Key Reads: Thursday Lunch Hour Edition

Is Playing Boise State Still a Lose-Lose Proposition?

Boise State's perception is slowly changing in the national media and the Broncos will soon take a step up to the Mountain West Conference. But I wonder if their perception has changed enough that the Hokies would get the credit they deserve for a possible victory against them.

As alluded to above, perception is 9/10s of the law. The early Vegas odds have Boise State favored by 2.5 points. And most of the chatter I've heard from the ESPN talking heads is centered around how much credit Boise will get from a win. So I think it's safe to assume most people outside Blacksburg are leaning towards or expecting a Boise State win. Therefore it's not a lose-lose proposition.

Breaking Down the 2010 Schedule: Games I Can't Wait to See

I'd have Boise State first and Georgia Tech second, just because Boise is the opener and IT CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH, but really it's a push. However, questionable decision to rank James Madison above Boston College and Virginia.

From Chris Colston's Hokie Football Annual 2010: Q&A With Frank Beamer

HA: Your offense really played well the last five games. But the criticism of the past few years, particularly with coach (Bryan) Stinespring, has to tear you up.

FB: Yeah, it does. I think it's a great tribute to our kids and the program, and the coaches, the way we finished the season. One of your main goals, to win the ACC, was gone. A lot of people, after we lost those two, were ready to call it quits. But what I like about the team and coaches is that we went back out, kept working hard, and got better as a football team. I appreciate that. After you've got your hopes up and you lose two and you're out of it, it takes strong character to come back and have success.

Q&A With Bryan Stinespring (From Chris Colston's Hokie Football Annual 2010)

HA: What is that core offensive philosophy at Virginia Tech?

BS: There hasn’t been a defensive coordinator in America who sits down on Sunday morning and says, ‘We’ve got to stop the pass.’ It’s not their mindset, their demeanor or their attitude. I don’t care if you’re playing Texas Tech; they want to stop the run and make everybody one-dimensional. We’re going to do our best to make sure nobody makes us one-dimensional.

So we want to be able to run the ball effectively, but be balanced, where the run sets up the pass and the pass sets up the run. When you can do both well and be unpredictable.

This is just a tiny sample of the great work Chris Colston put into the inaugural Hokie Annual. You can, should, must buy your copy here.

A-Line Extra: Hoo Wants A Ticket?

Hoo AD Craig 'Tubby, at least somebody is buying the darn tickets' Littlepage endorsed the contest, saying, "that's a great idea. If we could get every Hoo employee to buy 100 tickets, we might be able to afford the salary of Georgia Tech's defensive coordinator."

Bravo.