[Mark Umansky]
Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (0-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Old Dominion Monarchs (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
When: Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 8:00 PM EDT
Where: Blacksburg, VA | Lane Stadium
Watch/Listen: ACCN / Virginia Tech IMG
Spread: VT -13.5
Weather: 76°F, Sunny
Series: The Hokies are 2-2 all-time against ODU.
Reppin' TKP: Mark Umansky is photographing.
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Section:
Comments
LET'S GO
HOKIES!
Ahhhh welcome back Game Threads...I've missed you
A reminder, there is a special place in hell for those who get married during football season and even worse on the first weekend
Oh, you know my cousin.
Married 4 times by 35, all 4 on weekends between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
Divorce is the punishment for breaking this covenant. You are supposed to learn and not get married in the fall again.
Some people never learn apparently.
The punishment is a wife who doesn't let you watch football.
Then again, that might be related to probability of divorce.
After 3 tries, they are still dumb enough to try it again? Seriously? I mean you are not making this up, right?
Nope, and she marrying her way through the 1850s.
Coal Miner
Train Conductor
Blacksmith
Farmer
So, you're saying there's a chance?
You want to take a chance with an emotionally unstable hypocritical narcissist with two kids?
There's a special place in hell for those who even need a reminder of that.
I thought there was no way we'd lose to ODU.
Then I thought there was no way we'd lose to ODU again.
I truly have no idea what's going to happen tonight. They say ODU are supposed to be bad. Well, so are we.
Please, let us be the less bad team.
ODU was supposed to be bad both times we played them. I mean they actually were. We have been one of their few wins both times they beat us.
Let's goooooo!!!
Hokies!
Expecting a win.
Hoping we show even half the speed and fire that Colorado showed in their first rebuild game.
Do think that Pry has the ship turned around and that we will be getting better and better over the next couple of years, but just want to get wins against teams like ODU and Rutgers at this point in the rebuild. Let's see some solid progress.
I hope SC boat races those pussies in Chapel Hill with their stupid light blue bullshit colors and the fake degrees and Mack 'one of the most punchable faces in all of college football' Brown and his dumbass coaching and his stupid ring that he win forever ago at Texas. Damn. Go Hokies!
Just boarded a plane for England. Chances Virgin has ACCN???
Just like your post's score: 0.0
I don't know any virgin that has that.
One game at a time, but returning to bowl eligibility starts tonight. Go Hokies!
Step one, accomplished!
Lucky VT shirt? ✅
Cold beer in the fridge? ✅
Cookies in the oven? ✅
Dominoes pizza coupon loaded? ✅
LETS GO
HOKIES!!!
Awesome segment on the pregame just now with Ali Jennings, Eddie Royal, and EJ Manuel. Ali really brings a lot of swagger back to the team. Excited to see him and these new guys tonight.
Probably the only time I've been proud of the ACC Network!
I have to give them kudos so far that pregame broadcast was vastly improved
40 minutes to kick off, LET'S GO!!!!
❤️🦃🦃
Just gonna say it... ACCN doing a really good job in Blacksburg tonight. I hope this is how they operate all season wherever they are.
Yeah the ACC show has been absolutely fantastic. Love the energy they are capturing from the stadium and Packer drinking bourbon and going out tailgating with Bud Foster was awesome lol.
Lol ACC Network did an interview with a Hokie tailgate and Bud happened to be there and seemed like he was THRIVING. You love to see it.
Yes! Bud was definitely toasted. HAHAHAHA
He posted the other day about watching/helping with youth football. Like 6-8 year olds it was so wholesome.
Anybody in Front Royal right now?
Bruce is such a great ambassador for our school
LET'S FUCKING GO BABY.
ACCN pregame coverage is absolutely phenomenal. What a great display of the school, fan base, and program.
WHAT UP EVERYBODY
LET'S GET IT!!!!!!!!
Chills, every fucking time.
Lets fucking go
That was beautiful!!!
That was awesome! Best part was they didn't talk over it!
LGH!!!
our starting RBs are returning kicks?
Great coverage of the entrance!
Let's goooooo!!!!!
Hoping for some BeamerBall, but man it makes me nervous having your 1 and 2 RB back for kicks.
Frank did it but he had more depth to work with.
1 play in and i'm already concerned.
Well, last year that first pass would have made it to row AAA, so that's a plus.
not a good start from wells
Should have caught that
I already want to see Drones in...
Not a very inspiring first drive from Wells.
Wells gonna Wells
Bad first series
There ya go Terrordome.
3 and out. As, of course, is tradition.
Is #PunterSwag back?
damn Defense looks fast
Promising start by the D and the crowd.
Great series by the defense!
I like that
D looks nasty
Phrasing?
This D gonna be nasty
Halftime edit: Can the court please remove the previous statement from the record?
No worries, I'll gladly drink
Defense looked good there. Excellent penetration
Alright offense got the first series jitters out. Let's get the ball moving now.
Offense and defense both meeting my expectations at the start.
HOAT = Horse on a Treadmill
DAFT = Doggie in a Fish Tank
Drones in
Drones is in that pass looked good
And right back out after good things happened.
Send him home.
Targeting, bye felicia
Bye Morrison
This kind of targeting is bullshit. If the refs don't catch it on the first call then it's obviously not egregious enough.
he gonna be gone
Liking what I see from Tuten so far
He shifty
Kind of hate the targeting review killing momentum of the drive honestly.
It shouldn't take that long to figure out.
Don't mind trying to see who is working better but not a fan of the one play and out. Hopefully it was just cause he took a shot on the chin.
If that's not targeting, I don't know what is....
if we learned anything last year its that we have no idea what targeting and roughing the passer is.
i dont think the announcers have any clue where the 1st down marker is.
