I will be posting and tweeting random thoughts live from today's Hokie scrimmage starting at 11:00am this morning. Join us and share your observations!
Seriously though, I think Lefty wants to get a better feel for how his QBs run the option game when they actually have to make a decision and/or get hit. I'd be surprised if the defensive players weren't instructed not to absolutely annihilate their QBs if given the opportunity. Although that could help a bit in thinning out the QB herd a bit... Survival of the fittest?
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I was hoping that the coaches would let the QBs be hit. You can't gauge how they handle pressure if they know they aren't getting hit by that guy running at them...
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Can someone keep an eye out on the long snapper competition for me? Looks like Joe St. Germain and Eddie D'Antuono have been locked in a tight battle all spring. Both still listed as co-number 1's.
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Holy McDougal.
I like to hear that.
52 yd field goal in a full contact scrimmage. That guy has been working over the winter. If that is consistent, the impact to the offense would be mind blowing compared to last year.
I bet F.Beamer was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
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Walked cautiously to the sideline. Put some ice on his hamstring. It may of just been me but he seemed like he was crying. Teammates came over to show support. Doesnt seem too bad though
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Offense:
- Somehow managed to look worse than last year.
- O-line couldn't block anyone. Didn't matter who was in. Couldn't get any leverage off the ball.
- Juice still needs a ton more work in pass pro.
- Saw 3 drops. Griffin Hite (pretty sure) practically knocked the ball down like a defender by the goal line. Byrne wasn't focused and just dropped it. Can't think of who dropped the 3rd one. Meyer double caught his ball.
- Stanford had a good catch on his typical post route. Needs to do a better job of not using his body when catching.
- QB's missed Bucky a few times. He has a really quick step off the line. Could be a big factor this year.
- Rogers is really vocal this year. He seems to be really stepping up in a leadership role.
- Motley looked OK. Missed a lot of reads. Has potential, needs to become more consistent.
- Leal didn't look very good. But to his credit, he had no time to throw.
- Ford will redshirt.
- Caleb looked good, had good vision and made decent cuts.
- Carlis Parker had a nice catch on a slant route. Extremely quick break off the line.
- Conte had some sort of right hamstring injury suffered on the Wade Hansen FG block.
Defense:
- Defense looked great. Everyone was flying around.
- Der'woun Green is a player. In one drive he drilled Wright and 2 plays later he forced a fumble from Wright. He always seems to show up in scrimmages. Let's see if he can finally get some meaningful PT in games.
- Chuck Clark was around the ball all day.
- Seth Dooley had a nice deflection at the line.
- Dadi has to play under a little more control. Great player, just has to learn to break down when tackling.
Special Teams:
- #1 missed a chip shot field goal. Was somewhere around PAT range.
- Donovan Riley muffed a punt. Was lucky to get it back.
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Yes, Thanks, even though your description of the offense makes me
I'm going to try to take the optimistic line, remind myself that Bud Foster is a man among boys, and put faith in Moorehead, Searels & Loeffler to get their players up to speed.
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There are still things to look for regardless of who is taking the snaps. Did the OL get a push. Can they protect. Are the WRs catching the balls. Are the RBs picking up assignments. The QBs might not play well but they definitely will not play well if they don't have time. It's hard to evaluate a QB if he doesn't have time do what he is supposed to.
The offense is usually behind the defense so I am not expecting them to light it up but being completely overpowered is different.
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The offense is about reacting to the defense, especially on the offensive line. If you're expecting an OL of, for the most part, newbies who have only been practicing together for a couple weeks to come in and even begin to look like they're holding their own against a Bud Foster coached defense, even in practices, you're setting completely unrealistic expectations. Same with expecting Marshawn to effectively pick up assignments in his second ever VT scrimmage.
So yes, seeing the offense completely overpowered right now, considering the relative youth we have on the protection positions... yeah, thats to be expected.
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In the run game the offensive line is about enforcing your will on the defensive line, not reacting to what they do. Reacting means making the second move. The offense knows where they want to go and if they can't move people then that is discouraging regardless of who is out there and how long they have been.
