Logan Thomas and Kyle Fuller represnted Virginia Tech at ACC Football Kickoff, the conference's preseason media event, in Greensboro, North Carolina Sunday. I didn't attend in person, but I watched the live stream and followed along on Twitter. This is what piqued my interest.
LT3 nonchalantly talking about trucking defenders en route to six. "Put a left shoulder down on somebody." I'm giddy.
Thomas noted the offensive line's improvement over the course of spring practice.
"Throughout the spring, they have gotten better and better every single week," Thomas said. "Every single scrimmage, you could see the difference. The last scrimmage that we had, the defense was sending the house at us. We were picking it up, we were able to get the ball out of my hand quick, picking up big gains. That's what you want to see and that's what we were doing."
Seeing the light come on for those guys, so to speak, gave him a jolt of excitement.
"Definitely so, because I know how I felt when the light finally came on for me," Thomas said. "You know you're doing good when Coach [Curt] Newsome's back there yelling – but he's back there yelling because he's happy. When he sees it and I get to see it, that gives me the extra confidence that I don't have to worry about it."
Thomas mentioned to Andrew Allegretta that he believes the camaraderie and nastiness along the o-line will make them an effective unit.
Additionally, LT3 elaborated on a bit of news from spring, Tech's offense will go up-tempo at times.
Changes in the offensive game plan:
I feel like it's gonna look the same, but maybe a little bit faster. Hopefully we can spread it out a little bit more with the speed that we have and the experience that we have. Hopefully we can add a couple more dimensions to the offense and just be better. We want to get better every year, every day. Hopefully it picks up quick.
VT's Logan Thomas says he's comfortable with & likes uptempo offense. But he won't be lobbying for more of it. Expects to use it 10% of time— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) July 22, 2012
Shortening the downtime between plays outside of the two-minute drill would provide a nice change of pace for the offense. However, it can't stand on its own. It needs to be a part of the overall offensive synergy, which we saw come together beautifully at the end of regular season last year. Then Clemson and Michigan happened. There were high points, but the offense has struggled to be consistent against equally or superiorly talented defenses. With an elite quarterback behind center, and a talented, but somewhat unproven o-line, success against all-comers is promising.
Mike O'Cain advised LT3 to improve his footwork durring the offseason. Back in March, Logan worked with quarterback guru George Whitfield. This excerpt is more relevant to me today.
"He can knock a man down with the football, but a lot of guys' bootlegs, they're moving backwards. They don't want to be moving to their weak side or close side," Whitfield said. "I'm chasing him with brooms, working around cones and all he needs to do is see it and he sees it and then immediately — and just like the great ones — they look at it and say, 'Okay this is what they're trying do. I have an answer for this.' He's only 20. This kid was absolutely, he's awesome."
BIG QB ON THE FLOOR BIGGER THAN BIG AREA RUG.
via: @VT_Football
The biggest news as it relates to Tech football, Kyle Fuller is going to play Whip against Georgia Tech.
That game, they did ask me this summer, would you rather play whip or corner? I'd rather play whip. I've played it for two years, I know what to read. Having experience there, I think I'll be able to do a pretty good job.
Fuller is healthy, our best open-field tackler, and heady. He played Whip/nickel against Georgia Tech last season. The ripple effect is less experience, but maybe more talent, on the field defensively. Seniors G-W and Tweedy will sit and either freshman Donaldven Manning will start at corner, or Foster will shuffle the rest of the secondary. Bonner (So.) could move back to corner, Jarrett (So.) can play either safety spot, and Boye Aromire (So.) had a strong spring. It would seem as if Foster trusts the young guys in the defensive backfield to step up, that's a positive.
Kyle also fielded a bevy of questions about where his younger brother Kendall, who is set to pick between Virginia Tech and Clemson, will commit to play college ball.
Kyle, who said he doesn't know which school his brother will pick or when, hasn't pressured him much.
"I used to just sit back," he said. "Recently I've been saying a little bit more. Not too much, but he knows what I want him to do."
His sales pitch?
"Our defense. Why wouldn't he want to play for a dominating defense on a team that wins?"
At #ACCKickoff, asked #VT's Kyle Fuller if he'd let younger brother and 5-star recruit Kendall go to Clemson. His quick response? "No."— Brad Franklin (@Cavs_Corner) July 22, 2012
The Frankinator, along with the rest of the league's coaches speak today.
What are your thoughts?
