I'm having a hard time developing a take on this game because they are so good at scoring offense and so poor at scoring defense.
UNC Scoring D - 44 ppg
VT Scoring O - 29.8 ppg
VT Scoring D - 20.4 ppg
UNC Scoring O - 40.8 ppg
We seem to be inversions of one another.
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I've been having the same thoughts...we can't afford to shoot ourselves in the foot on offense during this game. We're going to have to score TDs to keep up.
I really think this is the most important game of the year. If we win it gives us momentum for PITT and we also get some time to rest the wounded. The biggest thing is that we stay away from 2 losses in league
Biggest game of the year we already won...on the road...can I get an amen?
Yesterday's gone. The biggest game is your next one.
Caught me slipping. You're right
Things went downhill for a couple of weeks after the "Mission Accomplished" shirts came out.
I was at the Ohio State game and it was great but this weeks UNC game is to make it so the season dream of VT winning the coastal stays a reality.
You are right, we can't go down 0-2 in conference play. We might as well just play spoiler the rest of the season if that happens
They allow more points than they put up. That's never a good thing.
#Maddening
It depends what type of offense we plan to run. I have a lot of faith in our D to get enough stops...its the offense I don't understand yet. We have our best drives when we go power/run heavy, we get 2 first downs then we get stagnate and in come loefflers alter ego with the jet sweeps, double counter runs and go routes.
To be fair, he's not the only one I see this happening with. I can't tell you how many games I've watched over the years for various teams where the run is working consistently, and yet they abandon it, or vice versa. I get the idea of balance, but if your line/rbs are shredding their defense on the ground for 5-7 yards or more per carry...why not keep at it and throw when they start stacking the line?
I've said it before, but I'm just gonna keep on going. This was FSU's problem last year and, to a lesser extent, this year. I have no idea why Jimbo didn't just pound the rock instead of leaning on his QB (who should never have won the Heisman. Have I mentioned that yet?). Yes, they went undefeated and won the NC, but that last game should have never been in doubt, along with a couple others, if they had just ran the darn ball instead of letting Winston chuck it around unsuccessfully for a quarter and a half or so.
Still a great comeback to seal the NC game though.
A few weeks ago, I'd have agreed with you in penciling in our D to get enough stops. But to see them run out of gas against ECU (in an amazing effort to recover after the first quarter) and then not be able to stop GT on 4th and 15 and then be put inside their own 50 with the game on the line, I am nervous. This team is really going to miss Big Luther in the middle and we already saw Marshall miss time to injury and Dadi came off the field limping last game. Our DB's have been left on an island, but that has been really hit or miss at times.
Still got faith in Bud, but this defense can be exposed, especially early in games. The key will be to see if we can get the stops early to avoid Brewer having to sling it 50 times to come back.
And Williams and Trey will need to keep running hard.
Go hokies
I think our O and D have been through the RINGER; I am not so sure this isn't somewhat by design. In manufacturing, that's known as tempering. Tempering makes things strong. Therefore, this team is ready for the call of duty.
That is one way to look at it.
Hope you are right. At this point I am not sure what to expect.
So far this season, opposing teams seem to be scoring much less than their average against VT's D. VT seems to be scoring about the same as the opposing teams' points allowed.
So looking at those numbers...VT 40 UNC 30
So you're saying our offense is average while our defense is above average? Who'd have thunk it?
Who'd have thunk an "average" offense?
they have a mobile QB with big and experienced wideouts. that sounds like a recipe for their fair share of big plays. hopefully bud will throw a few wrinkles at them to counteract the film they have on us. my guess is our offense is going to have to win the game for us and at this point, who knows which O we will get.
UNC game is going to be all about TOP and field position. The Hokies do not have to get in a track meet with UNC. Last time they tried in 2012, they came in 2nd.
They MUST be able to pound the rock and milk the clock. Then pin the Heels deep. Liberty was able to do that to them for almost three qtrs. I believe the Hokies can do it for all four.
There is a way of compensating for Hokie turnovers: score more points than the other team!
More points? Or more punts?
#PuntingIsWinning
haha UNC has a Supervisor of Morale coach. Look for this when we play them, he will wear an NFL jersey of a UNC alum/football player.
Morale Supervisor
Thats awesome, I wondered what was up with that guy. That's a clever position. Maybe too cute with the NFL players jerseys, but the "Supervisor of Morale" is an interesting position.
if you really think about it/want to try way to hard JCC could be our Supervisor or Morale...
His job function is to draw an extra line on their grades, turning the "F"s into "A"s.
Sounds like his position is more imaginary than the classes the players attend.
That was pretty awesome... Right up to the point where he started to talk and then you realized either the guy was high as a kite during this interview, or he just isn't firing on all cylinders.
But then again, knowing this was UNC, I guess that's to be expected of a former player of theirs.
As long as they don't try to slip Ebron back into a UNC jersey and put pads on him (which I think they totally would do)
Clemson got a lead by keeping UNC pinned deep and taking advantage of their porous man and zone defense. There were several times over the middle in zone where they were so out of position literally anyone could have made those throws. I'm just afraid Lefty will get cute and not attack their weaknesses.