I don't have unrealistic expectations. I have expectations to improve every time we step on the field. That is the expectations of every fan and every coach. I didn't expect them to come out and run all over the defense. I didn't expect them them to do anything ground breaking. I expected them to play better than the last time they played. Everything that I have heard and seen had shown the OL had been playing decent and holding their own even in 1v1s in practice. For them to come out and get shat on is not encouraging. If you aren't discouraged by them getting run over and having out QBs under bombardment then I don't know what you are looking for in a team.
I don't see why it is a "completely unrealistic expectation" for Marshawn to pick up assignments either. I don't expect him to get every one, but I expect him to be picking up more than he did the last time on the field. It is called learning and improving.
Dropped passes have nothing to do with it being early or the defense being ahead. The WR's job is to catch the ball. It was a problem we had last year that improved and then to have drop problems does not get me excited. Once again, we didn't improve from the last time out.
Everything I heard was that the offense did not improve or play better than they had so it is discouraging. I am not saying the sky is falling. I am just saying that I hoped that they played well and when they didn't, I am not excited about it. You don't get better by taking a step forward and then taking a step back. You definitely don't get better by taking a step forward then 2 steps back.
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Still sounds like you're taking this pretty hard for the second open scrimmage of the Spring... wait another four months before the sky comes falling down, will you?
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I'm not taking it hard. All I said was "that's discouraging". Apparently after that, people think I am crazy to have the hope and expectations that we get better. I expected the defense to be ahead but I didn't expect for the offense to be inept in fundamental areas. (especially against a defense that is missing 4 starters and even more contributors)
It's expected for there to be snap problems for multiple weeks?
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I mean, I'd love for them to improve at every public scrimmage as well but:
1) We've only seen them twice. They could have improved every day in practice and just have had a bad day today. We don't know that
2) It's still very, very early for a lot of young guys trying to learn a whole new game: e.g., Juice learning to pass protect. There's going to be some bumps
3) Same goes for young QBs and new centers, there's going to be some bumps
4) Ask me again how I feel in four months, as for now I'm not worried.
5) My apologies, but the use of phrases like "come out and get shat on" and "one step forward two steps back" and "inept in fundamental areas" sounds like you're pretty unhappy with today's performance.
6) Not saying I'm happy either, but I'm willing to wait until their performance actually matters, or at least it's closer to when it'll matter.
Patience, my friend.
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Offense:
- Somehow managed to look worse than last year.
- O-line couldn't block anyone. Didn't matter who was in. Couldn't get any leverage off the ball.
Well that is discouraging...
I'm not sure why I would be encouraged by that and I don't think anyone here is encouraged by it. I just spoke my simple thought about it. When dude man came out and said I had completely unrealistic expectations, I disagreed and elaborated. I don't think anything I said was false. Did the OL not get shat on after reports of them playing well in practice? That to me is discouraging. I know this is an early spring practice. It doesn't affect my day how they played. If it was September, I would be pretty unhappy about it. I just am discouraged that they played poorly.
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I'm with Nick on this...I don't think it's fair for anybody to have very high expectations for the offense, but it's certainly discouraging that they came out flat and got pushed around...from the sound of things. When the head coach and offensive coordinator both say that the offense went backwards today that's grounds for being discouraged. I'm hopeful that there is improvement next week and the spring game is more offensive than in years past, but I'm not expecting the offense to light up the score board.
All Nick was saying is that the fact the offense took a step (or two) backwards is discouraging. I agree with that. But neither him, nor I, are saying that the sky is falling. Live to fight another day. Hopefully the offense plays better next Saturday.
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The defense was hyper-aggressive today. Defensive line was shooting gaps and being disruptive. I spent a vast majority of the game going back and forth between the two top guards vs the defensive tackles. I saw some promising things from those young guys, but the defensive line won a majority of the battles.
