It wasn't always pretty, but Scot Loeffler's commitment to run the football was the critical component of the Hokies' 34-17 win against North Carolina. A combination of determined Tech running backs and blockers cranked out yards on the ground. The Virginia Tech offense held onto the football for 41:03. That allowed Bud Foster's shallow defensive front to play at wrecking ball speed for under 19 minutes. You can't underestimate the impact this had on the Hokies' ability to pressure the quarterback and play significant amounts of zone coverages for the first time this season. Also, the lengthy Hokie possessions seemed to disrupt the rhythm of North Carolina's offense. Larry Fedora never got into any kind of play calling comfort zone. The offensive line had slow stretches, but they were dominant as the Hokies took a big lead early. At the most critical stretch in the game, after the Michael Brewer interception, the Hokie hogs responded with a long, well executed drive that saw a major improvement in intensity. The drive, which produced the Slye field goal, ate up almost seven minutes of clock, and gave the Hokies a comfortable margin to withstand a furious Tar Heel comeback.
Still, I am sure there were catcalls through long stretches of the game about the blocking. It is apparent that the offensive line is inconsistent, and seems to struggle most often against defensive fronts that use movement and stunt frequently. This is an ongoing theme over the last two seasons. The o-line plays really well against teams that work to win battles at the point of attack, like Alabama and Miami. The exception has been East Carolina, but the Pirates had dominant nose tackle, and matchup nightmare, Terry Williams. However, the offensive line tends to struggle against teams that stunt frequently. Boston College created problems last season. Ohio State, East Carolina, and Western Michigan gave the the Hokie running game trouble by stunting and using movement. Frankly, it is baffling, because when the Hokies use a zone scheme, everyone should be blocking the playside gap. Each lineman should step into his assigned gap, get a hat on whichever defender shows, and drive them out of the hole. Yet, against stunting looks by North Carolina, the Virginia Tech offensive line didn't seem to be on the same page and suffered breakdowns.
The Inside Zone Series with Jet Sweep Motion
Let's see how much confusion a simple stunt can create the Hokie front. Virginia Tech has a third-and-one from its own 39-yard-line. On the first touchdown drive of the game (which I will review in a moment), Loeffler used the slot receiver motion to freeze UNC's safeties. On this play, Loeffler uses the same motion to freeze the field safety (No. 2) and then runs what appears to be an outside zone back to the boundary.
The play breaks down. Williams' alignment to the side of Brewer means he is most likely going to have to run the outside zone behind left tackle Laurence Gibson and left guard David Wang. To the top of the screen, UNC runs an "X" stunt. The defensive end crashes inside between Gibson and Wang, and the defensive tackle loop behind him to the outside to take the edge gap. The middle linebacker blitzes into the center-guard gap. The Heels hope that the movement will cause one of the linemen to chase the looping defensive tackle, creating a lane for either the end or linebacker to crash through unblocked.
UNC creates the confusion it was hoping for. It is difficult to tell if this run left is an outside zone or an inside zone. Williams' alignment to the side of Brewer indicates that this play is an outside zone. However, David Wang, Caleb Farris, and Ryan Malleck block the play like an inside zone, and Williams takes a path indicative of an inside zone. The play call, which I can't be one hundred percent sure of without being in the huddle, would indicate who made the error.
If it was an outside zone, then the following scenario played out. Laurence Gibson stepped hard to the outside, as he should, and the defensive end crashed hard inside. Wang should've stepped laterally through the guard-tackle gap. If he did, he would've collided with the defensive end and driven him to the sideline. Instead, Wang's first step was straight ahead, and he chased the defensive tackle up field and outside on his loop stunt. Gibson should've sealed the stunting defensive tackle inside, but when he sees that the end is unblocked, he tries to recover and drive the end inside. Farris took the blitzing middle linebacker. Conte took a hard lateral angle inside, helped Farris chip the blitzing linebacker and found himself in perfect position to seal the other linebacker to the right (which is correct if the running back goes outside and to the left). McLaughlin tried to scoop the three-technique defensive tackle but got driven into the backfield. However, if the run went wide to the left, the defensive tackle wouldn't factor on the play. Malleck sealed the defensive end on the back side. Williams saw the defensive end take away the designed path of the run, so he ad-libbed and cut back to the small seam created between McLaughlin and Malleck. Conte was out of position due to the cutback, and the linebacker came in to tackle Williams. Williams' effort, first leapfrogging the defensive tackle and then pushing forward until he is just short of the marker, salvaged the play.
