That's a tough loss to swallow. Like the rest of you probably feel, I felt like we left a lot of points on the field. Tech really played as good as, or better than, Clemson in the first half, yet trailed going into the locker room. Foster's defense held Clemson to 66 plays, 295 yards, and 31 points (yes, the final score was 38-17, but I'm not counting the pick six against the defense, and another 7 of the 31 came after the game was out of reach). That was a tremendous defensive effort; better than I dreamed they could do. Bud routinely answers the bell, so I shouldn't be surprised. Ultimately the offense couldn't pace Clemson in the second half, special teams blunders, and some shoddy officiating stopped the Hokies from winning. However, officiating is part of the game, and teams that execute efficiently overcome bad calls.
The offense looked like a hot mess in the second half. I don't have the benefit of the film, so I apologize if I'm not 100% accurate here. From the live viewing, I noticed a lot more zone read than the veer from the pistol (which was so successful last week) and the tailbacks didn't make their mark inside. There were a lot of questionable play calls in the second half.
Obviously the wide receiver pass that Marcus Davis sailed for a pick was at the top of the list. Which half of O'Cainspring made that call? And did any coach on the headsets veto it? If not, then group think overrode best judgement. As the head coach, Frank Beamer needs to stop that call dead and leave the ball in the hands of his quarterback. That decision was infinitely worse than the Coale run-punt option in the Sugar Bowl. That's not on Davis, and the coaches need to accept failure there.
Furthermore, on that same series, with 7:57 on the clock, 4 down football, they ran a stretch with Coleman to get the first instead of stretching the field vertically. That was after the defense forced a crucial three-and-out. What a wasted opportunity.
Even earlier than that, the false start on Eric Martin was partially baffling. Why is Eric Martin on the field in a long yardage passing situation? If the answer is, to block on screen, then there are no words for how incompetent the decision is. Either way, it's the wrong call or wrong personnel.
The rest of this post is a stream of consciousness of the bigger plays that I wrote during the game.
Luther Maddy, James Gayle both with sacks on the first series off a four man rush to set the tone of the game. The entire defensive line did an outstanding job of pressuring Boyd all afternoon. They had a bully's attitude, played tough, but smart. That group needs to show up next week, and every week in 2013.
The offense and Logan looked extremely crisp on the opening drive. Third-and-Logan was the only play that didn't work. Logan bounced it wide left to run behind David Wang. That's really all that needs to be said, but there really wasn't a push anywhere else. However, on the very next play LT3 made a total effort play to split two defenders for two crucial yards. Marcus Davis made a nice block after the Fuller reception to get in for six.
The Logan sweep on third-and-three had me screaming at my television. WHERE HAS THAT BEEN ALL SEASON? Logan pushed the pile a solid 2 yards meet the line to gain.
The fourth-and-one play call on the drive following the Michael Cole ass-cheeks-on-the-ground-interception was a stinker. For starters, I thought the spot was bad, granted all I saw was the one television angle. I like Beamer Co. being aggressive, but why run to the short side of the field, with Holmes, behind the left side of the line? Painter, and especially Benedict, have been the mashers along the right side of the line this season.
My initial reaction to Logan's second interception, "Guh." There was a little pressure by Clemson's end, Logan stepped up to throw, but the ball came out so badly it looked like it was tipped.
Michael Via's snaps were low all day long. That doesn't pair well with a 6-6 quarterback.
The Hokies owned the first half everywhere but the scoreboard. Tech ran 43 plays, totaled 248 yards, and held Clemson to 137 yards on 34 plays. Time of possession belonged to Tech too, 18:09-11:46. Two interceptions, and two special teams mistakes kept Clemson in the game.
Tech's first possession of the second half was abysmal. The end-around to Knowles towards the short side of the field was a busted play up front exacerbated by Knowles' trying to make something out of nothing. It was a high risk play that buried Tech behind the sticks. The screen on second down... perhaps an attempt to gain a little field position back and set up a manageable third down. A low throw stopped it before it could get started. Davis probably got interfered with on third down.
Nuk Hopkins definitely pushed off of Kyle Fuller before hauling in his touchdown.
