So, what a blast when a game comes along that we know we'll never forget. Virginia Tech 35, Texas A&M 19 is such a game.

You'll likely never forget this game, either because you were soaked in the stands, or huddled in the dark with the power out, trying to get the game on a battery-powered radio. Or maybe you were high and dry, in a sports bar far away from the hurricane-soaked state of Virginia, wishing every second you were there in Lane Stadium, with the other drenched Hokie fans, screaming and yelling as the rain came down in sheets and blew sideways.

Or maybe you'll remember it as the night when Michael Crawford played the game of his life, piling up an amazing 18 tackles, or the night that Kevin Jones powered to three touchdowns and a career-high 188 yards, or the night that Hokie fans earned praise from writers and commentators around the nation by nearly filling up the stadium on a blustery, rainy night.

Or maybe, like me, you'll remember it as the night that Bryan Randall, with the game in the balance and no other Hokies able to make a play, avoided a strong rush and jetted to the outside to pick up a critical third down that established him as the leader of this football team.

The first tough contest early in the season is all about establishing leadership, in my opinion. Who's going to step up? Who's going to be the player you look to when things get tough later in the season? Leaders get a chance to make their statement in the first tough game, setting the tone for the rest of the season.

In 1995, Jim Druckenmiller debuted on a Thursday night with 296 yards passing against Boston College and made every play he needed to make to win the football game. Unfortunately, his team didn't. In 1999, Corey Moore detonated all over Clemson in another Thursday night game. And four years later, in a Thursday night game in 2003, Bryan Randall atoned for numerous defensive and special teams flubs by picking up a critical first down on third-and-six, when the protection broke down and he had to make a play all by himself.

It came with the Hokies clinging to a 21-19 lead with 10:25 to go, facing a 3rd and 6 from the Texas A&M 26-yard line. Randall dropped back and immediately had A&M defensive end Linnis Smith in his face. Smith grabbed Randall's face mask, but Randall spun away and accelerated to the right sideline. He picked up the first down and then threw a Michael Vick-like twist to the run at the end, turning it back upfield instead of going out of bounds, gaining an extra five yards. A&M finally took him down at their 13-yard line.

"That's what I'm talkin' about," I thought to myself. "That's what a leader does."

Randall knew it, too. He got up off the ground, pumping his fists, and the fans in Lane Stadium knew it, rocking the place.

Three plays later, Randall went through the formality of scoring untouched on a beautifully-blocked 12-yard option run, but A&M's fate had already been sealed with that third-down run. Things fell apart for the Aggies from there. They had managed to stay close with good fortune, scrambling plays from their gifted quarterback, Reggie McNeal, and the smiling face of Fate.

But Randall's run broke their back. After the score, which put the Hokies up 28-19, Tech called a pooch kick from Brandon Pace, who dropped it in front of the Aggie kickoff returner. Unable to get to it, he muffed it, and the Hokies recovered. They scored an icing touchdown with five and a half minutes to go for the final margin of 35-19.

After a plethora of mistakes last year, including game-ending interceptions against Syracuse and West Virginia, Bryan Randall has gotten it right in his first chance in 2003. Looking down the road, if the Hokies need him again, they know he can produce.

VT's defensive and special teams performance in this game was a glass half-full, half-empty situation. I like that the Hokies clamped down on the Aggies in the second half -- more on that in a minute -- but on both defense and special teams, the Hokies missed some opportunities that would have made this game a blowout.

After shutting down the Aggies with a three and out on their first possession and taking a 7-0 lead, the Hokies let A&M put together a 13-play, 62-yard drive that ended in a field goal.

On that drive, Cols Colas had three opportunities to kill the drive on third downs, and he whiffed on all of them.

• 3rd and 1, TAMU 42, 9:30 remaining: Colas rushes in untouched; McNeal fakes a handoff up the middle, freezing Colas, and then runs right around him for 7 yards and the first down.

• 3rd and 3, VT 25, 8:00 remaining: McNeal in the shotgun, and Colas once again comes in virtually untouched, from McNeal's left; McNeal fakes the handoff, rolls right, outruns Colas, cuts inside him, and runs for 5 yards and the first down. Vegas Robinson also misses a tackle with a chance to stop McNeal from picking up the first.

• 3rd and 7, VT 17, 6:00 remaining: McNeal gets pushed deep into the pocket by a heavy VT rush; Colas has him dead to rights but face-masks him. 15-yard penalty, first down.

It was that kind of night for the Hokie defense and special teams. In addition to the three plays above, here are other miscues and blown opportunities:

A&M had three scoring drives in the first half, and VT could have stopped every one, had (1) Colas not committed the face-mask; (2) Green intercepted the football; and (3) Williams not committed the interference. Give A&M and in particular McNeal credit, but it's also very true that VT let them get up off the mat over and over. This game could have been 14-0 (or worse) at half time, instead of 14-12.

In the second half, the Hokies had a chance to take the ball over twice deep in A&M territory with a ferocious punt rush, but blew both opportunities. Then, through Hall's muff of the punt, the Hokies donated A&M's last TD to them.