Second thing I notes was Dietrick Bonner playing exclusively at rover while Der'Woun Greene and Desmond Frye rotated at free safety. Both were incredibly physical and aggressive in run support. Greene and Frye both put big licks on Marshawn Williams, who didn't have much room all day (although he got an OHHHH out of me when he leap frogged a safety for a nice little run close to the goal line. Joel Caleb was the sharpest of the running backs. He had several nice cutbacks.
Josh Stanford had a nice day, and Carlis Parker made two nice catches where he made adjustments on the throws. Motley had some nice throws but he left some yards out there with some inaccurate balls. His touchdown to Redman should have been thrown MUCH quicker. Redman was Charlie Banks at the end of Necessary Roughness wide open.
Leal was absolutely under siege, and he was feeling the rush. He didn't look composed at all. He got a little work with the ones where he had more time, but he just doesn't look like a starting caliber QB to me.
Foster used a 3-3 front versus some spread in 3rd and long. Interestingly, he took Ekanem (who was excellent rushing the passer) out and moved Marshall wide as a stand up end. Maddy played nose, while Dadi played in a 3 point stance over right tackle. Chuck Clark came in at nickel to replace Ekanem and Trimble stayed in.
Lots of snap issues today. Caleb Farris was with the ones, David Wang with the twos. Andrew Ford had a lot of trouble the the snaps and didn't get to show much working with the 3's.
Standouts today: Josh Stanford, Carlis Parker, and Joel Caleb on offense.
On defense: DerWoun Greene, Deon Clarke, Desmond Frye, the entire defensive tackle group (Maddy, Marshall, Williams, and Mihota) and Dadi.
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Was the offense basic or trying to work on some advanced stuff in this scrimmage? Could you tell us which backs got most of the work? Did we see much of anything with guys like Caleb and Mangus? From the limited hokiesports film it looks like Leal is very mechanical and his fakes just don't look convincing. What were the positives, if any, from the QB's? Any predictions how next week's finale will differ from this one?
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It was pretty basic. Your normal running plays, screens, etc. Saw one wild turkey play, and one end around. The backs all split the work. None of them had any holes to go through, someone else could probably tell you more on this but I think there was 2 fumbles? Only positive from Qb's I saw was Motley had a nice run that showed his athleticism, whenever Leal took off it was for a bout a yard.
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They ran most of their pistol plays with misdirection sans helmets while the staff were opening the gates to the public. They used a wide variety of personnel groups and used some variety of jet sweep motion on every snap. Also the offensive linemen were pulling regularly. There was much less pulling, motion, and play action once the live scrimmage started. Offense may have been running through plays over an hour before the defense came out for warm ups
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The offense was much more advanced than last years game. They did a lot of different motions and even practiced hurry up offense quite a bit. But they didn't really expand the playbook to doing any passing plays where they attempted to stretch the field. A lot of basic rollouts, hitches, slants, that kind of stuff. I think they threw 4 fades the whole game, with 2 being a fade into the end zone when the ball was inside the 5. The RB rotation was split pretty even. JC started the game and all the backs rotated though with the 1's and 2's. Caleb looked the best out of any of the RB's. Although there was no where run, he made some nice cuts and seemed to have good vision. Jerome Wright didn't have a great game. He fumbled the ball and tried to bounce everything to the edge. He doesn't have the speed to consistently get around the edge. One thing that stuck out to me was the lack of the RB's sticking to the inside zone. They seemed to bounce everything outside. The only one who really went straight ahead consistently was Juice. Mangus didn't do anything spectacular running the ball. He did split out wide at one point and caught a hitch and made a nice move to the outside. The play had the potential for a huge gain if he didn't slip. I think with the lack of depth we have at WR combined with Mangus' speed and ability to catch the ball, we will see him continued to be used as a wide receiver.
