Welcome. What is up? I am currently—LIVE!!!!—at the Greensboro airport, pounding up my follow-up copy before driving back to Blacksburg.

Well, where to begin?

Here seems like a good place: Last night is why I can’t stand being part of the media hype machine that builds up big games as if they were The Second Coming. In the past three seasons, I have covered two of the most-hyped games in Tech history (long-time observers, feel free to correct if you think this statement is misguided). Both were duds.

First came the 27-7 home loss to Miami in 2005, when Tech was 8-0 and ranked third; Miami was fifth. Second came last night’s 48-7 blowout at Louisiana State, which never even resembled a game, much less a good game, much less The Second Coming.

How ‘bout this tasty little lick?

The 48 points Tech allowed last night were the fifth-most allowed by the Hokies since Bud Foster became defensive coordinator in 1995—a span now of 152 games. The others ...

2002—56-45 loss at Miami

2003—52-49 loss to California in Insight Bowl

1996—52-21 loss at Syracuse

2002—50-42 loss at Syracuse (in triple overtime) 

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Certainly, last night deserved some of the hype. Tech was favored to win the ACC, and it still logically could, though Georgia Tech’s Insects look mighty pesky. LSU was considered a national title contender, a claim that will grow even stronger among Tiger Nation after last night.

The 92,739 bourbon-drenched Cajuns—a Tiger Stadium record crowd—knew how much last night meant, even if the game didn’t match the hype; it was LSU’s largest margin of victory over a top-10 team in school history and the largest margin over a ranked opponent since 1970.

The crowd was so loud before the game—especially when the dulcet tones of Garth Brooks’ “Callin’ Baton Rouge” blared over the speakers—that the noise sounded like one giant hum, a veritable human beehive, rather than the shouts and screams of 92,739 boozed-up individuals.

“Welcome to Saturday night in Tiger Stadium,“ the public address announcer boomed, and indeed, Saturday Night In Tiger Stadium is an experience whose energy is unparalled, at least in my brief career. Heck, even Daily Press beat man Norm “El Head de Red” Wood was impressed, and Wood is known to be very picky about his stadium atmospheres, mainly because he covered the SEC during his college daze at Georgia.

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Thoroughly impressed—by LSU and its stadium—I walked out last night with, among others, Noted ACC Bard David Teel, long known in state sportswriting circles as The Sultan Of Stats. He pointed out that LSU’s last three touchdowns went for 34, 32 and 28 yards. And that’s on top of a 67-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Last season, Tech’s defense allowed just two touchdowns longer than 18 yards: a 50-yard run by Miami’s Tyrone Moss and a 53-yard catch by Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson. Overall, the Hokies’ defense allowed 12 touchdowns in 13 games last season. It gave up six last night.

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Which brings us to—where else?—the quarterbacks. Junior Sean Glennon played the first five drives last night before true freshman Tyrod Taylor came in. On Taylor’s third true drive—don’t count the one-play drive on which Tech ran out the first-half clock—he marched the Hokies 65 yards in eight plays for their only touchdown of the night.

Of Glennon’s 17 drives this season, just one gained more than 50 yards. (Kudos to Teel for that stat, though I did reciprocate by sharing the aforementioned stat about the fifth-most points allowed under Foster.)

Taylor’s advantages over Glennon are obvious: He can quickly dodge an oncoming rush, something the Hokies need from their quarterback, given that their offense line remains their weakest point.

Bigger picture: Is Glennon finished as the starter? With Taylor’s redshirt gone, Tech’s coaches pretty much have to give him significant minutes to justify trotting him out when the Hokies were trailing 24-0 last night and the game was out of reach.

Regardless of who starts, expect both guys to play the next three games: Ohio, William and Mary and North Carolina—all at home. Tech should have no problem with those teams, so it can afford to tinker with the quarterbacks.

A challenging opponent returns on Oct. 6, when Tech plays at Clemson. We probably won’t be able to get a read on the quarterback situation, or truly gauge this team’s quality, until then.