A few days ago I was asked to participate in Gobbler Country's 2009 Postseason Roundtable. Furrer4Heisman asked some pretty solid questions, and he'll have everyone's answers posted over at his site later this week. Just as a sneak preview, here's what I had to say:

Successful is a very broad term when it comes to Hokie football. It all depends on perception. If you thought the team would win the National Championship this season, then it obviously wasn't a success. However, I'm not quite that short-sighted. There wasn't really any way that the Hokies were going to run through their schedule unscathed in my opinion, so I try to look elsewhere for success. Tech improved significantly on offense, so in that sense, they were extremely successful. The program won ten games for the sixth straight season, and they won a pretty good bowl game by three touchdowns against a regional rival. All-in-all, I think it was a successful year, and Tech fans should be pretty pumped about 2010.

2. Did Bryan Stinespring and the Hokie offense finally turn a corner in 2009 or are you still pessimistic about the future of the offense?

I think they did in the sense that Stiney learned to get out of his players' way. As I mentioned before, Tech improved on offense, but that was expected considering the type of experience and skill they returned from 2008. However, that hasn't always been the case in the past. Even with guys like Eddie Royal and Brandon Ore, Stiney managed to rank near the bottom of the pack in all of the major offensive statistics. This year, while we still saw lots of screens and draws, guys like Ryan Williams, Jarrett Boykin and Tyrod Taylor were allowed to use their athleticism to put the team in a position to win. If Stiney can somehow figure out how to call plays, we'll really see some greatness next season.

3. Can the inconsistency of the defense this season be blamed mostly on youth at linebacker and injuries to key players like John Graves or were other factors at play?

I blame the linebacker situation. Bud Foster has always done a good job of fixing everything else on the field as long as his linebackers have played well, and that just wasn't the case this season. Rivers was pretty good, but Jake Johnson was a liability. We haven't been that weak at backer in quite some time. Safety play was pretty iffy at times as well.

4. Which player was the biggest surprise to you in 2009, good or bad?

Good- Cody Grimm. I knew the kid could ball, but not like that. It might have been the best season at whip we've ever seen, or ever will see in Blacksburg.

Bad- Kam Chancellor. He just never looked comfortable, and I think Bud Foster's crew will ultimately improve without the human hit stick.

5. If the Hokies could go back and replay one of their three losses, which one would you replay?

Georgia Tech, no question. A lot of people would say UNC because they really had no business losing, but the Georgia Tech loss was just infuriating. Bud Foster does not get fooled three times by the same guy, and I just hate watching their stupid offense rack up time of possession on the Bud's kids. Plus I don't think they'd be able to contain the Hokie offense in their own territory like that again. That was a 1 in 100 performance, and I think the Hokies could/should have won. I honestly think that the Hokies will beat the Jackets by three touchdowns next season.

Bonus question: Write a haiku about Ryan Williams.

Ru dominates you
Drags your butt to the end zone
He exudes greatness

Comments (1)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment