I've never been known as someone willing to sing Virginia Tech's raises. And after Saturday night's 31-7 loss to the Hokies, I'm tempted to make excuses.
I want to mention the fact middle linebacker Yubrenal Isabelle did not play because he was home in West Virginia following the death of his mother.
I want to mention defensive coordinator Rick Lantz's absence for the days preceding the game, so he could attend his brother Ken's funeral.
I want to mention all the other defensive players out injured, leaving our defense stretched thinner than a pair of spandex shorts on a sumo wrestler.
But those excuses still wouldn't erase the ultimate truth that emerged from Saturday's shellacking: the Hokies are just better than Virginia.
"If we accept something like that - then we're wrong," Cav coach George Welsh said. "We have enough good athletes to play better than we did."
But the Cavaliers didn't play better. The polish and intensity Virginia displayed on both sides of the ball the previous two weeks was absent. And when the Cavs came out flat, the Hokies dominated - in every facet of the game.
The offensive line, whose stalwart job up front had helped Thomas Jones run for a combined 374 yards against Wake Forest and BYU, seemed to play tentatively against Virginia Tech's speedy, powerful defense.
Such a performance made an already forgettable game all the more so for the offensive linemen.
"It's super frustrating because we think we have a good team," center John St. Clair said. "Then we go out and act like we've never seen them before."
Tech's Shyrone Stith rushed for more yards than Jones. The Hokie defense held Virginia to a mere 213 yards of offense, a total Tech nearly doubled with its output of 424.
Michael Vick and the Hokie receivers displayed more polish in their passing game than the Cavaliers have shown all season.
Yes, Kevin Coffey saw limited time after getting banged up in the first quarter, but Dan Ellis did not show the poise or presence under pressure needed to beat a strong defensive team like Virginia Tech. Aaron Brooks showed such poise last year, as he led the Cavs back from 22 down at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg. Obviously, in only his fifth career start, we can't expect Ellis to show the polish Brooks showed in one of the final games of his collegiate career.
We can, however, expect Ellis to have enough presence of mind to release the ball, rather than let himself get pasted for a Hokie sack, and yardage loss. Such sacks (there were six of them) helped Tech win the battle of field position, and made it difficult for the Cavs to mount a comeback.
The Hokies' coaching and game plan were also superior to the Cavs' strategy. Considering the strength of Tech's front seven, many expected Virginia to try and open it up more on offense. The Cavs had shown hints of more variety, running a reverse against Wake and a halfback pass against the Cougars last week. But when the game finally began Saturday, Virginia abandoned any plan to make the offense more wide open, choosing instead to go to a smashmouth running attack even when the Hokies lined up nine or even 10 men in the box.
So the flashiest thing that the record-breaking crowd of 51,800 saw when Virginia's offense was on the field was Virginia Tech's celebration after racking up one of their 11 tackles for loss.
As several athletes pointed out after the game, however, in the grand scheme of things, the Virginia Tech game is not as important as the upcoming Conference games, especially with Duke on the horizon next week.
Duke may be more important in the standings and Virginia's overall bowl game hopes, but not in the hearts and minds of the Cavalier fans. And with people watching nationwide on ESPN2 and the largest home football crowd ever on hand, the Cavs picked a very public arena in which to break down.
Toward the end of the game, HooVision showed some of last year's successes and the crowd cheered, celebrating the past glories.
And after losing badly to a team which provided the best memory for last year's football squad, thoughts of similar glory for this year's Cavaliers seemed very distant.
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