About a month back, I rescheduled a section of my CPA exam for 4/29, and but a few minutes after doing so I realized what weekend that came after and that it would kill my chances of going down for the spring game. Unfortunately, this story doesn't have a die-hard-fan, happy ending where I reschedule again to make the trip (because it ain't free to resched), but it does look like I'll be wasting almost as much time watching this on my laptop and reading TKP as I would have if I had just driven down and gotten bombed tailgating.
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I love the "commercial breaks" that aren't commercial breaks. The one at the very beginning of the broadcast when you could hear the commentators being confused was hilarious.
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Kendall reminding everyone there's still another Fuller out there, picks off Motely on a deep pass down the field. Step-for-step with Demitri, played it like it was a pass right to him.
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Improved: RG Augie Conte, S Desmond Frye. Hustle: RB J.C. Coleman, LB Derek DiNardo. Exceptional spring: TE Bucky Hodges, DE Dadi Nicolas— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) April 26, 2014
Team first: C/G Caleb Farris, CB Kendall Fuller. MVP: WR Joshua Stanford, DT Corey Marshall. #Hokies— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) April 26, 2014
The Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence goes to ... Everybody!!! Good job, everybody. #juiceboxesforall— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) April 26, 2014
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I know it's already been mentioned, but it really can't be overstated how much better maroon pants look. Kinda blows my mind that the athletic department even keeps white pants around as an option.
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Maroon team A.J. Hughes (4 punts, 42.3 avg. 1 I20) much more effective than White team A.J. Hughes (3 punts, 30.3 avg). #puntingiswinning— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) April 26, 2014
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Anything that is potentially identifiable about the player would be considered a violation, according to the letter of the law. So even a silhouette of AJ's pose, with any sort of catchphrase/hashtag/whatever (especially one that he uses publicly on his Twitter feed) would be pretty obvious. It's just a really bad idea to try to manufacture anything regarding a current player. You can make it for yourself, but nothing that can be sold to anyone else.
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Motely very, very impressive. dodges a lineman in the backfield, keeps his feet set until the last minute and breaks open for a touchdown, but called back from holding.
Did a great job avoiding the rush keeping his eyes downfield.
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Motely just misses Bucky Hodges (somehow) breaking open to the endzone. Motely would have been crushed making that throw if he was live, but nice job standing in there.
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I installed the Kenwood DNX570HD from Crutchfield, with a buddy the day after last Christmas. Decent unit for the price, and does everything I ask of it.
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... and after you post it, I see the model number right there. lol
Thanks for the impromptu review. I'm looking to replace my stock unit ('05 GM factory nav) before Thanksgiving, and Kenwood is on my short list of brands.
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- #PUNTINGISWINNING (AJ actually started off a bit rough, had a couple of 25 yard shanks, but made up for it with a 55 yarder that just missed being downed on the goaline, and another 35 yarder that bounced dead at the 2)
Mark Leal may have had the better stats, but I still think Motely looks more composed, with better form under pressure. Motely's accuracy was not as good as Leal's today, though. Ford looks like he needs another year, he looks like the game is still too fast for him right now.
- Carlis Parker had himself a day. Good speed and moves on the jet sweeps, and had a few catches too
- Demitri knowles also stood out, both with good speed, a few good catches, and I also noticed a few plays where he contributed downfield with some solid blocking
- The paperboy will be fine: had a spectacular downfield one-handed catch to get the offense down to the 2. I also felt like he was running more deep routes than usual, with running backs running the short crossing/out patterns that the paperboy used so often last year
- Luther Maddy isn't just good, he's unbelievably good. I couldn't count how many plays he was blowing things up in the backfield, right after the snap. It seemed like he was getting off the ball faster then the offensive lineman could.
- The defense for the most part played extremely well. Lots of pressure, good coverage (with a few exceptions). There were a few running holes in the middle, but the biggest problem they had stopping were the jet sweeps.
- Don't throw it at a Fuller!
- Bucky Hodges isn't just 10'16'' tall, he's a really good football player. May have been one of the best players on offense today.
Can't wait to hear what French has to say about the scrimmage. I'm actually encouraged on both sides of the ball.
