We probably don't need a "Vent Thread", however some conversation is always good after a game. A couple of thoughts...
1. I'll need to go back and watch, but despite the horrid OL play, the scheme seemed to adjust quite a bit from the last couple of weeks. IZ and OZ were unavailable, but we used almost no motion to move the LBs and Safeties. We also utilized Drones as a drop back passer today. Pretty vanilla looking gameplan. I know it's challenging to call a game when the OL can't block its way out of a wet paper bag, but at first glance it didn't appear that Bowen was doing a whole lot to help his crew out.
2. On defense, what can you say. Marve and Co. have a WHOLE lot of work to do this offseason. We can talk about personnel all day, but no one will ever convince me that young men who have D1 scholarships, being coached by three LB Coaches, have little to no idea what to do after having been part of a system for almost 2 years. It's beyond comprehension at this point.
3. This is nitpicking a bit, but why throw Wells in at the end of the game if we aren't trying to win? Pop is part of the future of this program while Wells is not. Let the young man take a few snaps and get some of that "live" experience.
4. On the positive, we have 3 more bad teams to play before seasons end. More time to grow. More time to evolve. More time for the staff to see what they have. I love coach Pry and I want him to make it really badly, but playing games like this, where we aren't remotely competitive, has me wondering if his staff has what it takes to coach big boy football.
Comments
Meh. That's a good team with a much better defense than Florida State, basically built to exploit the type of offense we run. The defense probably got enough stops to be competitive if we could have had a pulse on offense.
Oh well, on to Boston!
I think the fact that I had any positive expectations at all coming into this game is a testament to the team and the growth they've shown this season. Let's finish this year strong, address the glaring deficiencies during the off-season, and come back better next year.
It's disappointing. Not surprising. This team is bad. Improving, perhaps. This is a step back after a couple steps forward. In year two, with this rebuild, it's about where we should be. Hopefully these coaches are able to continue upgrading a roster that badly needs the upgrades and build towards being the type of team that can win these games in the future. We're just not that team right now.
Their defensive line was so fast off the line it was insane.
Not surprised by the result, just disheartened.
I had maroon and orange glasses on, that we could pull off the upset, run the table, and get a rematch with FSU in Charlotte.
But we are where a reasonable person two years ago would assume we'd be.
We can still run the table and be 6-2 in the ACC. That's a great year compared to the last few.
Our OL was beat immediately at the snap all first quarter long. Our entire offensive game plan went out the door almost immediately when that kept happening.
Games like today just show that we have a long way to go in recruiting. But the last few weeks showed that when our talent level is close to the opponent, we are positioned well to control any game we play
Let's call a spade a spade.
We're a mediocre football program with an upward trajectory. A hell of an improvement from one year ago but we're not good enough to compete for a conference championship.
I said before the season started that if we're 6-6 or better and beat UVA, that's a successful season, we're on pace for that.
We had good fight today but was overmatched. Just adding fuel for next season.
I understand the frustration with today. We were flat, horrid and unprepared.
As of my writing, Boston College is 6-3 and NC State is 5-3, so I don't think we can say we have 3 bad teams coming up. Now looking at who BC and NCSU have beaten, I think we can say they are not that good in spite of an 11-6 combined record. But they are definitely not bad teams.
We are better than last year, 4-5 vs. 2-7.
We have 3 winnable games remaining.
Go 2-1 the rest of the way and we are in a bowl game. 6-7 or 7-6 is much better than last year.
Heck, even going 1-2 to finish 5-7 is, I think, a meaningful improvement over 3-8.
Recruiting is better than last year, next year should be better than this one.
Team is on schedule. We all want faster improvement, but unless we lose all 3 remaining games, I'm okay with the progress at this point. Key to taking the next step is improve the OL and get a middle linebacker that is not terrible. Do that and we can get 1-2 more wins, if not more in 2024.
I dont think we were unprepared I don't think our oline has the athleticism needed to play that Dline. I don't think there was anything we could really do there. Drones didn't have time to plant, they were blowing up our screens cause we couldn't go over the top with that protection.
