Slept On It: Cincinnati

WOW! Tech actually won a bowl game!!!

That's what my father texted me shortly after the Hokies wrapped up their 33-17 Military Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday. My initial reaction was, "*Bleep* yeah!" But then I laughed to myself thinking about how we had gotten to a point that would prompt such a text.

This is the same program that has been to 22-straight bowl games, but managed a pedestrian 10-12 record.

The Hokies are 5-5 in bowls over the last decade, and a .500 record becomes a bit frustrating when you consider the Hokies reached 5 BCS bowls over that span and managed only one win (Cincinnati, 2009).

So here we are, coming off another 7-6 season and a bowl victory over a Big East American Athletic Conference opponent (albeit a significantly more convincing victory than the 2012 punt fest against Rutgers). Fans are discussing and analyzing the bowl performance in hopes of identifying positives to buoy hopes for a successful 2015 campaign and a return to national relevance.

I love the hope and excitement that surrounds these types of discussions. I love the projections and subjective analyses of complete unknowns. We have absolutely no idea what may happen between now and Labor Day — heck, we have no idea what may happen between now and Signing Day — yet we all love to speculate on what could be. It's human nature...isn't it?

After enduring that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Sugar Bowl loss to what was believed to be a resurgent Michigan program (oops) three years ago, we have collectively spent far too much energy searching for answers. We spent close to a decade near the top as the scrappy little brother, only to fall back down to earth after a gut-wrenching loss to a traditional power.

Maybe we're the college football equivalent of Icarus, victims of hubris. Michigan was the god that thumped us down to earth after we flew too high; Alabama did the same following a 2013 offseason filled with so much hope. Will this team suffer a similar fate in 2015 against a perennially talented Ohio State team?

Or have the last three seasons been a more accurate reflection of the realistic expectations for a program situated in Southwest Virginia? For the last twenty years, we have tried to escape the labyrinth that rivals and detractors love to paint us into; our proverbial wings made out of wax and feathers, binding us to a fate of flying neither too low nor too high. What 18-year old wants to spend the next four years of their life in a remote mountain town, playing for a soon-to-retire coach in a weak conference? This is the adversity Tech is destined to face, arguably the greatest inhibitor in this program's reemergence.

As fans, there is nothing wrong with expecting excellence from a program that displayed so much of it for over a decade. Sure, the Hokies never won a national title; but when you're near the top of the mountain for so long, you begin to feel like you belong with the big boys. What Frank Beamer has been able to do in Blacksburg during his tenure has been nothing short of miraculous. Just because this program has fallen backwards in recent years doesn't mean it has regressed to where some believe it belongs.

Sport is capricious. It's part of what makes it so great. That's why college football, with its growing television audience and invasive recruiting coverage, may be the most fickle of them all. It's how you can quickly go from consistent Top-15 team and conference power to also-ran overnight. Big money boosters, who are used to getting what they want when they want it, open up their coffers in hopes of buying a return to glory (I'm looking at you, Big Blue). Big time recruits that spent their childhood watching teams like Virginia Tech consistently play for conference titles have spent much of their high school careers watching the Hokies struggle to become bowl eligible.

Your fate can change overnight. And that's why I think this team is ready to get over the hump and return to its former perch.

Saturday's victory wasn't perfect, but there were a lot of positives to latch onto heading into an important offseason. The offensive line play was solid despite the injury to David Wang. Previously-maligned tailback J.C. Coleman continued to stake his claim to a key role in this offense, posting 157 yards on the ground. True freshman Greg Stroman made plays on offense, defense and special teams, joining a list of highly successful Swiss Army Knife Hokies that includes DeAngelo Hall and Macho Harris. Isaiah Ford and Bucky Hodges continued to show that they are superstars in the making. And #DBU looks to be in safe hands despite the graduation of safeties Kyshoen Jarrett and Detrick Bonner.

Despite the strengths of this team and the multitude of players expected to return from injury, there are a number of well-documented issues that need to be addressed: Offensive game planning, the quarterback position and defensive end depth, to name a few. But for the first time in a long while, we are beginning to see young game-changing playmakers all over the field. The defense continues to excel as college offenses evolve, and we can all sleep better knowing Bud Foster remains at the helm. The missing piece is a potent, dangerous offense.

I've said it before and I will say it again: The pieces are there and they are only going to get better; the Hokies just need to put it all together on a consistent basis and stay healthy.

There is no doubt Frank Beamer will eventually leave the Hokie football program in a better place than when he took over. Even so, this may prove to be the most pivotal offseason in his storied career. He has an opportunity to not only prove his critics wrong and finish his career on an upswing, but a chance to set this program up for sustained success well after he is gone.

To those who think the Hokies' time flying near the top of the sport has come-and-gone, I say, "Just wait." After all, at Virginia Tech, designing high-performance aerodynamic systems is one of the many things we do best.