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IMO, and I think AJ would agree, that the 55 yd punt was not a good punt (only netted 35 yds). It was long with little hang time. Long punts with little hang time are the punts that are returned for TDs. A 45-yard, with enough hang-time for his team to get underneath it would have been much better. I think AJ has a lot of skill, but one of his weaknesses is consistency. I really hope AJ gets to that upper-level tier of punting; he can be serious talent for the next 2 years and in the NFL.
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I got the impression, with the short one from the endzone that he was told to not kill it. His swing looked lackadaisical, which is NOT in characteristic for him. Next kick though that shanked, looked like effort but a poor kick.
The one after traveled about 70 yds in the air into the wind.
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I agree with everything you wrote, and it should be noted that the sole TD drive of the day was with Motley behind center. Had the QBs been live, he easily would've had a few more scrambles for 1st downs today. Right now, he appears to be our best chance to move the ball down the field. I'm much more confident in the QB starting off with playmakers around him this Season, regardless of who he ends up being. Whatever happens this season, I expect this to be a more balanced team than last year, with the Offense (and hopefully Special Teams) contributing more.
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I have to agree with RocketHokie13s assessment.
I'm anxious to hear if the holes for RB were due to good OL or poor DL.
Effort by Byrn was standout as well as Knowles. Double snap and a swing for Knowles downfield blocking.
Same with people staying in their lanes for kick coverage. From the first one it looked like there was some real effort there.
From my vantage point my impression was good pass protection not so good run blocking but, I had distractions in the stands, I'll stand ready to retract with the evidence provided by other reviews.
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Definitely a strong runner, falls forward at the end of his runs and can push for extra yardage, but every time he had the ball, he was pretty well bottled up today. Probably a testament to our D-line more than anything. I'll wait for French and Mason to tell me how to feel.
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Our D-line is really disruptive. I'm not sure how they'll hold up on a 4th and 1, but so help you if you try to run sideline-to-sideline on them. Maddy and Marshall pretty much just set up shop in the backfield and hung out there all day. I can't even count the number of times we had a great run set up with a hole developing nicely, only to have one of our DTs come in and blow it all up 3 yards deep.
Chase Williams has been biding his time, but I think the wait will be worth it. Looked very solid out there and was flying around all over the place. Speaking of flying, Deon Clarke can do it. Dude seemed to get from his spot to the sideline in about a second and a half. Kid just has crazy athleticism, very excited to see it on Saturdays. I was also very impressed with our backup Mike, Sean Huelskamp, a redshirt freshman (although he's listed as a true sophomore on the roster, his HokieSports bio said he redshirtted last year) from Centreville, VA. He had a series of plays where it seemed like he made every tackle, including a pair of TFLs. I remember watching a practice a couple weeks ago where Bud was telling him that "[he'll] find a home here soon enough." Looks like Bud wasn't kidding, and Huelskamp's home is at Mike. I expect him and Motuapuaka to have a good battle next year for the starting spot, and I feel much better now about our Mike depth than I did a month ago.
This is gonna come as a shock to some of you, but Torrian Gray is an obscenely good DB coach. Missing 2 starters? No problem. Next man up and you're good to go. Saw Donovan Riley make some nice plays and it seems like Desmond Frye likes to hit. So long as Facyson and Jarrett (who was out of the boot, but limping noticeably yesterday) recover fully, I'll feel pretty darn good about our depth on the back end.
The passing game as a whole wasn't particularly impressive, which isn't surprising. Even without D-line stunts, pass protection and making sure everyone's got the right assignment is one of the hardest aspects of the game. Add to that the limited chemistry and timing the QBs have developed with their young WRs, and it'd be unfair and unreasonable to expect a polished passing attack. That said, I saw some good things: Willie Byrn laying out and making a sweet one-handed grab, Motley dropping in a perfectly-thrown ball on a corner route, Bucky showing some nice hands and running ability, plus a few good scrambles. While no QB was outstanding, I thought Motley for sure had the edge over Leal. Leal struggled mightily to get his feet set properly after moving up in the pocket (hard to throw to the sideline when your lead foot is pointed at the goal post. Just sayin') and, though he had a couple nice tosses, just didn't seem to have the same command of the field and certainly didn't show the same ability to scramble and make something happen when the play broke down. I'm really looking forward to seeing Brewer in action this fall and how that QB battle goes.