Leal just didn't have time to throw the whole game. As soon as the ball was snapped (if it wasn't already fumbled) there was someone in his face. QB's could rarely do a proper 3 step drop without having to run for their lives. Loeffler had to rely a lot of roll-outs just to give the QB's an opportunity to throw. Even the few times Leal was not under pressure, he seemed to be in a hurry because he knew he was going to get hit. I think a lot of it also has to do with the WR's. They struggled to get open at times. A positive, if any, is that both QB's (Motley and Leal) showed the ability to take off and scramble. Both had some nice runs and Motley had a really nice one on 3rd on down. They have similar speeds to what we've seen from past QB's. Ford didn't scramble to run. He did several roll-outs and was always looking downfield for a place to throw the ball. One positive with him was that as soon as the play broke down, he didn't immediately put his head down and run it. He would scramble to the sideline, keep his head downfield, and try to find an open receiver. If no one was open he would throw it away. Even though he did not have a great game, he has very very good football smarts and seems to understand the QB position. IMO he just needs to redshirt and catch up to the speed of the game. The game just seems a little too fast for him right now. But that is completely understandable with a QB who hasn't even been on campus for one semester. He has the smarts and an accurate arm. He just needs to add some weight which will improve his velocity.
I do not think we will see anything different next week. Maybe a few more advanced passing routes. But I think they will continue to work on the run game until they can figure out how to gain positive yards and until a running back rotation is more solidified. The only difference I hope to see is that the offense has more of a jump in their step. While the players on the D sideline were all hype and yelling, the O side was quiet and seemed to lack a sense of urgency (except Sam Rogers). We should be in for an interesting game next weekend.
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I disagree on stretching the field. Motley went deep down the seam to Bucky on the first play. He missed a throw to Stanford on a deep post corner to the field where the throw looked perfect but Stanford slipped coming out of his cut. And he overthrew Byrn on a fake in-corner route. Leal also threw terrible ball to Knowles on a vertical route. Knowles made a great adjustment to get his hands on the ball but couldn't pull it in.
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I got to the scrimmage during the first series. I must have missed that one to Bucky. As with most Hokie fans, I am really really excited about him. The only concern I have is how he will get on the field with Kline and Malleck in front of him.
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Not out of the realm of possibility. Lefty & co. are very excited about his abilities and potential. He's gonna be on the field quite a bit this year. I think Malleck will be the standard, every-down, do-it-all TE while Bucky will spend some time split out, as an H-back, in line, with a touch of wild turkey thrown in. Cline will be in a decent amount and I'd say he'll catch somewhere around 12-15 balls this year, while I'd put Bucky and Malleck at about 25+ catches apiece. From what I've seen, the short passing game will need to supplement the running game, as well as be used as a tool to get our young QB comfortable and in the flow of the game. Look for lots of stick and seam routes to keep the chains moving and big plays, respectively.
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Comments
I am excited for this scrimmage. It will be 1v1s today so we will get to see how our OL holds up and our inexperienced LBs
The QBs are live. This should be fun.
And, we are expecting some 1s vs 1s work today. The young guards Conte and Teller will be challenged today.
Beat ya to it. ^^^^
But French had more detail. That's happened to me a few times too. Besides, we saw a decent amount of 1 vs. 1 stuff in the last scrimmage.
i'm glad to hear it. i've always thought it should be ones on ones in the first place.
Ford may not be live by the end of this thing....
Seriously though, I think Lefty wants to get a better feel for how his QBs run the option game when they actually have to make a decision and/or get hit. I'd be surprised if the defensive players weren't instructed not to absolutely annihilate their QBs if given the opportunity. Although that could help a bit in thinning out the QB herd a bit... Survival of the fittest?
I was hoping that the coaches would let the QBs be hit. You can't gauge how they handle pressure if they know they aren't getting hit by that guy running at them...
Very true, and it's part of the reason I'm happy to see it.
It is one way of finding out the who the last man standing will be. :-)
His name is Kenjamin?!
AND HIS TWITTER HANDLE IS EKANNIBAL?!?!?!
I love this guy.
He feeds off of the Boo Hoos' crushed dreams and tears
Private Kenjamin!
I'll be there! Will be my first time seeing Motley and Juice play in person. Should be in for a treat.
Does this upvoter thingamajig need regular oiling? Because I'm likely going to wear it out today.
