Cup isn’t overflowing in social media trash talk
After opening September salvo, players tone Twitter talk down after postponement
Bubbling like a chili pot at a pre-pandemic game-day gathering in the Scott Stadium west lot, steaming like a grill full of brats at a Chicken Hill tailgate outside Lane Stadium, the ultimate trashtalk-a-palooza in the Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry was on the horizon.
After a few players lobbed keyboard grenades at each other back in September when Saturday’s game was originally postponed, it looked like the stage was set for a full-on, contentious Twitter tete-a-tete leading up to kickoff. It was going to be incendiary, epic, nuclear. It was going to be fantastic.
And then, it wasn’t.
Crickets all week on social media. Just … nothing.
The truth about the de-escalation?
What drove players from the in-state rivals apart in September eventually affected both programs as college football barreled through the fall season. Nobody’s season has been immune to the coronavirus.
When the postponement of the U.Va.-Tech game that was slated for Sept. 19 was announced Sept. 12 because of coronavirus issues within the Hokies’ program, U.Va.’s Charles Snowden and Tech’s Tré Turner and DaShawn Crawford had it out in a public Twitter spat:
Snowden: “Stop doing all that
tweeting about how you wanna play and just act like it. Them hallow tweets not gon save you.”
“And when the game rescheduled I hope yall keep that countdown going since you care so much.”
Turner: “I’m ready whenever, wherever bro.”
Crawford: “Stamped.” Snowden: “Nahhh y’all not. If that were the case we’d be seeing you in 7 days, so I’m not tryna hear that. Get your guys to start doing the right thing.”
In social media takes separate from the aforementioned thread, Virginia running backs Wayne Taulapapa and Shane Simpson chimed in on Sept. 12. Here was Simpson’s passive-aggressive tweet:
“People always talk about sacrifice and wanting to do the right/little things but, when it comes down to it people all talk my brothers and I are ready and will stay ready.”
Even U.Va. offensive line coach Garett Tujague, running backs coach Mark Atuaia and special teams analyst Drew Meyer voiced their frustrations.
Tujague tweeted: “It is really this simple ... you either are committed to your team or you are not. There are those that can sacrifice for each other and then there are those that CAN NOT. The greatest thing is ... you get to make that choice. #DisciplineEqualsFreedom #PowerOfChoice #WeAreUncommon” Virginia Tech struggled mightily with its coronavirus quarantine and contact-tracing numbers, especially early in the season.
Twenty-three players and coaches were out for various reasons, including quarantining and isolation, against N.C. State; 21 at Duke, including nearly the entire two-deep in the Hokies’ secondary; and 15 at UNC.
U.Va.’s numbers never approached Tech’s in the early weeks of the season, but the Cavaliers also had to deal with postponements (the Louisville game was postponed a week) like the Hokies have (the N.C. State game was postponed two weeks because of coronavirus issues within the Wolfpack’s program).
While Tech (a three-point favorite against U.Va.) is going to be able to play all 11 games on its schedule, Virginia will play 10 because Florida State had to cancel when it announced coronavirus complications within its program on game day.
Both Tech coach Justin Fuente and U.Va. coach Bronco Mendenhall seemed to realize what was on the horizon when Fuente called Mendenhall on Sept. 12 to share thoughts and misgivings about the coming season.
So, for the love of great U.Va. and Tech verbal jab-throwers of the past like James Gayle (“We don’t have a clock. We have a cup.”), Tony Covington, Ronyell Whitaker, Chase Minnifield, Corey Moore, Doni Dowling and Mike Frederick, a week of spoken-word sparring would’ve been fun.
Yet, the original spark to the powder keg of emotions in September has been extinguished, and rightfully so, given the gravity of the subject matter that inspired all of it.
Maybe Tech punter Oscar Bradburn, a noted social media bear-poker, best summed up the relatively peaceful week.
“Oh, no, no,” Bradburn said Tuesday regarding trash-talking with U.Va. players leading up to the game. “We’ll wait until Saturday. We’ll take care of the game. … I think this year, we just need to go out there. I mean, it’s just the way 2020 has been. It’s just been very difficult in preparation. I think that if I’m not focusing on preparing, we won’t be able to go out and play the way we want to. That’s got all my attention right now.”
Deep thoughts
Yes, there are seven ACC quarterbacks with higher passer ratings than U.Va.’s Brennan Armstrong, including Tech’s Hendon Hooker. But given what Armstrong provides in the run game, his toughness and how he’s played of late, is there another ACC quarterback right now ( this week), other than Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and North Carolina’s Sam Howell, you’d rather have leading your offense into a rivalry game?
Who wins the Dudley Award this year? Armstrong? Tech’s Khalil Herbert? Snowden (despite the season-ending injury)? Liberty’s Malik Willis? None of the above?
Now that No. 18 U.Va. had to pause its men’s basketball activities just 10 days before a scheduled game against No. 9 Villanova in Madison Square Garden because of coronavirus issues within the Cavaliers’ team, it’s reasonable to fear for the fate of what likely would’ve been one of the best games of the season.