The RBs looked pretty good today, for the most part. I was happy to see JC convert just about all of his short-yardage runs and saw a lot of guys breaking tackles (usually in the backfield and usually followed almost immediately by non-missed tackles, but still). I felt like a boss on the first possession when I mentioned to my friend that, "I'm really glad Caleb is getting the start here for the White team," and then like that the dude scores a TD. Thanks for making me look smart, Joel. If Marshawn Williams gets even a little bit of blocking help (or is just playing against different DTs), he's gonna be special. Very rare to see one guy take him down or see him fall backwards.
We ran that jet sweep multiple times with three different players for good gains. I like that a) we're getting the ball directly into the hands of our playmakers (for Deon Newsome in particular, it seems like he has some trouble getting the ball into his hands, but once it's there, he's electric) b) we have some legitimate playmaking threats that can bust a big one or two and c) we managed to execute the same play successfully 3 different times yesterday, which I think is pretty sweet.
Well, that's about it. Looking forward to the film review here. I thought, despite the lack of points, the offense as a whole was much-improved. Everything just looked a bit sharper and a lot more explosive. I liked to see our athletes in space making some plays; it was fun to watch, and of course Bud Foster is Bud Foster. Now, it's back to a research paper for the rest of the day....
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Leal struggled mightily to get his feet set properly after moving up in the pocket (hard to throw to the sideline when your lead foot is pointed at the goal post. Just sayin') and, though he had a couple nice tosses, just didn't seem to have the same command of the field and certainly didn't show the same ability to scramble and make something happen when the play broke down.
This. I was shocked at how poor Leal's footwork looked, especially for a senior like him. Some of his throws were accurate without his feet set, but you're just playing with fire there.
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Great summary. I think the current QB situation favors Motley going into the summer. When the r-Soph. and r-Sr. are basically playing at a comparable level, that doesn't bode well for the r-Sr. I really want Leal to have his chance, just because he's been a great teammate and has served the team so well, but I just don't see it happening at this point. I think the summer battle will come down to Brewer vs. Motley.
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Moorehead mentioned that Carlis Parker looks kinda goofy, and at least on one play, i could see that. he looks like a baby deer out there. the good news is that even bambi can scoot when needed. Dude takes up three yards every stride, it seems. i am LOVING the potential threats on this team. Bucky looks like a beast.
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Comments
Football things will happen today yay! I'm thoroughly sad I am missing my first spring game in 8 or 9 years. (Marriage..it will get after ya)
Maroon team is wearing #ALLMAROONEVERYTHING!!
I predict there will be a mass panic over the offense, like usual.
If they keep this up, I may be wrong this year.
anyone know of any way to watch the game online or is it being broadcast anywhere?
ESPN3
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/april/26/those-who-need-it-heres-...
Wow. Already more comments than fans at the UVA Spring Game.
QBs will NOT be live like previously reported.
Probably some caution after them being "nicked-up" earlier this week.
Good call. Nick Sorensen's eligibility expired a while ago.
That's funny, they just said in the stadium that they were live.
Hurry up spring game... the longer it takes for you to start, the longer I have to keep pretending like I'm doing my take home final.
About a month back, I rescheduled a section of my CPA exam for 4/29, and but a few minutes after doing so I realized what weekend that came after and that it would kill my chances of going down for the spring game. Unfortunately, this story doesn't have a die-hard-fan, happy ending where I reschedule again to make the trip (because it ain't free to resched), but it does look like I'll be wasting almost as much time watching this on my laptop and reading TKP as I would have if I had just driven down and gotten bombed tailgating.
Can we confirm it's maroon and white? Not the Orange and white bs from last year?
Hokiesports.com advertised it as Maroon vs. White earlier this week. Guess we'll see for sure momentarily...
Well, in the above posts we have #sources saying...
I wish we'd just do Maroon vs. Orange; it's not like we have to obey NCAA rules during a spring game.
Ooof, not a promising start on the kickoff return...
Ugly kickoff, uglier return. Spring time!
