Virginia Tech Football: Scoreboard, Boxscore Vs. CMU Tell Two Different Tales

The scoreboard at the end of the game was a relief.

45 – 21 Hokies. 

It’s the third game in a row the Hokies have scored over 40 points and given the travesty that has been this year, that’s good news...right?

Wrong.

CMU beat Virginia Tech in every aspect that has defined Hokie football. They had seven more total yards, more passing yards and lost the time of possession by five minutes.  Each team had a turnover a piece and the defense allowed Parris Cotton to run for 105 yards. The only other time this season when he did that was when the Chippewas played winless Eastern Michigan.

Don’t get me wrong, a win is a win is a win—even if it that win comes like Alabama’s last year when the Tide needed two blocked field goals to beat Tennessee last year. And because they did, they played for the national title.

But this is Central Michigan, a team that got destroyed by (2-4) Ball State last week.  This kind of result would be expected from a team like Mississippi who maybe are reentering the top 50 this week.

It was a similar game to the JMU game in many respects. A random bad team comes to play Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium and the Hokies are expected to win by a large margin. The key for continued success is how the game was played by Virginia Tech.

Simply put, the Hokies did not play that well and it’s really no fault but their own.

They got less yardage, they did not convert a single first down, they lost the time of possession, they allowed a 13 play, 80-yard touchdown drive to open the game and they had less total first downs than Central Michigan.

Let’s compare this to the stats from the loss to JMU. Virginia Tech out passes, out rushes, has more first downs and had the ball for more time than the Dukes. But they lost because of careless turnovers.

So if a pass bounces off a receiver’s hands and back to a cornerback who then returns it for a touchdown, does that make the team? It may make or break a single game but for a team trying to reestablish itself in the ACC and on a national scale, a couple plays don’t define a team. Especially one where the favorite wins by 24.

And if you look at it that way, Hokie Nation should still be concerned.

Central Michigan had an absolutely pitiful red-zone offense (I’m extending the zone to the 30 because three of the drives ended in the mid-20s). Not that Virginia Tech fans have much to brag about when it comes to red zone offense but that’s beside the point.

The first drive for the Chippewas was legitimate and went for 80 yards. The next two ended in a missed field goal and their last drive went 42 yards but ended in a turnover on downs.  All four of these drives ended within our 30 yard line. I’m not going to include the last touchdown they scored because it was against the second string.

But what if they had been able to convert those drives into touchdowns like JMU? The score would have been 38-28 Virginia Tech with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter.

Suddenly the win doesn’t look that impressive. JMU had a perfect storm to upset the Hokies and things just went right for them that day. But it seems that you can say the same thing about any team from Alabama to Youngstown State. And had things went right for the Chippewas, there would be a lot more commotion surrounding the game.

Again, don’t misinterpret what I’m getting at. Seeing another win is fantastic but the apprehensions Hokie Nation had about the team are lingering for longer than anticipated.

The one person I won’t call out is Greg Nosal. In case you haven’t heard, part of his pinky finger was cut off during the game but Greg simply got pain medication and bandages and went back on the field. Talk about a story to motivate the rest of the line and team.

Outside of that one story, there isn’t much to write home about. The Hokies still have no solution to plays of over 10 yards. They can’t tackle. They still haven’t found a way to use Darren Evans and David Wilson at their full potential. They still can’t convert a third down.

On the bright side, the personal fouls seem to be a thing of the past, Tyrod has released his inner beast and Jayron Hosley is an absolute stud at cornerback.

But it just seems that every time the Hokies fix one problem, another comes up. Last week it was dropped passes. Tech has one of the most underrated receiving corps in the nation and caught every catchable ball and even some that weren’t last year. Who are we trying to be with the drops, Miami? Please, no.

Homecoming is this weekend and Wake Forest comes to town. They are one of the worst teams in the ACC and I predicted to blow them out worse than anyone else at the beginning of the season.

But I won’t be looking for the scoreboard too much during the game. I’ll be looking at the box score because that’s where we’ll see whether or not the Hokies are progressing as a team.