Once again, I've heard a lot of rumbling about how something has to change with Hokie football due to the lack of ability to win. I call bullshit! Frank Beamer is everything that is right with college football, and I stand behind him. Let's look at some numbers, shall we.
VT was #7 in wins in the 2000's, with 99, behind Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, Florida and Boise. What do all of them have in common, other than Boise? A STRONG history of football, dating back well past 50 years. Not bad company to keep, I'd say.
Let's look at who won National Titles since 1990...Alabama, Florida, FSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, LSU, Texas, Tennessee. What else do these teams have in common? They all have been sanctioned by the NCAA by some measure over the same period of time. Some are varying levels, but vacating seasons and wins, losing scholarships, recruiting restrictions, suspensions, etc. You get the idea...
Virginia Tech and Frank Beamer are what's right with college football. Who has the most consecutive 10 win seasons currently? Who has the third longest current bowl appearance streak? What coach has the second longest current tenure at one school (behind JoPa...) with 24 years? Who has won 3 of the last 4 ACC championships? Who has done ALL of this WITHOUT sanctions, NCAA infractions, vacated wins, reduced scholarships, investigations? Frank. With all that is wrong in the college football world, win at all costs, firing of coaches when they win coach of the year, paying players, recruiting sketchy players that will hurt the squad in 6 years when the NCAA gets around to it, Frank runs a clean ship and WINS!
Still not fully convinced, and want more out of Blacksburg? Let's look at BCS history. VT is #5 in BCS appearances, behind Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida and USC. Again, nice shoulders to rub. There's much talk about how we can't beat a top 5 team, and Tech is 1-14 against top 5 teams. Well, Tech is 7-1 against teams #6-10. Let's look at some other school's records against top 5 teams: UVA = 1-20, UNC = 1-40, NCST = 1-27, WVU = 1-38, Miami = 18-42 (tops in NCAA), ND = 21-64, USC = 19-53, OhioSt = 9-45, Clem = 2-32. So, as you can see, it's a misleading stat without much to surround the information. I'm sure Ohio State will get to double digits in the next ten years or so...
And let's not forget one of the biggest issues surrounding Tech football...it's only really been around since 1993. The 1992 season was awful, 2-8-1, but was the last time we didn't visit a bowl game. Frank has failed to win 9 games only 4 times in that time span. Tech has been ranked in the top 10 of the final polls 7 times. All of this has been accomplished with a single head coach and no NCAA infractions. Why is this such a bad thing?
Oh, and let's not forget who won a trophy this year named for the only person who has been coaching longer than he has, the Joe Paterno award went to Frank Beamer.
Frank Beamer and Virginia Tech football stand for everything that is right with college football, and should be applauded for their efforts in this sell-your-jersey, pay-to-play day and age. Thank you Frank for making every game matter, every tailgate matter, and leading such an outstanding Virginia Tech squad every year.
No comments:
Post a Comment