One year ago, when the Hokies collapsed against Georgia in the Chick-fil-A
Bowl, the spotlight of criticism, blame, and analysis centered squarely on
quarterback Sean Glennon, who turned it over four times as the Hokies fell
apart. One year later, with underdog Kansas beating the Hokies in the Orange
Bowl, the focus is in a different area: bowl preparation and offensive
playcalling. This article will focus on the former, and answer questions about
how the two teams approached the game, and whether Tech’s bowl prep needs
revamping.

Bowl
preparation became the hot issue when Aaron McFarling of the Roanoke Times ran
an article titled Hokies,
Jayhawks a dichotomy in preparation philosophy, in which he painted the
Kansas Jayhawks as a blue-collar, hardworking, driven team, and the Hokies as a
less-than-stressed entry into the Orange Bowl. Most people who read the article
reserved judgment until the outcome of the game was known …

… and then the Hokies came out against Kansas, looked less than inspired,
fell behind 17-0, and made numerous coaching and playing errors on the way to a
24-21 loss.

There is a sizable portion of the fan base that is, shall we say, not fond of
Virginia Tech’s offense or its offensive coordinator, and that portion of the
fan base has sounded off strongly against Tech OC Bryan Stinespring. Sean
Glennon and Tyrod Taylor, who both threw critical interceptions that contributed
to the loss, have mostly been spared the venom. Not Stinespring.

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