!!SEIKOH OG GO HOKIES!!
Dwight Vick: "Bud Foster steps off the bus blitzing."
Motley's got some wheels!
Demitri's got better wheels.
Knowles with the huge gain!
Nice running by Knowles.
TOUCHDOWN, CALEB!
Ha, the live stream through my XBox is a few minutes behind the online stream, apparently. Glad to have the advanced knowledge!
There goes the shutout.
More points than fans (or points) at UVa's spring game
Huge hole in the line. 55 cleared a monster gap right up the middle.
Offense, I like it!
WTF is wrong with the camera right now... looks terrible.
VT is kicking butt!
OFFENSE !?! - did I eat a tainted pepper? Is this happening? Oh sweet hokie dream, I love you!
Parker returning kicks.
Mediocre return, would like to see a little more decisiveness cutting upfield by Parker.
I like how the teams are mixed, not just straight-up 1's vs 2's.
Coleman tackled by Chase Williams
Very nice play- didn't hesitate, saw the run and got into the backfield.
False Start
Please put Logan Thomas in for Leal. Oh yeah...that's right... jk
Charley Meyer on a short gain.
Nice pass to Meyer, led him so he could run forward into the catch, but read perfectly by the defense.
Chuck Clark prevents the conversion
Dumpoff to Coleman, doesn't get a 1st down. Maroon team will bring out the #PUNTERSWAG
43-yd punt, almost muffed by Newsome
43 yard punt from #PUNTERSWAG. decent distance, decent hang time.
NOOOO! NOT MACKLEMORE, YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS, LANE STADIUM!
I have to admit to be seriously annoyed by the amount of pumped-in music...
Motely "sacked" for a big loss.
If Motley was live, he would've escaped that for more yards
Motely misses Knowles on a 20~ yard pass, Knowles makes the catch but falling out of bounds. Wouldn't have been a 1st down anyway. Punting.
Byrn on the punt return unit.
#PUNTERSWAG only gets a 25 yarder, Maroon team takes over.
AJ obviously wants Maroon to win.
Carlis Parker breaks a huge play
I'm really disappointed the qbs aren't live
Paker on the jet sweep, breaks into the field for 26 yards, with a nice stiffarm at the end to nearly take it to the house.
Dadi made the tackle at the 16
Wow, Dadi almost ran down Carlis from behind!
Folks, it's early, but you can definitely see the Offense in a better spot!
Back to back carries for Juice, not much going but showing a good job falling forward when being hit.
Parker climbs the ladder
Ugh, 42, pull your damn shirt down. I hate it when they do that...
Christiansen's FG is good from 28-yds
Leal with a high and behind pass to Parker for 5 yards, didn't get a 1st down. Looks like he was late hitting parker coming across the middle too.
Walmart coming on for the kick, line drive but it's good.
Whoever is in the ESPN bus directing the broadcast, please stop hitting the button for the little "ESPN college football" cut-away screen.
It's loud, annoying, and seemingly occurring at random.
I love the "commercial breaks" that aren't commercial breaks. The one at the very beginning of the broadcast when you could hear the commentators being confused was hilarious.
They've also been late coming back every time from the commercial breaks that don't exist... which is impressive.
Newsome returns to the 28 yardline.
Motley connects to Bucky!
Motely gets an 8 yard pass to a wide open, 10-foot tall bucky hodges.
Motley to Bucky!
losing yards on a run on 2nd and 2, defensive line played that whole down in the backfield.
Great pass/catch Motley to Hodges
False start on #67.
Wait, what? The O-line is playing for both teams?
Haha the Frankinator seems all-to-ready to use that whistle
NBA Playoffs on the TV and the Spring Game on my laptop. Not bad.
Bucky hodges gets a 5 yard completion on 3rd-9, somehow the defense prevents him from growing the required 12 feet to get the first down.
#PUNTERSWAG struggling today, another 25 yard kick.
Motley to Bucky again. If it weren't for the false start it would of been a first down.
I'm liking what I'm seeing from Hodges. Good hands and he runs well. Hopefully we'll see him become a serious weapon this year.