However, if the call was an inside zone, Conte should have taken a more straight ahead approach, chipped the three-technique defensive tackle and then hit the linebacker squarely. Gibson should have also taken a more north-south step, although frankly with that stunt, any piece he would have gotten on the defensive end would have been a bonus. With the chip from Conte, McLaughlin would have pushed the defensive tackle back, and Conte would have squared up on the linebacker. It is difficult to determine who failed to execute their assignment without knowing the play call, but against movement, it was clear that there still isn't great timing and chemistry up front.
When the offensive line played with confidence and aggression, the zone runs yielded much better results. The very first offensive play of the game speaks to the possibilities for success that better chemistry can yield, but note, UNC played a very static front early without much stunting.
Hokies run an outside zone, but instead of Caleb Farris trying to scoop the middle linebacker vertically, he pulls to intercept the middle linebacker in the hole. David Wang reaches the defensive tackle and Laurence Gibson absolutely manhandles the right defensive end. Marshawn Williams finds the seam outside and gets a solid gain.
On the following play, Williams scores a touchdown on the exact same play that the Hokies butchered in the first clip—a zone play with Ford faking the jet sweep. This time, North Carolina plays a base look without a stunt, and Wang and Gibson get so much push off the left side on their combination block that they force the safety to take a bad angle at Williams without even blocking him. Williams strolls into the end zone.
Upon a second review, Ryan Malleck does a really strong job of sealing the defensive end outside. Caleb Farris scoops the one-technique trying to cross his face. Augie Conte pushes middle linebacker Jeff Schoettmer (who had a spectacular game) almost back to the goal line. McLaughlin doesn't get a great scoop block (you'd like to see his head on the inside of the crashing defensive end and turning him back out), but he gets enough contact to prevent the end from catching Williams from behind. Williams scores even though Hodges does a figure-eight drill without blocking anyone on the back side. Hodges made up for it later with his beautiful touchdown catch.
The jet sweep motion was clearly designed to distract the UNC safeties, who struggled in coverage and run support against East Carolina and Clemson. This was critical on the Hodges touchdown catch. The motion also occupied the edge player to the sweep side, which prevented him from crashing on the inside zone.
Deon Newsome runs jet sweep motion to the top of the screen. The UNC safeties are both playing deep, with the safety to the sweep playing deep outside leverage on Hodges' post route. The safety to the bottom of the screen should rotate into the middle with the motion and take Hodges on any inside-breaking route. Instead, his eyes are in the backfield and on Newsome, and delays before rotating towards the post route. He is late and Hodges is wide open. Trey Edmunds does a terrific job of picking up the UNC blitz. Not only does he pick up the correct man; Edmunds also turns him to the outside to give Brewer a throwing lane. Brewer delivers a beautiful soft ball right into Hodges' hands. The motion was the key. The safety fixated on the inside zone and jet sweep combination due to both Williams' early success running in the game, and the established success of the jet sweep on film against Ohio State and UCLA. Without either, the UNC safety likely slides over from outside Brewer's line of vision and intercepts the pass. While I think Loeffler can improve in areas, this kind of play design, where one play compliments two others, demonstrates his strength as an offensive mind and was sorely lacking from the system run by Bryan Stinespring and Mike O'Cain.
Rule Blocking the Counter
When UNC started to have more success against the inside zone by using a variety of stunts and shifts up front, Loeffler tried to mix in some counter plays to re-ignite ground production. The results again were wildly inconsistent. When the line could get a helmet on helmet, they effectively executed their blocks. But, with the counter being a rule blocking play, the Hokies seemed to struggle with following their blocking rules. Let's examine a counter from the second quarter.
Jonathan McLaughlin's rule is gap-down-linebacker. That means he must step play side to make sure no defender shoots through the gap to his inside. If there is a three-technique tackle, he drives him inside. If not, he should take an angle to intercept the linebacker. UNC runs a scrape exchange with the end crashing and the linebacker going outside, which screws up McLaughlin's assignment. McLaughlin takes a very flat angle which would only work if the middle linebacker is fitting a gap inside. Unfortunately, the linebacker stunts to the outside to take contain. McLaughlin is too far inside to recover and get back out to seal the linebacker. David Wang pulls and finds the defensive end crashing inside. You would like to see Wang get more movement, but if McLaughlin intercepts the linebacker the run still can be successful because of Malleck's strong trap block to the outside of Wang. Williams trying to bounce outside of Malleck's block instead of cutting inside doesn't help matters. Those little execution errors can derail a play quickly.