Just upvoted everyone.
I love my new baby girl to death, but she's too young to be taking to VT scrimmages & spring games. Just too much noise.
The doc literature all recommends that if she has trouble sleeping, I should take her to the UVA spring game.
great unprovoked UVA jab!
-u-v 4 u:
Is that cat possessed?
Football is still a thing? I kid, I kid.
Yay, I'm here with my roommate, 40 yard line, row T....the closest I have ever been lol
Can someone keep an eye out on the long snapper competition for me? Looks like Joe St. Germain and Eddie D'Antuono have been locked in a tight battle all spring. Both still listed as co-number 1's.
you got it
Wow, TKP brothers - I so am living vicariously right now. Please God let someone get a video of another Marshawn Mack Truck Stick Moment. Amen.
He actually had a good goal line juke
Motley to Redman for a 2 yard TD!
Sweet baby Jesus! A kicking game? I like it!
Holy McDougal.
I like to hear that.
52 yd field goal in a full contact scrimmage. That guy has been working over the winter. If that is consistent, the impact to the offense would be mind blowing compared to last year.
I bet F.Beamer was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Bonner is playing the rover. Der Woun Greene is playing free safety and playing really well.
The defensive line is dominant. Mihota and Williams are really disruptive with the 2s. Stanford has been the best offensive player
Is it just me or is Ford getting some terrible snaps?
The amount of drops is getting ridiculous.
Is Conte OK?
Walked cautiously to the sideline. Put some ice on his hamstring. It may of just been me but he seemed like he was crying. Teammates came over to show support. Doesnt seem too bad though
He was in the doctor's office afterwords, I can not disclose details but he may be done for the spring.
Any contingent of football recruits out there for the scrimmage, friends?
Some thoughts from the scrimmage:
Offense:
- Somehow managed to look worse than last year.
- O-line couldn't block anyone. Didn't matter who was in. Couldn't get any leverage off the ball.
- Juice still needs a ton more work in pass pro.
- Saw 3 drops. Griffin Hite (pretty sure) practically knocked the ball down like a defender by the goal line. Byrne wasn't focused and just dropped it. Can't think of who dropped the 3rd one. Meyer double caught his ball.
- Stanford had a good catch on his typical post route. Needs to do a better job of not using his body when catching.
- QB's missed Bucky a few times. He has a really quick step off the line. Could be a big factor this year.
- Rogers is really vocal this year. He seems to be really stepping up in a leadership role.
- Motley looked OK. Missed a lot of reads. Has potential, needs to become more consistent.
- Leal didn't look very good. But to his credit, he had no time to throw.
- Ford will redshirt.
- Caleb looked good, had good vision and made decent cuts.
- Carlis Parker had a nice catch on a slant route. Extremely quick break off the line.
- Conte had some sort of right hamstring injury suffered on the Wade Hansen FG block.
Defense:
- Defense looked great. Everyone was flying around.
- Der'woun Green is a player. In one drive he drilled Wright and 2 plays later he forced a fumble from Wright. He always seems to show up in scrimmages. Let's see if he can finally get some meaningful PT in games.
- Chuck Clark was around the ball all day.
- Seth Dooley had a nice deflection at the line.
- Dadi has to play under a little more control. Great player, just has to learn to break down when tackling.
Special Teams:
- #1 missed a chip shot field goal. Was somewhere around PAT range.
- Donovan Riley muffed a punt. Was lucky to get it back.
Thank you for the detailed report
Yes, Thanks, even though your description of the offense makes me
I'm going to try to take the optimistic line, remind myself that Bud Foster is a man among boys, and put faith in Moorehead, Searels & Loeffler to get their players up to speed.
keeping in mind kickoff is over 4 months away
Well that is discouraging to hear the offense stunk it up
Offense ALWAYS stinks it up early in preseason, especially when you're breaking in new guys at QB
If you're expecting it to look good at all before the season, you're up for a disappointment. Its also going to look awful in Columbus as well.
