After 4-0 start at home, Hokies prep for the road
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
September 28, 2003
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- The beginning of the season has become downright predictable for Virginia Tech. Play at home, and win big.
For seven straight seasons, the Hokies have won four straight to start the season. They reached 4-0 Saturday with a 47-13 victory against Connecticut, their fourth consecutive home game, and now go on the road.
Just last season, Virginia Tech won eight straight to start the year, building expectations to huge levels in the Hokie Nation. Then one loss became three in a row, and those expectations were put off for a year.
This year, the Hokies say they have learned.
``It's going to be a time for us to tighten up,'' quarterback Bryan Randall said, beginning this week at Rutgers. ``There's no more home-field advantage. It's time to get on the road and take care of business.''
The Hokies sold out all four games at home, including a Thursday night game against Texas A&M played as Hurricane Isabel was battering the state, and can always rely on 65,115 screaming supporters in Lane Stadium.
But they also took big leads against Central Florida and the Huskies before loosening on defense, incurring the ire of coach Frank Beamer.
The bonds a road trip helps form will be needed soon if the No. 4 Hokies are to contend for the national title. After Rutgers, Virginia Tech plays Syracuse, at West Virginia, No. 2 Miami and at No. 15 Pittsburgh.
``We're still looking for that four-quarter game,'' said defensive end Nathaniel Adibi, whose blocked punt led to one of three non-offensive touchdowns Saturday. ``We still haven't put in a full four quarters.''
Beamer was particularly concerned with his defensive reserves, who again allowed an opponent to dominate the late stages of a rout. UCF turned a 28-0 blowout into a 7-point game before the Hokies rallied again, and Connecticut got most of its yardage after falling behind 40-0.
``We don't put our second group in there to get scored on,'' Beamer said. ``We put them in there to perform and get off the field.
``We need to learn from it. There's no question about our ability back there. That's one place where you mess up and a lot of people know about it. You've got to be good and there were a couple times we weren't.''
Connecticut quarterback Dan Orlovsky turned garbage time into a big day statistically, finishing with 316 passing yards and two touchdowns, running his streak of games with at least one scoring pass to 17.
On one hand, Orlovsky said he thought the Huskies could have given the Hokies a game had they not been burned for an 84-yard interception return, a 91-yard kickoff return and a 16-yard blocked punt return.
On the other?
``I don't think there's a better team in the country,'' he said.
