First off...still baffled by the playcalling.
On our very first offensive snap, zone stretch to right side. Teller, Wang, and Conte dominated the middle of the line of scrimmage...I'm looking forward to seeing this on film. However, the playcall was for a slow developing outside zone that got sniffed out by Miami's fast linebackers.
Because of the push our G-C-G combo got on that first snap, I was optimistic we would have success with a heavy doze of Marshawn power inside zone stuff....except we hardly ran any plays of that nature. The few times we did were with succes...Even Jerome Wright's first offensive snap got 4 yards on an inside zone action...
We NEVER push the ball downfield anymore in the passing game. And I have no idea why. What happened to our TE stick route combo stuff? My only rationale is that Michael Brewer is not healthy and Loefler does not trust him to throw the ball into tight spaces.
On several occasions...we had 3 WRs lined up against a CB and an outside LB, with a safety playing back. "YES, IT'S 3-ON-2, let's run a WR screen". Except that deep safety was flying forward at the snap, as Miami was expecting the same exact thing. But we did it over, and over, and over again. Watch it on film...Miami was baiting a WR screen with their alignment, and then flying to the ball at the snap..and we tested it over, and over again with no success.
Michael Brewer can't throw the ball accurately or with power anymore. I'm convinced he is hurt, and that injury is to his back or core area, which would imhibit his ability to twist into his throwing motion. He is a completly different QB than he was vs OSU. No one is mentioning this, but he did have major back issues at Texas Tech. Are they resurfacing, after the beating he has taken this year?
Our running game has no identify. I'm still convinced our G-C-G can get a push, but we hardly run any power, quick hitting inside zone stuff. For some reason we favor the outside zone...which by the way, Marshawn does not look like a natural outside zone runner yet. Shai, however, did. Trey did not either until 3/4 of the way through the season last year. It takes time to learn how to plant that outside foot and get upfield. With that, why not pound him right behind Sam Rogers and Wyatt Teller?
We can't throw it anymore, and we can't run it. We need to create offense by changing the game plan, because what we are doing is not working. Why not go with Motley and pivot back to the veer / option running attack we saw with Logan? Marshawn as the inside option, Motley as the off tackle keeper option? At this point, Motley has got to be just as good of a passer as Michael? Maybe Michael could use a week or 2 off to get healthy?
Losing big Luther and Chase really hurts. Dadi needs to gain 25 pounds, because he has gotten brutalized by downblocks the last 2 weeks. Motuakapa has got a bit of happy feet, but is a sure tackler. He needs to settle down and be more comfortable with his gaps...he's probably a year away, and I'm looking forward to watching him compete with DVD. Backup DT's did not make very many plays last night.
Let's invent some offense, and close out this recruting class strong. We could seriously use the front 7 depth NOW. Dalton, Josh Sweat, Tim Settle would have been in the 2-deep last night..Come on down boys and restore the LPD.
Comments
You could very well be correct about the hidden injury to Brewer. However, we all know that the coaches would be aware of it. So if the coaches are aware of Brewer's injury, and STILL think he is superior to any and every alternative backup, what does that tell you about the quality of the backups?
Secondly, if the coaches thought Motley were a better alternative than Leal, then Motley would have gotten the mop up time last night. He was not, instead Leal was used. People on the internet have gotten WAY too enamored with the backup to the backup QB. Just because there were a couple of quotes in the spring complementing Motley does NOT equate to him being 'The Answer'. If he were, he would at least be the backup, and not the 3rd-stringer.
I think you're right about Motley/Leal. But I'd play devil's advocate a little and say that Beamer or Loeffler or someone said at the beginning of the year that the future is now, in that we aren't looking towards the future, we're looking towards success this year. So Leal makes sense.
But at this point in the season, I think we should reevaluate those goals. The future is the future, and I think we should prepare for it.
As a side note, I'm a full blooded proponent of burning a redshirt to Durkin or Ford if they're down with it, but I know that isn't likely, probably isn't the best idea, and is also likely an unpopular opinion.
That would require that Frank Beamer acknowledge he has given up on this season while being prepared to deal with the backlash from that.