Teams are going to miss plays and make mistakes, but it's worth pondering that if VT had made every one of those plays mentioned above, they would have shut A&M out. This game could have very well been 35-0, or worse. The Aggies have talent, especially McNeal, and they should get credit for taking advantage of VT's miscues, but the Hokies had the chances to slam the door shut hard and didn't take advantage of them.

In this game, the Hokies didn't need it, but before the year is over, they'll need the defense and special teams to make those plays. If they want to win the Big East championship, they'll need the defense and special teams to make those plays.

I've said more than once that Michael Crawford isn't physical enough to be a good Rover, doesn't make enough plays, etc. So I'll step up and give him some credit for this game.

Crawford was all over the field in this game, compiling an impressive 18 tackles, including 11 solo tackles, 7 assists, 4 tackles for loss (-6 yards), and a pass knockdown (pass defensed). That won Crawford the TechSideline.com Defensive Player of the Game Award in a runaway.

18 tackles? That's a good game, but how good? Try this: No Hokie has had more than 18 tackles in a game since George Del Ricco had 20 against Cincinnati, back in 1995 (hey, at least somebody showed up to play that day). Since then, the following Hokies have had 18 tackles in a game:

• 1996: Myron Newsome, vs. Syracuse.
• 1998: Lorenzo Ferguson, vs. WVU.
• 2000: Ben Taylor, vs. ECU.
• 2001: Ben Taylor, vs. Virginia.
• 2001: Willie Pile, vs. Miami.
• 2003: Michael Crawford, vs. Texas A&M.

That's just seven times in the last 91 regular-season games that a Hokie defender has accumulated that many tackles. That really puts it in perspective.

As good as he played, Crawford wasn't flawless. Like many of his fellow defenders, he was fooled by Reggie McNeal's speed and took bad attack angles a few times, allowing McNeal to get around the corner for key pickups. Nonetheless, that's a great game by Crawford, and if he can continue to play well, that will solve one of the problems the VT defense has had recently: sub-par Rover play.

Speaking of bad attack angles, that leads us to segue into �

In the first half, McNeal piled up about 60 yards rushing, most of it coming when he beat VT defenders to the perimeter and picked up yardage. The most glaring example of this was Vegas Robinson blitzing untouched on a fourth and 11, and McNeal simply running around him for the first down.

But no defender was immune to the Curse of the Bad Attack Angle on McNeal. Mikal Baaqee, Jimmy Williams, Michael Crawford, Aaron Rouse � they all made mistakes. McNeal made them all look slow and silly at one point or another.

So VT defensive coordinator Bud Foster made an adjustment in the second half. He blitzed. A lot. He had blitzed some in the first half, but it was limited, mostly one guy at a time. In the second half, he sent multiple blitzers, creating a wall of defenders along the line and giving McNeal nowhere to go.

This forced McNeal to pass instead of run, and well, he's a better runner than passer. Kirk Herbstreit called it well, saying that McNeal sometimes just chucked the ball into coverage, knowing that it wasn't the wisest pass to make. It finally cost him when he overthrew not just his receiver, but free safety Jimmy Williams as well, and cornerback Garnell Wilds picked him off.

Blitzing a lot of people is risky, because it opens up the defense to the hot read in the passing game, and if the QB or a running back breaks containment, they might score. But at this point in his career, McNeal and his offensive line are not capable of burning a defense that is blitzing heavily. Foster's strategy worked, because it shut down McNeal's scrambles, and A&M wasn't able to capitalize in the passing game.

That strategy might prove to be less than successful against a more experienced, more gifted QB like Pitt's Rod Rutherford, or a QB with a great tight end, wide receivers, and OL support, like Miami's Brock Berlin.

I think you get my point: the strategy was perfect for this game, but that doesn't mean you can cut and paste it to other games, particularly not against Pitt, who max protects, historically has gifted QB's (Rutherford) and wide receivers (Larry Fitzgerald), and, coincidentally, plays like an NFL team against the Hokies. It's a Pitt thang, we Hokies can't understand.

The difficulty containing McNeal illustrates an ongoing Achilles heel of this VT defense: linebacker play. Mikal Baaqee and Vegas Robinson have not been very active in the defense so far this year, ranking #3 and #8 in tackles, respectively. The Hokies have been substituting more than usual at those positions (Mike and Backer), reducing the tackles from those two players, but more so than that, they have simply been, as one fan told me, "invisible." Robinson has made some plays, but Baaqee, though fourth on the team in tackles, has no tackles for loss, sacks, passes defensed, QB hurries, forced fumbles, etc. -- just tackles.

The load is being carried by the defensive line and defensive backfield so far this season. I don't look for that to change very much, as Baaqee is a redshirt junior and Robinson is a redshirt senior. They're pretty well developed as football players, and they're familiar with the system. If they're not making more tackles, it's because they're not cut out to be Ben Taylor, Jamel Smith, or George Del Ricco.

This defense will have to get by and be the best it can be with what I think is just average linebacker play. They'll need more plays from the defensive line, where the tackles are much improved and the DE's are solid but still looking for a consistent threat -- Cols Colas was very active in this game, but missed a few plays, as detailed earlier, and Nathaniel Adibi had a late sack but was very quiet, with just four tackles. Darryl Tapp had a late sack on a speed rush that was very Cornell Brown- and Corey Moore-like.