I'm trying to be positive here, but in the back of my mind I'm still like "anything good we do should be taken with a grain of salt...cuzs its odu" someone please help me think positively!!!
We actually got a favorable spot on that 3rd down for once!
God I still passionately hate this run up the middle from the shotgun in short yardage.
Not too crazy about just using Drones as a battering ram. Pretty evident when we got in the red zone we were going to run him.
And then they put in Wells on 4th who again is too amped up and overthrows it.
Not a fan of run it up the middle three times in a row
You would have not been a happy camper back in the Bill Dooley era.
If we get 5+ yards each time then I don't care.
lol why didn't we try throwing on 3rd
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
GODDAMIT WELLS WHYYYY
.. Cmon man
Wells is not impressing. That was an open receiver that was missed. Good on him for making his progression for once, but jesus that should have been 6.
Progression went awful fast and then he stared down Tuten for a three count before throwing without his feet set. Drones will be starter by week 4 at this rate.
At this point I think Wells is a great player in practice but must get too amped up for the game. Throwing bullets and rushing his throws.
Why not kick the FG?
Well out an situation still sucks apparently
Jesus. Whyyyyyyyyy?!?!
Ran up the middle what, 3, 4 times? Got a yard each time. Thats pathetic.
Honestly though, are you surprised? I'm not.
I'm not either, I just wish I was.
Didn't love the lack of push there, but defense looks locked in. It seems like they can buy the offense some time.
Not a fan of wells pass there. Tuten was open. I would have liked a play-action with drones there. You just ran him a ton.
Welp...so far the Drones package appears to be Quincy Patterson 2.0.
Not impressed
"What if 3rd and Logan but every time?"
We did get a quarterback transfer, right? Not just a running back with a decent arm...?
Decent arm? His only pass was a fucking laser beam
First of all, the pace of this game is weird...
Secondly, this offensive line is a hot mess (we all suspected it)...
Wells is just who he is. He missed is WR on the TD - on the other side of the field - a wide open TD. Wells is not a good QB.
I hate the merry go quarterbacks because neither has the feel of the game...
I like going for it on 4th...but ugh
3 times inside the 5 and didn't make it. Kick the FG. Play from the lead.
If you're leading... try it 4 times next time. For crying out loud!
LETS GET THAT SAFETY
Looks like we're doing the Glennon/Vick 2.0 package
Tyrod, not Vick
You're right. Whoops
Vick/Randall or Glennon/Taylor
I like that we went for it. The right play was called. Wells had someone wide open and didn't see it.
Put drones in. Let's see what he actually has
lol luckily their QB isn't great either
lmao we take those
it was the WRONG play call. The right call would have been to kick the FG!
First points of the season! First points of the game!
Safety means you're wrong.
Never go for FG on the 1yd. Play to win
SCORE DEFENSE, SCORE!
Sort of Beamer Ball!
#SafetyDance
Safety!
I'll take a safety, sure
Well, this is tech football
Safeties are good....unknown quarterbacks running well against us.......not so much.
Our LBs have a bad read on that play. Hopefully it gets adjusted for.
Not how I imagined getting our first points of the season
Bad special teams hurting them...okay I guess
Well, well, well, how the turntables...
Who had bad special teams snap for safety on football bingo?
Not so spicy take - Wells will not be starting next week
idk about that, I hope we put Drones in though
He's playing like a glitchy robot out there.
I don't think they will pull him that fast.
That looks even more like targeting than the first one did
Another season, another year long struggle to understand what targeting is.
The field looks pretty.
Send em all home, hopefully their stuff is still in the locker room.
Henderson may go bye bye
THAT is targeting. And looked malicious.
Yeah I don't get it. That was the crown of the helmet for sure.
First was definitely crown, but possibly to sternum. Honestly fine with that one.
This one was spearing crown to side of helmet on a guy who was already going down
It looked like it was helmet to helmet and Lofton's head turned first as he was spun by his head.
Wow.... these ACC officials...
SMH
Running game seems anemic again.
Can we try throwing down field?
So we're back to defense carrying the team, eh?
So it's very clear that the OC has no confidence in Wells throwing
Yeah they are protecting him big time with the play calls so far. And a lot of his throws have been behind the receiver or just no touch.
I don't either.
Well.... That's a completed pass downfield. I'll take it.
If Lofton wasn't concussed as hell, that's a TD
He's wearing a Gotham Steel helmet!
I am still not impressed by the offense, but Lofton is balling tonight
Why is every throw seemingly behind the receiver?
Cuz it is haha
Not true. Some are three feet over their heads.
OMG. They did not run right up the middle.
For a team that 'wants to run the ball', we don't look really good running the ball.
Well, it is want to run, not can run.
We'll get there in time. Just need to rework the line like the WR room and let the new recruits develop. But yeah, it is frustrating now.
OL getting beat right now. Playcalling seems to be uncreative. And passing game isn't presenting a credible threat either.
Stinespring is that you?
This offensive line is hot garbage... wow... They look as bad tonight as they did at any point last season.
Ngl that VT commercial was soft
Wells out there re-enacting the Billy Madison dodgeball scene.
BUT WAIT THERES EVEN MORE!!
Welcome to Lane's Stadium!!!
That was a decent throw, and look what happened. Touchdown.
Well there was a pretty ball 🤩
that was the best ball Wells has thrown all night, TD!
I like Lane and Lane and Lane in Lane
Touchdown tech!!!
TOUCHDOWN TECH!!! 🦃🏈
Where did that come from? Nice pass to Lane!
Great throw by Wells
Hopefully that gives Wells some confidence and he settles in a bit more now.
Just needs a 15 minute running start.
That middle has been open for them
If it makes anyone feel better about the offense bama is only up 14-0 against MTSU in the second
I just said Saban has gotten be passed right now.
