How good are we?

[AlabamaBuzz]

Well, 7-2 would have taken very little, and 8-1 was very, very possible, so I would say we had the potential to be a top 15 team. Not the talent, but the potential. Cannot believe the bounces off of d-back's hands we have seen this year.

 

[a5ehren]

Eh, we beat UT and UVA pretty handily with better FG/kickoff games. It's still a reflection on the staff that we didn't have anyone ready to replace Butker, but it's an obvious thing to point to for two more wins.

 

[RonJohn]

We run our offense against 8 or 9 guys in the box and as long as we cannot make opponents respect the pass, at least a little, that will be impossible against good defenses.

Impossible against a good defense? Does that mean that VT's defense is not good? GT did a decent job of running and doubled the VT defenses average per game for rushing. GT had almost as many passing yards as VT.

VT has a good defense and GT did well against them. Didn't get 600+ yards like against TN, but much better than most VT opponents this season.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

We are exactly what out record says we are.

So if we were 8-1 you’d say the same? We’d be the same team but with 3 more plays that fell our way.

 

[The Rev.]

Think about last year.
- Could have lost to BC - remember 4th and 19?
- Could have lost to Duke - remember JT evading a Duke LB in the end zone before running for 55 yards?
- UGA? (Thank you Kirby for throwing the ball when you could have run for a first down.)
This year's team has lost three of those type of games. Supersize is right. We should be 8-1. It's such a fine line.
Yesterday, we didn't let our mistakes or the officiating (don't get me started) or our recent past affect us.
We grew up little bit yesterday.

 

[Longestday]

I agree there is a fine line... The team is better than the record. Rain really changed the season. Praying for clear skies and touch backs in 2018.

 

[jeffgt14]

Probably better than our record and Clemson is really the only team to actually beat us without us ****ting the bed but we are still ****ting the bed. Kick off coverage is a joke and has to be demoralizing to the entire team knowing your TD was pretty much useless as The other team takes the kickoff to your 30. You can't win games that way.

I would say we are a very good team but we are far away from being a clutch team. We just don't have that it factor. I honestly wouldn't say yesterday was much different than TN, Miami, or UVA. We certainly made the same number of complete head scratchers. We just came out of this one because of a hell of a play by Kerr.

Maybe Kerr has that it factor. That reach back to knock the ball away was ball skills with a Z. I have not seen that kind of ability out of Step or Simmons and I'm not sure we're sitting here saying we turned a corner of they were out there instead of Kerr.

 

[YJMD]

Butker would have won us at least 2 of those games. But I agree we're too young and incomplete to be in the upper echelon. Top 25 though if you just rank teams on how good they are regardless of record.

 

[stingyoa$$]

Should be 8-1 right now

You mean "could" be 8-1.

 

[Skeptic]

We run our offense against 8 or 9 guys in the box and as long as we cannot make opponents respect the pass, at least a little, that will be impossible against good defenses.

We are exactly what out record says we are.

There's something to be said about being as good as your record. It is kind of the law I guess. But I saw Miami dismantle ND -- ok, ok, ND was once again overrated, overhyped, over glorified by ESPN if you will -- and our game and it makes one wonder. It is historical that every Saturday they creep up in the box, slide up from safety, and expose themselves deep. The "very good defense" tends to be uneven. We did diddly against Clemson, which -- when it is not the team of walking wounded back there as it is now -- fits your description, and even now is brutal, but now face it: VT has a very good defense. The problem is that too many of us want to see 400 yards rushing every game, against everybody, and don't accept that 270 yards against VT is pretty awesome. I'll take it.

 

[Jacket prime]

I would say we are a very good team but we are far away from being a clutch team. We just don't have that it factor. I honestly wouldn't say yesterday was much different than TN, Miami, or UVA. We certainly made the same number of complete head scratchers.

This. It's both infuriating and somewhat promising. If we can get out of our own way, we can be a pretty good team. Hopefully this game will help us get over the hump for the last 3 games.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

I look at teams and their ceiling to decide how good they can be. If we hit on all aspects of the game, who would out man us? Bama, Clemson. Anyone else? Outside of those two, our ceiling would let us be a top 10 team with a lot of margin. Throw in our many mistakes, that make us a reasonable top 25 team.

