#Hokies' 433 yards most against #UVa this season.— David Teel (@DavidTeelatDP) November 29, 2014
I was on twitter talking smack all game long, saying "Loeffler should be doing this, and Loeffler should be doing that..."
So I thought it only fair to come on here and give credit where credit is due. No offense put up more yards on the UVA Cavalier football team than Scott Loeffler's did. It is what it is.
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This staff definitely answers the call when needed. But a little less drama would be appreciated! Loeffler will likely stay, at least that's my guess, but I really think the offense needs to be a top-50 in all offensive stats (hopefully top-10 is ball protection) to really make a statement next season.
...Who am I kidding? I'll take any win no matter how we get them in a season...
I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth but 433 yards of offense and only 24 points?!... and 7 from a blocked punt. It's all good because I'll take it if it means we beat LOLUVA.
Exactly. The next 24 hours are for celebration and giving praise. We'll have to dive into the discussion of "what it means... if anything" later.
The 2 drives in the 4th quarter to just across the 50 yard line but not quite to FG range drove me nuts. Great yardage, no points.
Consistently starting inside your own 15 will lead to big yds relative to points scored. I hope that we NEVER see Knowles return another kiuck.
Moved the ball well until we hit the LOLUVA 40 and then bogged down just outside field goal range and played field position game!
I think we need to look at red zone efficiency. How many drives did we get close to scoring only to not?
Mostly stalling out around the 40 to 30 of UVA, not really able to quite get into the red zone. That was the biggest flaw. I think it had a lot to do with Brewer taking shots when they weren't open. I like the idea of taking shots, but they were well covered and there needs to be a check down option that he's comfortable with.
We were 100% in the red zone. The main problem was getting from the 50 to the 20.
I suppose I should have clarified: I was referring to the whole season as an area of offensive improvement. According to Hokie Sports, we scored on 86% of our red zone possessions, but only 53% of those were TDs.
How is that compared to last year for number of red zone trips, percentage, and TD's?
A few stats from cfbstats.com:
2013 - 42 att (13 games), ranked 112th nationally; 73.81% scoring, 54.76% TD, 19.05% FG
2014 - 43 att (12 games), ranked 43rd nationally; 86.05% scoring, 53.49% TD, 32.56% FG
So we have more attempts in one fewer game, better scoring % but that is driven up by FG and no real dropoff in TD. So we've left some points out there, but this year is better than last for sure.
Given the discussions about Loeffler recently, I'm delighted at this statistic.
It is good to see. The team played HARD last night. They've been playing hard all year, but they really wanted it last night.
I think the difference was taking some shots down field, which most fans have been screaming for all season.
JC Coleman has been a whipping boy for many this season, but he played well and tough. I'm happy to see him take advantage of his opportunity. He had a couple of nice runs.
I honestly did not mind Beamer punting instead of going for long FGs. The defense was playing great. It did lead to the blocked punt when we pinned them on the 1.
All good points, and it looked like JC was put in a better place to succeed with the run calls for the most part.
I wonder if Shane noticed how a running back got into groove because he wasn't constantly being pulled...
JCC averaged 6.5 yards per carry last night. He was gassed and kept churning. Hats off to that guy.
It wasn't just JC. Rogers was running very well when he was given his chances and his blitz pickups continue to be the best part of his game. There has to be an NFL team out there that will give him a chance just based on his blitz pickup alone.
Seriously, good call. Rogers picked up every blitz I saw come at him perfectly. And he ran possessed too, which of course is to be expected of Sam Rogers.
I think, besides being fired up, he didn't have 2 blitzes in his face this week. He would pick up that guy and make the block.
Brewer, man... Brewer
It's crazy, its almost like that shoulder injury somehow have him flashbacks to the Ohio State game and made everything click... He was on fire the second he came back on the field for us at a time we needed it the most. And that "you keep pushing us forward and I'll keep getting up" he said to the OL is the kind of leadership we have been begging to see this year.
The kid definitely has heart, nobody can question that. Onto to bowl game...