I think this is a very reasonable take, however on the other side of that coin I think the offense appeared, at first glance, very different than in previous weeks (very little pre-snap motion for one). IDK, we aren't as talented as L'ville, but I also don't think we are 30+ points worse than L'ville either.
We have three games to find out where we stack up, loss all 3 and we are in the bottom of the ACC
Beat UVA, we best the bad teams, but we might still just be the best of the bottom.
Beat UVA and BC and we are in the middle, we're better than the bottom but who knows where we are compared to Duke, unc, Miami
Beat all three and we are probably at the Duke, UNC, Miami level. Which being in the 2nd tier of the ACC in Pry's 2nd year without a functioning oline and no middle LB on the team is pretty good. Honestly, being better than all the bad teams and 5-3 in the ACC is a great step forward.
We had so many bad penalties early on. The false starts and delay of game and offsides. That was what got me. I know they are a lot better than we are, but it just felt like we played poor as well.
But it's just one game. Not going to get too bent out of shape over it.
We were beaten by a team that was supposed to beat us, in the way everyone said they'd beat us. Outcome isn't surprising.
But we need to fix some things. I don't understand any of our third and long play calls. Every now and then you'll break a short pass long, but throw for the damn sticks.
Every third and long play call was 🤷, we're not good enough so let's just not try. Where are the RB screens? It won't always work but at least try it once and maybe Tuten or Thomas breaks a tackle for a first down.
They did do those, no?
I could have missed it but I only recall one screen on 3rd down and it was to a WR.
There was at least one to Tuten, but he didn't get much out of it.
I guess my memory of the game was about as effective as that play. Crap day all around.
Well there were the third and long pay calls, but there were far too many third and looooooooong plays that necessitated conservative plays to just get off the field without further damage.
Yeah, this game was lost on first down. Negative plays killed us on early downs getting us off schedule
Beat UVA, make a bowl game. We can call this season progress.
Next year, the "the roster they were left with" excuse is over with.
Pry has turned over roughly 50% of the roster, I don't think it's an excuse now, deep into year two. L'ville is a far superior team to VT, but showing absolutely nothing on both sides of the ball is evidence that the needle really hasn't moved a whole lot.
Brent Davis had a bad week with the offensive game plan. /s
Clearly Bowen wrested back all offensive play calling this week /s
I think two things are true with this game:
1. We played our worst game of the season in a game which we had something to play for, which sucks.
2. This team is also improved from the product we saw last year and have a legit shot at going to a bowl game, which is what I personally was hoping for.
Louisville is #13 in the CFP rankings for a reason. They have an attacking defense and a dominant ground game. They exploited our weaknesses on the OL and LB corps. We absolutely need to address these things in the off season....the OL is what it is, but we do not have a P5 LB on the roster. When Tisdale is your Mike LB, you've got problems. We need OL and we need LB's...once we get those things, I'll feel better about going up against the better teams in the nation, which Louisville is. Let's get back down to earth and win these next three games and get back to a bowl game.
It was cool to play a meaningful football game in November, but we weren't ready. We clearly haven't broken all our bad early season habits and that's usually the case on how a football team goes. You rarely erase all your issues midseason.
We still have lots of holes to fill and positions to upgrade. However, we still have a great shot at a bowl game and a win over UVA. A bowl game would be a success for me in year 2 for sure.
This was not the outcome I was looking for. If we had really fought and still lost that's one thing. We got our shit kicked in, and went back to hapless Bowen and Marve just getting gashed. This was a step back in my book.
Progress is never linear
Fu is that you???
I would agree with the general consensus that we have improved in measurable ways from last year and think we still have a reasonable shot at a Bowl this year. A Bowl would be great and all but, for me, the bigger point of this year was to figure out if we have a solid foundation for a Rebuild, particularly in regards to coaching.
I struggle with Bowen. I will grant that with the OL essentially stepping on their dicks the entire 1st Quarter, there was nothing that any O.C. could have called that would have worked. But I agree with O.P.--the Offense was notably different today than what we've seen recently. After it was pretty apparent the scheme wasn't working in the 1st Half---where were the adjustments??
