I'm stoked on the Win, but still not impressed. Just gonna name some things that stood out to me.
The Bad:
1. The O line penalties were inexcusable, was it 5 or 6 false starts?
2. sixth year senior Wang was getting pushed back all day by sophomore DT. He's undersized to be effective.
3. We got really lucky with some Bad UNC turnovers. (Not counting Fuller pick6, that was nasty)
4. Why haven't we gone to J.Caleb more in the run game? With the injuries in the backfield this was the game to get him some carries.
5. Brewer didn't have best protection but he is missing wide open WR and continues to make bad throws leading to INT.
6. The clock management at the end of the first half, the sideline looked like no ones knows what's going on. Also even though that was a long FG, Joey Slye was off by a mile. Side note, does anyone else think Joey Slye is "too big" to be a kicker. I mean it's awesome to have a kicker/LB kicking off but I wonder if his body type doesn't bode well for Effective FG attempts.
The Good:
1. I can now say with confidence that Coach Moorehead is doing amazing work with our WR core. We have avery young receiving core but they've really impressed. I love seeing Bucky Hodges lined up against a 5-10 DB, it's like jimmy Graham out there.
2. Ken Ekanem is a beast.
3. Kendall fuller is the best CB in the Nation. I'm tired of hearing E$PN tab Vernon Hargreaves as the best when clearly Fuller has outplayed him thus far.
4. Marshawn was great, just wish he would hit the hole quicker.
Also, not sure if you guys heard this stat but it really brought me back to reality. Virginia TEch Defense has given up more "explosive plays" than any other Power 5 conference team. Explosive play is a play of atleast 25 yards. Again I'm not trying to sound like a Debbie, we just have a lot to improve on if we truly want to be elite. Hopefully this W gives 5* Jalen Dalton all the more reason to come to Blacksburg. Happy we won, Go Hokies.
Comments
So it looks like this is a repost as I just saw a "game thoughts " forum. Don't worry guys, I'm already drinking for the NFL games but I'll chug one for this.
R
More than one person can have a thought. :-)
I'm hoping Our O-line can get rid of all the mental mistakes.
Brewer played pretty good other than the pick. 18-27, sure he had some bad throws but for the most part he was pretty dang accurate. And no I don't think Slye's is "too big" to be a kicker, he has a chance to be pretty good in the future and I'm pretty sure only the FSU kicker (Aguayo) would have made that kick before the half. Moorehead has all the makings of the great coach as well, but I give Stiney a lot of the credit for developing Bucky since he does coache the TEs
Also the defense was money yesterday, the explosive plays were very limited and it does looks like we are improving on it. I just don't see how that stat is relevant today, maybe over the season as a whole, but not today after yesterday's performance.
It's def. relevant. It means that opposing Offense's will look for the "big plays" against us as we haven given up more than anyone. Ya dig?
Well, over the season it definitely is relevant. But Bud straight up shut UNC down yesterday. They were leading the ACC in points per game and had very few explosive plays of 20+ yards. I just don't see how that stat is relevant today and criticize the defense for it after they clearly improved on limiting it yesterday.
"The Bad" section looks like you copied and pasted the comment section on techsideline.com
For LB sized kickers see Sebastian Janakowski, Nick Schmidt.
For LB skilled by kickers see #punterswag
As for that throw, it looked more like it was on Philips than Brewer. Philips cut the route off, Brewer expected him to keep coming back. And the end of #6? Are you serious?
Between the internet and alcohol, I say pick one and just go enjoy the win. Too much negativity on here for a 17-point win that was never really in doubt. Seriously, people.... there's just no pleasing some of you.
To add to TechHokie13's reaction to #6 (as I reacted that way myself as well), even though it came down to a last second kick, on the previous play with 7 seconds left in the half, I was happy to see that Ford caught the ball and immediately spun towards the sideline to save the opporunity for a kick. And in Slye's defense, the wind was whipping around like crazy which affected the ball's trajectory. Looking at the game's TV feed, you can tell in how shortly after the kick the ball took a hard drive right, away from the goalposts. I'd like to think Slye didn't hook it that hard to the right from the right hash.
Clock management at the end of the first half? Like when the refs started the game clock before the chains got set?
Clock issues regarding first downs is something plaguing ACC refs across the board. (see: UCLA at UVA)
UNC fumbled twice. Once on a sack that our defense forced, and the other was a miffed punt return. I'll give us lucky on the punt fumble, but the sack was the defense doing their job.
Still not seeing how that qualifies as "bad".
I agree with TechHokie13, I fear a bunch of TSL'ers have made there way over here. Not saying we have to wear our O+M glasses all the time but what's with all the negativity?! That's why I left TSL to start with. I was in Chapel Hill yesterday, and had a DAMN good time. My wife is a UNC fan and losing to them is almost as bad as LOLUVA for me. We were fortunate to get the 2 fumbles, I agree--but we punched them in for 6. KFull just did Fuller things, not apologizing for that. We are playing 5-6 true freshmen folks, it aint gonna always be pretty but we are gonna be very good, very soon. Ford and Phillips made some amazing sideline catches. Our running backs are getting going. Bucky is unguardable. our D played amazing if you ask me. As far as the big play stat that keeps getting tossed around, other than the first quarter of the ECU game, we have been good. We have played 3-4 dynamic offenses in ECU, UNC, and tOSU. Nobody left on our schedule has that kind of playmaking on O. However, now its gonna be about stopping the run. We need Luther healthy. Pitt, UVA, BC like to pound the football. Stop the run and eradicate the interceptions, and we win out. I like Brewer, but he needs to protect the football.
Sebastian Janikowski would like to let you know that you can't be too big to be a kicker.
Also, the comment regarding "sixth-year senior Wang" being beaten by a "sophomore DT" implies that age plays a factor in execution. Please tell me that is not what you are trying to say. As many have said, there's far too much negativity after a Win (yet again).
I think you're being a little harsh, UNC is a team that has been lighting up the scoreboard, and to hold them to 3 points through 3 quarters is doing something. Brewer was Brewer again, 67% completions, and one horrible decision, but I can live with it a whole lot easier up big in the 4th quarter. The offense went in with the gameplan to run the ball and control the clock and that's exactly what they did, maybe could've won a shootout through the air vs. UNC like Clemson did, but with our D thin at crucial positions, I'm glad they chose to run the ball 50 times and only put our D out there for about 1/3 of the game
With regards to the explosive plays, it's one of those things we've always been susceptible to because of the way the defense is set up. Some teams can exploit that (see ECU game because their QB has such a quick release you can't really hurry him) but most can't. They'll get big plays here and there.
A few of those big plays don't happen if Facyson was 100%, and Riley had more experience to see, identify, and react, which he's gaining by playing. The defense is getting better, and those plays should be more limited, meaning we'll lower our ranking in that stat as the year progresses.
Remember, Bud Foster defenses get better later in the year as they get more experience and fix problems.