Frank Beamer on the game.

[TiderInTally]

When the radio host asked about officiating, Coach Beamer called several calls "tough." Holding on a third down run that went for a first down (negated by the holding call), Kam Chancellor's pass interference penalty (giving Alabama a first down), and the personal foul late hit out of bounds were each called "tough calls." The game's outcome "might have been different" had these calls gone the other way, according to Beamer.

Horse puckey.

The holding call was early in the 4th quarter, 3rd and 1 (or 2) at the VT 37. VT failed to convert on the following 3rd and 9, and was forced to punt. Coach Beamer: all due respect, but if your team racks up a total of 155 yards of offense over the course of an entire game, having a drive stopped by a penalty 60+ yards from the end zone does *not* change the outcome. And Alabama's TD on the possession was the result of unexceptional punt coverage by VT, followed by poor defensive execution.

The pass interference call was even more irrelevant: 7-8 min. to go in the 3rd, on 3rd and 6, at the Alabama 38. Sure, Bama got a fresh set of downs. But Roy Upchurch lost a fumble just a few plays later, giving VT the ball with excellent field position, an opportunity VT promptly squandered. So again, how did this "tough" call change the outcome of the game?

The late hit out of bounds call might - might - have impacted the game's outcome, but the contingencies for that to have happened are so remote as to render the possibility insignificant. The penalty occurred late in the 1st quarter, deep in Alabama territory, when VT was up 7-6. Alabama punted the ball 4 plays later, but the penalty did result in much better field position. So, when VT muffed the punt return, Bama recovered at the VT 16 instead of, say, the VT 40. But Alabama only got a field goal out of the turnover. So, for the penalty to have affected the outcome, you have to assume that (a) Alabama does not keep its drive alive (the penalty was called on 2nd down), (b) VT does not muff the punt return, and (c) VT scores a TD on that possession - a 10-point swing. Possible? Yes. In the same way it was technically possible that France could have won WWII all on its own.

Regardless, it is, in my opinion, bad form and questionable sportsmanship to blame a loss on the officials (even implicitly), except under the most obvious and egregious circumstances. Bob Stoops, for example, a few of years ago. Bama-VT '09 game does not fall into that category. Because the facts of the matter are these: "tough" officiating is a fact of the game, is usually equal-opportunity (rather like the weather), and will only rarely change the outcome of a game. VT had plenty - plenty - of *other* opportunities to make plays, get 1st downs, stop Bama's offense, etc. To win the game, in other words. They did not.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Both teams at times in this game were their own worst enemies. Both teams were impacted negatively and positively by referee calls. I don't see the beef. Anybody can go through that game and depending on which team you're a fan of could easily cherry pick calls that supports the claim of "your team got screwed".

But if you take the game as a whole no one call or series of calls against either team had an impact on the outcome. I'm sorry Coach Beamer. I have tons of respect for you but to imply that the reason your team didn't walk away the winner was on the backs of the refs is wrong. No matter the loser in this game both teams made too many on their own to even consider blaming the refs. :rolleye2:

 

[BAMA504]

Did he watch the tape? That was easily an obvious hold, the guy held Mark Barron the whole way while Barron was stringing out the runner to the sideline.

Or how about the hold on Hightower that allowed their Rb to get to the outside???? Or how about the holding their OL did on more than 5 occasions and 2-3 times were against Marcel by their RT??????

I noted before to one of the VT posters that their OL had a bad habit of holding but seemed to get away with it for some reason and Saturday was no different....

Honestly after watching the game last night VT might be the 4th best team in the ACC with Miami looking impressive at QB and Free shoe U not to shabby either.. Ga Tech is a beast only because their offense is so crazy but they are decent as well so Vt may need to find an offense and quickly because fsu and Miami sure have....

 

[Crimson Cat]

Both teams at times in this game were their own worst enemies. Both teams were impacted negatively and positively by referee calls. I don't see the beef. Anybody can go through that game and depending on which team you're a fan of could easily cherry pick calls that supports the claim of "your team got screwed".

But if you take the game as a whole no one call or series of calls against either team had an impact on the outcome. I'm sorry Coach Beamer. I have tons of respect for you but to imply that the reason your team didn't walk away the winner was on the backs of the refs is wrong. No matter the loser in this game both teams made too many on their own to even consider blaming the refs. :rolleye2:

I completely agree. I honestly thought the refs did a decent job and BAMA had way more penalties than VaTech overall. If I'm not mistaken we had around 80 yds? in penalties which is a lot for a Saban coached team. The first half was sloppy on both sides. BAMA pretty much gave VaTech the td on the Rolo/MJ back-to-back penalties. But like you said the game wasn't determined by any of the penalties by either team. In defense of Beamer, he was most likely playing to Hokie home crowd. Not a big deal, all coaches do that.

 

[TideEngineer08]

The officiating comments were really instigated by the journalist/radio host, who is, of course, a Tech homer.

I would be ashamed for Tech if a Tech player had said publicly, "No, we don't want to play Alabama again." That said, I bet there were some guys in the Tech locker room who were saying to themselves, "Man, I really hate playing those guys."