When UNC played a static front, the Hokies had much more success. Here is a similar counter play with Williams gaining a nice chunk of yardage.
This time, UNC uses a more static front without the scrape exchange. Teller is in as the pulling left guard. The end now has contain responsibility, so he plays wider. Teller blasts the defensive end to the outside and up the field, which creates a large bubble between the end and the next available defender. Malleck pulls and turns up to the inside and absolutely rocks the linebacker sliding across trying to fill the gap. Williams gets a big run.
Note how McLaughlin executes his gap-down-linebacker rule. This time, the defensive tackle shows in his face. McLaughlin seals him inside. The linebacker also fits the same gap, trapping himself inside. That takes a solid play and turns it into a highlight.
Loeffler Breaks Out the Wang Package
After two seasons of hand wringing over short yardage and goal line blocking, Scot Loeffler turned to the "Wang Package" as a difference maker Saturday. Almost every short yardage play saw Wyatt Teller replace David Wang at left guard, and Wang lined up as the play side tight end. Early, the Wang package didn't deliver all the punch Loeffler had hoped for, like on this third-and-one in the first quarter.
The Hokies use a two tight I formation with Wang as the left tight end. The play is "G Lead". The front side guard pulls play side to kick out the first defender along his path. The fullback leads through the hole, the play side tackle blocks down, the rest of the o-line work combo blocks to prevent back side pursuit.
Wyatt Teller pulls, the combination of Wang and left tackle Gibson block down and Rogers leads. UNC defensive end Norkeithus Otis (No. 8) shoots through the gap between Wang and Gibson, and the corner blitzes off the edge. Teller absolutely destroyed/pancaked the cornerback, but Wang doesn't take a sharp down block step and completely missed Otis. Fortunately, Williams is able to bounce outside of Otis to find all the space created by Teller's pancake. In order for the Wang Package to continue to play a role, he'll need to stiffen up on those down blocks.
Late in the second quarter, with the Hokie defense playing strong, Loeffler again used the Wang Package. This time it was on a critical drive which resulted in the lead extended to three scores. The Hokies ran the "G Lead" again, this time to the right, with McLaughlin and Wang blocking down and Conte kicking out.
Wyatt Teller (who had a terrific game minus a false start and a really borderline holding call) delivers a beautiful, beautiful scoop block on the back side defensive tackle. Wang and McLaughlin cave in the right side. Rogers has a nasty collision in the bubble to make a hole. Unlike the previous play where Teller pancakes the edge player/corner, Conte is faced with a tougher challenge and has to kick out the defensive end. Conte seems to lose his feet (perhaps he gets tripped up a bit by Rogers leading through the hole), and doesn't get much movement on the end. Williams has to cut back slightly inside of Conte. On the back side, Laurence Gibson works his way through the inside gap and gets just a bit of contact on the defensive end before moving to the second level. Defensive end Dajuan Drennon (No. 17), a highly recruited redshirt freshman from New Jersey, should not be able to make this play. However, he bounces outside of Gibson, changes direction to go flat down the line, and crushes Williams as he goes for the first down marker. You could argue that Gibson needs to secure Drennon before moving to the next level, but the moment Drennon went to his outside rather than inside, you don't expect that he can make the play from that distance. Perhaps Hodges could have gotten a piece of Drennon, but he plays a passive contain technique and would unlikely have done much other than pushed Drennon towards the play. This was one of several spectacular plays Drennon made on the day, and I don't relish seeing him against the Hokies the next three years.
A Third Quarter Lull
Unfortunately, at the moment where it seemed that North Carolina was ready to roll over and die, the offensive line seemed to lose continuity. The Heels amped up their aggression and blitzing, and the line struggled to adjust. Coach Searels tried several options at both guard spots to try and stem the tide.
I am not sure what Conte is doing here. He has the responsibility to scoop through the inside gap, but he is a step slow and the UNC defensive tackle blows right by him into the backfield. David Wang also missed a linebacker assignment on a combination block on several zone plays. After Conte's struggles, Wang's and Teller's false start penalties, a frustrated Searels tried a combination of Alston Smith at left guard and Wang at right guard. Smith too struggled to get that block at the second level, as Jeff Schoettmer (who had a terrific game, yet somehow was only credited with 6 tackles) ran in behind Smith and rocked Williams in the backfield.