Regarding the two terrible calls by the officials. I understand all levels of football are trying to protect the quarterback, but 1) Logan took a shot in the ribs after he released the ball earlier in the game and there wasn't a flag, and 2) LT3 is known to extend plays, and he was still moving when the play was blown dead. The fumbled that was confirmed on the field, there are no words. It was clearly a turnover.
At 31-10 Clemson, the failed fourth down conversion was maddening. Logan held onto the ball too long, Holmes to the short side of the field was his only outlet, but the offensive line failing to slide protection to the back side and getting beat by a four man rush was too hard to watch.
What did you guys think? (I know I don't have to say this here because you guys are great, but I've approved a lot of accounts recently, so for anyone new, we keep it civil and intelligent.)
Comments
Carbon copy of the last game...
Fuck College football
It sucks sometimes...
It's hard to know what to think about that game
Coming off of the 41 points unanswered against Duke, I feel like I'm still positive on the rest of the season. The defense performed mostly awesome, the offense did well at times, and the magnitude of the loss was mostly attributable to bad playcalling, bad officiating, and bad breaks. We lost two possessions on bad calls leading to at least 7 points, two or three possessions on bad playcalling leading to another 7-21 point swing, and luck worked out better for Clemson than us. We got a break or two early, but it's hard to overcome the level of crap that happened.
However, even with all that out of the players' control - the offense is still inconsistent and lacks identity. I have to put that more on the coaches, but we've seen little to expect the offense will become more consistent and the playcalling will improve. The defense turned it on this game, but still let some big plays up on favorable down and distance, and also caught a break or two with Boyd looking off on some of his throws and uncertain in the pocket.
I'm not dead on the team, but there's little reason to expect a dominating, magical second half run for the division title.
Props to the VT defense. They played an inspired game.
Yes, the officiating in the third quarter was truly horrendous. (Seriously, if your replay officials can't manage to overturn a call as obviously wrong as the initial call on Sammy Watkins' fumble was, why bother using replay at all?)
But the main reason we lost the game was because our offense couldn't move the ball against a very average Clemson defense.
Same old, same old.
I hate to say it, but I now find myself hoping for a 6-6 season. That will maintain the bowl streak but will hopefully be the slap across the face that Frank Beamer needs in order to realize that if he really wants to make another run at a national title, he needs to make some significant personnel changes in his offensive coaching staff, no matter how personally difficult they might be.
6-6 isn't good enough for a bowl. Peay is 1aa.
The only thing I've got left is wv"u" schadenfreude.
One I-AA win counts towards bowl eligibility. Also, there's some new clause in place could allow a 5-7 team in.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19...
Outside of the national championship game, the best thing about making a bowl is the extra practice.
Touche salesman.What an
Touche salesman.
What an awesome season. Considering my whole family is wv"u" (although the last 2 weeks have been exquisite) and I work with not one, but two Notre Dame alums.
That and LOLUVA are the only things that are keeping me going this season. I want flat out chaos because that's all that's on the table.
With the way the team has played this season, if they continue to play in such a lackluster fashion, they HAVE NO RIGHT playing in a bowl game. Even if they finish the season bowl eligible, which I think is highly unlikely at the moment given the lack of leadership and on-the-field execution.
Screw the consecutive bowl record. Beat UVa and call it a season.
If you thought the defensive effort Saturday was lackluster, then I got nothing for you.
Do you honestly believe that they are capable or even deserving of a bowl bid with the way they are playing right now?
Yes.
Defensively, we have improved significantly. Clemson had a paltry 15 First Downs, was held under 300 yards total. The Front 7 has been playing very well the last few weeks, even the secondary wasn't bad against Clemson and Duke.
Offensively, we were a train wreck but the previous few games we had actually played well on that side of the ball.
I know 4-4 seems awful to VT fans, but there are things we can build on here. And your insistence on "are we deserving of a bowl bid" seems to discount who normally gets bowl bids. Those games we watch at Christmas, full of flawed teams who are enjoying a quaint game against another flawed team in some flawed location sponsored by some flawed consumer product. We're not Sugar Bowl good, but we can be 1998, beat Alabama in the Music City Bowl and get ready for next year good.
