous, and tons of them haven’t been sold. I’m curious what it will look like on television. We’ll find out in a few days. I think ticket prices for games like this these days are crazy. When is the last time college football did something that was good for the fans? All fans across the country should boycott Week 1 in protest. But we won’t. We need it too much. Or at least we think we do.
Regular tickets in Lane Stadium are also getting up there in price. I could buy a single individual ticket for the Vanderbilt game in Section 133 for $113 through Virginia Tech. I could buy a single ticket in the same section on StubHub for $64 as of the time of this writing. I’m getting to a point in my life where I have a little more disposable income, yet I’m not as interested in spending big money on sports unless it’s a big-time, mega event. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I have more disposable income.
Point being, you can get cheaper tickets on the secondary market, and failing that, you can actually see the game better on television than you can in the stands. The last road game I went to was in 2018, and I think my post-game articles are the better for it.
As far as the atmosphere at the game goes, I can’t see it being anything like that FedEx Field matchup with West Virginia. The Belk Bowl against Arkansas was heavily slanted towards VT fans, as you would expect due to geographic proximity. I don’t remember the atmosphere being that great, though. There were a bunch of empty seats.
It’s 214 miles from Columbia to Atlanta, while it’s a 409-mile trip from Blacksburg. The Gamecock faithful are more excited about their team than Virginia Tech. I would expect the crowd on Saturday to have a heavy South Carolina lean.
2) Who is the most likely favored opponent that we could possibly upset? — sacramento hokie
CC: I suppose that if the game were played tomorrow, with both teams having a 0-0 record, Florida State would be favored over Virginia Tech. So that would be my pick right now. In fact, I’ve got the Hokies beating the Seminoles. I’m just not a believer in that program these days.
Of course, if FSU has another season like last year, it won’t be favored over many teams after September. That matchup isn’t until November 15; there are plenty of opportunities for the Seminoles to lose between now and then. It’s not impossible that the Hokies end up being favored in that game.
Outside of Florida State, my other two picks would be South Carolina and Miami, in that order, though I would consider flipping them as well. Many people would have them flipped, and judging from what I’ve heard from the fan base in the offseason, most don’t give Tech much of a chance on Sunday.
I think (or maybe I’m just hoping) that so many new faces, combined with new schemes, give the Hokies a coordinating advantage over the Gamecocks. That’s why I’d pick that game over the Miami matchup right now. The Hurricanes don’t come to town until November 22 and there won’t be any secrets at that point.
So, to recap, here are my top three likely upsets in order:
1: FSU (if they are the favorites)
2: South Carolina
3: Miami
I decided not to consider NC State and Georgia Tech. For me, things are close enough between the Hokies and those two teams that I don’t think a win by either side could be considered a true upset.
3) Should we see the Caleb Woodson incidents — DUI and speeding — as an omen of an undisciplined team? Should only Woodson be held accountable for his choices of free time and consequent indiscretions and not the coaching staff? — VTVOICE
CC: Well, it’s certainly not a one-off with Woodson when it comes to being undisciplined behind the wheel. Besides the DWI, he’s also been stopped for going 97 and 96 twice since last summer, including once not long before his DWI charge. I don’t know if he drives one of those Dodges with a Hemi that I know a decent number of players have, but whatever it is, he seems to enjoy getting the most out of his engine.
I don’t think Woodson is necessarily a sign of undiscipline, but I wonder. Another player who will have a significant role hurt himself recently in a non-football incident. He’s OK, but we’ll see how much he plays against South Carolina. I’m not going to say who it is, what’s wrong or what he was doing, but think Vince Hall on a jet ski before the Orange Bowl. It’s something like that, but the injury isn’t nearly as bad.
I don’t know if that’s purely a lack of discipline or if maybe the Hokies need to change up the way they do their preseasons. They divide August camp up into mini-camps, with a day off in between. I’m guessing the issues have come either the night before a day off (Woodson) or on a day off (the other player).
Days off in August are a relatively new phenomenon that have been introduced due to the magic of sports science. Players’ energy levels can be monitored extremely well these days, and the idea is to build in a few days off here and there in August to keep them fresh so that they can get the most out of each and every practice. The logic behind that is that a physically and mentally fatigued player is more likely to go through the motions — and more likely to get hurt.
