Virginia Tech tries to avoid late-season swoon

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Posted 6:22AM on Thursday, October 28, 2004

Virginia Tech faces a tough set of games to close the season, and coach Frank Beamer is aware that his teams haven't finished well in recent years. ``How we perform during this stretch is really going to name our season,'' he said. The Hokies (5-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won three straight games since a 17-16 loss to North Carolina State last month. On Thursday night, they travel to Georgia Tech, beginning a five-game stretch that includes Maryland, Virginia and Miami to close the season. If history is any indication, the Hokies could struggle. In the past two seasons, the Hokies have gone 3-6 in November. Go back one season earlier and there's a pattern of strong starts followed by lackluster finishes. In 2001, the Hokies started 6-0 only to lose four of their last six games, including a 30-17 loss to Florida State in the Gator Bowl. In 2002, the Hokies started 8-0, but lost four of five to close the regular season before beating Air Force in the San Francisco Bowl. Last year, Virginia Tech won its first six games and was 7-1 after beating Miami. The Hokies then lost four of five, ending with a 52-49 loss to California in the Insight Bowl. ``It is always important to finish the season because that is how you are defined as a team,'' Beamer said. ``We have finished seasons before and we have had trouble finishing some seasons. I think for any football team, it is how you play in October and November that defines how you are and how you feel about the offseason and the program. It's important every year.'' HALF-BAD 'CANES: Miami's last two opponents clearly were not awe-struck by the Hurricanes. Louisville rolled to 277 first-half yards and N.C. State had 299 last weekend. Miami won both games, rallying late to beat Louisville 41-38 and getting five touchdown passes from Brock Berlin to beat the Wolfpack 45-31. But Miami coach Larry Coker isn't pleased with the big-play susceptibility of his defense in those halves. ``That's something we've got to get corrected,'' Coker said. ``We can't play tight. This is not a play-tight organization. This is a fly-around, aggressive, get-after-you type of defensive team. That's what we've got to do.'' GOOD FORTUNE: Florida State came within minutes of beating Miami to start the season. They also came perilously close to losses against two underdogs. The Seminoles blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a 16-10 overtime loss to the Hurricanes on Sept. 10. But Florida State has also had to rally for a 17-13 win at Syracuse on Oct. 9. And the Seminoles needed a late field goal from Xavier Beitia to beat Wake Forest 20-17 last weekend. Coach Bobby Bowden said the Seminoles (6-1, 4-1) could be 7-0 or 4-3. ``That's the way football is,'' Bowden said. ``I think we probably should feel very fortunate that our record is as good as it is under the circumstances because it could have been the other way.'' TOUGH SCHEDULE: North Carolina had just five wins in the past two seasons. Its schedule this year is making it tough to add to that total. The Tar Heels' schedule is ranked the nation's most difficult, according to the Sagarin rankings. The Tar Heels (3-4, 2-2) have lost to No. 5 Florida State, No. 9 Utah, No. 13 Virginia and No. 14 Louisville, teams with a combined 24-3 record. When the Tar Heels face No. 4 Miami on Saturday, it will be North Carolina's fifth game against a team ranked in The Associated Press Top 25. ``The teams we have played are pretty good,'' coach John Bunting said. ``A lot of people probably didn't think we'd have at least two of the three wins we do have.'' MORE DISAPPOINTMENT: Wake Forest's loss to the Seminoles was just the latest in a series of close losses this season. The Demon Deacons (3-4, 0-4) has lost overtime games to Clemson and N.C. State, and they fell 17-10 to Virginia Tech two weeks ago when their final drive stalled at the 5. ``When you watch the film, the best thing to see is our fight,'' freshman defensive end Matt Robinson said. ``We're never going to accept losses here. Everybody is patting on our backs saying that we're competing, but we're going into these games expecting to win.'' MARYLAND'S WOES: Maryland is in the midst of its only three-game losing streak under fourth-year coach Ralph Friedgen. Last week Maryland's defense which had controlled the game to that point allowed the go-ahead touchdown with 23 seconds left in a 10-7 loss to Clemson. That came after losses to Georgia Tech and N.C. State in which the Terrapins combined for 172 yards and 10 points. ``We are going through a stretch of bad luck,'' Friedgen said. ``We've had opportunities to make plays and we're not making them.''