Unbelievably frustrating
You wrote an awesome essay after the Sugar Bowl saying how much you loved last year's team because they always played hard, smart, and went down fighting. I feel the opposite about this year's team. Low football IQ, taking plays off, mind-boggling mistakes at critical times, and it seems like the offensive coaching has gotten worse.
This is the most frustrating team I can remember since the 2003 or 2006 team.
Nothing new under the sun
The D played the best game of the season, as far as I'm concerned. You can't pin those short fields after the pick and live ball on the punt on the D. How many times did Clemson actually have to drive the field to score? Not many.
The 4th and 1 they didn't convert was an aggressive call that was correct. You need touchdowns to beat Clemson. If it was 4th and 2 or more, you kick the fg. The play call however, was vintage Stinespring. Call a slow developing 7 yard deep off tackle play behind the weakest side of the offensive line with the coldest RB in the stable and turnover on downs.
The offense while steamrolling in the first quarter was a dumpster fire for the next 3. They stopped the quick hitting runs in the middle of the field and started the slow strech plays and end arounds around the edge. If I never seen VT try another WR screen it will be too soon. WHERE WAS THE HB DRAW OFF THE WR SCREEN WHEN IT WAS CLEAR CLEMSON WAS KEYING ON THAT FORMATION.
The Marcus Davis WR pass? There is your offensive coordinator and 'play caller/qb coach' calling that play, folks. Down by 2 TD, clock running, just got a first down, with an NFL size quarterback who led a comeback against Duke and Miami, calls a play that lets let a WR throw from a stupid WR screen formation across the entire field. That play alone should get them fired. That's just straight dumb. If the brain trust of StineOcainspring isn't fired, Logan should just go to the draft, because it's not going to get better in college.
I couldn't possibly disagree more about the 4th & 1 decision.
It was yet another boneheaded strategic blunder by Frank Beamer. They're becoming more and more common as he gets older. He's pretty much good for about one a game now.
You're an underdog playing on the road, it's midway through the first quarter, you're up 7-0 and you've just driven the length of the field after starting at your own 15 yard line after getting a big turnover.
The absolute LAST thing you want to have happen there is that you come away with nothing!
The smart, non-testosterone clouded decision is to kick the f'ing FG and go up 10-0.
I can guarantee you that 99% of the coaches in this country, no matter what level, would have done so.
But if you absolutely must go for it on 4th down .... Why in the hell would you want to try and run behind Eric Martin at TE???? As usual, Martin's feet stopped moving completely at first contact with the defender, he was stood up and driven back into the backfield, and that doomed the play.
So Clemson ended up getting an emotional boost for stopping us while VT was deflated.
Going for the 1st down there was a dumb, dumb, dumb decision.
normally I would agree with you
But we were in no mans land too close for a punt long field goal short yardage and we need to try and win T.o.P
We were at their 20ish
Cody is money from there.
I totally agree that we should've kicked the FG. I think it would've been about a 35 yd kick btw. Just take the points and keep the momentum. IF you go for it...let your giant if a QB run it!
Have you by chance worked at VAFB? Only heard one other person refer to a trainwreck as a dumpster fire...
Negative on VAFB
Although you could call it a tranwreck into a dumpster fire
Kris Harley
I just want to say something about Kris. I don't care how many mistakes that kid makes(doesn't seem like very many), he plays with the most heart I have seen from a Tech player in some time. Every time he is on the field he gives 110% effort and that just makes me proud. The defense? They played incredible. I don't even consider them giving up 31 points, half of them were given to them by our offense and officials.
I loved seeing so much emotion from our defense, Even when there was a minute left they almost held Clemson on the 1 yard line. That's what I like to see. It's been a while but I think they've got their "swagger" back. That was my favorite part from today.
For once we started off strong, we just couldn't keep it up. its maddening to see the potential of this team and still lose games. That was a very beatable Clemson team. I thought the play calling really let us down in some key situations, like joe noted above.
For anyone else who was at the game, "death valley" didn't seem that loud. They got it up on a couple third downs, but I've heard lane much louder, and more consistently so. Think their stadium is overrated, or is vt that underwhelming of an opponent to them?