We are looking tired in both trenches
Really winning the field position battle. If they can keep this up it will really help in future games too.
Let's not follow up a TD by letting ODU march down the field.
Welp. Dammit.
Yup.
Wow, D is struggling right now to get stops.
DL looking gassed and linebackers are getting washed out and not making the tackle.
Do we actually have linebackers on this team? I don't think I've seen one play from them.
Run defense looks soft
So they are literally going to run the entire field on us
I wonder if we practiced tackling this year? So many whiffs.
Sadness
more of the same every year
Very bad series by the defense there. Not a good look.
Well I had a good feeling for the first series but now....glad our new rivalry is with ODU. Fml
Oof, 83 yard drive.
We are making a really really bad team look like Alabama right now
Welp... we are still a really bad football team ladies and gentlemen.
Ugh
Ah, I see some things never change.
How is their OL pushing us off the line and our OL not doing anything.
They aren't pushing them off the line so much as letting them rush make a lane commitment and using a delayed handoff to get past the speed we have. Using that speed against us up front.
I should call my wife and tell her to add beer to the grocery list.....
It's gonna be another long year.
So apparently ODU has a waaaay better OL than VT
Apparently, yes.
And a qb named Grant.
Team that sucks the least wins!
Ugh, is this what I'm getting all year?
Hey a deep shot. Not converted but at least we threw it down field.
SMH
Wells is a mess right now
Alright I've seen enough, Drones time full-time
Fuck that. Pop Watson. What do we have to lose? Let him learn on the fly.
Yeah, I've seen enough
Is Wells is this bad, how bad is Drones??
That's my question. If they play Wells then clearly they think he's better...so drones must have some glaring issue
I think Wells is one of those guys that looks great in practice but when the hits are live he gets too antsy.
We still don't have a quarterback, didn't think all my optimism would be gone after one half
Wells again no touch at all. He had all the time in the world and overthrows Jennings.
That's the most frustrating part. Pocket is clean.
The entire team is looking tired already
Geez, Wells not the answer
Dog on a water treadmill
the VT commercial is super lame
I hate to say it but it's very on brand with Tim Sands lol. Just kind of bland.
Okay but Doggo in a Fish Tank is kinda my jam now.
Another rocket ball from wells. FFS- the guy has no touch.
Wells, bro. Come onnnnnn
VT still setting offensive football back 100 years.
For all those who said Wells needed more open receivers and decent pass pro to show what he could do, you were wrong. He is bad regardless.
our interior DL is so bad
We dont have an answer for their run game... this season might just be as bad as all the pundits are saying
Lol why are people surprised by this?
Got a stop on 3rd down!
It's because I changed my Hokie shirt. The first one had bad ju ju tonight.
ODU averaging 6 ypc on 1st down to our 2 is just flat embarrassing.
No reason those numbers shouldn't be flipped. Embarrassing.
This game is turning all of us into DCWilson40
What was the O/U on wins for us this year?
Tuten runs so hard
French was dead right about Tuten... making the first man miss and turning negative yarding into 1 yard gains
Imagine if he had some blocking.....
French was right, Bhayshul is a baller. Too bad is QB and line are ass and he gets run up the middle every time.
This puts the "debate" about whether it is better to have X's and O's Or Jimmys and Joes to bed. Give me the Jimmys and Joes every time. We need a Jimmy or Joe QB.
Could use a jimmy or joe at OL too.
True. Cannot disagree.
Nice pick up for a first down.
French is gonna highlight that play lol... VT O-linemen pushing each other around.
damn wright was probably our most reliable receiver last year
Folks criticizing the defense - come on guys. It is approaching half time and ODU has less than 100 yards. The defense had 1 bad drive, but they have held up their end of the bargain. Offense needs to improve.
And that catch is a start!
Feel like the roll outs have been open all day.
Come on man...I thought reciever room was supposed to be a strength this year...
To be fair, Wright is a TE. Lane and Jennings are doing their part.
If we could only catch the ball....ooof
If we could just bottle that up!
Lane is legit in spite of this offense/QB
Offense isn't bad. Pocket is clean, receivers getting separation. We just don't have a QB that can reliably get it to them.
whats Rahne even mad about lol
I'm guessing he thought the play clock had expired before the timeout was called.
I'm guessing he thought illegal substitution. 🤷🏻♂️
42 has lived in our backfield all night.
Lane is the MVP so far.
But Jennings making a case for himself.
TD!!
We will go as 83 and 0 go, ballers
Wells seemed to warm up on that drive. TD Jennings!
Perfect pass, catch, and playcall
Great catch by Jennings
PS-the Hokies are winning Bc they have a QB
Hopefully Wells just had early game/season jitters. He's had a couple good throws.
Lane looks like that dude. Big Jennings sighting as well.
Felton would have had a TD as well if Wells didn't overcook it.
Jennings sighting
Best ball Wells has ever thrown
Now can the defense keep it clean for last two minutes?
Other than laser-locking into the receiver the entire play, that was the best throw I've ever seen from Wells- unless the beer is clogging my memory.
Grant Wells has already matched 22.22% of his touchdown production from last year.
We probably could've done without that reminder😂😂
33%
These 10 minute long infomercials.... SMH
Weapons
Marve's hat is baller
He's gone
But if they use the logic of their last call against ODU LB he should be good
Crud, I think you are going to be right.
Shouldn't be. If the second ODU review wasnt one, that can't be.
That's BS. After the one they let go on ODU. I bet they didn't want to DQ 2 guys.
YOU GET A TARGETING REVIEW AND YOU GET A TARGETING REVIEW AND Y...
Stroman gone...watch
wtf, how do they toss stroman if they didn't toss the ODU LB
Yeah, you can't toss stro if you don't toss the ODB guy. Goacc
Well that was just like the 2nd one, but this was targeting.