You ready to start singing to brewer:
Or that hit mysteriously fixed something in his arm.
Well, last year Logan talked about his arm not being "live" again until the first Bye Week, and we all know how that turned out...
There were so many people in the stands (huge shout out to HokieStone! The seats were amazing and the game was a blast and true to my promise my voice is still gone and Liz and I stood the whole game) bitching about everything Brewer did. He seemed to make good decisions for the most part and he just kept getting back up. Cheers to Michael!
I think it was Terry Bradshaw who said he didn't play well until after hist first concussion of the game. It seems like Brewer needs a couple of licks to get himself amped up and in a groove.
The offense stopped running bubble screens/ineffectual jet sweeps, attacked north/south, and put up yards. About time someone figured this out.
JC is making very good cuts in the outside zone play.
YAy
But We still haven't improved the offense
2013 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS
PassingRushingPoints scored
VT55th110th92nd
2014 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS
VT 69Th 96TH 100TH
We all know that, that is why he may not come back. Doesn't change the fact that 433 yards against a very good UVA defense is impressive.
This reminds me of 2008, when a crappy ACC enabled an 8-4 VT to make the ACCCG, thus keeping Stiney in the drivers seat for another four seasons. I'm hoping our leadership takes the whole season into account when deciding whether or not to make changes.
This is a thread celebrating what the players (and Loeffler) accomplished on Friday.
Considering the number of other threads dedicated to how quickly Loeffler should be fired, it seems odd to choose this one as the one to make your point.
Somehow VT only managed to score 17 points on offense though. I'll take wins how they come, but I will never understand how he can call the greatest came we as Hokie fans have seen since Ricky Bustle against Ohio State but score 0 points against Wake Forest in 4 quarters. Stinespring had himself a good game every once in awhile and we still wanted him fired every year from 2002 to when he was actually demoted. Loeffler shouldn't get the same pass. Maybe he deserves one more year, as there will be more experience and hopefully less injuries in 2015, but he should definitely be on a short leash.
You answered your own question with your last sentence. Experience and injuries. The kids we've got are talented and have proven they can make some big-time plays. However, it'll be another year or two before they make them with the same Danny-Coale-type clockwork consistency that we'd like to see.
Yes, we have a lot of young talent that a cohesive offensive system under a better OC will allow to truly flourish.
Nothing halts development more than a flurry of coaching changes, IMO. If we think we have the talent on our roster to compete, which we do, then the current coaching staff should show ample improvement in the coming year. I don't think people realize how thin our youth and injuries left us.
Two years working with the same o-line coach, te coach, rb coach, etc will be great. More importantly, 2 years working with the same QB will be crucial.
About that: Please, can we NOT change the Offensive Line coach again this off-season? If we stick with one (and I think Searels' background and resume shows he can get it done), we can likely build a decent line, system, and depth. I have no idea what decisions (if any) are being made by the administration after this season, but I'd definitely have Searels and Moorehead (the receiving corps is really turning around) stay on. Loeffler will probably be retained too, but we're going to need to see some vast improvement next year. I'm pretty neutral about him thus far.
Agreed, beating up LOLUVA's admitted pretty good defense has earned Scot another year. I really think you have to throw out last year completely and effectively the rebuild started in August. How many freshmen are playing and scoring for our team?
Bad analogy time:
My car is getting old and I have a lot of great memories from it; it's been an awesome car for me.
Likely in the next 2 years, I will have to replace it. I just don't want the car payment right now and there's nothing out there new that I'm really excited about buying.
Plus, I like it; it's comfortable to me. It still runs pretty well, but there's been some times that I've worried that it might not get me where I need to go.
So now I'm thinking about my options: I COULD spend some cash and fix some of the obvious things.....but it will still be the same car that I'm gonna replace in a year or two. Plus, I just did replace the clutch and it looks like it should run better soon.
So, my decision is to hang onto it and get out of it what I can until it's got to be replaced, but then I'll upgrade to something better and likely different.
Some people trade out every few years, but I tend to drive them until the wheels fall off. (True....the right front wheel did come off my last truck.)