That's my lingering major doubt about Bowen. He seems to be all-or-nothing--when his Gameplan works, it works well but when it doesn't he has shown very little ability to modify the plan. The other glaring issue--when his GamePlan has worked, it has also corresponded to playing very bad teams. And while I would agree that even that is an improvement from last year, is that our measuring stick? That we can dominate the dregs of the ACC, but when we play a competent D, we can't move the ball at all.....?
140 yards.....Louisville is a good D. They're not that good. That's pathetic Offensive output and when you are the O.C., you have to own that.
When it comes to Marve...its pretty much a similar story....the D looked solid against really bad teams but when we play a good offense, we can't tackle, fill gaps, or get pressure. The rotating linebacker scheme has been proved one thing consistently, that a former LB Coach hasn't managed in 2 years to develop even mediocre LB play. I would totally agree with O.P.---these are D1 level athletes that have been in the program 2 years--not being able to fit gaps consistently this far in isn't explainable by "not enough talent,"--there seems to be a significant developmental issue as well. You can go find a 4* MLB with all the measurables , but if the Staff can't teach them basic LB play, are we going to see different results?
I didn't expect to win today. I did expect to be competitive. Overall, this looked like a significant regression against a team that had relatively minimal contributions from their two best playmakers on Offense and made their Defense look like the '85 Bears and a 2nd String RB that nobody ever heard of to look like Walter Payton.
Agree here. I think we need to move on from Bowen this off-season. We can't pay someone coordinator money to call plays, and most of the changes in the run game came from Davis. Plus Crist is the de facto QB coach. Marve isn't getting it done either on D.
Eh, we've made some progress, but not enough. Louisville is fast, and we needed a lot more offense.
I think we'll keep making progress, but our remaining schedule isn't a gimme, either. So, onward and upward.
Three games left, and we have to win 2 of them to get to a bowl. So, yes, I'm telling you we have a chance.
Always disappointing to see the Hokies get curb-stomped, but in the big picture this loss (and even the margin) doesn't bother me much.
Louisville is legit. They are now 8-1, and they look like it. They were playing at home. Even when VT was a perennial top-10 team, we occasionally had games like this, playing a really good team on the road. The question is how the team responds. They need to go 2-1 in the final 3 games to make a bowl game. If they do that, everyone but the most unrealistic fans would have to feel like the program is heading in the right direction.
Let's get back to work and finish the season on a high note!
I expected to lose by two to three touchdowns. Was hoping VT would put up more of a fight than they did.
As long as the guys don't let this dud of a game lead to a bad first half/game against BC, this team can still meet/exceed preseason expectations.
Btw-funny enough we called this "Looserville". Think we mean "Loserville".
I've been to the other city and it's quite different.
I try to highlight and extend the "oooo" in loser... I likely failed at doing so, haha.
Not surprised at the outcome today. Their jimmies and Joe's looked much more the part than ours. Their coach knows how to exploit his advantages.
Our oline was over matched. Period.
Our defense still can't get off of blocks and fill their respective gaps. Period.
But the most disappointing part is watching our tackling techniques, and our guys rolling in front of a tackler and never even trying to use their hands. Sad. I feel like this should be a point of emphasis. People's made form tackles and put runners on the ground, the rest of team , not so much.
Not happy, Bob. Still hopeful for a W over LOLuva.
If you would like to look at a good comparison game, check out Duke last week against Louisville. The stats are almost identical to what we did yesterday, except we scored points. If we want to win next week the team has to figure out how to get it going in the 1st quarter. BC isn't a great team but it isn't going to be an easy game for us. We can still make a bowl game if the team does their job each week for the rest of the season. Just keep getting better.
Also Tuten is a fucking dude. No way someone doesn't pay him at the next level for the way he runs.
To repeat something I posted during the game: If the play was successful, our players are great. If the play was unsuccessful, the OC is a bum. I've been watching this exact conversation for 20 years and it's pretty tiresome.
Also, the refusal to give Bowen credit for our offensive successes over the last month, but demanding his replacement when the offense has a poor showing is concrete evidence of bias. Some people decided last year that Bowen should be fired, and there is nothing that will change their minds. If the offense is good it's because of someone else. If it's bad, fire Bowen. If we have a bad game, it doesn't matter how many good games we had before, fire Bowen. No matter how many factors contribute to our offense playing poorly, the only possible explanation is play calling (even though not one person on this board has the slightest clue what plays are being called, you are making assumptions based on the outcome). If the play doesn't work, it was a bad play call, that's the only explanation. Fire Bowen is the only possible solution.