There are still things to look for regardless of who is taking the snaps. Did the OL get a push. Can they protect. Are the WRs catching the balls. Are the RBs picking up assignments. The QBs might not play well but they definitely will not play well if they don't have time. It's hard to evaluate a QB if he doesn't have time do what he is supposed to.
The offense is usually behind the defense so I am not expecting them to light it up but being completely overpowered is different.
The offense is about reacting to the defense, especially on the offensive line. If you're expecting an OL of, for the most part, newbies who have only been practicing together for a couple weeks to come in and even begin to look like they're holding their own against a Bud Foster coached defense, even in practices, you're setting completely unrealistic expectations. Same with expecting Marshawn to effectively pick up assignments in his second ever VT scrimmage.
So yes, seeing the offense completely overpowered right now, considering the relative youth we have on the protection positions... yeah, thats to be expected.
In the run game the offensive line is about enforcing your will on the defensive line, not reacting to what they do. Reacting means making the second move. The offense knows where they want to go and if they can't move people then that is discouraging regardless of who is out there and how long they have been.
I don't have unrealistic expectations. I have expectations to improve every time we step on the field. That is the expectations of every fan and every coach. I didn't expect them to come out and run all over the defense. I didn't expect them them to do anything ground breaking. I expected them to play better than the last time they played. Everything that I have heard and seen had shown the OL had been playing decent and holding their own even in 1v1s in practice. For them to come out and get shat on is not encouraging. If you aren't discouraged by them getting run over and having out QBs under bombardment then I don't know what you are looking for in a team.
I don't see why it is a "completely unrealistic expectation" for Marshawn to pick up assignments either. I don't expect him to get every one, but I expect him to be picking up more than he did the last time on the field. It is called learning and improving.
Dropped passes have nothing to do with it being early or the defense being ahead. The WR's job is to catch the ball. It was a problem we had last year that improved and then to have drop problems does not get me excited. Once again, we didn't improve from the last time out.
Everything I heard was that the offense did not improve or play better than they had so it is discouraging. I am not saying the sky is falling. I am just saying that I hoped that they played well and when they didn't, I am not excited about it. You don't get better by taking a step forward and then taking a step back. You definitely don't get better by taking a step forward then 2 steps back.
Still sounds like you're taking this pretty hard for the second open scrimmage of the Spring... wait another four months before the sky comes falling down, will you?
I'm not taking it hard. All I said was "that's discouraging". Apparently after that, people think I am crazy to have the hope and expectations that we get better. I expected the defense to be ahead but I didn't expect for the offense to be inept in fundamental areas. (especially against a defense that is missing 4 starters and even more contributors)
It's expected for there to be snap problems for multiple weeks?
I mean, I'd love for them to improve at every public scrimmage as well but:
1) We've only seen them twice. They could have improved every day in practice and just have had a bad day today. We don't know that
2) It's still very, very early for a lot of young guys trying to learn a whole new game: e.g., Juice learning to pass protect. There's going to be some bumps
3) Same goes for young QBs and new centers, there's going to be some bumps
4) Ask me again how I feel in four months, as for now I'm not worried.
5) My apologies, but the use of phrases like "come out and get shat on" and "one step forward two steps back" and "inept in fundamental areas" sounds like you're pretty unhappy with today's performance.
6) Not saying I'm happy either, but I'm willing to wait until their performance actually matters, or at least it's closer to when it'll matter.
Patience, my friend.
I'm not sure why I would be encouraged by that and I don't think anyone here is encouraged by it. I just spoke my simple thought about it. When dude man came out and said I had completely unrealistic expectations, I disagreed and elaborated. I don't think anything I said was false. Did the OL not get shat on after reports of them playing well in practice? That to me is discouraging. I know this is an early spring practice. It doesn't affect my day how they played. If it was September, I would be pretty unhappy about it. I just am discouraged that they played poorly.
In the interest of full disclosure, maybe the reason I'm not discouraged is because I'm a Redskins fan.
