Here’s how I feel about our season so far.

While T Wallace, Playmaker and I (amongst others) have been traveling in Europe, the Hokies have ripped off a nice 3-game winning streak.  Since we left for our vacation the team has been undefeated and the Kansas City Chiefs are the lone unbeaten team in the NFL. We checked to make sure this wasn’t a practical joke.  The booze at Oktoberfest helped fuel us past ECU.  We drank so much we didn’t even care what the result was, well almost.  In Barcelona our level of dedication knew no bounds: as T Wallace mentioned, we fed Euros (or monopoly money as we affectionately referred to it) into the machine so we could buy internet time and continue to watch our shut-out against the Boston College I-Will-Always-Hate-You-Matt-Ryan Eagles. That victory was as delicious as German beer off of Heidi Klum’s navel despite our terrible 3rd and 1 blunders.  If we had lost that game I would have recorded a video of Eddie George as my RB/example of how to fall forward for 1 yard and Fed Exed it to Stinespring.  Terrible play calling once again but we got the victory.  Apparently the good luck charm for the Hokies this year has been us out of the country and far away from American football.  While we were technically back in the Unites States for the NC State game, our minds and body clocks were not so we called Beamer, Stinespring and Bud just before the start of the 2nd quarter to let them know that they can start scoring and playing defense since we were still jet-lagged and on Central European Summer Time. They responded with a great comeback and all of the terrific plays (3 Hosley INTs) and play calling – the 2nd TD (0:34) to Andre Smith where he lined up as a tackle was beautiful, good job Stiney! – that we could handle. Our largest come-from-behind victory ever in the Frank Beamer era will be overshadowed by other games that have already happened this season but hey, we won, we’re 3-2 and we’re above .500 now.

A few years ago Macho Harris said “A minor setback for a major comeback.”  It would be nice to run the table sometime in our young Hokie lives and fill that championship trophy case but for now it looks like we’ll have to claw our way back from irrelevance once again thanks to the JMU debacle (nothing minor about that setback).   Apparently we don’t like the spotlight and prefer to string together victories until we win back the hearts/votes of the AP and are nationally relevant again. Our rank now shouldn’t matter to people who care about Hokie football though. What we should all care about is running the table and going undefeated in ACC play.  We’ve built up some nice momentum and we’re going to need it.

This game against Central Michigan matters because it is our final tune-up before finishing our schedule with 6 straight conference games.  They are 2-3 and while they have only beaten the likes of Hampton and Eastern Michigan, they’ve played undefeated Northwestern tough on the road and are able to provide a good scare to our team if we’re not careful.  We need to stop their pass-happy offense (19th overall in FBS for Passing Yards per game) first and foremost.  Their QB, Ryan Radcliff, is the older brother of Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter and I’d make all sorts of muggle jokes but that would go over too many people’s heads.  What you need to know is that R. Radcliffe is accurate (62.3% completion percentage) but he also has 7 INTs to match his 7 TDs.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: bring the heat Bud.  Radcliffe’s main targets are Cody Wilson (5-10, 186, So.) and Kito Poblah (6-2, 212, Sr.).  While Wilson is more of a possession receiver, Poblah can be physically imposing and will challenge our defensive backs. RB Paris Cotton could also cause us a few headaches even though they are a team that passes to set up the run.  He averages 5.5 yards per carry and can also catch the ball well out of the backfield.  Fairly standard so far. 

Defensively they bend but do not break.  Free safety Bobby Seay, Jr. (no word back yet from Interpol on his genealogy to our beloved Josh Seay) is the defensive quarteback but their strength is in their linebacking corps. Here’s a more in-depth, professional but less funny breakdown of all things Central Michigan.

We can’t overlook this game like JMU for obvious reasons.  I don’t think CMU will overlook this game either since their game next week against Miami (OH) is not only their Homecoming, but Take A Kid to the Game Day.  Seriously.  Just pick some kid up off the streets of Mount Pleasant, MI and throw a shirt on him/her.  Expect us to run early and often despite their propensity to be tough between the tackles.  Wilson and Evans (and Williams if he plays) should bounce plays to the outside and/or just run toss sweeps the whole day.  It’s unstoppable.  It’s science.  Our run game should open up the pass and I’m sure Tyrod will find Boykin in the end zone at least once.

The coaches should have the boys focused and ready to play.  Break out the bourbon airplane bottles and please drink responsibly.  I’ll be in Blacksburg for the first time this season so here’s to racking up another W. 

Prediction: VT 36 – CMU 17.  BDP of the game: Antone “Magnum” Exum for his pick-six. 

FYI, I made it through this whole article without typing their mascot name, just following through with my stance in the Season-At-A-Glance article.