Then we'll get an experienced OC with a track record of success at the P5 level (or else people will question the hire before he ever sets foot on campus) and he'll magically fix all of our problems. Or else we'll fire him too because that is the only solution to fixing issues with a football team. Just keep firing coaches until we get the ones who can't lose football games.
Well its clear that Davis calls the offense when it's good and Bowen calls it when it's bad.
/s
We should just promote him to OC, all problems solved! /s (though I have seen this suggested seriously and usually in all caps elsewhere on the Internet)
Years ago I gave up my hardcore fandom for the nfl when I realized losing sleep replaying my team's loss over and over in my head wasn't worth it.
Slowly I've been allowing myself to do the same for college football and my Hokie fandom. Yesterday I stopped watching when it was obvious the out come wasn't in question.
I didn't lose a minute of sleep over this game, knowing I didn't want to dampen the excitement for my wife's 50 birthday today.
She's a fighter (seriously, she is a black belt) and a domestic abuse survivor. Letting a little humble pie served by the Cardinals is hardly the thing to lose perspective on.
Go Hokies!
Both lines were overwhelmed by talent and skill.
This made doing anything a complete chore.
LB can't fil the correct gap if the gap appears where it isn't supposed to.
QB can't pass the ball if he can't get the time.
No surprises.
There's a reason why those guys are ranked #13.
This is the correct take. If you are overwhelmed on the LOS it doesn't matter what your DC or OC do, you're going to lose 95% of the time unless the other team turns it over 3+ times.
No no no, if they just called the right plays, we'd have beaten Louisville by 50 points.
We need coaches who coach winning and we'll win.
Kidding (obviously I hope).
It was a tall ask to go on the road against a top 15 (and potentially ACC champion). Pry does not yet have a win against a ranked opponent and does not yet have a win in the road against any team not named
ODULIberty. Getting both those done, against a truly good team in a difficult environment would have been amazing. True, it was not even close, but it is hard to take multiple steps forward and so self-implosion happened instead.Now it's time to get this team ready for a win in Chestnut Hill to get the progress getting back into forward movement.
You mean Liberty
err, sadly, you are correct.
I'd rather have a loss to ODU than Liberty
Somebody check me if I'm wrong, but I believe the only 3 guys on the team to play any meaningful snaps this year who technically can't come back are Kendricks, Pollard, Tisdale.
Let's win 2-3, get to a bowl, add some strength, maturity, 15 extra practices, and take our anger out on what is another pretty manageable schedule next year.
Peoples and I think Payne too. Not sure how to count up Payne's years though, he went to JuCo 2019, was at Nebraska for 2020 and 2021 (2020 doesn't count), was at VT for 2022 and 2023. So, he has another year if the JuCo year does not count towards years played, but I think it does.
Edit (further look): But, wait, ESPN suggests that Payne doesn't have any stats for 2022. I forgot he was injured in 2022.
So both Fuga and Payne can play as super seniors next year (if they choose to come back). Then DT may not be as dire next year as I was thinking. Probably still need at least 1 from the portal with experience to rotate with Laws, Givens and the other young DTs.
Edit (even further look): Payne was at JuCo for 2 years. 2018 and 2019. There is no opportunity for Payne to play in 2024, assuming the medical redshirt and waiver is unavailable.
Side Note: Researching player eligibility is exhausting.
Always wondered why this wasn't just a roster column
It used to be a lot simpler.
yea, the problem is that most teams (maybe all teams) still count the COVID year in determining whether the player is Fresh/Soph/JR/SR and no further designation of whether that includes a COVID year or not. So, there is no telling if the SR still has an extra year of eligibility or already used that extra year of eligibility.
Things will get simple again next year. Every senior will run out of eligibility in 2024.
Can't believe we are still talking about eligibility. Maybe I'll go catch a Jalen Cone game this year. I saw him in maui 5 years ago. My niece is a senior at Purdue. Louisvilles QB was there before she was. It's a joke now.
