P.A.T.T.’s and N.A.T.T.’s rejoice …as this one is not gonna be very R.A.T.T. of me.

This one -just like the game of life- is all about extremes. The middle-ground need not apply here.

Nothing about a normal, routine, ho-hum day defines you. Woke up, car still started, traffic was ok, your work day went according to schedule, family running smoothly, regulation TV, in bed on time, a solid nights sleep.

Rinse, recycle, repeat, –and I just learnt nothing, as in zero regarding y, o, u.

Something rattles your cage however, something takes you outside your comfort zone and suddenly we go way beyond single-blind in classical scientific method terms in a hurry. Now I get to observe what you are really all about, now that you are outta your element. You both adapt and overcome, or end up overcame.

So what if either extreme case situation inundates the 24060 or Blacksburg Va. in 2014 football sporting terms?

Life isn’t always fair, sometimes you get the bull, and sometimes you get the horns. So let us get the horny part outta the way in part one, and end with a more uplifting,  utopian, or P.A.T.T.reeotic  look at 2014 in part II.

So here’s our mostly cloudy forecast for 2014, within the limits of foreseeable common sense…

Today’s word is…Draconian:

dra·co·ni·an  (dr-kn–n, dr-)

Qb via committee:
What if nobody really, truly, madly, deeply is a true Qb1? What if Loeffler can not determine a separator during August camp and we enter September in full-fledged extended audition or even in a platoon mode? What if he does determine a starter only to see said starter falter and get yanked? How will M.Leal take to anything south of Qb1?

Tb health:
Trey is doing better, and yet Trey is not 100%, and his self-trust factor is unknown, at best. Is J.c.c. the answer; or since when has he ever been the every down ‘back? My almost boy Shai is quite possibly 15 months away from the dateline of this writing. Can Mars’ Williams hold his own (and hold up) for 13-14 games? This is a very very talented (Tb) position folks, very experienced and very healthy it simply is not.

oLine:
Need I say more? Since half past when has this unit ever been a strength? And we do still have our third oLine coach in as many seasons. There are a lotta words for that, and familiarity is not one of them. And now we are already -1 on depth with all the poor B.Benedict kid problems. (Godspeed here!)

Wr/Te:
Stanford is king of the hill right now, good bit of separation here; and after that??? Best 2 Te’s were in civvies this past spring; I’m jus’ sayin’.

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dLine:
Maddy is a bell-cow, and yet De and Dt sure looked thin at the inception of this past spring. And any Maddy injury would be maddening -if not outright crippling- indeed.

Lb:
To my personal surprise, C.Williams locked down the Mike position in a side-headlock hurry this past spring; kudos to him. Though there might not be a deeper depth-chart fall-off than that between Mike1 and Mike2 on the whole entire Hokie depth chart position by position. ‘backer and Whip have some measure of depth issues as well; and this is the physically littlest 2nd-layer in a long long time; and somewhere Tyrion Lannister is smiling.

Secondary:
Prolly the deepest and strongest part of our 2014 football team, could be as many as a handful of Pros here on our current roster folks. However, 50% of the starters just missed or got hurt during spring-ball. That’s not good and that is precisely why too much depth or too little playing-time is the best possible problem to have in all of sports.

Special Teams:
Punter looks good, maybe even very good, and yet Kicker looks unsettled, very unsettled. Beamerball is quietly part N.B.A. or 3-pont happy by trade, or rather 3-point 80-90% connection percentage happy by erstwhile offensive limitations necessity. Or at least it once was. How about gunners and returners? There is some theoretical smart looking chalkboard talent here; are there any applicative on-field Summa Cum Laude resultants here? That’s another Beamerball rescue animal entirely…

Final Analysis:
Lotta water in the basement in this scenario men, and there is a roof fire on top of all of that! Generally speaking, Frank’s been pretty damn lucky during his tenure at Vah.Tech. He timed the big east and Miami probation fall just right, ditto the entry into a dilute traditional power A.c.c. with an in tow and still reduced Canes football squad, and likewise off nationalized programs over in Death Valley and down in Tallahassee. None of that is through any fault of his own, though what if Frank’s luck finally peters out?

What if we were forced to operate under a worst-case 2014 scenario???

Let’s say at least four of the eight above check-boxes have negative season impacting red-flag check-marks in them; or maybe more…

Now look at the 2014 docket with me, through a football F.M.E.A. lens…

Most have us already written off for our o9.o6 visit up to “the” Ohio State. However, what if the Buckeyes staple us with numerous black-eyes for our Columbus visiting troubles? Suddenly E.c.u. might just be within reach; as they surely love to play us. Georgia Tech finally has another hammerhead A-back (or Fb) and that’s a real live bread-n-butter belly-play problem. Then we see the @U.N.C. then @Pitt followed by a hosting venue for the U cadre, or in other words, a three straight exit polls or swing game pivots. In a row.

@U.N.C. is not a given vs. quite possibly the most naturally talented dual-threat Qb in Atlantic Coast terms, not even with a 100% healthy Hokie squad. Pitt has another Brahma bull Tb and we seem to experience some hiccup games up in the Steel City for whatever reason or reasons plural. Miami still fields the biggest most physical, most Jurassic Park sized oLine in the A.c.c. Then we close @Duke who -to their enormous credit- has improved, and vastly; and what if the least qualified Minority coach of them all suddenly calls, a, timeout?

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See what I mean? There is momentum to be found in this 2014 Vah.Tech football canvas folks, momentum aplenty, be that all all downhill or all uphill as the P.A.T.T. part II will paint.

Nevertheless, and returning to topic, what if things do go collusively ‘rong, as in totally ‘rong? This could be a near .5oo team in a hurry people; and if this is a workman’s comp’ or debilitated football team in training room terms, 6-6 is about the lowest I can go if the 2014 regular season hits rock bottom and starts digging. As I do see three basic gimmie games on the 2014 regular season docket. I see one basic sure fire L; and after that? I see as many as eight regular-season vamping contests where I could conceivably make a case for a wounded and downtrodden Virginia Tech getting beat.

Now all that said, fear not P.A.T.T.’s, part II will be all Hokie sunshine and O&M puppy-dogs.

Though do be warned, as I (already) do R.A.T.T. foresee the 2014 regular season as the most outlying or scatter diagram looking level of systemic variance as a Hokie regular season goes in a long long time. With so much young offensive talent, and so little depth at numerous positions, we’ve either got very high ceiling or a very low floor. Take thy pick…

 1/2 full~20% 1/2 empty~80% (or a textbook Pareto Principle gone ‘rong as VT finishes 2014 belly-up at 6 up and 7 down; with an L in a post-season bowl)

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**