A little too much on that Leal bomb
Great pocket by the line, Leal misses Byrn down the sideline by just a few inches, byrn had a half a step on the defender.
5 yard pass from leal, a little high but complete.
Redman with the reception
Danny Coale would have caught that pass.
Holding. Decent mobility by Leal, though
55-yd punt!
#PUNTERSWAG makes up for his previous kicks, nails a 55 yarder into the wind, but ends up as a touchback.
#PUNTERSWAG there for sure, 55 yards into the wind? Sheesh!
Caleb gets a carry off the QB option, not much there. Defense did a good job of making Motely hand it off there.
Motely fires a cannon too high, tipped into the air but luckily drops to the ground.
Where can I watch this I'm in Afghanistan staying up late to watch this on my laptop?
See here.
Here you go, and stay safe downrange
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/april/26/those-who-need-it-heres-...
I didn't know Durkin is from Youngstown, OH, but I like it; that's a football town!
Newsome drops a slant, but it was slightly behind him and with a defender draped over him.
Luther Maddy blows the play up 5 yards in the backfield.
Maddy is a beast.
Tipped pass into Meyer's hands
Parker has the ball in his hands, charlie meyer with a heads up play to catch it off of his hands.
J.C. Coleman runs a quick out but didn't get deep enough, 4 and half a yard, maroon is going for it.
JC Coleman gets the 1-yd and then some for the conversion
Teller had a nice block on this play
Coleman breaks a few tackles, puts his head down and gets the 1st down.
Good job JC!
I also like getting him out in space as a receiving threat.
BYRN WITH THE HUGE CATCH 1ST AND GOAL
Paperboy!
Byrn with a 39 yarder down to the 2, leal gets him right on the sideline with a perfect pass.
OOHHHH BYRN !!
JC Stuffed
Luther Maddy blows up another play, loss of two.
Bonner stops Coleman on the edge
Coleman tries to bounce out to the edge David-Wilson style, Bonner has none of it.
Stopped again on the pass to Hite
Tries the bootleg, defense in leal's face pressuring him, Bonner makes the stop in space. Great sequence by the defense.
Viva el Frankinator!
Pass is incomplete on 4th
Chuck clark with solid coverage on a fade pass to Parker.
Bonner looks bigger and like a leader out there. He's playing very well today.
Chuck Clark looking good out there.
Motley picked off by Fuller
Ahahahaha, GG Kendall!
Kendall reminding everyone there's still another Fuller out there, picks off Motely on a deep pass down the field. Step-for-step with Demitri, played it like it was a pass right to him.
Fuller pick - yep, it is now an official Tech game
Don't feel bad Motley, when there's a Fuller on the field, you really don't have a chance. No one does.
Is that Dwight Vick doing the commentary?
Yep.
Great RZ Defense that last series. Despite that pick, it looks like Motley right now is our best QB to move the ball down the field.
Does anyone else have that sick feeling of not knowing whether or not we will be able to pull this off in the second half?
Thanks for the no audio, ESPN
I knew I couldn't be the only one
At least it's back now...
I will say this, the weapons on offense are much more pronounced this spring.
Haha I went to my truck for the XM (channel 190) broadcast, and the title is UVA3 - VT7!
Maroon 3-and-out
I know it's already been mentioned, but it really can't be overstated how much better maroon pants look. Kinda blows my mind that the athletic department even keeps white pants around as an option.
Ford in at QB for White team
2 consecutive Mangus plays, 1st down
Bobbled snap, Maroon recovers
Leal throws wide of Meyer
Maroon 3-and-out
Leal did not look good that series. Very inaccurate, didn't look like he ever really got his feet planted.
True, but he was feeling some heat.
Not a lot of time to set/throw.
Hughes pins em deep on the 2!
#PUNTERSWAG with a perfect punt, dying at the 2 yard line.
ESPN is turrible with the cutaways
amen
Andy Bitter with the top-notch stats:
Can we get a shirt with that and #punterswag on it.... hell I'd buy it
Against NCAA rules.
You can make one for yourself though.
How about if the jersey is numberless?
