Reasoned and Measured Analysis Without the BS
I had lofty hopes when Jalen Cone reclassified into the Class of 2019 and signed early with Virginia Tech basketball.
247Sports’ Composite rating placed him just outside the top-100 and ranked him the ninth-best point guard in the class. Cone held offers from numerous Power 5 programs, including Tennessee, Baylor, Miami and Stanford. He was a bonafide prospect. Continue reading “Jalen Cone’s Development Critical to Conference Success for Virginia Tech”
One of my favorite songs is “Believe” by The Bravery. The chorus goes like this…
So give me something to believe
‘Cause I am living just to breathe
And I need something more
To keep on breathing for
So give me something to believe
It’s a great song. I never knew it would relate to Virginia Tech athletics. Continue reading “Virginia Tech Fans Left Needing Something to Believe”
Justin Fuente delivered quite the early Christmas present on Saturday night, ensuring a joyous holiday season for all Hokies.
Fuente, his staff and most importantly, his players, engineered a 33-15 win over Virginia that eased the minds of Hokies across the country, even if for only a little while. Saturday night’s win was a thoughtful and meaningful present, even if it possibly ends up being Fuente’s last to the fan base. Continue reading “Fuente Ushers in Return to Normalcy With 33-15 Win Over Virginia”
Basketball is a game of runs. For a few minutes, you can’t miss and you find all the open looks you could ever ask for. Later, you couldn’t hit water if you fell out of a cruise ship — you couldn’t do that anyway, all of those are shutdown at the moment.
Virginia Tech basketball embarked on a run already — the Hokies started their season with four consecutive wins, including one over national contender and now No. 9 Villanova. The Hokies were playing exceptional basketball.
The run started to slow just two games later against VMI, when Virginia Tech escaped with a 64-57 win on their home floor. It was a humbling performance, but one that didn’t figure to carry over. Continue reading “No Need to Worry About Virginia Tech Basketball’s Roller Coaster Start”
Calm down. I know that headline might have got your heart racing.
Justin Fuente is wrapping up his fifth season at the helm of Virginia Tech football. It obviously hasn’t gone well — the Hokies just clinched their second losing record over the last three seasons.
There’s a running gun battle over which has deteriorated faster — the on-field product or Fuente’s relations with the fanbase and donors. Neither relationship is on the mend and the two sides basically aren’t talking. Continue reading “How Justin Fuente Keeps His Job at Virginia Tech”
The only thing more frustrating than wrapping that oddly-shaped gift for Christmas might just be Virginia Tech football.
Virginia Tech entered the warmth of their locker room at halftime on Saturday night within one score of the No. 3 Clemson Tigers. Down just seven points, the Hokies had life.
It didn’t last, as Clemson asserted their dominance to win a 45-10 laugher that became quite embarrassing in the later stages of the game. Virginia Tech had their chances and they squandered almost all of them. Continue reading “Tech Takeaways: Hokies Flounder in Upset Bid of Clemson”
The scheduling changes of 2020 are once again giving Virginia Tech visions of what could be.
The Hokies are hosting Clemson this Saturday, the second time the Tigers have traveled to Blacksburg in Justin Fuente‘s tenure as head coach. In 2017, Dabo Swinney and his Clemson Tigers showed Fuente just how far he had to go in order to get Virginia Tech on a nationally relevant level, winning 31-17 in a game that wasn’t that close.
This time around, Fuente is even further from that level. And even though Clemson is likely to exorcise Virginia Tech into the shadow realm on ESPN in primetime, it could serve as a blueprint for how Virginia Tech can restore their brand.
Continue reading “Clemson’s Path to National Dominance, and How Virginia Tech Can Attempt to Follow”
Since Tyrod Taylor‘s departure in 2010, Virginia Tech has struggled to find dynamic quarterback play. Whether it be Michael Brewer, Brenden Motley or Mark Leal, the Hokies’ quarterbacks in Frank Beamer’s final few seasons fell far short of the standard Taylor set in his curtain call.
Justin Fuente was hired to fix that and to an extent, he did. The level of quarterback play in Blacksburg has come a long way from the dog days of 2014 and 2015, but the narrative surrounding Fuente as a “quarterback whisperer” holds less and less merit the longer he coaches. Continue reading “The Unraveling of the ‘QB Whisperer’ Narrative”
When your spouse leaves you a to-do list, you best get it done.
So humor me for a bit, as I play the role of loving spouse to Virginia Tech football. The Hokies are mired in a four-game losing streak and close to securing their second losing record in three seasons. There’s plenty to do, even if it’s almost December.
Continue reading “Virginia Tech’s Honey-Do List for the Bye Week”
I really like Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, particularly where in The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent famously says, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente knows this all too well.
Continue reading “Whit Babcock Has No Easy Solution to Stop Virginia Tech’s Football Freefall”