I'm with Nick on this...I don't think it's fair for anybody to have very high expectations for the offense, but it's certainly discouraging that they came out flat and got pushed around...from the sound of things. When the head coach and offensive coordinator both say that the offense went backwards today that's grounds for being discouraged. I'm hopeful that there is improvement next week and the spring game is more offensive than in years past, but I'm not expecting the offense to light up the score board.
All Nick was saying is that the fact the offense took a step (or two) backwards is discouraging. I agree with that. But neither him, nor I, are saying that the sky is falling. Live to fight another day. Hopefully the offense plays better next Saturday.
There will be lots of teams with very productive offenses early in the season.
And how many of those are breaking in new OLs, a new QB, and a new RB?
And they will all have porous defenses early in the season. Spring ball is a zero sum game at every school.
The defense was hyper-aggressive today. Defensive line was shooting gaps and being disruptive. I spent a vast majority of the game going back and forth between the two top guards vs the defensive tackles. I saw some promising things from those young guys, but the defensive line won a majority of the battles.
Second thing I notes was Dietrick Bonner playing exclusively at rover while Der'Woun Greene and Desmond Frye rotated at free safety. Both were incredibly physical and aggressive in run support. Greene and Frye both put big licks on Marshawn Williams, who didn't have much room all day (although he got an OHHHH out of me when he leap frogged a safety for a nice little run close to the goal line. Joel Caleb was the sharpest of the running backs. He had several nice cutbacks.
Josh Stanford had a nice day, and Carlis Parker made two nice catches where he made adjustments on the throws. Motley had some nice throws but he left some yards out there with some inaccurate balls. His touchdown to Redman should have been thrown MUCH quicker. Redman was Charlie Banks at the end of Necessary Roughness wide open.
Leal was absolutely under siege, and he was feeling the rush. He didn't look composed at all. He got a little work with the ones where he had more time, but he just doesn't look like a starting caliber QB to me.
Foster used a 3-3 front versus some spread in 3rd and long. Interestingly, he took Ekanem (who was excellent rushing the passer) out and moved Marshall wide as a stand up end. Maddy played nose, while Dadi played in a 3 point stance over right tackle. Chuck Clark came in at nickel to replace Ekanem and Trimble stayed in.
Lots of snap issues today. Caleb Farris was with the ones, David Wang with the twos. Andrew Ford had a lot of trouble the the snaps and didn't get to show much working with the 3's.
Standouts today: Josh Stanford, Carlis Parker, and Joel Caleb on offense.
On defense: DerWoun Greene, Deon Clarke, Desmond Frye, the entire defensive tackle group (Maddy, Marshall, Williams, and Mihota) and Dadi.
On another note: Auburn seems to have picked up right where they left off, and continues to run the ball seemingly at-will.
That's what happens when you don't have to extinguish any of Newsome's dumpster fires (and aren't coached by Chizik).
And aren't scrimmaging against a fired up Foster defense.
Probably helps that Auburn's offense is facing Auburn's defense.
It's those SEC defenses
Was the offense basic or trying to work on some advanced stuff in this scrimmage? Could you tell us which backs got most of the work? Did we see much of anything with guys like Caleb and Mangus? From the limited hokiesports film it looks like Leal is very mechanical and his fakes just don't look convincing. What were the positives, if any, from the QB's? Any predictions how next week's finale will differ from this one?
It was pretty basic. Your normal running plays, screens, etc. Saw one wild turkey play, and one end around. The backs all split the work. None of them had any holes to go through, someone else could probably tell you more on this but I think there was 2 fumbles? Only positive from Qb's I saw was Motley had a nice run that showed his athleticism, whenever Leal took off it was for a bout a yard.
They ran most of their pistol plays with misdirection sans helmets while the staff were opening the gates to the public. They used a wide variety of personnel groups and used some variety of jet sweep motion on every snap. Also the offensive linemen were pulling regularly. There was much less pulling, motion, and play action once the live scrimmage started. Offense may have been running through plays over an hour before the defense came out for warm ups
I got to there a little after the live scrimmage started. Thanks for clearing it up.
