Sep 12, 2007, 14:54 GMT
Blacksburg, VA - Head coach Frank Beamer shoots for the 200th victory of his career on Saturday as he and the 18th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies take the field in Blacksburg versus the Ohio University Bobcats.
Beamer, who is third on the active wins list among NCAA Division I coaches behind only Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, has had a rough start to the 2007 campaign thus far. The season opener was supposed to be an afterthought for the squad, considering its ranking in the preseason poll, but East Carolina made sure that nothing came easy in a 17-7 decision that fell in favor of Tech. Last weekend the Hokies bit off more than they could chew as they went down hard against second-ranked LSU in a 48-7 contest in the Bayou.
As for the Bobcats, directed by third-year head coach Frank Solich, they are once again off to a 2-0 start this season. However, beating up on Gardner-Webb and Louisiana-Lafayette isn't exactly the best way to impress people. Last season, after winning the first two games by a combined score of 64-26, Ohio was held to a total of only 22 points in the next three games altogether.
As far as the all-time series between the two teams is concerned, Virginia Tech has won all three of the previous encounters, including a 45-0 shutout in Lane Stadium in 2005. The Hokies have had considerable success in this venue against non-conference opponents, winning 26 straight outings versus those institutions.
Kalvin McRae was a man on a mission last week for the Bobcats, leading the team with 84 yards and three touchdowns on 20 rushing attempts and grabbing three passes for 52 yards and yet another score in the team's victory over the Ragin' Cajuns on the road. Brad Bower had his moments in the pocket for the offense as he hit 17-of-28 for 264 yards and a score, but was also picked off once and sacked two times, consequently bringing the team's overall rushing total down to 152 yards and an average of only three and a half yards per attempt. McRae, who was named the Mid-American Conference East Division Offensive Player of the Week for the seventh time in his career, already has 226 yards rushing and five touchdowns on the ground for the unit in two games. Because of his efforts the Bobcats are ranked second in the MAC in rushing at this point with 179 ypg and first in scoring offense with 33.5 ppg as well. Obviously the strength of this group is in the ground game, but Bower is trying to make significant strides throwing the ball with 222 ypg and better than 60 percent completions. Last year the team ranked last in the conference and 115th in the nation with a woeful 129 ypg through the air.
UL-Lafayette managed to put together several lengthy scoring drives against the Bobcats, with the visitors often bending but not quite breaking under the pressure. Perhaps most disappointing, despite the win, was the fact that Ohio allowed two players to gain more than 100 yards on the ground and the Cajuns a whopping 277 yards rushing. Although, not a single point was scored by the home team on the ground, so the Bobcats won that part of the battle. Jordan Meyers led the group with nine solo tackles and logged a forced fumble as well for the Bobcats, while Kris Luchsinger made three of his four stops behind the line of scrimmage, two of those against the quarterback. After two games the men up front have surrendered an average of 171 yards on the ground, and yet neither opponent has managed to get into the end zone running the ball. Unfortunately, the pass defense is another story for the Bobcats, permitting 260.5 ypg and surrendering five scores to this point. That number has the unit ranked last in the MAC and 96th in the nation at the moment, with the team's 431.5 ypg of total offense allowed checking in at 95th nationally. Joshua Abrams may have three blocked punts already this year, but all of those came against an inferior opponent in Gardner-Webb.
With one of the worst passing efforts in recent memory, the Hokies kept themselves from being competitive against LSU over the weekend in Baton Rouge. Starting quarterback Sean Glennon simply could not find an open receiver to save his life, hitting a mere 2-of-10 for 16 yards, while being intercepted once and sacked one time. Coach Beamer tried to jumpstart the offense by putting in backup Tyrod Taylor and got some positive results, but not enough to stem the tide. Taylor, who was named the starter for this weekend against Ohio University, connected on 7-of-18 for 62 yards and scrambled nine times for 44 yards and a touchdowns, but he too was sacked twice for a loss of 16 yards, leaving the unit with a woeful 149 yards of offense. But before fans give up hope altogether, they need to remember that last year's 10-3 Hokies squad wasn't exactly an offensive juggernaut either, averaging just 113.4 ypg on the ground and 181.8 ypg through the air to rank 90th and 82nd in the nation, respectively. There should be some concern however, considering the squad is last in the ACC and 112th in the country in scoring offense with a mere 12.0 ppg at the moment.
Under Beamer the defense has always been a mainstay and stabilizing force for the Hokies, but against LSU that simply wasn't the case. The Tigers scored double-digit points in every quarter and nearly pulled off the unthinkable with 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing, falling short in the latter department by just three yards. But in any case, VaTech permitted the home team to earn better than eight yards per play on the night, far too much for the Hokies to stay competitive. D.J. Parker did all he could to stay on top of the game with a team-high 11 tackles, 10 of those solo efforts, while Brandon Flowers posted nine stops and a pair of TFLs. The meeting with LSU has really skewed the defensive stats for the Hokies, a team that led the nation in pass defense, total defense and scoring defense a season ago. Just four teams scored more than 10 points against the squad in 2006 and already the scoring defense for the Hokies shows the group permitting 27.5 ppg.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Your Talkback on this Story