The arrival of Scot Loeffler two seasons ago significantly changed the offensive dynamic of the Virginia Tech football team.
The much-maligned, third-year offensive coordinator has modernized a Hokies' attack, that's historically been run-first, into one that attempted 456 total passes in 2014 — fourth-highest total in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In Michael Brewer's debut season, the Texas Tech transfer quarterback set new Virginia Tech records for both passing completions, and attempts — 262 and 441 respectively.
As such, the evolution of the receiving game has materialized over the past two seasons — improving in passing and receiving production from year one to year two.
Wide receiver Isaiah Ford hauled in 56 passes for 709 yards and six touchdowns in 2014 — all school records for a freshman receiver.
Bucky Hodges also wrote his name in the record books. The redshirt freshman recorded school records for a tight end with 45 catches for 526 yards and seven touchdowns.
Willie Byrn is the Hokies' lone graduating receiver.
The ever-reliable, redshirt senior experienced a reasonably reduced role in 2014 in the wake of a wave of incoming talented receivers. Nevertheless, the former walk-on accounted for 388 yards on 47 catches.
Affectionately coined The Paperboy for his ability to deliver, Byrn is joined in his departure by Josh Stanford, who permanently left the program after taking a personal leave of absence and briefly returning.
The sophomore took a significant step back after setting freshmen records for receptions and receiving yards — both of which were broken by Ford just one year later.
Stanford and Byrn comprised a record-breaking 2013 trio, also including Demitri Knowles, of which each member caught 40 passes or more.
In 2014, however, five players accounted for the Hokies' 19 total touchdown receptions — Stanford and Byrn not among them. Tech returns all five of those players, three of whom were freshmen.
Isaiah Ford will return as the Hokies' top receiving option on the outside and will be joined by fellow second-year player, Cam Phillips — both of whom, with Hodges, were the three freshmen that found paydirt.
Phillips caught at least one pass in 10 of the Hokies' 13 games and accounted for three touchdowns.
Phillips, Ford, Byrn and Hodges each collected at least 40 receptions — breaking the recent record set by the 2013 trio.
Knowles — the third member of 2013's 40-catch club — took a significant step back in 2014 after snaring 45 passes for 641 yards the previous season.
Taking a back seat to Phillips and Byrn, the speedy deep threat managed just 55 yards on three catches during limited action in 2014.
Carlis Parker ended 2014 as the Hokies' No. 2 split end behind Ford.
The rising junior showed encouraging flashes in Tech's 2013 Sun Bowl loss, rushing six times for 40 yards, but failed to earn a starting spot in 2014 after a promising spring.
The quarterback-turned-receiver appeared on just 25 offensive plays in 2014 — down from 61 in 2013.
Somewhat similarly to Parker, Deon Newsome emerged as a versatile option in his debut season, primarily on the ground.
The rising redshirt sophomore averaged 4.9 yards on 19 end-around carries, not the least of which was a 24-yard burst that set up a lead-taking Hodges touchdown reception in the early stages of the fourth quarter against Ohio State — a lead that the national champions wouldn't regain.
Newsome, who added 19 yards on seven catches, will likely be joined in competition at the flanker spot by Jaylen Bradshaw.
The rising redshirt freshman is a former VirginiaPreps first-team all-state selection from Chesapeake, Virginia.
Also coming into the fold will be fellow redshirt freshman Kendrick Holland. The 2014 signee and Florida native sat out last fall following preseason shoulder surgery. Over seven months removed from the operation, initially slated for a six-to-eight month recovery, Holland would figure to be full for spring practice.
Isaiah Ford, Bucky Hodges and Cam Phillips are poised to be Tech's top three receiving targets in 2015. Spring practice will be the first opportunity for first-year wide receivers coach Zohn Burden to flesh out the rest of the depth chart. He has plenty of talented options to choose from, and the competition at wide receiver to earn targets should be fierce.
Comments
The player I'm most looking forward to seeing this spring is Kendrick Holland. I thought he was going to be a playmaker last year until he got hurt, hopefully he's healthy enough to make a push for playing time.
If we see any sort of improvement on the O-line this year, I'm positive we'll have our first thousand-yard receiver, and I wouldn't be surprised if we had two, given the weapon that is Bucky. I'd make a prediction for a thousand-yard rb, but after last year's MASH unit, I'll only go so far as to say I think our avg/carry goes up another half yard/carry.
I have faith in Loeffler's system. I have faith that Searels knows how to coach O-line. Looks like McGlock is headed back to left tackle which should help our QB significantly if the rest of the line gels, and we avoid a plague of injuries.