After the defense maintained a tenuous grip on the three touchdown lead through the third quarter, Michael Brewer threw an interception on an eerily similar smash route combination to the pick that sealed the Georgia Tech loss, and the defense finally broke. It seemed that the failure to finish North Carolina off was going to come back to haunt the Hokies. At this dire moment, the offensive line responded with a big time, game winning drive.
Execution and Aggression in Winning Time
When the Heels seemed to have all the momentum, the Virginia Tech offense responded with a 6:47, 16 play, 76 yard drive that gave the Hokies the breathing room they needed to close out the game. The drive, which featured strong runs by forgotten running backs Trey Edmunds, J.C. Coleman and Joel Caleb, as well as several confident completions by the maligned Michael Brewer, was energized by a significant improvement in aggression and execution of the offensive line. All the grinding yards early started to pay dividends as the Hokies started to control the line of scrimmage. Not surprisingly, the drive kicked off with an inside zone read, sparked by the original starting group of Conte, Farris, and Wang.
What stands out is how aggressively Conte and McLaughlin get off the football. They are not moving laterally looking to catch a defender. Conte especially explodes into the linebacker and drives him towards the bottom of the screen. McLaughlin turns his man outside, and Farris gets just enough of the stunting defensive tackle to let Edmunds slash into the bubble created by Conte. After Brewer's interception, and almost a full quarter with next to nothing positive happening for the Hokie offense, this run seemed to energize the offense.
After a first down, the offense found itself back in a critical third-and-short situation, and Loeffler again turned to the Wang Package. This time Wang lined up on the right side, with Hodges flanking him at H-Back and Malleck on the left. This is the Stanford-style, three tight end power look that I have been waiting to see. Loeffler called power, and the offensive line (along with Rogers and Hodges) delivered.
Hodges seals the initial edge defender to the outside. Wang and Gibson block down to create a bubble between Hodges and Wang. Rogers leads into the bubble and has a violent collision with the linebacker. There is such a nice hole formed between Wang, Hodges, and Rodgers that Teller almost has nobody to block. He steams through the hole, and Caleb (who along with Coleman had some impressive slashing runs while replacing Williams and Edmunds) bursts into the hole for a critical first down. After a couple of additional first downs and more time burned, Joey Slye finished the drive with the field goal that should have put the game on ice.
Unfortunately for Virginia Tech, UNC scored quickly, and the Hokies were not able to capitalize on the short field after a Joel Caleb kick recovery. While it was unlikely that the Tar Heels could have come back, a punt to All-American, and electric return man, Ryan Switzer had me on edge. However, Switzer fumbled a fair catch attempt. The Hokies' offensive line then sealed the deal with two dominant plays, both of which again featured Wyatt Teller's huge potential as a star in the making up front.
First, Loeffler kicked the drive off with a fullback kickout on the power play.
Focus on the combination block on the three-technique lined up on Teller's outside shoulder at left guard. Teller chips the three-technique's inside shoulder so Gibson can scoop him. Teller then peels off to get the strong safety. Once Teller finds the safety, he drives the outmatched defensive back completely out of the picture. Credit also goes to Coleman for a strong run. Gibson loses leverage on the defensive tackle but Coleman runs right through his arms down to the goal line.
Loeffler effectively ends the game by running another power play. Darius Redman (in the game as the left tight end), Gibson, and Teller all block down.
Teller chalks up another pancake, this time on the defensive tackle. Wang pulls around and leads through the hole. Hodges and Rogers seal their defenders outside. This is a beautifully executed dagger right to the heart of the North Carolina football program and a fitting end to the game for a much-maligned group of warriors in the trenches.
After a much-needed week of rest, Loeffler and the rest of the offensive staff will need to get his battered front and running back group as healthy as it can be leading into a slugfest at Pitt. Coach Searels will review the various combinations up front, and try to identify the most effective rotation through the next bye week, while Shane Beamer and Loeffler will work to get Caleb and Coleman ready to shoulder the load if Marshawn Williams ankle isn't ready to go by October 16th. But, for a team that had struggled so much to run the ball consistently, the response at the most critical juncture of the win against North Carolina is a much needed jolt of positive energy heading into some much needed time off.
Comments
Yep, Wyatt Teller will be a star who will only get better. Williams power at running back is obvious, hoping he will improve greatly at reading the holes.