I’m a big proponent of sports science, and I think if you look at Tech’s preseason health this year, the plan is working. There are a few dings here and there with Terion Stewart and Chanz Wiggins — the Keylen Adams injury is a holdover from the winter — but a few are normal. Overall, this is a very healthy football team.
The other side of the argument is that if you give these guys a day off after busting their tails for four or five days in a row, some of them are naturally going to find a release, and sometimes that can get them in trouble. The old-school argument that practicing them every day and making sure they are too tired to get in trouble most certainly has merit.
At this point, I don’t think I would go so far as to say that this is an undisciplined team. I would not make that accusation. But would it surprise me if it turned out to be the case? No, not after last season. I can see just about any outcome this year. I can see the Hokies doing something that makes most of the fan base happy. I could also see things going south. We’ll see. Fortunately, we won’t have to guess much longer. The story of this team will start to be told two days from now.
4) Does the VT fan base as a whole have the stomach and mindset for life in the SEC? — HokieAllMyLife
CC: I’ll keep the Woodson situation alive for another question. I saw a number of comments when people were discussing whether or not he should be suspended that said something like, “What do you think would happen if he was in the SEC?” That implies that in the SEC, where “it just means more,” he would certainly play.
That’s not necessarily true. Georgia running back Trevor Etienne was suspended for the first game last year (against Clemson) due to an offseason DUI and reckless driving charge, even though the DUI charge was actually dropped in a plea deal. Clemson, basically an SEC school in the ACC, just suspended power forward-turned-tight end Ian Schieffelin for a DUI charge that has been lowered to reckless driving. Clemson’s first game? LSU, in a battle of the Tigers and a battle of the Death Valleys.
Woodson, whose charge as of now has not been dropped to reckless driving, has not been suspended (as far as we know). So… who is really more SEC here?
Let’s go back to 2003. Marcus Vick played in the first game of the season against UCF, but the Hokies sat him the next week against FCS James Madison for a “violation of team rules.” That seems pretty SEC, doesn’t it?
I think that Vick situation may have been the start of the issues the team had in 2003. Despite suspending Vick for the JMU game, Frank Beamer refused to commit himself to Bryan Randall being the starting quarterback for the rest of the season. Per this article from the Virginian-Pilot:
“I think our quarterback situation we’ll continue to evaluate,” Beamer said. “I said before we started I didn’t know how it was going to turn out. I think you just kind of keep playing and see where it goes and make decisions as we go.”
A former Virginia Tech coach recently told me that Randall was the best leader he has ever been around. That’s extremely high praise. Later in the year, Beamer created a quarterback controversy that never needed to happen. He kept taking Randall out and putting Vick in. The problem was that Vick wasn’t as good and wasn’t ready to play that many snaps. I’d make a strong argument that Tech lost the Pitt and Boston College games because of that decision. Not only was Randall better at that point, but by not supporting him as the starting quarterback, Beamer effectively neutered his massive leadership skills. That team fell apart down the stretch.
Virginia Tech also infamously violated its own CAP (Comprehensive Action Plan) by keeping Derrius Monroe after he pled guilty to felony cocaine possession. Some of you newer fans don’t remember that, but if you go back 25 years, it’s still very much a part of your memory.
And then there’s Tony Morrison, a former four-star linebacker recruit who I thought had a big-time future. Here’s a passage from a Will Stewart article from way back in 2005:
Linebacker Tony Morrison and wide receiver James Crawford became embroiled in the Christy Brzonkala rape case way back in 1995, a case that played itself out on the national stage and gave Virginia Tech a black eye for the better part of two years.
Despite the firestorm of negative publicity and the seriousness of the allegations, Morrison remained on Virginia Tech's football team. Given a second chance, Morrison was later charged with drunk and disorderly conduct and destruction of property in an incident in downtown Blacksburg. Given a third chance, Morrison missed curfew and was suspended late in the 1996 season. Morrison was finally dismissed from the football team in March of 1997 after what seemed like an endless string of bad behavior and bad press.