He was already talking about how we're going to be a good team next year in his post game presser. He's already given up on this season, and that was the admittance. He wasn't talking about the next game, or the next series, or how we're still going to win this year, it was about next year.
Without knowing how the Ford/Durkin situation is progressing, I could imagine a possibility where the coaches haven't really developed a strong opinion about which one to use going forward. So, would they want to rush that decision midseason and potentially foul up the next four and a half seasons?
I'm not enamored with the back-up to to the back-up. Motley, or McMillian, is probably our best running threat at the QB position and I believe we need to inject a veer / option attack into our offense for us to have any chance at success.
You mean, since we've got the best crop of receivers, both WR & TE, in school history, you think we should go to a 1960's/70's style dominantly rushing based offense run by a completely inexperienced 3rd string QB. Okay. That's one way to look at it.
Interesting perspective.
I, personally, would rather line up and smash people. But we're not built for that / won't committ to that.
Alternatively, Michael Brewer could line up out of the shotgun with 5 wide receivers or TEs, since they are the "best in school history", and sling it around. Unfortunately, Michael is not throwing the ball accurately or with any zip right now to do so, and he's not even looking to push the ball down the field. Dinking and dunking 3 yard outs to Willie Byrn or wide receiver screens are not working very well.
We can't run the ball, we can't throw the ball, and we certainly can't play action.
Unfortunately, I still think this offense / offensive line is more suited for a misdirection type of offense...which led me to Motley, who I believe is our best running / throwing combo right now, and his potential to operate a veer offense..
Couldn't agree more. Too bad those are the only two ways to move the ball on offense. But with 4 games and one bye week remaining it wouldn't make sense to create a new offensive scheme. They have a limited amount of time each week to prepare so would you rather spend that time improving on something you already know or spend that time learning something new.
Marshawn is a good back and one of my favorites since he is from the Peninsula 757 however he must learn to run lower. He was strip because he was so high guys are right in his chest. It is not a WR screen if it is thrown to a tight end. That play needs to go to Newsome or Ford. The D tackles are all very capable however some of them are and need to be used as specialty players. IE when Vt faces spread or on obvious pass situations. Yesterday was an example Nigel had 6 tackles, Ricky had 2 in limited snaps. the 2 smaller kids Marshal had 1 and Barron 0. Need to find a way to get the bigger guys on the field at the same time and also need Marshal playing DE vs run teams and run situations. Play the smaller lineup vs the spread etc. I also dont think folks should call out Dadi for being beaten by a RB much less one of dukes caliber. All this being said the D is still light years ahead of the O.
Corey Marshall is playing his best football on the inside. Can't use one game to determine overall effectiveness.
Bigger does not mean better. His quickness is his best trait and he is disruptive.
Cody Grimm was one of VT best Whip LBs ever, and he was "undersized".
Last night we had no fight. Size of the fight in the dog, as it were.Not having Maddy hurts, no ways around that. Chase too.
Correct. It was a TE screen to a 6'5" TE with 4.4 speed. Possibly our best offensive player and one of the few bright spots the announcers even bothered to mention last night. He's all ACC and can do things with a screen pass.
I wouldnt mind us throwing ten straight balls to Bucky. I would prefer to see those passes where he is in open space already 10+ yards down field (which happens quite often with how much of a mismatch he is for LB's and Safeties). Get him the ball in space and let him create. Its like running an isolation play in basketball. Get most of the defense going to one side and hit the talented player going the other direction.
We dont use our advantage with Bucky nearly enough. So much so that even Jesse Palmer last night commented on it when we tried to get Bucky the jump pass in the end zone.
I find it scary when I agree with Jesse, but he made a good point when he said, "with 1:45 left in the game, you finally give this guy a 1-on-1 ball. Should have been doing this a while ago (essentially)."
Regardless, I don't think it was a good play call. I'm not French nor Beyer and I'm sure they'll have a much, much, much better perspective than me. Bucky has talent for days, but a TE screen pass isn't going anywhere when you have two inexperienced, smallish receivers trying to block for him against a very aggressive defense pressing the line on almost every play.