With all the mentions of Wyatt Teller coming in and making plays and Wang blowing plays (phrasing!), why isnt Teller starting over him?
Needs more ewoks
For the Jedi Mind Tricks?
Another fantastic analysis. These things turn non-football playing rubes like me into fully dipped experts ready to drop knowledge bombs on unsuspecting people at a moments notice. I also skipped a meeting this morning to read this. Priorities.
This team will send quite a few players to the NFL in 3-4 years. Teller, Smith, Hodges, Ford, Fuller, Phillips, Marshawn, etc.
Our young guys are performing better than the veterans 2 years ago.
Smith? Smith who?
At the rate backs are going down, the short pass may have to substitute for the power run.
The message I'm getting here is 'the OL is fine as long as the defense cooperates by allowing us to play to our strengths.' What I saw on Saturday was UNC showing the rest of the teams on our schedule a blueprint for disrupting our offense. As long as the opponent protects the ball (21 of our points came off UNC turnovers) and attacks our OL they stand a good chance of mitigating our scoring offense.
Yeah. I'm just stumped as to how our line can still be having these problems.
I suppose the personnel shifts (McG from left to rt tackle for example) could have their minds a bit confused as to what their bodies should be doing, but man! 5 games in and still seeing people just completely whiffing.
Yes, rb's need to take what's available, and occasionally do not. But I'm having a hard time finding any reason to hope that the O-line is actually going to improve substantially throughout the season.
I want to believe that with more reps, they'll lock down their assignments.
But for yet another season, they don't appear to be on track to do so.
I just have to tell myself are only 2 years removed from Newsome, and on our 3rd O-line coach in 3 years. And that our simpler blocking concepts against base defensive sets looks more effective than they have in a while, so that at least is a positive.
I wish I knew what could help these guys progress faster against a shifting, stunting D.
I feel like I've been watching the same old film for the last 10 years. VT up on schedule, release the hounds!
Our OL objective went from road grader to athletic lineman, but seems like we've never been able to recruit a good enough athlete that teams don't just blitz and stunt us to death.
At a point in this excellent analysis, French mentions play calls to counter the increased stunting, blitzing. Evidently after 10 years we can't call and/or execute plays that will counter stunting blitzing.
I admit I am jumping to the conclusion that our OL is athletically limited and thus we will never (until we recruit better) have the large long armed athletes that can play in space well enough to execute these running plays. I further admit I am far from a football genius, but there have to be ways we can stop teams from doing this to us?!!@##@@ Little explosive guys like JCC Mangus (no longer here I know) etc should be the kind of guys who make aggressive LBs pay. Combined with our TEs... there should be a way to make teams pay. Roll the QB out. Play action pass (saw Beamer mention that... I thought UNC was very aggressive pretty quickly against our run game... getting guys forward and /or moving forward on the snap). They seemed to think zone and putting guys close to the line would help them. Quick hitters into soft zone spots. Maybe its too much to ask with relatively inexperienced QB and catchers.
At times I want to just go back to the road graders... the guys who might not have NFL frames, but will bully teams in the trenches with their nastiness, leverage, and overall strength. But we have so much athletic talent around our area...seems a waste to run that kind of offense.
Are we just not developing these guys on the OL? Agility wise? Am I totally off base?
It may show that, but it also shows what to work on and get better at. Also, if stunting isn't something a defense does, they're not going to be able to execute after prepping for one week for it.
I don't know if the Wang package is something I can get behind (not that there's anything wrong with that)
Just try not to be in front of it, and you'll be ok.
Your wording is suspect and has me wincing somewhat...
French for the OL coach job? #sorrysearel?
Thanks for the great analysis. I always like reading these and make me feel like I have actually learned something additional about football.
It is wonderful to see our freshman stepping up and getting better on a game by game basis. My only worry watching the game was how unbalanced our playcalling was against a team with a known bad pass defense who was stacking the box against us. We still refused to really pass the ball. Was that the commitment to the run or the coaches being unwilling to trust Brewer throwing the ball?
I think it was a commitment to the run, particularly after getting to a 3 score lead.
I would have liked to have seen the O opened up a bit more, but it's really hard for me to argue with the results that we got from winning the TOP so decisively, and therefore our thin D being able to play at a very high level. Allowing the D to have as much rest as they had was crucial.
