Time to Move the Goalposts Back

When James Franklin was hired last November, it was the culmination of a long-overdue realization: Virginia Tech football (and athletics as a whole) needed a complete overhaul. 

Over the previous 15 seasons, Tech was just 80-86 versus FBS opponents, with just one 10-win season and too many we-need-to-beat-Virginia-so-we-can-play-December-football-in-Annapolis kind of seasons.

For the better part of a decade-and-a-half, the Hokies were in football purgatory.

Then, by all accounts, the changes in Blacksburg were swift and numerous. Donations and budgets went up significantly. Talent, both coach and player, improved. In just a couple of weeks, Coach Franklin turned a recruiting class ranked worse than 100th in the country into a top 25 class. Multiple players followed him from Penn State. And Franklin went about starting to change the culture.

Then came the preseason. What were the expectations? Many Hokie fans, just wanting to feel something again, approached the season with measured optimism, understanding that Franklin was building something for the long haul rather than loading up on players running out of eligibility.

The national pundits approached the team in similar measured tones. Middle of the pack in the ACC. A consensus season-win total set at 6.5. The Sons of Saturday staff were a bit more optimistic, but still hovering just south of 8 wins.  

But then Tech went 4-0 and the goalposts moved. Even with a September schedule that was relatively light, many fans of the program were feeling it when the Hokies entered October undefeated. And we served up a big time atmosphere. People outside the program were prairie-dogging to take a peek at our team for the first time in years.

Now, here we are two weeks later, having had the rug pulled out from underneath of us in back-to-back games. Both games were winnable. Both games should have been won, frankly. Both games weren’t without their controversy, but neither could withstand self-inflicted wounds.

And now, many are angry or incredulous or struck with another bout of PTSD from all of the disappointment from past seasons. There have been pleasant surprises along the defensive line and in the passing game. There have been frustrating weaknesses, especially in the secondary, and head-scratching lapses. And while our depth is significantly improved, injuries on the offensive line have been tough to absorb.

It’s funny; I can remember so many times over the years looking at our schedule and saying, “We may not lose another game” and “I don’t see any more wins on this schedule” - in the same season! - depending on what happened the previous game.

And depending on your perspective, or what kind of mood you’re in today, we are a couple of plays away from being 6-0 or 3-3.

But one of Coach Beamer’s famous sayings is, “Things are never as good as they seem, or as bad as they seem.”

He’s right, you know. So perhaps it’s time to move the goalposts back to where they were when the season started. Declaring seasons a raging success or miserable failure halfway through typically doesn't work.

That’s not to suggest we be satisfied with losing winnable games, of course. Nobody gets a free pass for costly penalties, turnovers and special teams mistakes. But there’s a difference between demanding improvement and declaring that the rebuild is somehow off track. 

Then there’s this:

We’re close. And we can be close, or even ahead of schedule, and still be disappointed that we’re not further along.

For many of our preseason goals to be fulfilled, the Hokies need to win games like this weekend against Georgia Tech. We’ve seen intra-game resilience. Now we need to see game-over-game resilience, and more importantly, game-over-game improvement in the areas that are costing the team victories. Because another of Coach Beamer’s sayings is, “Take care of the little things, and the big things will come.”

I happen to believe that the program is in such better shape than it was a year ago that it’s almost laughable. I also believe there’s more talent developing on this roster, and more on the way, than we fully appreciate.

It’s easy to let wins (and losses) carry us too far in one direction during the season. But perhaps, six games into the James Franklin era, we’re about where we should be.

Beat Georgia Tech.