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Nov. 7, 2005 – This isn’t the column I had hoped to write following Saturday’s game, but Tech’s disappointing and humiliating loss to Miami left me no choice.

I was hoping to write a cautionary column warming Tech fans not to get too exuberant because we still had dangerous Virginia and North Carolina teams to face and then an ACC title game. Instead, I’m forced to write an “it ain’t so bad” column to remind people that we’re still No. 6 in the BCS standings and an ACC title is still a possibility.

I’m not an overly optimistic person when it comes to Virginia Tech football. Like all Hokie fans, I’ve endured far too many late season collapses to simply shake this loss off and think that we’ll roll to a 10-1 finish and a shot at a BCS game. However, for my own sanity – and that of my family and coworkers – I have to convince myself that all is not lost.

Miami still has to play Wake Forest , George Tech and Virginia . If the Hokies can manage to avoid another stumble to the finish and win against the Cavaliers and Tar Heels, we’ll finish 7-1 in the ACC. Miami should win their three remaining games, but now they’re not being overlooked (poor babies). They’re the team with the target on their back, so let’s see how Kyle Wright does now, especially without their starting tailback for the rest of the season. If the “U” loses one of their remaining three games – Hello! – we’re right back at the top of the standings. So have faith and cheer on the Deacons, Jackets and (shuddering) even the Cavs, to knock off the Canes.

That’s the ideal scenario. But, if you’ve lived through a season like 2003 in which Tech lost four of their last six games, you know that our two remaining games are going to be rough. Why? Because Virginia and Carolina are aware of our past failures and they’re aware that we’re aware. Suddenly, the pressure is on Tech to be able to prove they’re not paper lions. I think that pressure is probably greater than trying to go undefeated.

On that same note, there are plenty of players on this team that remember what happened two years ago when the Hokies imploded down the stretch. I know it’s on their minds and I know the seniors, especially, don’t want to go out like that.

Fans everywhere are now wondering if this is a repeat of ’03, or if the Miami loss was just a bad night against a great team. Without question it was the worst performance of Vick’s short career and his first loss as a starter. The key to the rest of the season is how they’ll respond in two weeks, particularly after a week off to think about things.

One of two things will happen, in my opinion: Tech will either come out on Nov. 19 against the Cavaliers and play some friggin’ BeamerBall en route to a convincing win, or they’ll come out flat and lay an egg and we’ll never hear the end of the slobbering on TheSabre.

There are just too many psychological variables to really get a feel for what’s going to happen with this team. One final optimistic way to look at our final two games is that everyone thinks we’re going to fail, again. They think we’re done and that we have nothing left. If Beamer can convince his players that everyone is against them again (like he did in 2004), he might just be able to strike a nerve with this team that’ll make them play out of their minds and just punish the Wahoos and Heels.

Tech lost to better team Saturday night. Plain and simple. Just like Miami lost to a better Tech team in ’03 and ’04, and seven of the last 10 games prior to this season. Our national title hopes are gone, but Tech still has something to prove to the college football world, to the ACC, to their fans and more importantly to themselves.

They’re not playing for a bowl game or ACC title; they’re playing for pride. And when you take away the bright lights, packed houses and national attention, all these players will ever have left of this season is how they finished. That will be the mark of this team. How they choose to be remembered is up to them.

Stay strong and stay united Hokie nation…

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