4-0
Will never get tired of this. Original source is via, who else, @VTPhreak4evr
Up 20-3 with 8:19 left in the first half Tech could have pulled away. Instead we spun our wheels. We moved the ball 247 yards and only scored 10 points the rest of the way. Fumbles, interceptions, bad execution, and some bland play calls stopped us dead in our tracks. The win was never in question, but regardless of the outcome, leaving points on the field is a sour taste in the mouth.
--The defense held Marshall to 6 rushing yards!
/DONG-DONG
--Armpunt aside, I thought Logan had a pretty tight game. He's getting better as a quarterback. He checked down when the deep ball wasn't there, and looked beyond the first receiver to his second and third options. He wasn't just throwing heat today. There was touch on those screens and passes into the flats.
/DONG-DONG
--Gayle or Collins, take your pick. They each had a pair of sacks, Gayle had 7 tackles and Collins had 5. The defensive line played at high level.
/DONG-DONG
--Our normally stout special teams were terrible. After four games it's a trend. Demler shanked another punt, and #COALE4PUNTER didn't look like the answer. Journell missed a 37-yard field goal, and to cap it off had an extra point blocked. We can't expect to lean on our defense, run the ball and win close games against more talented teams without dependable special teams. We need a punter that kicks the ball far, consistently, and a kicker that bangs the ball through the uprights from 40 yards and in. "We’ll go back and go out there Monday and have good competition. Then we'll see what happens." Make it work Beamer Co. /Tim Gunn'd
/DONG-DONG
--My two favorite plays of the game. Jayron getting smoked in man-to-man coverage, tracking down the receiver and stripping the ball. Trey Gresh running down field and making the tackle to save a pair of points.
/DONG-DONG
--The offensive line pass blocked like champs. That's their third week this season not giving up a sack. The penetration given up on short yardage situations was enough to revoke any feelgood feeling I might have had about them.
/DONG-DONG
--The running game was unpredictable. There's not a back in the country I'd rather have running in the open field instead of David Wilson. Getting there was his problem. He didn't see the holes and cutback lanes well today, french60wasp has been harping on this the last couple of weeks. In the first half Wilson struggled running against the belly of the defense. He bounced runs designed to go between the tackles outside of them. Later in the second half when the defense was gassed he got through with ease. More Oglesby earlier in the game could be a good thing. Let him soften the defense a bit. Also, it seems like the backs only rotate after a series. Accentuate their skill sets. Let Josh O try to plow forward and get the tough yards on a 3rd and two.
/DONG-DONG
No Boykin, no Dyrell, no problem. Coale went over 100 receiving yards for the second week in a row. He found soft sports in the defense all afternoon. D.J. Coles stepped it up after being named the starter. We have to keep tossing him a couple a screens a game.
/DONG-DONG
Bonner wasn't ready to play today. We're one popped blister away from a leaky secondary.
The worst thing about today's game, the uniforms.
via @MattJonesCT
What are you thoughts on the game?
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Comments
we do look a bit like the browns.... but i like it. #
love logan's run, and that dominating defense!
I can only watch vtPhreak's #
I can only watch vtPhreak's highlights, was there any really notable negative plays that were left out that I am missing out on?
Couldn't watch the game #
but HATE the uni's. Who thought they would be a good idea? Maroon is so much of a sweeter color that orange.
Sounds like mistakes aplenty and continued sloppy play. Clemson is not gakking their season away like most years and looks pretty dangerous. We will need to tighten up the special teams and offensive rhythm, and use the advantage of a night game at Lane Stadium to not get upset by the Tigers. Taj is playing nice football.
I will be there to help in any way possible - Looking forward to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2nd half LT #
I disagree with your comments about LT. I remember thinking during the second half that he was not making his progressions and was staring down his go to receiver. I have not watched any highlights or replays so my memory may not be correct. I do think the passing game got very sloppy throughout the second half with a lot of long balls that were under thrown instead of running short routes and making completions.
I whole heartily agree with the using our two backs statement. I think just because DW is not afraid of contact/ running up the middle does not mean he needs to do it all the time. I think when we get into ACC play starting the game with split back sets would greatly benefit our offense early.
We have two great backs but they have different skill sets and strengths. Let Josh O. pound it up the middle and use DW for stretch plays and read options. We could even do fakes and have DW run up the middle later in games.
I am very concerned that the coaches are giving DW too many touches and that he will get injured or loose a step as his body gets beaten up.