The proliferation of Fr in the 2-deep of our secondary is going to get exposed by all of these targeting calls
I hate to see Stroman sent off. Good it was right before the half so he'll be back next week.
In other news, Mr Brightside has truly reached a status I'm not sure how to define. The whole damn stadium was singing it loud as hell on the broadcast.
I don't understand how this was called targeting and the one on ODU was not.
Targeting is subjective to the point of being absurd.
Those were the same hits.
At least defense is locking back down.
I spoke too soon.
So we are playing Jaylen Jones at safety now. That room gets young fast.
Need a stop here on 3rd down!
What linebackers?
WTF?
We're still not a good team, like I haven't seen anything outside of Lane that shows we are better than last year. Wells with bad throws, D with total lapses...crazy
Yeah, I'm a little disappointed through the first half. I thought we would be able to out talent ODU and win this. We appear more talented but we just aren't making plays.
Defense is very disappointing. This isn't a talented ODU team and this is a gimmick offense that we just don't have an answer for really.
Couple nice plays by Keller there. I LIKE THIS KID.!
Why is Rahne crying after every single thing that happens?
Is Ricky Rahne a clone of Pat Narduzzi?
I sent this exact text to my dad.
Don't even know what rhane is pissed about
BLOCK THAT KICK!!!!
Well we sorta did. Ugh!
So close but yet so far.
Nice TFL, there.
I don't understand that call by ODU. Happy to see it, but that was a Corn-Fu call.
They get the ball to start the 2nd half. Smart to make sure you get 3 there. Plus, like Hasselback said, the safety was over the stack outside so the inside run was the better call. We just finally made a play.
They have been spreading our cheeks and running up the interior all half. You call what's been working when it's 3rd or 4th and goal.
Really liking our linebackers
I hate ODUs offense.
They're just running delayed handoffs and apparently we have zero gap discipline.
The double stack outside the numbers is an annoying wrinkle. Feels like every play is an option with the delay. So either we leave massive gaps in the middle for a run, or play man zero with a thin secondary. Perfectly suited to exploit our weak areas on d.
FIFY
I see very little that suggests we are any better than last year. I know it's only one half of football, but it was a very uninspiring half by all accounts.
I think we definitely look more talented/athletic. Receiving corps has more playmakers and Tuten/Thomas are running hard. OL is green but holding up well in pass pro. Wells just inconsistent even with time and receivers getting separation, and defense just doesn't have an answer for their offense schematically right now.
Even though King was small by RB standards, I feel like he was more elusive/slippery. Not too thrilled with our current RBs. They talk about Tuten being big, but he's gotten hit a couple times and the one that sticks out he just like "bounced" back like 2 yards.
And we haven't killed multiple drives with holding calls and false starts and we have not snapped the ball ten feet over our head.
I was going to say something to that effect - the early season penalties we saw so much of at the beginning of last year have been absent this year.
Wait do they not have a locker room under the west stands anymore? Isn't that where the team used to go for halftime? (I haven't been to a game since 2019 so I just may have never seen this)
It's never been a locker room. It's just a big open room with chairs and a couple side nooks and a medical room.
I think I saw somewhere Pry decided to take the team back to the main locker room at the half instead of the room under the west stands when he took over. More space and access to the locker room stuff during the break.
Got it, that makes sense, this was the first time I saw it and was confused. Thanks!
Score-wise I feel like this is going as expected. Defense doesn't look as good as I thought it would. Jaylin Lane is as advertised.
Can't run block, wells is inconsistent (best thing i can say), defense has no discipline.
All around disappointing. Even if we should have expected this, I don't see how the program can survive another year of this.
Eh, it seems like he's been getting better. There was the play where the guy was running toward the slide line and it looked like Wells hit the guy right in the hands and he dropped it.
Does anybody keep track of percentage completion by quarter? I'd be curious to see what it was 2nd vs 1st, especially if you factor that drop I mentioned.
I just found out a nephew is out there with the Marching Virginians tonight!
Well, more WT101 for the second half
How has the portal transfer DE from Florida done so far? Haven't heard his name on the radio?
Also has Cole Beck been in on any kickoffs as a gunner?
Already has a sack.
They've called Powell-Ryland's name a lot. DL is pretty active out there
APR had one play.
Beck has been out there.
Offensive play is meh, play calling seems fine though? Defense, gonna need young players to get prepped fast. Already seen freshman on the field
Offense looks the same and Defense looks slightly worse than last year.
Very little to be encouraged about so far.
Win or loss, what'd you think?
Look more talented/athletic, Lane and Jennings look legit, but don't think we really have a consistent answer at QB. Think the defense is struggling with the tempo and rotating in some younger players. Just aren't making enough plays.
I feel like some plays the D focuses so intently on trying to get to the QB that they miss the handoff and runner coming at them. Or something similar I can't put my finger on. Like they definitely seem capable of shutting the line down.
We love snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, so....
Yay football is back. We still can't run the ball at all. It's a crapshoot if wells can hit the open guy. We're presumably tied for the lead in safeties. Defense seems to continue the trend of negative play or fifteen yard gain. Bourbon is good
More talent on offense, need to tighten up the defense.
2 years ago, under the old regime, I would have said, probably an 80% chance of choking in the 4th quarter and losing. Now, I do think we pull out an ugly slog of a win. The team is improving, but has a long way to go to be good. Have to be patient.
The QB stuff early made the coaching staff seem inept. Wells is still inaccurate. Even most completions, until the beautiful TD to Jennings, weren't easy catches. It looks like we have no LBs on the field.
Edit: I can't remember why I thought we'd be decent this year.
We are on pace for 32 points for the game. So we got that goin' for us, which is nice.
