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Are you hazy on just what-in-the-hell ECU's Air Raid offense is all about? Then checkout this piece from the TKP archives.

The Air Raid aerial philosophy is like a polished playground attack. There's not an overwhelming amount of passing plays. Rather, the same plays are ran out of many different formations. It also stresses quality, through repetition at practice, over quantity. Receivers work short routes over the middle of the field and to the sidelines trying to feel out and settle in space, and there's always an option to push it deep. Simply put the receivers try to get open and make a play. How our linebackers defend the short routes is going to be something to keep an eye on.

The chillest offensive line in the country?

This isn't a new or lofty request, a bunch of SEC schools provide scooters for the players to cruise around on. I've seen Georgia and Florida players riding them first hand. I'm not sure what Jaymes means by "carts", but I can only assume it's either golf carts riding on chromed out eights, go karts, or co-eds with broad shoulders. Whatever it may be just keep in mind that recruits like shiny things.

The DuChristopher abides.

The senior offensive tackle and his renowned facial hair and long curly locks made a rare appearance at Tuesday's game-week news conference. He was very comfortable.

When a reporter told him he looked awesome, DeChristopher replied: "I appreciate it, and The Beard appreciates it, too."

When asked what he would like to do down the road in life, the zany Midlothian native said: "I would like to do something. That'd be nice. I'm sure The Beard would enjoy that, too."


MagDuffs' brilliance knows no bounds.

The STRAIGHT BURNER broke Tech's career kickoff return yardage record Saturday and considered redshirting this season and nobody knew it.

"I didn't really learn about the record until I got hurt," Roberts said. "All through last season, I wasn't really paying any attention, and nobody was really talking about it. Then, when I got hurt, a couple of my coaches and a couple of my teammates all said, 'Hey, man. Did you know you're only 19 yards away?' I was like, 'Man, if I could've finished the season, I could've done it last year.'

"Things happen for a reason. I'm just satisfied to be back with my teammates and coaches and be able to go out there and get it. It's a big mile marker for me, just like in high school as a senior when I ended up breaking the 2,000-yard mark running the ball. Records are nice, man. Being able to go down in history at a place like Virginia Tech, and being able to say I'm in the record books here, that's a plus. When I look back at it however many years from now when I have kids and all that, I think that'll be something people will be excited about."
Breaking the record has assured Roberts, a 6-foot-2, 196-pound senior, he made the right decision by opting not to redshirt this season. It was definitely discussed.

Roberts said coaches brought up the idea of redshirting last season while he was in the hospital. He said he actually considered it in the winter when his rehabilitation from the injury was going slow and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it back to 100 percent in time for the start of this season.

He said he pondered how an extra year might help him get enough credits toward earning a second degree at Tech. By the end of the spring, when he started to regain his speed, redshirting was an afterthought.

I'm happy Dyrell is on the field this year, catching balls between defenders and will finish his career with the rest of his senior class.

Furrer4Heisman talks with a pirate.

This is the Pirates' second year running the Air Raid. What improvement, if any, did you see out of the offense in that first game?

The starting quarterback, Dominique Davis, appeared much more comfortable running the offense. A year ago, he only had one month to learn the offense prior to the start of the season and, though he put up great numbers statistically, he had a lot of ups and downs. Against South Carolina, Davis checked in-and-out of a lot of plays early, and a lot of times read the defense successfully, leading to a number of big plays for the offense. Outside of a couple of bad passes in the third quarter, Davis was sensational against one of the best defenses in the SEC.

The offensive line, which is the third-youngest unit in the country and starts four sophomores, more than held their own against a dominant SC DL, not allowing a sack. That matchup should help them prepare for another great DL in Virginia Tech.

Also, the running backs and wide receivers appeared to be much more in sync with their routes and offensive communication than they were at the beginning of last year.

Expect lets blitzing, sacks and a heavy dose of nickel Saturday. The Air Raid is not an offense you can easily defend by being aggressive. Defenders want all zones of the field accounted for, and the ball in front of them. We'll be successful if we can tackle in the open field and limit ECU's passes to dinks and dunks and not broken gains.

We've heard it so much from the coaches we believe it to be cliché, but Bud's is a thinking man's defense.

"To be honest, last year I didn't know what I was doing, so I can understand why he says that," Gayle said. "I didn't know the signals. I didn't know a lot of the plays."

...

Gayle said Tuesday the light bulb went on during the spring, when the defensive scheme finally became second nature. He also won the team's Excalibur award for his work in the offseason strength and conditioning program, where he bench-pressed 420 pounds and ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash.

And now we know why Gayle didn't stand a chance to start last season.

Comments

Gayle

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Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor.

I love Dyrell

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"We were at the pinnacle, and we did it for years," Foster says. He pauses, nods, takes a deep breath. "And I did it with the best guy in the business."