It's simple, it's the COVID year. Once all the players with a COVID year are done, it goes back to normal. Sure, some guys will get a fifth year because of injury or whatever, but that's always been true. It's only confusing now because a player's academic year doesn't take the free COVID year into account.
Eventually everyone who was on a sports team in 2020 will be gone and then a senior will be a senior again.
but I was told that there is unlimited eligiblity now
You can keep posting this, and I can keep pointing out that Miami's TE is in his 8th year playing college football, and JD Daniels his 7th. We can have fun with this. You aren't going to talk me out of it being a fucking joke right now. Louisvilles QB started at Purdue 5 years ago. so he has 6 years to play 6 apparently. But let's keep this going. I can find many more guys that showed up on college campuses in the fall of 20 fucking 17.
Bro i only keep posting this because you keep bringing it up lol
Jack plummer has played 5 seasons of college football in 6 years, which is the exact normal "5 years to play 4" plus (say it with me now) the 2020 season which doesn't count. Redshirt in 2018, played and used his four years of eligiblity in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023. It's not difficult to grasp but somehow it's this big talking point in every thread
Everyone seems to understand it but you. There are a few individual exceptions, but the vast majority of players got one extra year because the 2020 season doesn't count for anyone's eligibility.
I look forward to seeing another of the (dozens of) exceptions Bradley Rozner in his 8th year playing for NC State. That will be fun.
If a player gets a waiver from the NCAA, then that player has a waiver. There are many players who have received NCAA waivers, generally due to injury or hardship (the Miami TE you mentioned earlier lost three seasons due to injury, and the NCAA waived two of those three years).
Somehow you're interpreting that to mean that every player now has unlimited eligibility. I just don't see how you're making that leap of logic, but you bring it up a lot. For every example you give of players who were given an extra year or years from the NCAA, there are thousands whose eligibility has expired and are no longer playing football. Why you are willfully ignoring that is honestly puzzling to me.
Maybe people wouldn't keep tweaking you about it if every time someone mentions eligibility in any context you didn't feel the need to walk into the party and stick your dick in the mashed potatoes. You're just wrong, man, accept it.
everyone is missing my point- which is- who GAF about or talks about "eligibility" now? Its like covid shots that 2% of the population get now or masks- meaningless. It has no teeth or meaning anymore is my point. It's not really a "thing" now. That's all.
But it is a thing. Most college football players stop playing football when their eligibility runs out. Some go to the NFL, but most don't. Are Pollard and Fuga coming back next year? Because we could sure use them. Is Grant Wells going to be our backup QB in 2024? It sure would be nice to have a guy with that much experience on the bench in case Drones gets hurt. He's not going pro, is he coming back then, or is he going to go get a job because he's out of eligibility?
Wells has eligibility for 1 more year IF he does not play in the three final games. That's a legit conversation right now that Wells should be having with his people and with the coaching staff, whether that's playing at VT or transferring to another school. Staff should support him on any decision that he makes.
I'd be surprised if Wells comes back. He should portal to a place where he can be a starter.
At this point dude should just hang up the cleats. Unless he can get some kind of NIL deal at a new school that would make it worth it for him, dude has little to no chance at making it in the NFL. Time to start thinking about post football life IMHO.
He might just enjoy it. Maybe go somewhere with low stakes where he can just have fun.
He's listed as a redshirt senior, did he not actually redshirt? If he still has his COVID year, it shouldn't matter if he plays in more than 4 games, right?
oh, you're right. 2019 was his RS year. So, he can play all games and still use the extra COVID year. For some reason, I thought he played his true freshman year.
That sucks re: Payne. I thought he had one more year. I guess I missed a JUCO year as well.
So, for me, I suppose the good news is that we've made progress this year on the scheme and at the skill positions, while also confirming our known weaknesses leading into the season: OL; interior DL; and MLB.
Our OL is incredibly young though, and you probably see more development with age at that position than anywhere else, so that is a positive. The interior DL continues to be a weak spot. But, that is probably easier to plug via the portal than the OL based on demand/#s.
As for MLB, I'm hoping Pry/Marve can point to that as our immediate plug/play opportunity on defense, and get somebody with some skill from the portal. The defense has otherwise been pretty solid this year, so I think that is a relatively easy sell to a true P5 linebacker (rather than converted safety) looking for PT at this level.
