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Like many of you I have spent the last few days playing enough NCAA to warrant the OC job all the while forgetting how valuable opposable thumbs were. Run the option, throw deep, rinse and repeat until the scoreboard flies through numbers like a slot machine. I’m sure your game plan is different but in the end we all run around the room screaming WINNING like a Charlie Sheen interview. Herein lays the problem. Football is not as simple as it looks. I can not imagine what it takes to get players both mentally and physically prepared from week to week. Our football team has a lot of unanswered questions and as much as we pontificate changes and adjustments its up to the coaching staff to execute.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
I just want to start by saying that I am just as pissed as you all are. We can all point to the reasons that the scoreboard said 23-3 after the Clemson game Saturday night, and I could rehash many of them. First, I want to focus on a couple of positives, and then I want to fire some howitzers.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Lucky me, while some are off today and others leaving at noon i'll be stuck begrudgingly at work answering phone call after phone call adnaseum. However, this will not deter me one bit from getting absolutely pumped for my trip to blacksburg. I plan to distribute the following actions into said boring routine:
-- Start the day with a balanced breakfast. For me, fruity pebbles. You may want a baco-egg n' chee but who am I to judge.
-- Change my background every hour on the hour to various players on the team.
-- Refer to my facial hair in the third person. For example, The Stubble will not fax this for you or The Mustache wants more coffee.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
I didn't get a chance to watch the game live this week, so I am probably prejudiced by some of the frustrating reports about the erratic performance of the Hokies this week. After a quick review of the first quarter, I walked away with the following impressions: 1) The defensive line and middle backers are a strength of this team. 2) Logan Thomas has some weaknesses, but the coaching staff is giving him much more responsibility than they gave Tyrod Taylor or Bryan Randall as a first year starter. 3) The offensive line has played better than you think they have, but they still play too high to drive people off the ball.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Editor's Note: This is TKP's official stance on how to conduct yourself Saturday. --Joe
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Dear Clemson Tigers,
Congrats, you won 2 big games. Enjoy this moment.
Auburn - not the auburn of last year... FSU - yea EJ didn't play, but the missing pieces on FSU D is what lost the game.
Bottom line, this Clemson team has never experienced Lane Stadium on Saturday night. Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins have looked promising at home, but can they operate an offense with ZERO communication? They won't be able to hear themselves think, let alone hear the play call.
Our defense, and our FANS will win this game!
The kicking game, and under thrown balls are my biggest concerns for our team. Again, I have a TON of faith in this defense and even more faith in the HOKIENATION inside Lane.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
I was driving down 95 through VA and stopped to get gas somewhere near Fredericksburg. I ran inside to grab some essentials for the rest of the trip ahead: red bull, beef jerky, gatorade, gum (all four road trip food groups.)
I saw a rack full of random gas station quality sports schwag so I went to check it out. I'm a sucker for spending $5.95 on a piece of VT paraphenelia I will never use again.
Most of the stuff on the rack was VT and UVa stuff. Here's what it looked like when I walked up...
I fixed it...
You're welcome world.
-Hokie Stone
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Announced this morning on ESPN was Notre Dame wanting to be a part of the ACC over the Big 10, and UConn wanting to be a part of the best basketball conference in the country. If both of these schools join, the money brought in would be ridiculous, but is it the best move for the conference? Notre Dame would certainly benefit, as would UConn, and I think the ACC would as well. The recruits for football would get better with the inclusion of Notre Dame, and the basketball recuits, already at a high level, will increase even further with the addition of UConn along with Pitt and Syracuse. The ACC is not what it was a few years ago; it is moving forward into the pioneer world of superconferences instead of staying stagnant.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
After a long drive back to the DC suburbs and a full day of discussing health information technology at the AHRQ Conference, my brain has had some difficulty digesting the game from Saturday. During the game, I found my focus wandering, as I had difficulty watching the offensive line as closely as I do when I watch the game on film. Hence, I am going to do a "post game thoughts" post, and I will follow it up when I have a chance to watch the video of the game.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
I did not see that one coming. Nope, not even an inkling. And I challenge anyone who reads this to look me square in the eye and tell me that they thought the ACC was going to be the conference that started the super-conference dominos falling.
I, like most Hokies following the realignment discussions and rumors, was worried that Virginia Tech would get left behind in some bastardized version of the ACC and Big East. That once the Pac 12 went to 16, the SEC would feel compelled to do so, as well. If the SEC was going to go to 16, there's no way they get there without poaching a few ACC schools, and there's no way I want to be apart of an ACC sans Clemson and Florida State.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Editor's Note: Moved to the front, the other side of the coin. --Joe
Call me a traitor, I can take it.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Okay folks, lets not press the panic button yet. Yes, the Hokie offense struggled against a weak East Carolina defense, but the score of this game really should have been at least 26-10. I think this team shows a lot of promise, but there is vast room for improvement.
Before I focus on the critical, I would like to note some positives about the game.
Defensive line
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
One negative yet consistent theme for Hokie football throughout the 2000's has been weak early season offensive line play. That theme has stayed true regardless of changes from the I formation gap concepts of the 90's and early 2000's to the zone blocking schematic used today, and we have seen inconsistency early in seasons from both veteran groups and newcomers. I think most Hokie fans have come to expect early season offensive struggles, no matter how promising the outlook for the season.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
About a month and a half ago I was starting to get really pumped for Hokies football and got curious about our dominance in the ACC, so I posted this. I have tried to keep my mind free of all of this expansion talk, but it seems now that talk of the Hokies to the SEC is now coming up about once a week, even with University officials stating that they have no interest in leaving the ACC. So, once again I got curious, how would the Hokies win total fare against win totals of current SEC teams since 2004. The results are posted below:
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Yo friends.
One day 'till Hokie Football. ONE DAY. In honor of this day, I'm gonna drop some knowledge about one of the my favorite players from the years leading up to my 4 at Virginia Tech, Eric Green (not the basketball player).
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Only 8 days left! Except for the hurricane limiting outdoor activities, I will be getting into game tailgate shape this weekend.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Editor's Note: Bumped to the front because it's flat out fantastic analysis.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
A mantra is starting to develop that happens every year this time, “I can’t wait for Football season”. The dog days of summer seem to bring relentless heat and excitement for a time most consider the best season of the year. Screw Christmas, santa’s fat ass doesn’t bring in one arm grabs for a TD. It’s a feeling is somewhat akin to the first time one’s about to bed a drunken conquest. Trepidation, perspiration (TMI?), and the excitement of what to expect. Sadly that moment couldn’t have been prepared for. However, how you plan and proceed into these vital next few months can be. Our boys are currently giving all they’ve got on the practice field to get ready. And here I am clicking refresh 80 times a day on ESPN. Equally as brutal.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Those of you who logged on to Beamberball.com this morning were greeted with a positional breakdown of the coaches' biggest concerns heading into fall camp this week.
Pretty standard stuff. I won't reveal too much, as I'm worried Greg Roberts' smooth question-asking abilities will haunt my dreams. What I will reveal is that every position has its usual football concerns: depth, injuries, experience, etc.
Well, every position but one: Wide receiver.
DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
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