Virginia Tech vs. Ohio, Sept. 15, 2007

The day started out damp and cloudy, as we finally got a nice dose of rain the night before. We left Durham around 7:00 am for the 3-hour or so drive up to Blacksburg for the 1:30 pm kickoff with the Ohio Bobcats. The trip was uneventful, and we were pulling into the parking lot right after 10:00 am. Our tailgate this week was a simple affair of cold chicken, homemade potato salad, and brownies.

Here's Sage enjoying her lunch. Behind her is a group getting set up for their tailgate. We got to watch them for a few hours, and it was quite the production. First, they needed that large trailer that they towed to carry all their supplies. When they unloaded we counted 4 coolers, 3 tables, a full size gas grille, a medium size "grille-to-go", and another full-size propane tank deep fat fryer/steamer. And all told they had 5 people there. We think they were either steaming crabs or frying up shrimp. We couldn't tell exactly, but the smell of Old Bay was quite enjoyable.

We entered Lane Stadium about an hour early as we usually do. Here's Doug clapping along to "Every Hokie's Favorite Song -- Tech Triumph", and still licking his lips from Sage's brownies. His #5 Al Clark jersey from 1998 is now back in style again as Virginia Tech's new starting Quarterback, true Freshman Tyrod Taylor, also wears #5. Let's hope he stays cleaner than the last Hokie to wear #5 -- Marcus Vick.

Ohio brought their new Bobcat mascot Rufus to the game. Two years ago when Ohio came to Blacksburg their mascot was more of a cartoony-type of mascot, who was cute but not too intimidating. This one looks more like a real Bobcat, though I'm not a big fan of mascots wearing uniforms.

The game was tight in the first half, as VT kept shooting themselves in the foot whenever they were in scoring position with turnovers and penalties. But they pulled away in the 2nd half to get a 28-7 victory, Frank Beamer's 200th career win. Considering only 47 coaches, in ALL levels of NCAA football (I-A to III) have 200 wins, that's a pretty impressive feat. Next week brings a (hopefully) easier game with William & Mary coming to town.