With expectations of a blowout along the lines of Arkansas State-2002, and predictions of 56-0, 63-7 (yours truly),
and even 70-0 making the rounds on the message boards, Virginia Tech’s somewhat lackluster 38-0 win over Northeastern
raised some Hokie eyebrows. Tech has been known to crush good 1-AA teams, and the Huskies were billed as a very,
very bad 1-AA team, so a win that saw the Hokies sputter at times is cause for concern on the part of many.

Count yours truly among those who expected this one to be a bigger romp than it wound up being. Tech was never
threatened in this game, of course, but the Hokies also never really got the steamroller going. Tech only had a small
handful of plays in which they flashed vastly superior athleticism, and the Hokies never completely took control of both
lines of scrimmage. After the Hokies put up three touchdowns in the first 11:31 of the game, the pace slowed
considerably.

There was good and bad in this game, of course. On the good side, Sean Glennon put up impressive numbers in his
starting debut, nailing 15-of-18 passes (83.3%) for 222 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception. Glennon was solid,
running the offense competently and delivering the ball well, though the calls from offensive coordinator Bryan
Stinespring generally didn’t stretch Glennon’s ability, nor did Northeastern place much pressure on the redshirt
sophomore QB.

The thinking going in was that the Hokies wouldn’t ask Glennon to make tough throws, but instead would let him
deliver the ball in the flat to his athletic receivers and tailback Branden Ore, then let them make the plays. Sure
enough, we saw a regular Rickey Bustle diet of quick passes to the flankers, along with a couple of screen passes to Ore
that netted 81 yards and a touchdown.

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