I realize this is the Louisville reaction thread, but I think this roster discussion is appropriate. The sky is not falling. Louisville is a really solid team and may very well win the league this year. We are not as good as some folks thought/hoped after Syracuse, but we're also not as bad as some folks are saying after Louisville either. The progress is there and it seems like this staff has a clear plan in place to address their weaknesses. They aren't signing 13 three star running backs and a bunch of three star linemen from Texas.
One other thing I think we have to give the coaches credit for, but they appear to have a good eye for talent evaluations in the portal. Almost every guy we brought in out of the portal has been a solid contributor. I know we brought in Frady and Stone, but not a stretch to say the coaches knew they were taking a flyer on those guys for numbers purposes rather than to be immediate starters.
So, long story short, I'm holding out hope that we've still got something to play for this year, and that we're on the uptick.
The OL performance Saturday was an embarrassment. A sham. We could in no way shape or form compete with Louisville football- no chance to compete on the OL. We literally got off maybe 1-2 clean pass plays all game. It was a disgrace. If it is not addressed, we will not be competitive against good teams next year either. Many teams can flip their entire team around in one portal year- we should too.
It was a rough one to watch. Woulda been fun to get the dub. but we still got a ways to go before competing with ranked teams.
Hokies biggest weakness: offensive line
Louisville offensive line
LEFT TACKLE Willie Tyler TRANSFER Rutgers (and he was freaking terrific)
CENTER Bryan Hudson TRANSFER Virginia Tech
RIGHT TACKLE Eric Miller TRANSFER Purdue (also very good)
Seeing Hudson being dominant knowing Moore is so limited at center still makes me furious at whatever happened to cause him to leave.
Brock, allegedly.
Some pretty nasty stuff on Twitter between the parents.
I know, but without 100% certainty, I try to stay out of the rumor and innuendo business. I do know that Brock Hoffman is a Hokie I have a real hard time rooting for, between the rumors about his off the field behavior and the cheap shot crap he seemed to put more emphasis on than blocking on the field.
Welp Hudson and Nester are both better than anything we have on the OL. That hurts a program like VT more than others.
French, do you think we'd be well served to go get a center out of the portal and have the Moore brother at guard spots, with Brody serving as a swing guard/tackle. I'm also hoping one of the young guys can overtake Parker. He's been abysmal.
I think with a new center and new RT the OL looks much better next year. Moore bros at guard, and Chap at tackle don't worry me too much.
Honestly, I don't think we win anything of significance if Meadows, the Moore brothers, or Bob Schick are in the starting lineup. They are outgunned. The younger Moore is the best of the bunch, but if we don't see significant turnover in the OL room and major steps forward by kids like Ghannam, I think we are having these same conversations next year. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip, and there are a lot of turnips getting reps up front.
I thought you were pro-meadows over the summer what has changed to make you think he isn't going to get to where he needs to be? I could remembering this all wrong too.
EDIT: autocorrect fix
I was, but he was playing tackle. At guard, he looks so uncomfortable in pass pro that it is painful to watch. He looks like a kid who worked really hard at pass protection for a tackle, and that muscle memory isn't the same as what you need for a guard.
Note, the best of the bunch doesn't mean there isn't tons of room for improvement. You will see in the film review, there is a lot of room to get better, but the upside with the current group of starters outside of Chaplin and Braelin is very limited.
Yeah, they are bad. I said before we even knew Pry was the coach that our line was going to be awful.
I think the Moore bros are serviceable at guard tho. The older bro is just not a center. I thought brody was an immediate upgrade over Schick (definitely a turnip). Right tackle continues to worry me.
It clearly worries the coaches too since I think Johnny Garrett had gotten a few series there the last 2 games now. I'd be shocked if we have the same tackle combo next season - I think Chaplin sliding inside with Ghannan at LT + TBD at right tackle happens next season.