If Loeffler had a lie detector on, the truth would be that the gameplan was designed to protect the defensive line. UNC runs that HuNH nonsense and if they can maintain posession they can wear out a deep team quickly. The Hokies used only three defensive tackles and Dooley/Alford didn't get many reps at end. You don't see some of those big defensive stops in the 3rd Q if Loeffler didn't shorten the game. Dadi, Marshall, and Ekanem would not have had the burst.
Trying not to be cynical... Beams did say that he thought some play action pass might have worked on early downs... just seems like we're not on top of playcalling and execution enough to plan holistic whole-facet game strategies.
Will Stewart @WillStewartTSL 13m13 minutes ago
Spent way too much time this morning calculating that VT snapped the ball with an ave. of 11.7 secs on play clock, UNC an ave. of 19.5.
Ok then we'd need to get into methodology and make sure he did not count, for our purposes, times when the play clock and the official game clock do not coincide.
For instance, the play clock may run but the game time clock does not when plays resumes after an official time out, place kick, regular team called time out, first down (play clock MAY run but time clock is supposed to stop until the chains are reset), commercial time out, plays where the ball goes out of bounds and incomplete passes. That is a lot of plays where the time on the play clock makes no difference to game clock time.
Then we 'd need to select for when it makes no difference, for instance we possessed the ball at the end of 3 of the 4 quarters (1,2 and 4), where a bit of a rush for tactical clock control counts for more than strategic clock control. We ran 2 plays with 6 seconds left in Q1, 4 plays with 18 secs left in the half.
edit: What I'm trying to say is the guy did a fine bit of work but, we need more info to see how it is relevant.
I did think Brewer was snapping the ball with too much time left on the play clock in the 4th quarter. The game probably should have been 2 minutes or so shorter.
I must have said a half dozen times "why is the play calling designed to run the clock, but the ball keeps getting snapped with 20 seconds left on the play clock"???? I realize Brewer is calling the snap, but after 2 or 3 times, why is someone not telling him to "look at the play clock!!"?
He's probably afraid one of the lineman will false start, they had what 7 false starts on the day and I think 6 were on the line.
I would request more looks at the RBs. there is passing mention on one play in which "Williams taking it outside rather than inside does not help matters." It isn't just the OL. Against OSU there were holes that the RBs missed. Obvious holes. On that one video above, if Williams does turn it inside then there is a gain. On the good run example in one of the earlier videos, UNC had 3 defenders in position to tackle but one was off balance and shielded others.
I agree.
Watching the game their were many times that I was yelling for the RB to cut inside instead of stringing it out.
Coach Hite has said 'I never second guess my backs when they have the ball in their hand' and that's why he was the coach and not me.
But I found myself thinking the same.
No doubt there were holes missed. Doesn't excuse some of the just awful breakdowns on the O-line, but there is definitely room for improvement everywhere in the run game.
That's what I loved about Mangus and what I love about what I've seen out of Caleb so far: They hit the hole at speed and take what it gives them. There have been several Caleb carries that almost went the distance because of that. I have a feeling that with more carries, he might just break a couple.
Get to the hole quickly, get to the second level, and then you have the opportunity to make a guy miss and find a lot of green.
I was just thinking about that quote from Coach Hite the other day. I was wondering if part of the reason that philosophy worked was the running plays we utilized. I think under Bussell (and to a lesser extent under Stinespring) we utilized more power and option. There shouldn't be as many decisions because the play is designed to attack a specific spot until the RB needs to avoid contact. With the increased focus on zone, young RBs may need more guidance on how to detect the hole and when cutback vs wait for the hole.
I also could be flat out wrong, so take that with a grain of salt.
It may not often bring us huge plays, but we play much better football when we commit to the run. It's much better to run for 40+ times a game, than pass for that many. Controlling the clock like that helped our defense in a huge way. A net rushing gain of 150+ yards/game will always be an asset, and is what I expect to be possible for most of our remaining schedule.
It also helps that VT got a quick lead and VT could dictate what it wanted to do. I think the coaching staff remembered that in the 2nd half of the W. Michigan game.
That was a second pot of coffee sit down and pay attention review.
It certainly did explain a lot the dry spell in the middle of the game but why we were able to be effective again later.
Thank you for another great breakdown. I love learning more about why plays work and don't.
Would like to see a better view of the third and goal that Brewer threw it away over Malleck in the 4Q. It looked like Bucky was uncovered over the middle.
