I thought JC Coleman was appropriately used and performed well in his touches, finally. He wasn't used up the middle or anything like that. Was happy to see the way he was used.
Was a little surprised that Marshawn got so many more carries than Shai especially after last week. However who knows how practice went this week between them. Even though there was really no running room up the middle for anyone I thought they still ran strong. Still took a couple f defenders to get Marshawn down each carry.
OL play seemed pretty good for passing as I think there was only two sacks however every time we ran it seemed like OSU was in the backfield as soon as the ball was snapped. Not sure te difference in schemes on the line there. I'm sure French will break it down.
Deon Newsome is going to break some kicks for a score this year as well as some end-arounds. His play was awesome.
Greg Stroman was impressive in the return game as well.
Special teams played their best game probably in the last two years IMO. Held OSU on all returns and had some of their best tacklin that I've seen in a while.
DBU is DBU. Although Clark got picked on he played very well.
Comments
THIS! After a few years of seeing poor tackling on special teams lead to huge returns or TDs, it was great seeing our team suffocate their returns and hold on when a guy tried to slip a tackle.
It's ok to admit this now. But each time we punted, I held my breath until the return man was down. Kept thinking that all it would take would be one blunder on special teams (bad snap, broken tackle for big gainer) to turn the game around. Was the most worried I was all game.
Me too. Every time I saw our guy about 3 steps in front of the returner, I'd have visions of our gunners running past the returner and then him cutting through our coverage.
i was worried about everything. that was the most stressful game i have ever attended (at least since '99 in morgantown). so many things that have gone wrong for us in recent years were in my visions, but none of them came to be, at least not in the way that they normally would have. we finally found a way to hold on!
I am fully prepared to be stressed for every game the remainder of the season. My liver survived the initial stress test Saturday, but it will only get worse as the season progresses. It's going to be a fun ride though.
I was the same way, especially after OhState went for the block on the first punt. Then, amazingly, they didn't try to block it again, they just went into cover. It's going to take a while before I am confident in BeamerBall special teams play. One game at a time, though. Survive & advance.
On the money with all your statements. I too was very happy with the way they used JC. I can't wait to see more of Stroman in the return game. Great to see Newsome too
JC is too quick and evasive to not be used in some manner. I REALLY like the end arounds with him.
Agreed , best special teams performance in a while. In fact the most complete game and best TEAM performance in a long while. I am still revved up!
I was very impressed with the special teams, especially on kick coverage. That facet has been much improved. I hope Sean Huelskamp is ok after injuring his knee. He had been one of the first ones down the field, making key open field tackles so far this season. It's also nice seeing Joey Slye lay a few mean hits after getting good height/distance on kickoffs. The number of starts < 25 has been tremendous.
Clark could have easily folded up after the way tOSU started the game picking on him, but he didn't. he manned up. so proud of that kid!
9 solo tackles!
We had alot of starters on special teams coverage.
It was weird switching gears on Sunday for the NFL games....after watching our defense be on Ohio State's backfield like white on rice all night, watching defenses hold back and not swarm on Sunday just felt wrong.
I know this has to be posted somewhere already, but this deserves a bump...
We have a kicker that tackles like our punter...
Biggest stones we've had at kicker (not punter, guys) since Pace was there.
time to start #KickerSwag
I don't think it was posted, I've been waiting for it for a while. Nicely done.
There are few quotes that you read and think "That's a Virginia Tech quote right there". This is one of them. Glad to make this green.
Usually on scouting reports, the opposing team rarely has to star the kicker or punter - in our case, they run down the field like they were coverage men for their 1st responsibility, and punter/kicker for their 2nd responsibility. Love seeing these guys get mixed up on plays like this.
Hah. Looks like he even snuck an AJ strong-man pose in there. Love to see a reverse angle on that.
I was just thinking this
Wonder if making a huge hit + AJ Strong-man pose means Slye passes the test to get into the Brotherhood of the #PunterSwag
I saw this during the game, and I knew I'd see it here sooner or later. Leg for you!
"Here at Virginia Tech, we take linebackers and turn them into placekickers."
OR
"Here at Virginia Tech, our kickers and punters learn how to tackle from Bud Foster."
I don't know which quote I like better.
I had no idea that was Slye. That's a bad bad man.
I don't know for sure what exactly Trey's role will be in the next couple weeks but I would really like to see him continue to play on Special Teams. He is a man possessed there, and it gives him a chance to use his athleticism and high school linebacking experience to go hit somebody, without all the "lets move Trey to linebacker talk."
Trey had to grade out pretty well. His blocking was perfect. Saw a cut of him in the sideline. Smiling and high fiving. Good to see.
Let's beat up on ECU
Being willing to take on special teams and 'do the dirty work' on offense will help him earn his way back up the ladder. Look at Sam Rogers. Biggest reason he got featured on the plays he was is because he did all the grunt stuff and was happy to do it. Edmunds can grind his way back up if he repeats his performance and attitude from that game.
That was a great block by Edmunds! Glad to see he is making progress.
Kyshoen, keeps amazing me. He is everywhere and throws his body around with reckless abandon. I loved that crushing block he threw. My section (6C) was going nuts. Not to mention Fuller and the rest of DBU. We need more Fullers making Fullers. Hurry up Vinnie!
Through the first 2 games I've thought Kyshoen has looked a lot like Kyle did last year.
In terms of blocking, look at last year it was the same story. The OL was good a pass protection, Logan Thomas usually had plenty of time in the pocket. Even against Alabama you weren't thinking "wow they put so much pressure on Logan all game". But we had struggles running, not just because we weren't extremely skilled at RB, but Trey could never find holes. Same thing happened for most of Saturday night. No holes. The goal line against W&M there was nowhere for Marshawn to go. I'm not French and I don't know much about the nitty gritty of line play, but anyone can tell that there's nowhere for the RB's to go and that the QB isn't being pressured. Why this is happening I don't know, but we can't compete at a playoff level until it changes.
On another note about Clark, of course he got picked on, nobody wants to go after the other two. And you're right he played a hell of a game.