So who on this OL is part of the future? Right now I'd say ideally:
Future Starters: Chaplin, Ghannam, Ricard (24 class), Lynch (24 class)
Backups: B. Moore, Meadows
Third string or transfer: Dickson, Garrett, Schick, K. Moore, Clements, Frady
No Future: McClain, Hollifield
TBD/no idea: Arena, Hammer, Williams, Davidson (24 class)
I'd expect Chaplin to move to the right side. His anchor and bend (the ability to have a good base with power) in pass protection needs work, and he may be better suited to the right side long term.
This. I have no idea how Fu could have let this happen to allow arguably his two best OL transfer out. This hurt the team soo much. Smh.
I wasn't as high on Nester, but Hudson was a damn good player. The rotations with him never made any sense to me. He should have been a full time starter. Mobile and angry.
Well this game was a reality check and popped any of those crazy balloons thinking VT was a force to be reckoned with. We beat poor teams in the past, and once we got a formidable opponent we collapsed. On the positive side Pitt and Syracuse are doing worse than us. So we have moved from the toilet to the lower middle half.
True, but hopefully we can keep beating poor teams to close out. That's an uptick.
And then repeat roster development in the off season again.
I think Pry is a guy to 'have the tough conversations ' as he says and continue to upgrade.
But we'll see.
Exactly. Last year we lost to poor teams. I'll take beating poor teams handily as a big improvement on last year
Middle of the pack is progress. We lost to the top tier ACC teams, if we can keep beating the bottom tier and other mid-range teams, we can go bowling. All of which is improvement over last year. I think the ACC championship nonsense got in some people's heads. We all know it's a long rebuild, but nobody really wants a long rebuild.
Stay strong, Hokies!
Reality check in deed. Brohm -in his first year- has LB's that can actually play, he has a stud RB, he used the portal to build his team - year 1- into a ACC title contender. When is Pry going to contend for a title? year 4? 5? - Louisville in much much better shape than VT- quickly. Big time reality check.
It really points to how badly our program had degraded. Louisville was an 8-5 team that hated their HC before Brohm came along. They had talent. He had an actual foundation to build from while Pry got to Tech and had to make this his home:
True. Satterfield was/is a good coach (see App State vs Michigan). He wasn't a fit at Louisville it was mutual. But l'ville's recruiting classes were top 45, 35 so cupboard wasn't bare.
We had some sad classes AND crazy attrition from the better players via the portal.
VT supplied some other schools with some talented players during the past few years. And, sadly we are slowly replacing them.
all you need to know about the talent level at VT right now is that our best player is a transfer from NC A&T. That's all you need to know. Our second best player is the only DL that can really play at a high level since Settle left. He is also a transfer. That's the cupboard that Pry was left with- nothing.
There's some talent in the defensive secondary as well. But yeah, we are sorely lacking in D1 level players. That's why I am giving Pry five years before I start fussing about wins and losses. Being older, I am not part of the microwave generations that demand results yesterday from their entertainment choices. I actually enjoy watching incremental progress happen and accept losses as learning experiences, as long as I see some progress being made. Off the field, Pry is using a winning formula to regain our prominence in the Virginia recruiting wars while also leveraging the portal well for all the help he can get. Great pies take time in the oven to perfect. Nothing cooked in a microwave really tastes as good. Go Hokies! (and Team Pie)
Has an APB been put out for the Hokie football team? Last seen last Friday. Whoever showed up at Louisville must have stolen their uniforms because it wasn't our football team out there.
Honestly, I was not surprised by the outcome. I was hoping for one TD drive and to keep them under 30. Neither happened. Lville is ranked 13th and looked every bit of it. I am as guilty as the next when it comes to screaming at the TV, throwing the remote and creating a game time environment where by the end of Q1, I am watching the game by myself. However, I didn't lose my shit during this game. I actually rested on the previous expectations of trying to find specific moments because they were just so much better than us. To the point, that they showed us what we already knew. And, once again our OL and LB core were so outclassed. Overall, we were outclassed, but our biggest weakness were on full display. Our team is good enough to compete with the bottom half of the ACC and our remaining schedule's should solidify this, assuming we win two of them.
As we all have stated, we know where the transfer portal focus will be post season.
If we get to six wins, I'll do multiple cartwheels in my backyard and pull my right hammy in the process. I would call this season a significant success if done so. I hope I'm walking with a severe limp on 11/26.