It seemed like Brewer wasn't seeing the field well or was coached to only make open throws or something. He held the ball longer in this game than I can remember him doing this year. He sure made some pretty throws though, along with some great catches by Phillips and Ford.
French,
What is your overall assessment of Conte? Searles had Conte a little ahead of Teller coming out of camp. Teller may make a few mistakes here and there, but to me, he seems more aggressive and seems to get better push on running plays overall. I was hoping to see Conte look like Teller on the running plays. Maybe, I'm just not seeing the right things. Thanks.
I'm not French, but my guess would be that since Conte is a bit more experienced than Teller, he may be more accustomed to pass protection. I know we ran a bunch this game, but pass pro is still very important on the ~20 times we passed the ball. That may be what had Conte ranked above Teller.
Again, not French. Logical guess on my part.
I have not seen Teller have an issue in pass protection. Then again, I can only think of one Conte pass pro bust and he has played more snaps. I think that is a push. Teller has been exclusively at left guard though since early in camp, so I don't know if there is a difference in the calls at right guard, but there could be,
You know, this should silence the guys that are trying to say Loeffler wasn't trying to make adjustments too.
It was obvious they were trying to move things to see what would work. If the job was easy, even I would be able to do it.
FTFY.
"Wang package leaves a nasty welt on UNC."
"Wang package really gets the O where it needs to be"
"The Wang Package Hits The Right Hole"
"Wang package hammers it home"
"Wang Package Has a Huge Day"
"Wang package gets a rise out of Larry Fedora"
"Wang Package Lasts 4 Hours, Opponent Calls for Doctor"
"Wang package puts a lot of meat at the point of attack"
"Wang Package FHRTP"
"If you wanna go stick your Wangs in a hornet's nest...it's a free country!" -Saul Goodman
Couldn't help but think of that gem after reading about all these Wangs
I up voted this thread so hard I'm feeling some chaffing.
"The Wang Packages is the True Tip of the Spear"
Two Frenchisms! one thread!
"Wraps Up with Wang Package to Seal Explosive Hokie Finish."
French when waxing poetic about the Wang package:
When Teller committed to VT, I believe you projected that he'd make a great tackle prospect. Do you think there's any chance that he eventually moves out to tackle? With the film you have on Wyatt, is there any reason to believe he's better suited for guard play?
I'm wondering since it looks like we have a lot more depth at the guard position once Gibson graduates. I know we have two tackle recruits coming in, but I'd rather not bank on two true freshman next year to be big contributors.
I think he has all the tools to play there. Hand speed (which was a struggle in the spring) was my only worry, plus he looks really good at guard. But when you look at the numbers (Conte, Smith at guard) and no real heir to Gibson's spot at one of the two tackles, it is certainly plausible.
Do you think Conte is capable of moving to right tackle?
Dang, sometimes when I read this place I think I am back in my 5th grade class. :-)
Stunts? Rule? Zone..? You guys must think you're Alabama or something...
He's reading the "Football Coaching Bible". You have GOT to be (smurfing) kidding me.
I nearly just made the same comment. Too many jokes available right there.
Must've finally finished this then:
That book has never been opened!
It looks just like my son's 7th grade Social Studies book.
Someone may have said this already but I don't feel like reading 40+ comments so here we go. This morning, ESPN's Mitchell Bradley (950) actually made a good point about the game: if Tech's defense dominates the way they have the last 3 games, you don't really need great QB play at this point in the season. For a team like Ohio State, you've gotta have guy who can make big plays. But for the remainer of the season and how ugly the coastal is, you don't necessarily need your QB to make huge plays for you if you have a dominant defense (as Tech does).
I was complaining about the playcalling after the win on Saturday, but maybe this guy is right. If we chew up clock and can somehow keep a playmaking RB like Big Juice healthy from here on out (assuming he plays against Pitt), maybe Brewer just needs to be a game manager for the rest of this year. He looked a lot more poised on Saturday than he has in recent weeks and aside from the one pic, he played a solid game.
Will this offense be frustrating to watch at times? Definitely. But if we dominate time of possession like we did Saturday, we are going to win a lot more games this year, despite how pretty the W is.
I see what your saying, but if we don't keep growing the offense while we progress through our ACC schedule and then get to the ACCCG,........ We better have our offense going by then!
Ok, so since I was at kids football literally all day long (1130 to 730 pm central time) I recorded and watched the game when I got home. I then watched some of the other games I recorded yesterday so this is really my first chance at commenting on it.