I think our D is good enough to get enough stops but they will break some big plays. They have talented wideouts and we should expect to lose a few match ups from time to time, but if we lose this game it will be because we didn't score enough. For me, I'm very interested to see what happens because I will be very upset if we don't score a lot of points on their defense which is absolutely awful.
I had always heard that the complaint was that Loeffler was getting to cute trying to exploit matchups and attack weaknesses. Now we're worried he's going to get too cute and not do that?
There's a difference between "hey, they might not stop this play because they're weak at this position, let's call it" and "hey, I got this play that looks really nice on paper, let's call it."
We haven't seen enough of the former (running straight ahead, seam routes), but we've seen way too much of the latter (jet sweeps to Newsome and Coleman, bubble screens on 2nd down).
I think you misunderstood me, I'm not talking about attacking individual mismatches (which drew the ire of some fans for Lefty getting obsessed with attempting to do this) but the weaknesses of the defense as a whole. Athletically, they are talented but schematically they looked way out of sorts in zones against Clemson and ECU. It wasn't uncommon for a miscommunication or player making the wrong read in a zone to leave a clemson receiver wide open by a ten yard radius.
From what I have seen so far, Lefty has not done a great job of taking advantage of bad defenses, one of the same problems we all had with Stiney. I'm not saying I hate Lefty or don't think he can be a great offensive coordinator for us, but so far, it's been much of the same with us making bad defenses look good.
I have no idea how this game will go. They could score 45+ on us or we could score 45+ on them. Probably not both.
This is my thought. This game is a blow-out ready to happen. One team will be really happy...the other will be the tarheels.
I hope.
I like you
guys great news its their military appreciation day!!!!!!!! you know what that means a VT win by 21!!!!!!!!! wooooooooo
I am already giddy for this game, is this the one where everything comes together!!!!!! A huge win and we could have a lot of confidence going into a beastly matchup vs Pitt thursday night
I think our defense will be able to hold up. they held Carden and company scoreless for 2 and 13/15's of a third quarter. As long as we don't come out and try to be cute but execute what works and control the ball I think we will be ok. Also in the game plan needs to be no more interceptions. Those haven't helped and could cost us this game.
Well, maybe our defense could grab a few INTs.
Gotta find someone to take Facyson's spot. Was really looking forward to him and Fuller locking it down all year.
Very true. Hopefully Reilly can shore up that spot.
Bud might have said the game plan for OSU was based on facing GT, but UNC might have been the team he was really talking about. Big mobile running QB, a shifty speed back and a couple receivers that go out on long runs leaving the inside open for their TE. We are probably going to see a return of the bear.
Just occurred to me that if you split the differences in our averages, VT wins 37-30. Of course those averages aren't weighted for quality of competition...
If you apply the transitive property to our respect results vs ECU, VT wins by 26!
We can't get into a shooting match. Yes we have a lot of talent, but our offense hasn't been a big play offense. Need to sustain 10-15 play drives that GENERATE POINTS to keep the defense fresh and limit the opportunities UNC has.
You are absolutely right, and welcome to TKP!
This was Beamers game plan when VT played the dinosaurs right after the earth cooled.
Its kinda been their calling card for a few decades now.
I would like yo see us test the ol on the first drive by running I formation power plays with some option and the test them deep. I am still not convinced Brewer can throw the ball more than 40 yards in the air.
I think he can throw the ball 40 yards...to the other team.
This has nothing to do with the conversation, just wanted to share this with everyone:
All I see is the Bill Snyder owning of Kansas and for that all I can say is....
Challenge Accepted
It would be great if Beamer retired having not lost to UVA again.
Ah, but only because Snyder saw the writing on the wall. Kansas beat K St every year during his vacation.
I'll never understand that Orange Bowl against Kansas.
...or the UGa Chick Fil A Bowl, or the Michigan Sugar Bowl.
Uh, Les Miles immediately lost after this graphic was put up. Maybe we don't want to be on it.
Agreed and upvoted.
Someone with a troll account over at la sabre should post this during hate week:
Captain Obvious here, but I see turnovers and special teams as the biggest factor in this game.
UNC D against the run - 91 (out of 125)
against the pass - 124 (out of 125)
If Brewer is on, we stack up pretty good on O, if he's off we miss a golden opportunity
^^^^This! We must execute. We have the opportunity to win this game by 14-17 points in my opinion.
Agreed. There should be no reason why we shouldn't be able to win this game. No excuses if we lose.
I don't think the Hokies should get too overconfident because of UNC's defense. In watching the Clemson game, the UNC D actually played pretty good. They stuffed the Clemson run game. They mostly got beat by some big plays over the top.... Who does this sound like?
I actually like the Hokie defense vs Heel offense matchup much better. Heel offensive line is very young and inexperienced, and they have some current injury issues. Also, Gio Bernard is playing his 2nd season in the NFL, and his replacement in Chapel Hill has not gotten there yet.
The Hokies need to play this game much like last year's game. Do enough on offense, and hammer them on D. Brewer is going to need to be a competent game manager, and not shower their offense with gifts.