I'd feel a lot better if we had scored from 1st down on the 5. This is ODU, not the Georgia Bulldogs.
Getting owned in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Going to have to throw to win. Defense needs to adjust big time
I'm fine with the play-calling. At some point, players have to make plays. No gap discipline on defense. Rylan is extremely strong off the edge.
Bright side. We are halfway to 30 points!
Pass to Lane and Jennings all night. That will open up the running lanes.
Was that a Labrador on a Treadmill?
No, it's a very small, blonde horse.
Nerf put a divot in the field......
Offensive line and scheme is the problem. Why commit to running the ball if the line is terrible and we're not using misdirection.
It's a shame because we upgraded just about every other position
Looks like we covered gap fits at halftime /s
Gotta get some stops.
Defense is so out of position on every play.
If Dax is watching is he pulling his hair out while doing so?
welp
Fumble! Hokies ball!
25!!!!!!!!!!!!
Defense needed that gift
We needed that..
Lucky break....geez. How do we always make some unknown QB look like a legit contender. I mean wtf. Can we do anything with this??
Great timing for a turnover. That's what we needed.
Got lucky there with that fumble.
Shoutout Nasir for focusing on possessing the ball and not thinking about running and not recovering.
Are running WF's scheme of the delayed handoff?? Looks like it and they are picking up chunk yardage
Our LB don't seem to have any ability to attack a gap.
They either tiptoe in or are late...
So I noticed in the new dogshit VT commercial the absolute worst part: on the last frame, under the VT is not invent the future, not Ut Prosim, but "Proud Member of the ACC"
Nice catch and run by Felton!
Get that YAC
Wells seems to have found a rhythm now.
TD here would be huge
Ask and ye shall receive!
Damn hell of a play call in the TD there!!
Jennings living up to his billing tonight
Feeling a lot better now. And it's not just the alcohol doing it.
Jennings!!
Jennings with another TD!
Way to put together a drive!
Tooten is tooting!
And Tooten is Scootin'
When you have to respect the run, the pass becomes available
And vice versa
Offense did the job on that drive..I'll give 'em that
Offense finally getting into a rhythm and Wells settling down. We definitely have a lot more playmakers this year. Jennings Lane and Felton look great and Tuten is a hard runner. OL actually doing really really well in pass pro.
A nice drive after the fumble recovery. Wells looked competent there.
Now that's a drive. Great decision-making by Grant to pull on that final play and find Jennings.
Wells seems to be settling down. Glad to see it.
Weapons
I liked the way Tyler Bowen worked to get Wells into a rhythm. Good drive.
A three and out for the defense would do wonders for everyone
Tuten not even letting Thomas on the field is probably the biggest surprise tonight
I'd like to see our defense get to some form of a Double Eagle up front and force ODU to beat us through the air
I think maybe ODU is spreading things out too much for that, but I could be wrong.
You'd certainly have to go to a zero coverage situation, but that seems like the ideal situation to me.
We've only gotten 4/12 stops on third down. Not great.
Oh total bullshit targeting there.
Edit: at least they reversed that.
How was that targeting?
And it's not. But we can't be giving up 25 yard gains.
What a bullshit call. They are just calling any hard hit targeting tonight.
Holy hell, this team can't play the read option at all
What the actual f#@* did the referee THINK he saw that they called it targeting? It wasn't even close.
Yeah, the good thing is it took ODU out of hurry up.
Enough with these reviews Jesus
ANOTHER targeting review? If we lose one more guy, Tech better complain about the ODU linebacker that didn't get tossed.
Can WE complain about that ODU call. This is such BS.
Edit: the ODU linebacker they gave a pass on, and what is this, like 3 targeting reviews in a row?
Let's just play 2 hand touch, ok.
This crew is total shit. They are calling targeting on absolutely everything.
6 targeting calls....
This targeting call on every play is complete BS
How the hell is he supposed to tackle if the guy lowers his head into you wtf
He lowered and lead with his head. I mean it's textbook rule violation.
The ODU linebacker did the same thing. Soooo.... They seem intent on taking players out for us, to the point the ref manufactured the one.
We have strayed so far from the original reason for this rule. Players shouldn't be spear tackling and going for a kill shot. When there are players in a bunch and the runner lowers his head, guarantee you there's helmet contact on damn near every play. This is an atrocity.
Technically if the runner lowers his head, it's supposed to be targeting on the runner. It'd NEVER called that way.
Can we just blitz the QB/RB spots every play to break up these delayed hand offs? They are running it seemingly 50% of their plays.
And can we get a rest on these targeting calls? It's f-ing out of control. Thought they wanted to shorten games? Targeting reviews adding 20+ minutes tonight.
Bullshit call!
According to the rules, that's the right call
Okay,
Let's just call every tackle targeting
Payne ejected for targeting... what's the point of tackling?
Yeah, per rules it's the right call.
But Henderson should be out as well. That's my whole issue.
Agree completely. The inconsistency in application of the rule, even with review, is infuriating.
Following that, the rule needs revising.
Didn't the rule read something about "launching" into a players helmet with the crown? It's kind of hard to tackle without some helmet contact.....lol
They have changed it so many times over the years, I can't even keep track any more.
RB led with his head down but nope it's a one sided call.
This defense is an absolute embarrassment. How have we gone 40 minutes with zero contain?
Was that the makeup call targeting for the official being embarrassed on the prior call?
Guess we just decided to stop playing defense wtf
Well when you're not allowed to tackle. . .
Did we start?
Well if we do we get called for targeting
When we do it's "targeting "
Why play anymore If every play is targeting? Let's just cancel football
We are such a bad football team... still...
So can Pry get back in the defensive room, please?
Maybe one day, far in the future, we won't have to struggle to beat ODU.