They're overrated. I was at the '07 game too, and that was a night game, and I swear it was still quieter than Lane at noon (and that was a close game, too, it should have been rockin')
My big sis is a Hokie alum and at Clemson for grad school, and she said the students, at least, consider VT-Clem to be a huge rivalry. She says she gets shit on campus all the time... so there's that
Our O vs their D
The bottom line stat is that our O has produced a grand total of 30 points in 3 games during the past year against Clemson. FSU, BC and GT all scored more than 30 against CU this season in ONE game. Last year, most ACC teams had no trouble scoring 4 TD's or more against Clemson. Only the VT offense struggles against the horrible Clemson D.
What does that mean? Either the talent level of our O is deficient (NOT!) or our offensive scheme is deficient and unable to learn from the success of others (WINNER!)
How do we fix this problem? Hire new offensive coaches in the off-season who are able to make strong adjustments during the game and put points on the board. We used to able to do that, 10 to 15 years ago. Not now.
If we do not have at least 2 new offensive coaches next year with one being the new OC, there is going to be a great deal of unrest and dissatisfaction within and without the program, IMO. Wish it were otherwise, but sometimes you have to bench underperforming players, and the same goes for coaches. Make the call Frank, PLEASE!
GO HOKIES!
SOS
Was hoping being down 20 to Duke was the turning point of the season. For the D, I still think it was...for the O, quarters 2-4 of the Duke game seem like more of an anomaly.
Offensive inefficiency, whether the playcalling or execution, again undermined a winning defensive effort. The scouting report on Boyd is to get to him early and force him into mistakes. For the most part, the defense did that. He was inaccurate for most of the game. Had the offense been able to do ANYTHING at the beginning of the second half, I feel the outcome would have been different. We got behind in the field position battle and the defense did all they could; but when you let Clemson start on the positive side of the field each drive, there is only so much the D can do.
Like Joe said, the refs are a part of the game. You have to overcome bad calls. In this case, both of the calls significantly influenced the momentum of the game which is unfortunate. If Thomas isn't blown dead, he completes that pass for a first down and the drive continues. Not saying we would've scored, but field position would have likely changed. I am absolutely dumbfounded at how the replay officials didn't overturn the 'non-fumble' on Watkins. It kills me that, even with slow-motion, frame-by-frame, replay, officials in the booth STILL can't get that call right...completely baffling. Clemson goes on to score a TD and, with our lack of O, the game was out of reach from there.
This season is far from over. The D needs to continue to improve and the O needs to figure out how to be consistent(ly good) on a weekly basis. This team can still play for an ACC title. Hopefully the bye week will refresh this team and coaching staff. It's #FuckMiami week(s). Looking forward, as always, to French's analysis.
in reference to the uncalled fumble...
apparently ACC replay officials do not get the benefit of slow-motion replay...
I read a post somewhere, probably TSL, where someone was explaining that the replay official did not have slow motion replays available.
My thoughts
Still getting my thoughts around this game...I think most of our offensive players are playing as hard as they can but the play calling is killing us. Not every drive but it seemed in critical times in the game we were calling bone head plays. From the film I have seen on this site our offense can be efficient and explosive but in big games in critical moments we make stupid calls. We tried to be too cute and it burned us. Our game plan should have been to win time of possession and we were doing that first half. All we had to do was to keep running it down the middle and throw short passes. Clemson's defense couldnt tackle a dummy and our line was pushing them around. What do we do second half? Finesse football (end arounds, screens, slow developing plays). My hope is for a bowl game but changes on the offensive side of the ball. We dont need a spread or 50 points a game offense just one that controls the ball, limits mistakes, and can take the air out of the ball when we need it too and a play caller that understands his offense and how to call a game.
Different Comment
My hats off to the Players for not giving up on the game after the push off td by Clemson...I know I have seen games were the Hokies would be down and the team would give up. The Team did not give up! It is going to be a tough season but I think it will make the team stronger for next year.
