Touche. All I can say is that VT has generally done its part over the last 20 years.
Seriously, I think it's two things. First, the VA schools haven't managed to lock the state down from a recruiting perspective. Even with VT's run since the mid 90s, we routinely see a number of the top in-state kids go to out-of-state schools. And given that we have chosen (wisely, I think) to focus primarily on in-state recruiting, that means that we start each year with a talent deficit compared to the elite programs. Look at it this way, a down recruiting year for you guys means your class was ranked 5th, while a
great year for VT means our class was ranked 10th.
Second, while the state of VA produces a significant amount of football talent (ranked 8th last I checked), one thing we don't seem to have is a surplus of is great linemen. Even with all the changes in college football over the last 20+ years, the most dominant teams are still the ones who control the LOS on both sides of the ball. There was a time when VT used to have pretty nasty lines, which were IMO a big part of CFB's early success. But as we've gotten away from that in favor of mobile QBs, better skill-position players, and defensive backs, you've seen us pile up a lot of wins against good teams but struggle against elite competition. If we're going to ever take that proverbial next step and become a consistent top-10 team then IMO it has to start on the lines.