This ain't even close to football anymore
We are in for a long season. Our defense is awful.
Those last 2 plays were on the D...
I gotta say, I'm not surprised. We're going to suck again this year
It's so hard to watch such poor play on the D side of the ball after decades of Bud Foster.... geez. So much incompetence.
I am fully unimpressed with our LB play.
Well, this is who we are. We are going to be toe-to-toe with bad G5 teams. That is what we are now. But I am honestly positive. Think we pull this out. We beat ODU, beat UVa and the rest of the year is the same, we are 5-7. That is better than last year. The recruits last year and this year are better. We have a better future and a good shot of getting to a piss-ant bowl game in 2024. Win that and you are 7-6 or 8-5 with more talent coming in. We have to be patient. Just get to 5 wins and keep recruiting well and we will get there.
I don't like your reality check.
I do because this is my expectation as well
ODU slips blocks and makes tackles, keeps contain, and runs to the football. I think I'd rather have their defense.
so after stroman and 0 get targeting I change my belief that the linebacker wasnt targeting for odu
Gotta be reeeeal careful around here saying opponents didn't target. I probably have -100 or so legs for maintaining that Zumwalt's hit on LT3 in the sun bowl wasn't targeting.
Zumwalt concussed LT3 by launching at a defenseless player (he had just thrown a pass) by striking his chin with the crown of his helmet.
If you knew the context of the hit, it was only a couple of plays after Logan buried Myles Jack's face in the dirt. While intent isn't part of the rule, it was an unnecessary hit that was clearly retaliatory.
It's a great example of every version of targeting at once.
And there's -101, but I'm gonna die on this hill. He didn't launch, it wasn't the crown, concussion sucks but is irrelevant, as is the speculative intent. When Brandon Flowers or Bam Bam Kam or Kyshoen Jarrett made hits like that we cheered.
Die on that hill if you want but the hit was definitely caught on tape.
The hit in question.
Wow! Huge pass play to Jennings!
Can we just air the ball out more? They saw that run coming a mile away.
Hard to stop a team when they're gifted 20 yards by the refs for phantom targeting calls
Forget the targeting. There's no reason why a WR throw that gets blown up should be able to reverse the field and get 20 yards. That's horrific defense.
You're absolutely right. That was a very frustrating play to watch. Along with ever QB keep going for 6+ yards
Hopefully we don't run it 3 times here.
edit: OK, guess that worked.
I like THIS Grant Wells
Oh my ____ing God. We did not line up 5 yards behind the line. We ran a ___-____ sneek and TD! Who would have predicted that?
Pat, I'd like to solve the puzzle.
2 back to back TD drives and some good plays executed.
AND WE BROKE 30!!!!!!!
30!!!!!!!!!
Dare I say Grant Wells is looking competent? Decision making and composure improving with each drive. I was ready to bench him for the season after the 1st quarter.
We finally get under center and sneak it with 1 to go!! Holy shit I never thought I'd see the Hokies do that again. So much PTSD from Fu-Corn.
My 100% biggest compliant about Corn-Fu was shot gun runs on third or fourth and 1 or less.
Same here. Their stance was always "we don't practice that formation, so it's risky." Or "the formation will give away the play call."
IMO good teams practice and can execute QB sneak, especially against teams with less talent. It doesn't matter if they see it coming.
Well, there's 30 points at least.
Second half Wells has been better...maybe the D can a stop
Yeah wells has settled in a lot and thrown some pretty balls.
30 fucking points!!
Ricky Rahne has been bitching non stop on the sideline and I don't know what about lol. That was a blatant offsides.
French is going to have to write an entire review about this OL... Every play multiple guys are planting instead of driving. The combos are all wrong. You've got two guys going in opposite directions. You've got VT guys pushing each other because the first guy isn't getting to his spot early enough... It's a disaster in every way up front.
I think you just wrote the TLDR version.
We are bad in the trenches. RBs routinely making contact behind the LoS. On D, we can't keep contain and continuously over-pursue.
I think the defensive issues are fixable. On the OL, I think we're in for another rough season.
OL on the other hand though has given Wells a pretty clean pocket most all night. But agreed they have struggled run blocking.
We have scored more points than anOSU vs Indiana today. Probably means nothing but I love being able to say it
Some belief is spreading....!
Fumble! Hokies Ball!
I don't know how to feel up giving up 10 yard runs and then forcing fumbles at the end.
It's simple, just do that every time and we go 15-0.
Better than giving up ten yard runs and then not forcing fumbles.
Feel good about it today. Tomorrow we won't be so lucky.
The turnover luck might be on our side this year.
*knocks on wood*
I'm really not sold on the "Let them run 10 yards then knock the ball out" technique.
Cmon wells put them away
Nasir with the forced fumble!
VT has broken the 30 point mark which they did not do all of last year.
Are we going to squander this turnover holy crap
Not sure that was catchable, but whatever
83 with a great sell job on the PI lol
Eh, it looked like he was getting pushed/pulled around a bunch. If he wasn't held, maybe it was catchable, the ODU guy looked like he was holding him for the better part of 10 yards.
Got the flag! First down!
If we get GIFTORY this week, 1:54 left in the 3rd, give me the air guitar
Hugging on the d on a balll again way overthrown.
Are we sure that wasn't targeting too? I mean, he made his head hit the ground when he fell.
Edit: I will say for all the shitty targeting calls, I do appreciate that guys are getting aggressive and going after the ball carrier instead of shying away from contact.
Tuten is a huge upgrade over even a health Thomas. He's making yards out of nothing.
Tuten delivers bigger hits than those hitting him.
Watch, he will get called for targeting.
Take the FG here, and go up by 3 scores.