Sorry not hog the thread
Wanted to say Hughes was awesome getting the punt off after the bad snap. (I think it was him if I am wrong please correct me)
Beating the rotten corpse of a dead horse
Long time reader, first time poster. When god? When will Stinespring and O'Cain be held accountable for their god awful play calling? I hate being so bitchy on my first post here but good lord that was terrible. Can we please stop letting Michael Holmes touch the football? Sorry, I had some actuall points to make but I forgot them with my complaining......
Forward progress stopped for a sack? If that's a universal rule, this would never have happened.
#goPATS
Fuck this play. I hate this play.
Or see Ben Roethlisberger
any given Sunday in the fall and winter
Or Vick. Or Tyrod.
Todd McShay quote...
from last week, "...this offense looks antiquated."
I think that might be a good un-biased, non-partisan observation I believe.
It took 03 for 04-11 to happen (esp: defensively).
Perhaps this is what we need.
thing with that is McShay is a card carrying Hokie hater. I'd be surprised if he ever said anything positive about the program.
There is some truth in what he said...
...but he piled on because he's got a uva preference.
Is our offense ill suited to preparing offensive players in the NFL? Yes. Moreso than Oregon's? No. Is it outdated by 10-15 years? No, look at 75% of the NFL offenses and they use many of the same components we do.
The truth is that our defensive scheme is probably less suited for NFL preparedness than our offensive systems. The positional coaching is just far superior on the defensive side than the offensive.
#Truth
Offense isn't outdate, just poorly coached and ran. WR screens are awesome plays in the NFL. Welker, Harvin, and many others thrive on the WR screen. But, they call the play at the right time, not on every freaking set of downs.
Is it bad that
this kind of showing no longer surprises me? Ah well. At least WVU's currently laying an egg
Defense Deserves Better
Seems like I make this comment every year, but again, it's true. Great gameplan by Foster and really good execution by the D.
As an armchair offensive coordinator, I was calling for a quick pitch to JC to the weakside (right) on the first 3rd and short. I think JC would have made it easy, and it would change the defensive alignment on future 3rd and shorts, which would have made any future QB sneaks easier. The last thing I would have done would try to sneak it behind Wang, a terrible guard who is gimpy. I also would never try to run Holmes behind Wang. But, that's just the obvious.
The scripted plays in the 1st drive worked well, but their offense stalled consistently after that. I don't know what else to say, but, unless we have a QB that can scramble and make deep throws on broken plays, this offense will remain mediocre with O'Cainspring.
Outside runs
I agree with you 100%...I was calling for it on the second 4 and 1 attempt. Everyone loads the box and expects LT3 to come with a QB sneak...bounce it to the outside and burn them for a TD
I was saying that the whole game, D is playing their hearts out, O and special teams were letting them down.
Frustrated and a little constipated
I felt like the game was a play or two away from being completely different. The play calling in the second half was just disappointing. Why are we running sideways for two consecutive plays when it had barely been working all day. It's honestly beginning to be painful to watch the offense. The defense gets two thumbs up though. Big Lu Maddy is the man.
Meh
I can't say I am that upset about the game, it wasn't like I was expecting anything different. We got to play F Clemson twice last year, with equal shit results both times. Did anyone really expect O'ShameSting to make adjustments that weren't not made the previous 8 quarters of football against them? The D was great and hopefully will continue to play that way. Special teams was unreliable and about as polished as one of my dogs poops. Seems like special teams might be coached by someone that isn't giving it his all...just saying. The O. Well who knows what the hell this O is. There is no leader, whether it be coach or player. No rhythm, no consistency (well consistently bad) and no adjustments are not ways to win games. But this is VT and its Frank's teams and we know how loyal he is. Yes, we need new offensive coaching blood. I would be less surprised to find out Harry Potter is real than to see that change happen.
Regardless of our record and the doom and gloom of this season, I am pumped. I am three weeks away from Blacksburg. I can't wait to see good friends, eat a bunch of not good for you food and drink cheap shitty beer that will cause 3-4 car pull overs on the drive back to NoVa. Bad fans, whiny fans, paper airplanes, fans leaving early, other teams playing Enter Sandman - all that means squat. There is a team, a symbol - VT. That is where I went to school, that is where my best friends went. That is who I cheer for, even when they are sucking.