Comments
I want Fuller at corner. Why put him inside where he is at higher risk of getting hurt when you have two f'n seniors, one of whom is a 2 year starter and the other "had a great spring" available? That also puts your secondary another week behind schedule for developing chemistry. Just a terrible choice by the coaching staff if it comes to pass.
Is this
possibly a well placed feint to the left, jab with the right? Let GT think we're moving one of our best coverage guys to whip, get CPJ thinking about maybe trying out our younger guys in the secondary, and then finding out that Fuller is in the secondary, not at whip? You know somebody in Blacksburg wants to mess with as many minds in the GT coaches office as possible, and I'd never underestimate the chess match that goes on at these dog and pony kickoff shows.
GT WRs
Against any other team I would agree but against GT I want Fuller at Whip. He has a great head on his shoulders and will be great against the triple option. GT lost their 2 starting WRs. Pair that with the limited amount of passing they do and I think Fuller would be wasted on only one side of the field.
I can see GW giving me fits and being out of position...but maybe I am not giving Tweedy enough credit. I could see him doing well in this game but, the coaches made their decision.
I am curious as to who will fill in at corner. Would be good to keep as much experience we have at safety for this game. I would be OK with starting someone with a little less experience at corner if it means having a more seasoned player on Washington.
Injury arguments never do it for me, football is a freak sport, you can get injured at any position at any time. Are two seniors really available? G-W, the Whip with the most experience, is still recovering from Lisfranc. He missed time during spring. While Tweedy is a senior, and he's gotten some significant playing time, I believe he's only started one game (BC last year). Maybe he can build on a good spring and earn Foster's trust this August.
Matching up against GT I think Fuller will have a bigger impact at Whip than corner. I don't believe Fuller is the one making the calls and coverage adjustments. Also, this spring Foster and Torrian made it a point of emphasis to play all the defensive backs at as many different positions as they'd fit. Having a plug-and-play secondary seemed like a plan all along, so I don't think it hurts chemistry.
If we want to play for an ACC Championship, Georgia Tech is as close to a must win game as we've had. If we lose to them, we need to run the rest our conference schedule, that's not likely considering we draw Clemson and FSU. Also, GT would need to drop two ACC games. Pull out all the stops, one game season, win it, then worry about the remaining 11.
Agree
This is a must win game and we have to put arguably a top 3 defensive player on our team in a position to make plays, and the way we have played GT the past couple years I have to trust Foster and Gray on this one. I also agree about the injury bug its always usually a freak play that can happen anywhere.
I don't like the juggling either
I'd love for Tweedy to step up and take over at Whip, but it doesn't seem that's happening. I guess he's got August to make it happen.
I do remember last year CBF made some 'crazy' moves like putting Collins at DT and Fuller Whip - that led to one of the better performances by our defense against GT's option. Some of that was probably due to injuries, but the coaches are seemingly going for speed + sure tackling across the board in these match ups with GT's wishbone spread, even more so than against normal offenses and read-option spreads.
Kyle is our best defensive player - why would our coaches want him #chillin against GT's non-existant passing game?
Speed, intelligence, vision, and tackling are the keys to defending the option at the 2nd level, and Kyle is exceptional at all of that.
Let's keep coach-decision-making-bashing to a minimum considering it's only July 23.
Because they change their whole defense against Georgia Tech. The corners play cover two, which basically makes them wide linebackers. The safeties have pitch, but stay deeper than the deepest man until they confirm that the QB has passed the line of scrimmage. The difference is that WR's can't cut block corners, while the whip is fair game.
Just as interesting to see who the starting 4 on the d-line will be. My guess is Marshall-D.Hop-Collins-Gayle, with some liberal subbing of T. Wilson at end, maybe sliding Marshall in some, and getting A. Hop out there if he's good to go. Gotta be effective in stopping the middle play if you have two 300+ space eaters out there.
T. Wilson
Would slide to DE like he did last year. Am curious to see how this unfolds. Don't think Fuller was joking since I don't think our coaches would put our players in the middle of a chess game (if it were one) -- as they say, too many cooks spoil the soup (or chess game in this case).
I am not sure what they will do. Wilson's best game last year came against Georgia Tech (he played just as much as Gayle) so I am sure he is in the mix. I think Maddy plays much more this year against GT. Marshall really isn't as good a fit. He is a chase the ball player and tends to get out of position against this kind of look, plus he plays with a higher pad level.
McCray could really be a difference maker if he has turned a corner mentally. GT would have a tough time dealing with his size and quickness on the edge.