Anything that is potentially identifiable about the player would be considered a violation, according to the letter of the law. So even a silhouette of AJ's pose, with any sort of catchphrase/hashtag/whatever (especially one that he uses publicly on his Twitter feed) would be pretty obvious. It's just a really bad idea to try to manufacture anything regarding a current player. You can make it for yourself, but nothing that can be sold to anyone else.
Hughes also trying hard to bring all maroon back!
Bucky catches the high Motley pass for the 1st!
Motely with a tricky pass falling off his back foot, luckily 10'7'' bucky hodges was there to catch it right on the sideline.
Knowles catches the quick pass, shows strong legs to break a tackle and get another yard or two.
nice bucky
Newsome with the long gain
Motely with a nice pass to Newsome, drops in between two defenders and the sideline, newsome had a few steps. Safety was late getting over
Beautiful throw and catch.
Motley definitely seems like the QB to give us the best chance to win at the moment.
Motely too strong to the right pylon, but the offensive line did a solid job with the pocket. Stanford looks like he came up a bit lame.
Camera guy has spinal bifida
Newsome with another 1st on the carry
Newsome gets a big run on a jet sweep, Knowles doing a very, very nice job blocking kendall downfield.
Flags down, but Motley goes into the Endzone
Sweeps+speed=yards.
Motely very, very impressive. dodges a lineman in the backfield, keeps his feet set until the last minute and breaks open for a touchdown, but called back from holding.
Did a great job avoiding the rush keeping his eyes downfield.
Stanford out for the rest of the game. Hope that hamstring injury isn't too serious.
Short pass to knowles, solid job tackling by the corner with help coming.
Defensive line causes havoc, sack motely.
Motely just misses Bucky Hodges (somehow) breaking open to the endzone. Motely would have been crushed making that throw if he was live, but nice job standing in there.
Don't worry, when Bucky is 12' tall at the end of summer camp, he'll make that catch every time.
Maroon FG no-good.
Brantover misses a 40 some yarder wide right.
Ford now taking snaps for Maroon
Coleman tries to bounce it, and gets planted by Chuck clark.
He has decent power if he's going north-south, but as soon as he has to bounce it or make a move wide he can be tackled easily.
Ford rolls out, dangerous throw across his body on the run, but right on the numbers to parker for a 6 yard gain.
Ford rolls out for a decent gain
Maddy is a monster in the middle. Ford with a tentative pass. Looks like he just needs to get used to the speed, still.
Maroon going for it on 4th and 1.
Coleman gets the 1st on a 3yd dive
Coleman gets 3 on 4th and 1. Good job finding a little hole in the middle away from the pulling guard.
Ford gets a 5 yard completion out. He seems very accurate when he's decisive.
Ford showing good touch on the short passes
JC stuffed by Chase Williams
Big pressure on 4th down forces Ford to throw it away.
Ford had to throw it away
I'm thinking Chase Williams is going to have a breakout season. He's making a lot of stops; seems to be everywhere for the White team.
Caleb hits the hole with speed, good gain on the backside of the play.
Don't count Caleb out as a HB
Caleb tries to jump-cut away from a defender in the backfield, gets stuffed by the defense.
Motley "sacked" on the 4th down
"We don't block linebackers, we run through them." - Stacy Searels on his coaching philosophy
Leal picked off by Riley
Nice pick by Riley
Motley has what it takes to win the job. Can't wait until August.
somehow the Boo Hoos found a way to lose our Spring Game!
Proof that UVA doesn't even have to show up, they'll lose anyway.
They've perfected the art of 'not showing up'
Off topic, but what head unit do you have installed?
I installed the Kenwood DNX570HD from Crutchfield, with a buddy the day after last Christmas. Decent unit for the price, and does everything I ask of it.
... and after you post it, I see the model number right there. lol
Thanks for the impromptu review. I'm looking to replace my stock unit ('05 GM factory nav) before Thanksgiving, and Kenwood is on my short list of brands.
I'm disgusted that we let UVA score more points than fans at their spring game.
My untrained, first thought conclusions:
- #PUNTINGISWINNING (AJ actually started off a bit rough, had a couple of 25 yard shanks, but made up for it with a 55 yarder that just missed being downed on the goaline, and another 35 yarder that bounced dead at the 2)
Mark Leal may have had the better stats, but I still think Motely looks more composed, with better form under pressure. Motely's accuracy was not as good as Leal's today, though. Ford looks like he needs another year, he looks like the game is still too fast for him right now.