That Marcus Davis pass play was not infinitely worse than the worst fake punt ever. The fake punt was a bad idea, bad design, bad thought. More importantly, it's the Sugar Bowl. Definitely worse in my opinion.
The officials sucked but so did we. The Boyd fumble-lineman touchdown play was called wrong too; It was clear to see that both plays were fumbles. As for the calls that hurt us, there's more plays to be made and we didn't make them, per the usual. The defense played well enough, but poor offensive plays and momentum swings were too much.
If I ask you, "At 11:05 with 3 timeouts, down by 21 what do we need to actually win?" You say, "A quick score AND a three n out." That happens! You say "Hallelujah, now we need to score and we're down one TD." I say "Damn right! Go Hokies!"..... Beamer and co say, "Let's run a WR toss pass that we already tried earlier in the game and needless to say, didn't work." Unacceptable.
It was a terrible call for the situation. We tried it earlier and fumbled. Just scratch it off the call sheet moving forward. Gametime is not the time to practice. You practice those plays at practice. Furthermore, if you want to run that play, a basis for the play is an understanding that if MD had nothing, then throw it away or bomb it to the guy running deep, there's no attention to detail here. But regardless, you don't run that play there, period. I agree with Joe on everything he said with regards to the decision and levels of power, or lack thereof.
Changes need to be made or I'm worried for the future of our program. A program I love so dearly.
At the end of the day, the Sugar Bowl is an exhibition game. Like the other bowls, dollars have diminished the tradition. Obviously, I want to win every game, especially one against a ranked opponent, but the Clemson game wasn't any less important. On the table before kickoff: avoid going 0-3 against a rising ACC power in a little over a calendar year, stay at the top of the Coastal Division, beat a ranked team, gain back some national credibility. The only intangible the Sugar Bowl had over this game, a bigger stage.
I'm writing something longer about it, but in short this call was worse than the Coale run because it's the wrong situation, bad play (second time they tried the damn thing) and personel. Coale was just 2 of the 3. I don't mind the ball in Coale's hand trying to win the game.
KSU has me wondering
I haven't watched them closely this year until today, but they've been amazingly good, both offensively and defensively. They've scored over 50 pts in 4 of their 7 games.
I like Bill Snyder, he reminds me a lot of Beamer. So, I wondered, what kind of offensive coordinator does KSU have. I figured, with that great offense, it would have some young hot shot coordinator. Not At All. K-state has Co-Offensive coordinators, both of whom have worked with Snyder for 15 and 16 years. Both are 50 years old or older. Wow, that sounds exactly like Beamer, O'Cain and Stinespring, except VT isn't averaging over 40 pts a game.
I guess my point is this. How did K-state get this good at offense? In 2009, they averaged 23 pts/game, in 2010 and 2011, 33 pts/game, and now 40 pts/game. How was K-state able to recreate their offense with coordinators "past their prime?" If VT is stuck with O'Cainspring, how can VT turn the program into K-state?
Bill S Wikipeida Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Snyder \
I was there, not watching the TV, and in the stadium they said the fumble call stood, not was confirmed. /shrug
That go-fer on 4th early really frustrated me, that was a totally makeable FG and vs Clem we obviously needed all the damn points we could get.
As far as the MD7 pick, man, we've run that play once a year for years and I honestly can't remember a single time it *wasn't* picked off. Stupidest damn play in the book.
I told everyone I saw after the game that the best result we could get from this season is a change in the coaching staff. I hope the rumors (that the boosters aren't going to let the status quo stand, as far as the coaching staff goes) are true. Honestly, I'm not sure I would mind a change in the special teams coach at this point, either. (Did Shane do special teams at USCe? I feel like I read that at some point)
Special teams
Hate to say it, but I think you are right about our special teams. They have been average to worse over the past 3-4 years. They pretty much cost us the Boise State game, last year's Sugar Bowl, and several others. They seem to fail in big games more than ever, and it makes me scratch my head why. Has everyone else caught up to us, or are we not setting as much emphasis on special teams play as in the past? We sure aren't getting many blocked kicks anymore, and other teams seem to have more big plays than we do. The Clemson punt that went off of Reeves was a major momentum shift on Saturday that cost us a TD if memory serves. Just missing the old days I guess...
