I guess the only thing that could make this season worse for the Hokies than home losses to Duke and then Maryland would be to give up the Commonwealth Cup to a terrible UVA football team this coming Saturday in Scott Stadium (aka- Li’l Lane, based on the Hokie turnout every other Saturday after Thanksgiving).  If you ask the coaching staff and the players, they’ll tell you they’re confident.
The seniors aren’t just talking smack about UVA to the media, they’re doing it amongst one another as well.  This group has  a lot of pride and they do NOT want to be the first group to lose to UVA in the last ten years.  The new coaches don’t want to come into a new job in Blacksburg and be responsible for the first loss to the instate rival in ten years either.  There’s a lot on the line this Saturday, and the Hokies undoubtedly have a more talented group than the Cavaliers.

So, if the coaches are confident, and the players are confident, why aren’t the fans?  Is it because the fans have a better sense of who this team is, who they really are, than the players and the coaching staff?  Are the players and coaches simply too close to the situation to see it clearly?  I know that fans often get the blame (and rightfully so) for being too emotional and not thinking clearly when it comes to matchups, game plans, and strategies.  But, isn’t it possible, even likely, that in this situation the coaches and players are the ones who are too close to the situation for objectivity, based on their investment of time, sweat, and tears?

Coaches and players like to blow off criticism from fans and media by pointing to the countless hours they spend in the film room, breaking down game tape and dissecting the minute details of every play.  And, to a certain extent, they are right to do so.  A lot of fans are guilty of misdirecting their anger and their “blame” when things don’t go right.  I’m surrounded by people in Lane Stadium every VT home game whose opinions are loudly and forcefully (and sometimes blatantly) wrong.

But, that doesn’t mean that the players and coaches themselves are exempt from putting on the blinders when it comes to assessing strengths and weaknesses of an opponent and more importantly, strengths and weaknesses of their own team and staff.  It’s very important that the coaching staff maintains objectivity when it comes to the week to week performance of their football team and what the individual players do well.  And, they need to force the players to admit those flaws as well.  Nick Saban and Chris Peterson are masters of this.  So is Bud Foster.  The jury is still out on Scot Loeffler.

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