- Carlis Parker had himself a day. Good speed and moves on the jet sweeps, and had a few catches too
- Demitri knowles also stood out, both with good speed, a few good catches, and I also noticed a few plays where he contributed downfield with some solid blocking
- The paperboy will be fine: had a spectacular downfield one-handed catch to get the offense down to the 2. I also felt like he was running more deep routes than usual, with running backs running the short crossing/out patterns that the paperboy used so often last year
- Luther Maddy isn't just good, he's unbelievably good. I couldn't count how many plays he was blowing things up in the backfield, right after the snap. It seemed like he was getting off the ball faster then the offensive lineman could.
- The defense for the most part played extremely well. Lots of pressure, good coverage (with a few exceptions). There were a few running holes in the middle, but the biggest problem they had stopping were the jet sweeps.
- Don't throw it at a Fuller!
- Bucky Hodges isn't just 10'16'' tall, he's a really good football player. May have been one of the best players on offense today.
Can't wait to hear what French has to say about the scrimmage. I'm actually encouraged on both sides of the ball.
IMO, and I think AJ would agree, that the 55 yd punt was not a good punt (only netted 35 yds). It was long with little hang time. Long punts with little hang time are the punts that are returned for TDs. A 45-yard, with enough hang-time for his team to get underneath it would have been much better. I think AJ has a lot of skill, but one of his weaknesses is consistency. I really hope AJ gets to that upper-level tier of punting; he can be serious talent for the next 2 years and in the NFL.
I got the impression, with the short one from the endzone that he was told to not kill it. His swing looked lackadaisical, which is NOT in characteristic for him. Next kick though that shanked, looked like effort but a poor kick.
The one after traveled about 70 yds in the air into the wind.
Of course, if he coffin-cornered that...
I agree with everything you wrote, and it should be noted that the sole TD drive of the day was with Motley behind center. Had the QBs been live, he easily would've had a few more scrambles for 1st downs today. Right now, he appears to be our best chance to move the ball down the field. I'm much more confident in the QB starting off with playmakers around him this Season, regardless of who he ends up being. Whatever happens this season, I expect this to be a more balanced team than last year, with the Offense (and hopefully Special Teams) contributing more.
I have to agree with RocketHokie13s assessment.
I'm anxious to hear if the holes for RB were due to good OL or poor DL.
Effort by Byrn was standout as well as Knowles. Double snap and a swing for Knowles downfield blocking.
Same with people staying in their lanes for kick coverage. From the first one it looked like there was some real effort there.
From my vantage point my impression was good pass protection not so good run blocking but, I had distractions in the stands, I'll stand ready to retract with the evidence provided by other reviews.
I agree pass protection was better than run blocking, but I think both had their bad moments.
Hbow did juice look? Not much mention of him at all...
Definitely a strong runner, falls forward at the end of his runs and can push for extra yardage, but every time he had the ball, he was pretty well bottled up today. Probably a testament to our D-line more than anything. I'll wait for French and Mason to tell me how to feel.
A few observations from the stands:
Our D-line is really disruptive. I'm not sure how they'll hold up on a 4th and 1, but so help you if you try to run sideline-to-sideline on them. Maddy and Marshall pretty much just set up shop in the backfield and hung out there all day. I can't even count the number of times we had a great run set up with a hole developing nicely, only to have one of our DTs come in and blow it all up 3 yards deep.
Chase Williams has been biding his time, but I think the wait will be worth it. Looked very solid out there and was flying around all over the place. Speaking of flying, Deon Clarke can do it. Dude seemed to get from his spot to the sideline in about a second and a half. Kid just has crazy athleticism, very excited to see it on Saturdays. I was also very impressed with our backup Mike, Sean Huelskamp, a redshirt freshman (although he's listed as a true sophomore on the roster, his HokieSports bio said he redshirtted last year) from Centreville, VA. He had a series of plays where it seemed like he made every tackle, including a pair of TFLs. I remember watching a practice a couple weeks ago where Bud was telling him that "[he'll] find a home here soon enough." Looks like Bud wasn't kidding, and Huelskamp's home is at Mike. I expect him and Motuapuaka to have a good battle next year for the starting spot, and I feel much better now about our Mike depth than I did a month ago.