I would argue that if we see improvement on our O-Line, we will see both a thousand yard receiver and RB. I know people are concerned about how we've rotated backs, but here's how I look at it. Right now, our known backs are Edmunds and Coleman. Shai is currently out of the picture and I would expect Williams back until the end of September at the earliest, which at that point, we should be considering redshirting him. Sure, we have McMillian, Reid, and others, but my expectation is that you'll see JC and Trey getting the bulk of the carries. JC had 533 yards last season with 468 coming in the last 4 games. Yes, he was the only healthy back and getting all the carries, but that was also with a line that was very beat up and playing well only in spurts. I see no reason why those same numbers couldn't be achieved with an improved line and splitting the carries. The most he got in that stretch was 25 carries in the Military Bowl for 157 yards. I hope that our top back in any particular game gets at least 15 carries and averages closer to 20. If we have an improved line, I would have to believe we would run the ball more rather than hit the screens. Again, maybe it's a stretch, but that's my hope and belief.
Given his career thus far, I am not hopeful that Trey can avoid injury. Trey has been very good when he's been available, but our coaching staff must find a viable third option behind JCC and Trey because at any given point in the season our third option can become our second option. I don't want to see the musical chairs we saw last year in the backfield. I want a clear first, second and third string tailback heading into the fall.
Between Caleb, McMillian and Reid, I'm sure we have a guy good enough to be a third back. Rogers will still play a lot as the lone back, maybe 20% of the snaps.
I'm not worried about RB, I'm rather looking forward to less substituting.
I've got no doubt that we will have a really, really good 3rd tailback. I'm just saying I want to have a definite third tailback. 1 and 2 each getting 35% of the carries, 3 getting 20% and the rest of the stable getting some in-game touches to give them a look seems like an ideal setup. I just don't want a carousel of six backs. It was necessary last year, but this season we have a better idea of what we have at the top.
The ability to run the ball may introduce more screens. Teams will keep defenders in and put numbers in our favor outside which is what the screen game is based on. If we have improved WR blocking, those screens may be much more successful though.
Could also really open up the WR screen too. Lefty is already consistently getting 4-5 yards on a flanker screen when the run game hasn't been a huge threat. That could become 7-8 if defenses have to sell out to stop the run.
And if that starts working, well, go watch the FSU/Oregon Rose Bowl game and just marvel at how Oregon set up that screen and then just started torching FSU DBs over the top when they started jumping it.
Based on Loeffler's quotes with Bitter, I do not think we'll see a 1,000 yd receiver:
Lefty's position there is that he wants the guys to play fewer snaps so they can play harder when they're out there. Seems like a lot of the time they'd have to take plays off or not block as hard as they should because they were always running up and down the field 80-90 times a game.
As you say, "fewer snaps" does not mean 5-10. The top two (presumably Ford and Phillips) will still have plenty of snaps to make plays. And as some other folks mentioned, more OL success -> more defenders in the box -> potential for more YPC for the wideouts. More productive in fewer snaps - depending on who you ask, that's either "explosiveness" or "efficiency." Either way, it's a good thing for us.
All these young guys coming back and the optimism to seeing a real passing attack getting me all excited.
The realization of a balanced attack is within our grasp!!
I know I usually the lone voice but I think total statistics are misleading especially in college ball. Yards/per, throws/per, tds/per game are better stats imho because they show real progress. When you are playing 2-5 more games than historical seasons then of course you will have more total stats than those seasons. I also think that in this case we threw a lot more because we could not keep a tailback healthy and our o-line had as many holes as the stands at a uva spring game. If we have a consistent line and a healthy back I am guessing we will go back to more running and less throwing because while our current OC may enjoy throwing our head coach is still a ball control kind of guy...
Actually the stands are extremely solid. No holes at all.
In fact, since VAL-paks haven't worked well (shocker), the LOLUva Athletic Department is raising money by selling them off. The craigslist ad reads "For Sale: Bleachers - Locally owned, lightly used except one to three times per year (depending on number of Disney movies shown). $10 per foot unless you promise to come to a game. Then receive 3 10-foot sections free along with drink and hot dog. OBO"
Rumor has it around town that the reason they want to sell them is because it's the only way they're ever going to be able to say it's a standing room only crowd.
We need to send our receivers to the "Hines Ward School of Blocking".
With today's college rules concerning player safety, that would be a 15 yard penalty every time (blow to the head/lowering his head and hitting with the crown of the helmet). I would like for our guys to emulate his enthusiasm for blocking, just not his technique.