Oh yes, I agree. And I guess I was paying more attention to the comments about wanting to play Alabama again, than the comments about the refs. I agree with y'all that the refs came no where near deciding this game. Tech was simply outmatched.

 

[Relayer]

I think both the early personal foul on VT when they took GMac out of bounds and the personal foul against Bama's Jordan (?) on the late hit out of bounds were very much borderline and unnecessary calls.

The hold on Barron was clear cut and changed the outcome. The play where the lineman blocked Hightower and the made the TD run was just a good play by VT.

One hold uncalled against Bama was when GMac got hit and threaded the needle to Julio on the right sideline. On that play Barret Jones made a nice tackle on VT's d-lineman.

There were several iffy calls and they missed some both ways, but for the most part they got it right, . The officials did not change the outcome in any relevant way.

 

[CrimsonPride]

Honestly after watching the game last night VT might be the 4th best team in the ACC with Miami looking impressive at QB and Free shoe U not to shabby either.. Ga Tech is a beast only because their offense is so crazy but they are decent as well so Vt may need to find an offense and quickly because fsu and Miami sure have....

I thought the same thing last night. FSU & UM have offenses that are better than VT and both have as much or more team speed than VT.
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[CapstoneGrad06]

I thought the same thing last night. FSU & UM have offenses that are better than VT and both have as much or more team speed than VT.
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The difference is that VT is better conditioned and better coached than those two teams. There's a reason VT has won ten or more games in four consecutive seasons, and are the two-time defending ACC Champions. Miami will be 1-3 within a month, and Florida State is not that great on defense. I expect VT to rebound and win their conference, unlike Clemson last season.

 

[Nomad_Hokie]

Now that you mention it, I am curious also, perhaps some of the great VT posters could give their take on why no punt block attempts.

Haven't read the thread yet, and if this has already been said then I'm using this post to agree with them. However; the reason we don't go for punt blocks often is two reasons imo.

1. Because there's such a big chance to get a roughing the kicker called. Our defense was tired, and giving the ball back to the Bama offense could have completely killed the momentum and would likely lead to a Bama score. To me, it seems like there's almost a better chance at a roughing call than actual block.

2. Coach thought it was safer, and trusted our punt return guys to potentially score. The two guys we had returning punts (Williams and Hosley) are two of the most explosive Punt Returners Beamer has had.

 

[Crimson Cat]

The difference is that VT is better conditioned and better coached than those two teams. There's a reason VT has won ten or more games in four consecutive seasons, and are the two-time defending ACC Champions. Miami will be 1-3 within a month, and Florida State is not that great on defense. I expect VT to rebound and win their conference, unlike Clemson last season.

I agree. VaTech looks better to me than either UM or FSU even without a snazzy offense~ their defense & special teams make up for it, as well as the conditioning & coaching elements you mentioned; VaTech plays very fast as well and are a physical team.
As for FSU & Miami, I saw two teams last night with very little defense which will eventually catch up to both teams~fast & athletic? Yes, but not better or faster than VaTech, imo. I was impressed with both their qbs though and that Reid guy.

 

[Boclive]

I don't know about all that coach-speak after the game. They did a GREAT job on JJ. I like knowing he will always draw an automatic double team. Always a question whether the two defensive backs assigned the job are able to do the job. Must have been at the expense of stopping anyone else, though.

That was a lot of offense for a freshman quarterback and a re-vamped offensive line.

 

[bamachile]

I don't think Coach Beamer is the type to try to whine, complain, and stir the pot. It sounds like a VT-friendly journalist was trying to lead the interview in that direction and CFB downplayed those concerns and disagreed, even if he used kid gloves in doing so. Coach Beamer loses none of my respect with this interview.

 

[Alanbama27]

I am not sure why Frank Beamer would even talk about penalties as though they had any impact on the game? They didn't and frankly Bama had some "tough calls" too. The fact is that the pass interference against Johnson was seriously questionable in my opinion and was on 3rd and long so without that call we get the ball back and they don't score. Yes, technically Johnson had his right arm on the guys back but it was not impeding his ability to catch the ball and in know way should have been called. That call always bugs me because technically it is correct, because PI is a judgement call anyway, it should be a cause for the receiver not getting to the ball or catching it...in this case it was a horrible throw that would not have been caught anyway and therefore wasn't germain to the play. Plus as mentioned if you watch the play, Johnson's arm barely touched the guy, it's not like his arm grabbed the guy and stopped him from catching the ball.

As for the PI against Julio I agree it should not have been called Pass Interference...however it was without question an illegal hit downfield and the result would have been the same, just a shorter penalty but still a first down!

Nevertheless as was pointed out, when your offense gets a total of 160 yards does it really matter about officiating? The officials didn't make you start a QB who still sucks after he sucked last year! No offense to Tyrod but if VT had a QB they'd be a much better team in my view!

 

[bama_belle]

Haven't read the thread yet, and if this has already been said then I'm using this post to agree with them. However; the reason we don't go for punt blocks often is two reasons imo.