16 is two scores. Improbable, but still possible with two possessions
Please kick it and take the points. Do not squander this turnover.
FG basically puts it at a three score game. (I know 2 tds and 2 2-pt conv, but still)
wtf was that wells?
Sigh.
Wtf was that???
We really needed the points here.
Why not the FG to force three scores to beat you???
Stuffed on a 4th and 1 is so ridiculous in a game like this
That might be the weakest 4th and 1 attempt I've ever seen.
The spirit of cornfu still haunts this stadium.
Yet again, 4th and short, don't line up 5 yards behind the (forgive me) FUCKING line of scrimmage on 3rd or 4th and short!
At least put drones in and just blast it over from under center.
Why do teams fail to get under center and just get a yard???
Or run a pass play. They were expecting run all the way. We don't have the OL to win that battle.
Bad coaching move by Pry to not take the FG
Eh, I think the more questionable call was not passing the ball. They're stuffing the short run.
Could not disagree more. 100% the right call. Can argue the play call was bad, but you have to play to win.
I have been ok with both decisions to go for it on 4th down
No targeting the QB there? /s
If our d had shown they could hold them, I'd feel better about going for it, but not the way we've been hemorrhaging yards.
Is this like a Happy Gilmore - hole in one is so much easier, with our version being forcing fumbles is so much easier than actually playing D?
This OL hasn't even taken a small step forward from last year to this.
That 4 and1, the ODU end was pretty clearly offside
Wtf was that...
Bowen isn't the guy
I mean maybe, but also gotta take those points right?
I love seeing us go for 4th&1
Most times I would be ok but FG there essentially puts the game away.
It's two scores either way
2 scores and 2 extra points loses the game vs. 2 scores and 2 2pt conversions for a tie.
16 though means getting 4 plays to go your way rather than 3. Increases the win percentage significantly.
Finally a 3 and out.
I'll take it I guess thank you defense.
Real nice of ODU to just not run the ball for us.
We. Cannot. Run. The. Ball.
Part of the problem is we run it every time we get a first down.
Our OL and running game is so rough.... only yards are purely from rbs
We need to mix up the runs after the catches.
Nice run by Wells. TD here is the dagger.
Where's the targeting review??
I thought the same thing. The defensive guy put his helmet down and led his tackle like that. I couldn't tell where he hit though.
It was the head
Ok working to put it back in the endzone.
We are one dimensional offensively...we have to run the QB to have a run game
I hate the WR motion behind QB on an off-tackle run. You're just taking a blocker out of the play.
These snaps are low.
I've noticed that also. I would like see how many times that has happened in this game.
these snaps are so bad
That's what, three trips to the redzone with 2 4th down stops and a field goal? Gotta clean that up.
Yeah. This game should be well put away now, could be 44 or 51 to 17 easily now.
Wells snuck in the last TD from the 1.
Absolutely. Should be 40-17 easy. But we've cleaned up penalties and turnover margin, so baby steps I guess
I'm sure I'm going to regret saying this, but I think Bowen is calling a pretty good game, especially considering the OL can't run block at all
I think he's gotten better since the first quarter. He needed to find what was going to work with Wells.
Agree. After a rough start in the first the offense has really gotten into a good rhythm. Wells has really settled down but has to clean up some of these overthrows and misses. Good offensive showing other than leaving some points on the board and bad run blocking. But a lot of positives and talent looks much upgraded.
I don't really have a problem with most of the play calls either
Wells really has to work on the overthrows. Taken probably three more scores/touchdowns off the board. Just too much on the ball. Against better Ds it's going to lead to INTs.
Grant just tries to throw the ball so damn hard. There have been three red zone passes to open receivers that he throws improperly because he wants laser it to the WR. Add just a teaspoon of finesse and they are TD's. The guy is just maddening.
9 forced turnovers last year. 3 TONIGHT!
Strong with the pick! First and goal!
Hell yes defense!!!! Let's go!
Strong pick game there
Alright. Even a FG here ends it.
DBU
Why oh why can't we throw it on first down? They sure as hell wouldn't expect it.
At this point, every run is 40 seconds off the clock.
DO YOU WANT TO REVIEW THAT INT FOR TARGETING ALSO??
SMH.
WTF are we running for at 2nd and goal from the 9.
Another turnover !
Second half was much better overall, but I dont like how one dimensional we were tonight...also those low snaps...ugh
We have a chance to break 40 tonight
We got points... but 40-17 looks a whole lot better than 36-17.
Honestly just give me the dub this season. I'll start worrying about score lines once we start winning games.
So yeah #6 wasn't the problem last year
We love you Love. 1-0 is set. Well, it should be set.
Thats good clock management tbh. No turnover, time off the clock, chip shot fg makes it 3 scores
Damn 40 would have looked nice. Over the spread. Wouldn't be surprised to let them score and ruin beating the spread
Are....are we allowed to have more than twice as many points as our opponents with less than 6 minutes to go in the game?
Shhh... Don't draw attention to it.
Can we just throw the ball to Jennings? I think he is our only player.
Jaylin Lane would like a word...
Just looking across other scores around CFB in week 1 I think we're on par at 36-17. Need the defense to hold here
Selfishly, I'm glad our offense isn't better. My push-ups ain't what they used to be.
You just got out of shape over the last few years when we didn't score.
Broke the absolute fuck out of my wrist too.
Man - Peoples looking good tonight!
Got the stop!
Finally caught on to the QB run
Finally saw a linebacker not take himself out of the play and make a tackle.
RTDB
More points! Step on their necks!!
Regardless, this is probably the worst team we play this season and they gashed us on the ground, and turned the ball over 3 times. We have a loooooong ways to go
LOLUVA says hold my beer.
Purdue lost today too.