This is gonna come as a shock to some of you, but Torrian Gray is an obscenely good DB coach. Missing 2 starters? No problem. Next man up and you're good to go. Saw Donovan Riley make some nice plays and it seems like Desmond Frye likes to hit. So long as Facyson and Jarrett (who was out of the boot, but limping noticeably yesterday) recover fully, I'll feel pretty darn good about our depth on the back end.
The passing game as a whole wasn't particularly impressive, which isn't surprising. Even without D-line stunts, pass protection and making sure everyone's got the right assignment is one of the hardest aspects of the game. Add to that the limited chemistry and timing the QBs have developed with their young WRs, and it'd be unfair and unreasonable to expect a polished passing attack. That said, I saw some good things: Willie Byrn laying out and making a sweet one-handed grab, Motley dropping in a perfectly-thrown ball on a corner route, Bucky showing some nice hands and running ability, plus a few good scrambles. While no QB was outstanding, I thought Motley for sure had the edge over Leal. Leal struggled mightily to get his feet set properly after moving up in the pocket (hard to throw to the sideline when your lead foot is pointed at the goal post. Just sayin') and, though he had a couple nice tosses, just didn't seem to have the same command of the field and certainly didn't show the same ability to scramble and make something happen when the play broke down. I'm really looking forward to seeing Brewer in action this fall and how that QB battle goes.
The RBs looked pretty good today, for the most part. I was happy to see JC convert just about all of his short-yardage runs and saw a lot of guys breaking tackles (usually in the backfield and usually followed almost immediately by non-missed tackles, but still). I felt like a boss on the first possession when I mentioned to my friend that, "I'm really glad Caleb is getting the start here for the White team," and then like that the dude scores a TD. Thanks for making me look smart, Joel. If Marshawn Williams gets even a little bit of blocking help (or is just playing against different DTs), he's gonna be special. Very rare to see one guy take him down or see him fall backwards.
We ran that jet sweep multiple times with three different players for good gains. I like that a) we're getting the ball directly into the hands of our playmakers (for Deon Newsome in particular, it seems like he has some trouble getting the ball into his hands, but once it's there, he's electric) b) we have some legitimate playmaking threats that can bust a big one or two and c) we managed to execute the same play successfully 3 different times yesterday, which I think is pretty sweet.
Well, that's about it. Looking forward to the film review here. I thought, despite the lack of points, the offense as a whole was much-improved. Everything just looked a bit sharper and a lot more explosive. I liked to see our athletes in space making some plays; it was fun to watch, and of course Bud Foster is Bud Foster. Now, it's back to a research paper for the rest of the day....
This. I was shocked at how poor Leal's footwork looked, especially for a senior like him. Some of his throws were accurate without his feet set, but you're just playing with fire there.
Nice write-up. Thanks!
Question: i guess I missed it but where did Sean Huelskamp come from? Is he a walk-on?
Yep.
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/players/huelskamp_sean.html
wait.. you want me to click on a link?
thanks. I totally missed him I guess...
Seems like we have proud tradition of walk-on LBs.
A walk-on that wears 56. Looked pretty familiar with the way he was in the backfield or around the ball so many times.
Seriously. I was having deja vu for much of the game.
PSA: Jack Tyler wore 58 not 56
Great summary. I think the current QB situation favors Motley going into the summer. When the r-Soph. and r-Sr. are basically playing at a comparable level, that doesn't bode well for the r-Sr. I really want Leal to have his chance, just because he's been a great teammate and has served the team so well, but I just don't see it happening at this point. I think the summer battle will come down to Brewer vs. Motley.
Moorehead mentioned that Carlis Parker looks kinda goofy, and at least on one play, i could see that. he looks like a baby deer out there. the good news is that even bambi can scoot when needed. Dude takes up three yards every stride, it seems. i am LOVING the potential threats on this team. Bucky looks like a beast.
Any news on Stanford's injury? How severe? Someone said a Hamstring...