1. Because there's such a big chance to get a roughing the kicker called. Our defense was tired, and giving the ball back to the Bama offense could have completely killed the momentum and would likely lead to a Bama score. To me, it seems like there's almost a better chance at a roughing call than actual block.

2. Coach thought it was safer, and trusted our punt return guys to potentially score. The two guys we had returning punts (Williams and Hosley) are two of the most explosive Punt Returners Beamer has had.

Good reasons. I didn't think about that.

 

[BeachnHokie]

Absolutely.. hopefully not to come off arrogant b/c Tech will be much improved as the year develops.. however.. we dominated that game. Tech got just about every break they could ask for to stay in the game. I understand it's all a part of the game, but we basically handed them 17 points. The kickoff return was due to a seriously blown coverage lane (although props to Tech for taking advantage of it), an interception inside the 35 due to a blindside hit (credit to Va Tech here cause they technically created it), a pass interference penalty that kept a drive alive + another dumb penalty which switched a 2nd and long (I think) into a 1st and goal. Not saying credit shouldn't be given on some of these things, but still.. they were serious breaks in the game that could have easily not gone Va Techs way..

Not an attempt to take anything away from the Hokies but the game could have easily been anywhere from 34-24 to 41-7.

That is a two way street. Bama caught some breaks based on quite a few Hokie miscues. I am not trying to take anything away from your victory, but to think that we played a perfect game is not even close to what happened. I would love to play you guys again in a bowl game.

 

[LCN]

If when someone says "different" they mean worse , then I agree with them I'm of the opinion that if these teams played 10 times , I believe Bama wins at least 7 times and would do so convincingly .

 

[LCN]

That is a two way street. Bama caught some breaks based on quite a few Hokie miscues. I am not trying to take anything away from your victory, but to think that we played a perfect game is not even close to what happened. I would love to play you guys again in a bowl game.

In the end , your team managed 7 points as the result of a busted coverage and 7 more points on a missed hold allowing the KO return to stand . I could spin a much wider margin but would have a lot of trouble attempting to dream up a tighter one

 

[bayoutider]

Let's keep this real. VT had 155 total offensive yards vs 498 for Alabama. VT fed off of Alabama's mistakes and Alabama won in spite of their mistakes. Does that make VT a bad football team, no but keeping it real VT needs to find an offense. Of the 119 teams in Div 1 football VT has been in the bottom 20 for the last 3 years and headed there again this season. The problem from what I gather from reading their message boards is the OC and Frank Beamer's lack of resolve to make changes in his staff. Beamer made a commitment to VT to fill a trophy case but he seems content to fill it with conference trophys and the occasional bowl trophy. I tend to agree with some of those VT fans. Good defense can only carry you so far as we well know. Blind loyalty to staff can also cost a head coach his job, just ask Mike Shula. Alabama and VT could play ten times and Bama would probably win all ten. I predict it will be a 1-4 Hokie team heading into October to play Duke. No disrespect to the VT fans but that is my summary of the game. Its up to VT to prove me wrong.

 

[BeachnHokie]

In the end , your team managed 7 points as the result of a busted coverage and 7 more points on a missed hold allowing the KO return to stand . I could spin a much wider margin but would have a lot of trouble attempting to dream up a tighter one

It is not that difficult at all actually.

-your 2nd FG: on 3rd and 16 FS Kam Chancellor lined up man-to-man on WR Darius Hanks in the slot. Tech was brining an all-out blitz and, according to secondary coach Torrian Gray, Chancellor should’ve been playing a little deeper with inside leverage. Instead he was in press coverage near the line of scrimmage and with outside leverage.

-your 3rd FG: fumbled PR

-your first TD: on 3rd and 12 Alabama’s right tackle ... well ... TACKLED Worilds from behind on the play. Worilds had blown past him and was headed for McElroy. The RT – and this is so, so clear on every angle of the replay – just jumped on his back and rode him to the ground. So I, um, don’t ... um ... think that’s legal. But no flag. The pass counted. A touchdown ensued. That was a big, big, big play.

-your 2nd TD: Tech was leading 17-16 with 13:24 to go in the game, facing third-and-1 at the Hokies’ 39-yard line. RB Ryan Williams, breaking tackles along the way, picks up the first down with a 5-yard run. But flags flew. Nosal was called for holding. Trouble is, there was no holding. None. It just did not happen. I’ve watched it over and over. Not holding. Frank Beamer agrees. Curt Newsome agrees. Doesn’t matter, because the referees disagreed. That was a key disagreement. Tech punted and Alabama uncorked a 48-yard pass on its next play. Game over.

-your 4th FG: fumbled KR

The drawn out explanations are provided by Kyle Tucker from his blog.
Marshall Week, Volume 2 (Tide Rewind edition) ... | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

That is 5 plays that comprised or had a direct result in 24 of your 34 points.

 

[BEATtutorsee]

I don't think we need to go down this road of trying to draw alternative scenarios for how the game played out because quite honestly #1) it doesn't matter, the game is in the books and the outcome has been decided on the field and #2) with all due respect to our Hokie compatriots if we start to do that the vast majority of times it's only going to make the Hokies look worse. JMHO.