The offense was much more advanced than last years game. They did a lot of different motions and even practiced hurry up offense quite a bit. But they didn't really expand the playbook to doing any passing plays where they attempted to stretch the field. A lot of basic rollouts, hitches, slants, that kind of stuff. I think they threw 4 fades the whole game, with 2 being a fade into the end zone when the ball was inside the 5. The RB rotation was split pretty even. JC started the game and all the backs rotated though with the 1's and 2's. Caleb looked the best out of any of the RB's. Although there was no where run, he made some nice cuts and seemed to have good vision. Jerome Wright didn't have a great game. He fumbled the ball and tried to bounce everything to the edge. He doesn't have the speed to consistently get around the edge. One thing that stuck out to me was the lack of the RB's sticking to the inside zone. They seemed to bounce everything outside. The only one who really went straight ahead consistently was Juice. Mangus didn't do anything spectacular running the ball. He did split out wide at one point and caught a hitch and made a nice move to the outside. The play had the potential for a huge gain if he didn't slip. I think with the lack of depth we have at WR combined with Mangus' speed and ability to catch the ball, we will see him continued to be used as a wide receiver.
Leal just didn't have time to throw the whole game. As soon as the ball was snapped (if it wasn't already fumbled) there was someone in his face. QB's could rarely do a proper 3 step drop without having to run for their lives. Loeffler had to rely a lot of roll-outs just to give the QB's an opportunity to throw. Even the few times Leal was not under pressure, he seemed to be in a hurry because he knew he was going to get hit. I think a lot of it also has to do with the WR's. They struggled to get open at times. A positive, if any, is that both QB's (Motley and Leal) showed the ability to take off and scramble. Both had some nice runs and Motley had a really nice one on 3rd on down. They have similar speeds to what we've seen from past QB's. Ford didn't scramble to run. He did several roll-outs and was always looking downfield for a place to throw the ball. One positive with him was that as soon as the play broke down, he didn't immediately put his head down and run it. He would scramble to the sideline, keep his head downfield, and try to find an open receiver. If no one was open he would throw it away. Even though he did not have a great game, he has very very good football smarts and seems to understand the QB position. IMO he just needs to redshirt and catch up to the speed of the game. The game just seems a little too fast for him right now. But that is completely understandable with a QB who hasn't even been on campus for one semester. He has the smarts and an accurate arm. He just needs to add some weight which will improve his velocity.
I do not think we will see anything different next week. Maybe a few more advanced passing routes. But I think they will continue to work on the run game until they can figure out how to gain positive yards and until a running back rotation is more solidified. The only difference I hope to see is that the offense has more of a jump in their step. While the players on the D sideline were all hype and yelling, the O side was quiet and seemed to lack a sense of urgency (except Sam Rogers). We should be in for an interesting game next weekend.
I disagree on stretching the field. Motley went deep down the seam to Bucky on the first play. He missed a throw to Stanford on a deep post corner to the field where the throw looked perfect but Stanford slipped coming out of his cut. And he overthrew Byrn on a fake in-corner route. Leal also threw terrible ball to Knowles on a vertical route. Knowles made a great adjustment to get his hands on the ball but couldn't pull it in.
I got to the scrimmage during the first series. I must have missed that one to Bucky. As with most Hokie fans, I am really really excited about him. The only concern I have is how he will get on the field with Kline and Malleck in front of him.
Triple tight end package. Booya
Not out of the realm of possibility. Lefty & co. are very excited about his abilities and potential. He's gonna be on the field quite a bit this year. I think Malleck will be the standard, every-down, do-it-all TE while Bucky will spend some time split out, as an H-back, in line, with a touch of wild turkey thrown in. Cline will be in a decent amount and I'd say he'll catch somewhere around 12-15 balls this year, while I'd put Bucky and Malleck at about 25+ catches apiece. From what I've seen, the short passing game will need to supplement the running game, as well as be used as a tool to get our young QB comfortable and in the flow of the game. Look for lots of stick and seam routes to keep the chains moving and big plays, respectively.