Further back, Jimmy Williams is learning on the job and has not lived up to his hype yet.. He's running very hot and cold, struggling with attack angles (A&M punter Cody Scates smoked him on that wild punt run) and getting beaten in the passing game (where Tim Van Zant caught A&M's last TD after McNeal put on a beautiful play fake). He'll get there, but as a true sophomore, he has not hit the ground running, so to speak, like Willie Pile did as a redshirt sophomore, when he first started in 2000.

As noted, I think this game was a big one for Bryan Randall, who produced under pressure and stepped up into a leadership role. Michael Crawford emerged, and though we can't expect 18 tackles from him every game, if he can just get 8-10, it's a big help to a defense looking for a tackler once you get beyond the defensive line.

The kicking game hasn't really been tested, so it's an unknown. Punting is solid (great 47-yard punt by Vinnie Burns to trap the Aggies at their two-yard line), but the defense just isn't championship caliber. They're good (currently ranked 4th in the nation in yards allowed at 250), but they have allowed scoring drives so far this season of 67 yards (8 plays), 80 yards (6 plays), 95 yards (8 plays), 62 yards (13 plays), 51 yards (12 plays), and 98 yards (12 plays).

Tech is currently ranked #5 in both polls, putting them in the top 5 for the fifth straight season, but there is little excitement about the ranking among Hokie fans, who have learned their lesson from the collapses of the last two seasons: like the man says, it's not how you start, it's how you finish.

• The all-maroon unis looked very cool. I was skeptical of all maroon with black socks, but it looked sharp.

• The crowd was estimated at 61,500, but that's not accurate. I sat in a row that had 30 seats in it, but only about 10 inhabitants, and a lot of rows were like that. Still, the crowd was as loud as any I've ever heard in Lane, and in my section, they stood up the entire game.

• Doug Easlick simply annihilates people. It's too bad he's a senior.

• Kevin Jones negative yardage watch: KJ had 188 yards gained rushing and 0 yards lost rushing. He now has 352 yards gained, 24 lost (6.8%, looking to bring it down to 4% or less for the year).

• I can't say enough about Bryan Stinespring's improvement as offensive coordinator. VT now employs misdirection in the play-calling and blocking schemes that simply wasn't there last year. You think Randall has grown by leaps and bounds? So has Stinespring.

• On VT's second TD drive, Randall was 5-for-5 for 38 yards and a TD. The rest of game? 4-for-8 for 25 yards and an interception.

• A&M's second and third possessions were long drives that resulted in field goals. On each drive, Michael Crawford made the third-down tackle that forced fourth down and the field goal attempt.

• Offensive guard Jim Miller dislocated his toe and spent over half the game on the sideline. If VT could afford an injury to one starter on the OL, it's Miller, because backup Will Montgomery is playing well and grading out high. Montgomery stepped into the game, and the OL didn't miss a beat.

• In case you're wondering, Brandon Pace's pooch kickoff that A&M muffed and VT recovered was intentional.

• After fumbling 21 times last year in 14 games, Kevin Jones and Bryan Randall have just one fumble this year in three games. Randall dropped a snap against A&M and fell on it.

• Leading 28-19 and facing a fourth and two, Stinespring made a great, gutsy call with a quick pass to Ernest Wilford. Stinespring had many good calls this game, and that was probably his best. Randall completed it for a first down, and the Hokies went on to score a TD.

• Beautiful blocking: On Kevin Jones' 11-yard toss sweep TD that made it 35-19, tight end Keith Willis drove the left defensive end three yards downfield, then sloughed off of him onto linebacker Archie McDaniel, taking both players out of the play. Easlick crushed the outside contain man, and when Jones burst through a pack at the five-yard line, tackles Jonathan Dunn and Jimmy Martin were there escorting him. I have to chide Martin, though: he came from all the way on the other side of the field, but got caught watching KJ when he should have been hitting A&M safety Jaxson Appel. Appel hit KJ on the goal line, but it was too little, too late. Other than Martin's failure to block Appel, the play was perfectly blocked. Go back and watch it in slow-mo.

• From the "If you're going to keep playing, so are we," department: A&M, hopelessly down by two scores, called timeout with 19 seconds to go, spiked the ball with 9 seconds left to go to stop the clock, then threw the ball deep trying to score. So with 3 seconds left, VT blitzed backup Rover James Griffin, who sacked A&M QB Dustin Long to end the game. There, take that. Celebration time for Griffin.

The Hokies will take on Connecticut in an Upset Special this coming Saturday at Lane Stadium. UConn has won seven of their last eight games, and the Huskies have Terry Caulley, the #1 rusher in terms of total yards (601), and #2 in terms of yards per game (150).

UConn is #5 in the nation in total offense, at just under 500 yards per game, and they'll take on a Hokie team that only gives up 250 yards per game.

Defensively, Connecticut is 21st in the nation (287.5 yards per game), while the Hokies are #20 in total offense (451.7 ypg).

We'll return with a preview later this week.

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