No pictures on the scoreboard. Just win
Why is Wells afraid to throw the ball. Felton is 12" taller than the DB yet we refuse to even look at him for a fade.
A little disappointing to see how may open seats there were on that camera shot. Why leave early?
It's late as hell for a lot of VT Alumni
Hey, I'm 53 and plastered and I'm still here!
Yes, I hear what you say and understand. Still think I'd want to savor the win given how few we have had. Especially given that (1) tomorrow is not a work day and (2) already went to mass Saturday evening.
Gotta get to Tots
I had my 5-year-old twins with me at the game. We left at halftime. They had a blast but their usual bedtime is 8 PM.
Okay, that I totally get. Glad they had a goodtime. Was this their first game in person?
Yep, it was their first game in Lane. I was selfishly hoping it would be a nooner, but the kids loved the fireworks and being allowed to yell as loud as they wanted. So it all worked out.
I said this last year but Wells still leans/falls forward on the snap for run plays.
Bad snap on the punt. Maybe we should work on that all week.
Sacksburg!
Plus value punt returner....
Great punt return by Holloway!
Holloway!!!! Damn almost had a return.
More points!!!
I wish Tucker would've taken it to the house
Throw to Alltheway here. Let him get the score.
FAM! A win is a win!
FAM
How many mobile QBs do we play the rest of the year?
With this defense...all of them.
No idea, but I'm betting some will look highly mobile that aren't supposed to be on paper.
I'm not sure - that QB looked like he had some wheels on him.
FAM folks.
I swear I heard Stick It In After the Duke run.
Good win. Score looks better than it felt for about 2.5 qtrs.
Should have had more points as well with the 2 fourth down misses.
Tonight I fall asleep listening to Tech Triumph
During the new commercial, where it's on half volume?
Am I the only one that thinks our commercial feels small potatoes
Like a community college commercial on PBS.
The song sounded like carnival music.
Overall impression: not a whole lot of progress.
More talent is evident--guys like Lane, Jennings, and APR clearly made a difference, but our schemes both on O and D don't look like they've processed.
The OL is an utter mess.
And let's be honest, this would have been a nail-biter had ODU not helped us out alot.
I disagree on the O scheme. I thought the offense was fine. Wells missing some receivers with overthrows left points out on the field. Could've easily been 50+ scored. And the run blocking is really bad which needs work. But Tuten still running really hard and getting yards out of nothing. Wells being more consistent is the biggest thing to work on as well as run blocking.
Tuten ran and gained positive yardage on almost every carry.
He also fell forward every time.
While 2.5 yards on first and second down isn't much, 3rd and 5 has a hell of a lot more options than 3rd and 10+.
True but it's part of the game. Same could be said for last years game with 5 turnovers and tons of penalties and only lose by three in the final minutes
OL was not amazing but the discipline level of this group was pretty much better than any game last season. Not having multiple drives killed by penalties is honestly a big step forward.
Yeah great job cleaning up the pre snap penalties. That was a huge noticeable difference from last year.
And no turnovers. I can't even recall a pass that was close to being picked, and I don't think we put the ball on the ground. Those two are huge improvements.
Well, the center put the ball on the ground ... a lot!
Yes, lots of low snaps.
The Irish little people would like a word.
Good win. Some things to clean up but overall you can see more talent and the ceiling of this team is higher. Left some points on the field out there which we will need to clean up. But feeling encouraged with some positives to take away. And a win and more points than we scored in any game last year.
Hey, considering we LOST to this team last year, the points we left off the board, the lack of penalties other than the targeting they were going crazy over, even though we would have liked to have scored 40 or 50, this feels like a step forward.
I know our D struggled at times, but Wells had some really pretty throws. I think mixing up the runs more would open things up if we have success passing.
Edit: and we didn't have any turnovers. And having receivers (more than one guy) consistently catch the ball is a luxury we didn't have last year.
And ODU was whupped as they should be
I know we're all concerned about the run defense (rightably so) but we only allowed 94 yards passing on 25 attempts. That's pretty impressive. Let's focus on some positives. Good win Hokies!
And he only ever completed more than two passes in a row once and that was when he went 4/5/24 with the TD.
He went 9/20/70 for the rest of the night.
As much of a problem that the repeated targeting reviews were, iirc, the majority were initiated by booth review, not the on-field refs. And that was with several games that I watched yesterday.
Definitely some positives from the game, but a LOT to improve on. Run blocking is priority one for the staff. I hope a lot of the issues with defense are just things that can be worked out.
The only on field targeting call was a horrible call that was promptly overturned.
My primary takeaway was this was a C to C+ type performance by VT - and their talent was the difference. They never could have won a game last year with a C+ performance - regardless of the opponent. The run defense was clearly misaligned and had a terrible gameplan - ODU out schemed Marve with that stacked WR formation and pulled 3-4 defenders to the sideline consistently. They needed to pull the safeties and/or nickel down into the box - instead they kept a deep safety and the other deep defender was lining up in between those wide stacked WRs. Wide open running lanes - and even on gives there were zero free hitters because of the numbers. ODU inexplicably started throwing the ball while they were still in the game - and that took them out of it. The DBs and pass rush looked nice - VT is going to be tough to throw against.
ODU played a B+ to A- level game minus their turnovers - their defense fought really hard.
Here for my helping of crow- proudly. I thought the game would be much closer- I was dead wrong at the end there. We finally got some composure on offense in the second half. Good win. I thought the defense gave up way too many broken/qb/ scramble type running yards and the offense was awful in the first half. But overall- good win, build from here.
Taken like a MAN, DC. My respect for your grew a bit.
I figured you would be somewhat happy to have lost your ODU and under bets. Sad about money, happy Tech outdid your expectations.
We need to find a run defense for the second game and keep the offense from the second half for the entire game against Purdue.