A ridiculously short punt hitting off a guy...
...doesn't seem to be the time to criticize the ST's coach.
I'm more concerned that the entire world of college football has gone to the 3-man personal protector on punts but us. Beamer's argument against it was that it hurt our coverage, but it doesn't seem to be hurting anyone elses coverage. It does, however, seem to really limit our protection. The game has changed, this is the way its done now. Even the rules support it with this years institution of the no-jumping-over-the-protector rule.
What about or WRs?
Agree with everything said here, D looks like they may be "back", playing calling and officials sucked horribly, but what about the receivers? Dyrell slowed his route on the busted coverage and missed the ball. That would've been a huge gain, if not a touchdown. I think LT3's "regression" is simply him trying to do too much to make up for the lack of WR maturity. Coale and Boykin played every down regardless of their assignment (blocking, primary read, etc) Roberts and Davis only play if they think they are getting the ball. Hopefully with DJ back next year, he can teach these young WRs (Knowles, Caleb, Stanford, etc) to play the right way and LT3 can relax and do what he needs to do.
MD7
On Saturday, I found myself yelling at typical telegraphed O'Cainspring play calls, I found myself yelling at Eric Martin/Ryan Malleck for being terrible at blocking (and playing TE in general), I even found myself bargaining with God to help the Hokies somehow get a fucking official review to go their way for once this season (read: a Cinnci catch at the 1 yd line is somehow a TD). However, there is one thing I did not do -- one thing I will never do to this team -- give up. I wish I could say the same for MD7. His attitude, his propensity to loaf on every play, especially plays that don't flow towards his side of the field, and his lack of intensity in nearly every game this season is truly sickening and makes me believe he's completely given up on his team.
I hope he proves me wrong, however. It would be one instance in which I would absolutely love to be wrong.
How...
...could MD7 have spent 5 years around DC19 and JB81 and play like this? I'm sure those guys showed him how to work, how that hard work pays off, and put the necessary boot in his ass. Look at the message and leadership he is showing the younger receivers...that's what makes me scared about the future...and why he should be benched! Forget the pros MD7...they watch all your film.
All the tools, none of the intangables
Best way I can describe it. I think he'll still get drafted, because he can wow at the combine. But, I'd take Danny Coale any day of the week over Davis. It would be so Dallas for them to draft Davis in the early rounds and expect him to contribute, while Danny Coale finds a team that has better player personnel evaluators and becomes a consistent contributor.
I thought
Dyrell has looked much worse than MD7 for the past few weeks, especially against Clemson. I don't know what is up with #straightburner but he has just looked so average. He fails to run the correct routes (should have had 6 on the blown coverage but he cut his route inside and compounded the error with a lackluster effort to catch) he loafed on the interception that he watched the safety bring down, etc. I like Dyrell and I think he is a high character guy, but I really don't understand how a guy with all his tools who has been in the system so long fails to get separation on a regular basis. Yes, Davis loafs, but it seems like that is a common theme with our WRs. At the end of the day, he is still probably our most consistent threat. I really wish we had Corey from freshman year to now, he has a ton of upside but is just really raw, I think.
Good point Dyrell
But I disagree a little on Corey. I wish we had him (like he is now) for 4....but I'm afraid this staff and scheme would poison him (or waste his talent) during that time. To counteract my own point, I have a lot of faith in Coach Sherman (mostly for his fire and heart)...hope he gets more say in the offense and personnel decisions.
Probably.
Us misuse and under-utilize talent at our skill positions? Doesn't sounds familiar. Oh wait.
I'm a big fan of Corey. He has great tools and makes big plays when we need it. For the life of me, I don't know why we don't run the Corey Fuller slant multiple times a game, since it seems like its good for 12 yards minimum and he has taken it to the house multiple times now. And for as much as Logan has struggled, one of his biggest assets is his height that allows him to see routes over the middle like Tyrod never could. Seriously. Feed Corey.