 

[BTGT]

CFB fans can be so lame, ours included. We analyze every single play and decision. Just enjoy each day. The GT program could be Wake, Duke, BC, Vandy, Kentucky, Oregon St, UT, Arkansas, Virginia, UNC, ... I could keep going. GT has been consistent in the PJ era, even with Gailey, and special with RF and GOL and Hamilton/Godsey for a year or two. We have not been a dumpster fire. We enjoy great FB at times and good FB most of the time, and bad FB occasionally. Just cheer. Relish the wins. Be sad in the losses. Be thankful you cheer for a classy team. In the end, it's a game.

 

[Sideways]

How good are we? The OP wants to know. Well, certainly better than our record. In college football today, unlike say 25 years ago, there are a tremendous number of teams that are pretty good but not elite. Thus, there is a very fine line between winning and losing that appears to be getting narrower by the year. I would say, without a speck of evidence, facts, statistics, etc, that we are a fringe top 25 team. Maybe in the top 35 or so. We are probably the best four loss team in the country but four losses is, well, four losses. The game that really irks me is Miami. AJ was a half step away from swatting that ball down on fourth down.

 

[Sideways]

There's something to be said about being as good as your record. It is kind of the law I guess. But I saw Miami dismantle ND -- ok, ok, ND was once again overrated, overhyped, over glorified by ESPN if you will -- and our game and it makes one wonder. It is historical that every Saturday they creep up in the box, slide up from safety, and expose themselves deep. The "very good defense" tends to be uneven. We did diddly against Clemson, which -- when it is not the team of walking wounded back there as it is now -- fits your description, and even now is brutal, but now face it: VT has a very good defense. The problem is that too many of us want to see 400 yards rushing every game, against everybody, and don't accept that 270 yards against VT is pretty awesome. I'll take it.

Getting 270 yards rushing against a Bud Foster defense is the equivalent of 400 yards against anybody else not named Alabama and Clemson. Put Auburn in there as well.

 

[Sideways]

Miami played on the same field we did. Made a couple clutch plays down the stretch to get the W and deserved it.

We are a good kicker away from 7-2, a great kicker away from 8-1.

Same would be true if we shot ourselves in the foot a bit less in all 3 phases. If we don't recover that fumble on the kickoff...we almost certainly lose today. Then everyone would be gnashing their teeth, pulling their hair out, screaming to fire coaches, and whining about how tough life is.

Speaking of firing coaches, I took a peek at the Hokie boards, (I know it is naughty of me) and some of them were actually calling for Bud's head. I was thinking oh please let that happen. Won't happen of course but it illustrates how irrational fans, including me, can be after a loss.

 

[ilovetheoption]

We are a mediocre kicker away from being a top 10 program.

The bulovas flip has been devastating to this year's team

 

[Heisman1215]

Good team who could be 8-1, 7-2 easily. I have always been a fan of Paul Johnson, best coach at Tech since Dodd, and one of the very best in the country. Let's run the table.

CPJ is not better than Bobby Ross

 

[CuseJacket]

"We are a really good team except for special teams"
That statement contradicts itself.

"We are a really good team except for turnovers and inability to close out games"
That statement contradicts itself.

Look, I am a glass half full guy. But we are a good team, not great. We played like a 5-4 team yesterday. You can't drop snaps like Harvin did (he has been great, otherwise). You can't throw INT's like Marshall did. You can't have piss poor kickoff coverage like we've had all year. You can't have a kicker with range to maybe 40 yards and expect to win a bunch of games, when our offense still operates in fits and starts. And then try to call ourselves a really good team.

TN is a BAD team. A really good team doesn't allow the game to be close. UVA is an ok team... we did not play like a top 25 team for the duration of the game, let alone single momentum-swinging plays.

Syracuse can point to "what if" one play had broken their way against FSU, Miami, MTSU, etc. At the end of the day, they didn't get it done, just like VT is saying to themselves after yesterday's game. We are 5-4, a couple breaks from a better record for sure, but we are playing about that well on the whole, maybe deserving of 6-3 imo if I concede some element of luck.

 

[jayparr]

We can beat anyone and lose to anyone. We're middle of the road.

Instead of middle of the road: I would say razor thin; which includes injuries, ball bounces, and ref's calls! Especially this year would be the way the ball bounces.