I agree that he could possibly make a move for a big gain, but I think it's obvious we're better off throwing to him up-field as opposed to laterally.
Good playcalls were few and far between last night. Or last Thursday.
Yes 4.4 speed. No to that being correct play call. Bucky runs 4.4 with the fast being when he can get his stride going. When you have a slot guy he is generally the quick fast guy. A la welker, Tavon, Barry sanders quick. not Megatron fast there is a reason guys like that work the slot. It puts pressure on less quick LBs and Safeties.. These guys are fast straight line (especially UM players) but, they aren't as quick as a CB. so when you've got talent like newsome, byrn, hell even Stanford you run that to them. Let Bucky and your blockers set up wedges and you let more agile guys weave and pick their lanes. when that is established you trick them and get Bucky involved and I guarantee better production. the safeties crashing that play every time is indicative that we did not "play chess" correctly. That's why lefty frustrates me at times. (many) He's a smart guy when he has time to study but his awareness when he is on the fly seems to..................
SUCK!
I completely understand and feel your Loeffler frustration. But when nothing works, you gotta try something different. Every screen up to that point ( And there were numerous) had gone to a WR or Newsome. And considering we never throw one stick route or seam pass to Bucky or Malleck for that matter, they had to find a way to get the ball in his hands.
TE screens can work, but Like any other play it takes execution.
I have been scratching my head and trying to figure out this offense. People talk about how complex Lefty's offense is. I don't see it that way. I've seen a variation of a few simple plays. Very basic actually. And I have seen these plays ran repeatedly without success. The only complexity is the pre-snap movements. There are shifts and then motions and then more motions. I see run plays that are ran laterally. I see bubble screens. That to a general extent is about it. We are running bubble screens to arguably our best offensive player, who is not built for bubble screens. Bucky Hodges is made to get vertical down the field, which we haven't done at all to any receiver to that matter. Last night plays continued to be run laterally. When a play is run laterally it is usually a sign that you are trying to beat the defense with speed. MIAMI IS ONE OF THE FASTEST AND MOST ATHLETIC DEFENSES IN THE COUNTRY, and the coaches noted this multiple times the week prior. The playcalling is baffling and to be honest, abysmal. There was one point where we ran the same play 4 times in a row. If this playbook is as complex as they say it is, OPEN IT UP. Let Brewer, who apparently is our QB, run out a tempo offense. Mix the plays up. Our go to plays right now are mix-it-in to keep the defense honest in almost every system. I can't figure this system out and it needs to change if we want to become bowl eligible, not finish last in the ACCC, and at the most basic level put some puts on the board.
I was at the game last night and I have a few statements and questions.
1) Motuapuaka wasn't ready, he consistently got blocked out of his middle gaps on all their long runs up the middle. Lack of penetration by the tackles didn't help but he was out of position/blocked out of position several times. We would have done much better with Chase and Maddy's disruptive penetration would have been clutch in this game.
2) Dadi's personal foul was a HUGE momentum swing, it was so stupid to grab that guys ankle, regardless of the ref (somehow) missing the huge hold on the play but it took the wind out of our sails on defense. It was all the more frustrating given that Dadi could have been flagged earlier for a late shoving match with that same tackle earlier in the game. I was very upset with his selfishness on those plays.
3) the up tempo run game was the only real bright spot offensively, along with some i form runs with Marshawn. I hope we find a way to get that going earlier.
Finally a question, what happened on the fumble at the one? I was on the 50 on the home side and from the angle they kept showing of the replay it was almost impossible to see Marshawn or the ball. I don't doubt that it was a fumble, but there must have been other angles shown on TV as the one they kept showing there is no way anyone could deduce anything from that. It was also odd that the far line judge starting running down the line to mark the short spot and halfway down stopped and signaled the change of possession it just looked really weird.
One of the defenders was able to get two hands on the ball while another pulled one of Mars off in the pile. You could see Mars trying to fall forward, put he was held up til the guy pulled it away while falling. Ball never touched the ground. Unfortunately it was the right call if they were going to let him keep trying to get in rather than blowing the whistle.