Last week I was watching a replay of VT's 2000 game vs. ECU. You might remember that one -- a 45-28 victory where VT unleashed a Beamer Ball can of whoop-azz and was up 31-0 at halftime. Some here have fond memories of such games and might wish VT could "get back" to that kind of perfection.

Problem is, as I watched it I could see just how flawed that performance was:

1) VT started right off allowing ECU to make big strikes downfield.

2) The lead-in to that game was full of Michael Vick hype by ESPN. Well, MV1 did like zero in that game.

3) VT allowed ECU to make a decent strike-back right after halftime.

4) Most of the critical points were off ECU turnovers and egregious special teams gaffes in the first half and then it was a cruise-fest.

Many of the games we fondly remember from that era were rather like that -- VT properly capitalizing off opponents' errors. I suppose the closest one to an actual "perfect" three phases domination would have been the famous 62-0 destruction of Syracuse.

****

Clemson last night looked a lot like that 1999 VT team -- that is, awesome! Best looking team I've seen in years. But they didn't really play a perfect game either:

1) Bryant's deep ball was off target multiple times.

2) Clemson RBs frequently got stuffed.

3) There were plenty of coverage busts.

That game should have been out of reach maybe 31-0 by halftime, but it wasn't. Clemson will actually have some things to work on when they look at that film.

However, CU won easily by being TIMELY with what strikes they did perform, always planting the dagger.

***

I guess what I'm trying to say is VT doesn't have to play a "perfect game" every time out in order to be elite. No one does, and only rarely does such a game ever happen. Most of the time, games are full of bazillions of errors we don't even see, but which the players and coaches realize only too well.

In most cases, the items that really win games (for Clemson now, and for VT in 99) are what I call "killer instinct" moments where some great playmaker picked their spot and made a play no one could have anticipated (Corey Moore against CU, for example). That kind of genius doesn't come along every day, or even every year.

***

Teams like Clemson and Alabama maximize their chances of having that special guy on the field in the right place at the right moment simply by creating the largest possible pool of potential playmakers that are always hanging around the program. For them, eventually things will happen.

We all know recruiting is important, but really it's way more important than we think. The best coaches, systems, schemes won't find ultimate success unless their talent pool gets wide enough to catch that lightning in a bottle -- repeatedly. VT's talent pool hasn't been wide enough for long enough to catch the lightning consistently.