If the Hokies don't do anything really stupid, they should be able to take this one somewhere in the 27-21 neighborhood.
Clemson hasn't been able to run on anybody all season not named South Carolina State. And if you give up 6 TDs through the air to a true freshman QB, I'm sorry, but your defense is as legitimate as Rashad McCants' bachelor's diploma.
I'm with you, UNC gave up 150+ yards rushing to both SDSU and Liberty... have not allowed less than 27 points in any game this year. They really can't be all that good
I hear you, but the Hokies haven't been able to run on anyone not named Western Michigan. In fretting over the UNC D, I'm mostly worried about our offense. Ga Southern dropped 28 pts on GT in a little over a qtr, and the Hokies managed 24 at home over a whole game. Last week, the Hokies only scored 24 non-gift wrapped points on Western Michigan at home.
I think the Hokies can win this game, if they don't go bonehead ala GT game.
Upvote for the Rashad McCants bit.
If what has been reported is true in that Frank issued a halftime executive order to "run the &^#%% ball" in the WMU game, then I think we'll be ok.
Watching the RBs run with purpose, the big guys block with fervor, and Brewer only throwing 11 passes (most of them smart decisions), I don't think enough can be said about how the offensive philosophy appeared to change during that second half. I hope it sticks around, and until I see otherwise on Saturday at 12:30, I believe it will.
I didn't think that UNCs rush defense looked very good in their game against Liberty earlier this year. I admittedly haven't watched a lot of UNCs games, but Liberty was able to run the very pretty well against UNC, especially in the redzone with three rushing TDs in three trips.
Listening to TTL right now, I'm wondering,when was the last flyover at a VT game? I understand we haven't had one this year.
Frank Beamer being his usual gracious self, again complimented our fan base.
I think they cut the flyovers to save money for the new video (HOAT RULES), pamphlets, and the new indoor facility. They also significantly cut the commercials during the game on the jumbotron. We had to make a cut somewhere and my guess is it was the flyovers.
As I recall, the flyovers are sponsored by the Corps or private donors. Several have been cancelled because the weather hasn't cooperated. They're usually done on Military Appreciation Day.
^This. Apparently we were supposed to have a B-25 flyover during the ECU game, but the weather didn't cooperate
UNC team chemistry is bad this year, if we get ahead they will lay down. Both offense and defense are filled with outstanding superstars but not really good team players, which is why you have the blowouts vs. ECU and Clemson. Once we get up on the Tar Heels, key here is to not let up and turn up the heat. Frustration will lead to implosion in Chapel Hill for the Tar Heels this week. Need good game plans from Lefty, Bud and Frank as we can put points on the board in all three aspects of the game, as can Tar heels. Let's Go... Hokies!!!
This game has the potential to thrive on what we all know as BeamerBall. If we get a lead and make UNC one dimensional, Bud can be aggresive and create takeaways which will turn that UNC implosion into a VT explosion on the scoreboard.
On paper, the pieces are in place. Running game finally got revved up, we now have an unquestioned number one at tailback (Get better, Shai!), Lefty's hopefully had his come to Jesus moment and is ready to reembrace the run and Brewer will be able to look more OSU, less first half Western Michigan, with a balanced running attack. This could be the moment it all comes together.
Or it could be a dumpster fire. Whichever.
The refs' throwing arms could get pretty sore after this one. Last week, UNC was penalized 15 times for 130 yards.
15 times. Yeesh, and I thought we were struggle-bussing with the penalties this year.
Anybody else going to be disappointed if we don't score at least 45 points on UNC?
Nope, not if we win.
UNC's defense isn't good, but its better than GT and WMU's. FEI/S&P Defense ratings of opponents:
OSU: 36
ECU: 62
GT:101
WMU: 105
UNC: 86
Pitt: 55
Miami: 30
BC: 56
Wake: 65
Duke: 52
uva: 35
VT: 7
We are about at the point where these stats have enough data to make some sense. Another week or two would be nice, evening out everyone's schedule. So 45 points is a lot, considering we couldn't sniff that against W&M, GT or WMU.
we could have against WMU. We scored what 31? We had two dropped TD passes by Ford and Phillips. Those were both touchdowns had they been caught and they were catchable balls. If those two go in for scores that puts us at 45 exactly.
8 points gifted by WMU's ST's.
We scored 35. The ball thrown to Isaiah Ford may have been catchable, but it was also very difficult to catch. Looked like an overthrow from where I was sitting. Cam Phillips should have caught his ball though.
Call me pessimistic, but I don't see us winning this game. The team didn't show enough improvement last Saturday to convince me that this offense has turned the corner. If Brewer continues his trend of interceptions and the offense in general continues to struggle to run the ball, the defense will be placed in situations where their backs are against the wall and UNC's offense is good enough to capitalize. It is on our offense to win this game, plain and simple. They need to play smart, not turn the ball over, and take advantage of the good field position that our defense should be able to give them (at least a couple times).
Then again, who knows? Maybe this is a team that plays better on the road, and we'll see that same Hokie squad that showed up in Columbus. Still, my score prediction is:
Virginia Tech: 24
UNC: 31
I hope I'm wrong.