Obviously I know very little into the details of football compared to french, so wether the dropoff of the running game was due to our OL, our RB's or a combination of both I don't know. However the frustrating part to me is that we somehow struggle to run against teams that have obviously weak run defenses. GT had an atrocious run d, we couldn't run on them. UNC has a bad run d and we couldn't run on them. I like the amount of run plays and staying commited however I thought we could get more big gaines throughout the game. Honestly I'm still waiting, as we all are I'm sure, for the game that we truly gash a relevant FBS team on the ground. Thought we would see it against GT, we didn't. Thought we would see it here, nope. Hopefully sometime this year, but with our RB's dropping like flies who knows. So I did like the commitment to the run just was hoping to see a better showing against a poor run D.
Play-action. I don't recall how much play-action we ran but I remember thinking multiple times to myself "why aren't we running more play-action and hitting them deep". For a team that was selling out to stop the run and has a very poor secondary I was surprised there weren't more deep attempts.
I was very impressed with CFB's aggressiveness in the game. Two 4th down's he went for it with at least one being inside field goal range if I remember correctly. Also, getting the ball back in the 2d qtr with approx a minute left in the half and driving the ball down the field to attempt a score. Up three scores at that point going into the locker room and getting the ball at the half the coach beamer of old would have very well likely taken a knee into the locker room. Although the kick was missed I liked the aggressiveness of trying to get even more points on the board right before the half.
Edit: As for the defense, great game. Does a pick-six by fuller count as a double FAINT? Also I don't recall too many times that williams was throwing he wasn't hit during or after his throw. Great job of the D getting after the QB in this game. I'm sure MW is sore this week.
All in all a good game for the most part. Brewer couldn't help himself and threw one pick. I thought he was going ot get out of this one w/o an INT but alas he still threw one. I was impressed with JCC's running although I honestly would have liked to have seen Caleb get some more carries. He almost broke one there towards the end up the middle. If Marshawn is good to go for Pitt I think Caleb should be the number too back and JCC being three. A convincing win scoreboard wise but didn't always feel like it with the stagnation in the middle of the game really.
Great time for a bye week especially with the injuries. Couldn't have come at a better time.
I thought this was pretty cool from HokieVision:
#43 looks pretty damn tall in the locker room.
Edit: That's Dooley, he's not small
At the 1:45 mark when Bud starts yelling I wasn't sure whether to run through a wall or hide under my bed.
When Bud yells, it is almost always proper etiquette to run through a wall
The stadium looked nice about then.
Nice and empty.
UNC recruits at the game had to be impressed.
/sarc
Who is the "full force of this football team" guy at 0:32?
The one and only Coach Gentry.
Cool, didn't think S&C coaches traveled.
That was great! Man I would absolutely LOVE to be on the sidelines during a game.
A lot of young leaders are emerging on this team.
This gets me excited about the future.
French dropping massive amounts of knowledge on all of us once again.
See that guy in the picture to start the article?
That's a picture of a guy that has been poked with a boxing glove on a stick that has learned to protect that football.
That is a wonderful picture.
Absolutely love that. If he continues to focus on the small mistakes he makes he has the chance to be an absolute beast. What is even better is that you know the coaching staff/lil beamer has probably worked on his handle since the 2 fumbles he has had.
High and Tight baby!!! Also love how he is all business, no gloves just tape and muscle!
Ryan Malleck is very good.
I noticed that, too.
French I love these articles. It's funny how I realized that I instinctively watch the handoff taking place while you most likely are completely focused on ongoing battle between the lines, which is of course much more important in how the play works out. Thanks for pointing out the way the motion freezes the safety as well!
I'm probably "dumb guy over simplifying" here...but my takeaway from this article was that the easiest way to shut down our run game was stunting. Does that worry anyone else?
We have an offense ranked 83/95 using FEI/S&P. So shutting down a component of our offense isn't a difficult thing to do right now.
French, I'm sure you're not sitting around trying to think of column ideas, but I'm watching the UNC game on dvr, and there's a screen pass with 1:00 left in third quarter that is about the worst breakdown of an offensive line I have ever seen. I would love to see your analysis.
OT, but didn't want to start a new thread and this is a UNC thread. Found this in my twitter faves tonight:
Great write up as always from French, but the two biggest takeaways for me came from the cover picture of Marshawn, making me look forward to the rest of his Hokie career:
1) Damn, that dude's arms are big!
2) That's some outstanding ball protection right there.