Finally I would like to see a lot more passing to DW coming out of the back field. I think he can do it and in the match ups game I think he would have more speed then most LB's that would be tasked with passing covering him. In conclusion (I know this is really long winded) I think a piece of advice from the Mad Hatter sums up my feeling, find ways to get the ball to your play maker(s) and let them do what they do best.
Predictable calls #
If we have DW or JO in for only certain situations and formations the play calling will be too predictable and will get stuffed every time. See further discussion below.
reply #
sorry to clarify I meant with a split back or two back formations.
Comments regarding the running game #
Our running game was EXTREMELY PREDICTABLE. In the second half, a friend and I (we were at the game) successfully predicted about 10 off tackle runs and their direction in a row. It wasn't until we mixed it up bringing in the two back set with Oglesby in Wilson in shotgun, that we broke off a big play. Literally 9/10 when we set up in shotgun we'd pass, and when we were in ace form/single back 9/10 we'd run. There was maybe 5 play action passes the entire game.
Now with that said. We were playing against Marshall, and we had the ability to just our Muscle them. I guarantee this won't work against our ACC schedule. But if you look at this game in comparison to the App State game, they were called extremely differently, which leads to potential hope. Against App State, our running game came from all different looks, and after seeing that JO run against Marshall, I think we may be hiding some secrets with regard to the running game. So maybe it will become even better. When Marshall knew what play we were going to run, they could only hold us from breaking the big one, that was due to our athletes. But I am hoping all this play calling has been vanilla in order to give us the biggest advantage that we can against Clemson and Miami.
Logan 3:16
Vanilla Play Calling #
a lot of people have been expressing the opinion that our coaches have been intentionally calling vanilla/predictable plays as a screen so that when we get into the season there will be some "tricks in the bag". I do not share this opinion because of past seasons where play calling didnt really change as the season progressed and because LT still has limited experience as the play caller. I would also like to say that thinking this sort of trickery is going on may be giving our offensive coaches too much credit. ( I hope that I am wrong and everyone else is right)
I don't buy it either #
I would rather our guys go into a big showdown with a shitload of confidence from winning big and also the confidence that comes from getting reps at game speed than the coaches feel confident in their magical bag of 80yd touchdown plays.
It seems to me that every week we get fixated on one particular play and run it a thousand times. This week it was short passes to DJ Coles. Against ECU it was a million LT3 designed runs. I dont remember last week or week one's play-du-jour but I'm sure it was there.
I generally like Mike Cocaine's playcalling this year, good to see the TEs involved in the passing game more than under BS but I still think there's a lot of room for improvement.
Not bad... #
Pretty good game from what i was able to watch. But nothing real exciting unfortunately.
Concerns:
-Run blocking. If they could create a couple more seams for DW to hit up the middle that could really ignite the offense.
-Kicking game. Continues to confuse and frustrate me. Missed easy FGs?? Marshal blocking an extra point? If Journell is always going to be talked about as a scholarship player and how good he's supposed to be he needs to make these kicks, not like it was a 50 yarder or something.
-Punting. Oh Demler...that's all i'll say on that. But why did Coale get the other punt instead of Branthover?
What i'd like to see more of:
-Option plays. With DW and Oglesby in the back field and a stout QB why not throw in some more option plays?
-TEs. I love a good TE play and glad to see us using them far more than in the past years. Keep this up, especially in the redzone!
-Passes to DW. We all know this kid is sick in the open field and the issue has been the blocking to get him there. We need a couple more plays to hit DW in the flats and see what he can do.
I don't think the coaches are really hiding any plays or being purposely conservative so to speak. But i do think they are trying to nail down some plays for the rest of the season. After they know the game is in hand I think they are repeating plays to ensure that everyone is on the same page while we are playing our easier games. I'm thinking/hoping that next week we won't be as repetitive with the playcalling and will open up the the offense a little more. It's the turnovers and dropped balls that can hurt us.
just to expand #
I guess Demler's first punt was his longest this season for 51 yards, due to a friendly roll. But his 2nd punt only went 25 yards. So his season average is an awful 35.1 yards on 15 punts. I think he can improve, though not hard to do. After 15 punts he has had time to get confortable and it's not like a bad punt or two are driving down his average anymore. I'm obviously bothered by this simple part of the game that can have a huge impact in field position. A 26 yard difference between his first 2 punts is significant in starting field position for the other team. Do you want Clemson getting the ball on their 20 or their 46??
I think #
That They are trying to save the redshirt on Brandthover as long as possible in order for him to get his accuracy down
Logan 3:16