I disagree. Led with his shoulder, did not launch, made initial contact with his opponent's shoulderpad. Not a blind side hit. This is a pretty prefect block. I don't think this draws a flag on the college level.
Depends on who your ref is I guess. I see what you're saying, but these days any BIG hit seems to draw a flag. You even get flagged for targeting when you barely touch the other guy sometimes, just ask Deon Newsome....
I never said that it was a blind-side hit. Crackbacks are legal as long as you are not in motion prior to the snap (I think).
I agree that he did not launch, but he lowered his head prior to the hit. You don't lower your head on a perfect block. Usually, a player doesn't get knocked woozy like that just getting hit in the shoulder.
I think there was simultaneous contact with the shoulder and crown of the helmet arriving at the same time. The point is, he lowered his head and the crown of his helmet hit the defender in the side of the head. In slow motion you may be able to differentiate which contact technically occured first by a few milliseconds, but in real-time they throw the flag. If he just keeps his facemask/helmet up, I have no problem with this hit and he gets no flag.
He lowered his head to avoid helmet to helmet contact.
I was looking for .gifs of his blocks and of the THREE that kept coming up, this was the better looking of the three. The others were when he broke the jaw of the Bengals LB, and the one where he laid out Ed Reed (all within the rules of the time, but would likely draw flags now). My point was that he was a fierce blocker that truly enjoyed that part of the game. And his willingness to block in any situation, and do it effectively will be a big part of his going to the HOF (on the first ballot in my opinion).
Yeah, but we're getting past the point as fans where we celebrate the woozy combatant afterwards. That's not a positive any longer.
Big hits are a part of the game, and as long as the players are allowed to hit each other there will be times when someone gets hit too hard. Football is a game of dominance, whether it be by speed, skill, scheme, or physical prowess. That last part is what separates it from almost any other sport, take that away and you may as well take off the pads and hand the players flags. Like with NASCAR, most fans watch to see the collisions.
Tell me you didn't LOVE watching Dadi and Ken crush the uva QB on that big hit late in the game. Or that you didn't stand up and cheer when you saw LT3 truck that UCLA LB on his big fighting run down the sideline. It's part of the game, and when you have men of size and speed colliding, sometimes someone gets hurt. Personally, I wish injury on no one and hope that they continue to make the game safer (more by using safer equipment). But I still like to see the big hits.
I did not love watching Lambert get hit. I did not love watching Kyshon's hit on Pitt. I know I am a minority in this issue, but the legislation to mitigate the damage of hits is very much appreciated by me. This is a fine game with arm tackling and shoulder bumping. If someone is woozy, something has gone wrong IMO.
But that's just me. I just sense that more and more people are trending away from the "Jacked Up" culture of football. Borland's news yesterday is further proof to the point. This sport needs to transition to a less violent way of life before it goes the way of boxing.
The problem with that sentiment is that then it goes the way of flag football. This has become an issue of frustration for many athletes. You can use all your strength to run downfield and break a tackle, but the moment you use that same level of strength to bring a person down, it can be called against you. You have to aim your tackle below the shoulders and often above the knees seconds before the player adjusts to avoid your tackle. It's a fine line that can't be clarified without diminishing the quality of the game since it is in its nature a hard contact sport. They aren't wearing leather helmets anymore. Most possible safety precautions have been taken and implemented without immobilizing the athletes. I'm not quite sure how you make football less violent without completely changing the sport itself.
And the reason the Bronco's player is woozy is probably less from the way he was hit but more in the manner of how he took the hit. He never once saw Ward coming. His head was facing the ball-carrier. He had no way of absorbing the blow or bracing his body for it. Instead he was hit above his center of gravity and lost his feet, likely causing a little bit of whiplash.
Sounds about right to me, the hardest I remember getting hit in a game was a time when I was blocked on kick coverage while I had my eyes down the field on the ball carrier and the blocker came in from the side. I may have ended up doing some sort of somersault in the air before I hit the ground and I was definitely a little woozy for a few seconds afterwards, though it passed pretty quickly.
By Kyshon's hit on Pitt, are you referring to 2013 when he hit the receiver on the sideline? That was a perfectly legal hit. He did not launch, he lead with the shoulder, and he hit the receiver's shoulder. The receiver was not woozy, his shoulder had been injured and he was unable to return to the game because of it. Granted, in real time the hit looked a lot worse, but it was just a big hit. Nothing more.
I'm assuming by this quote that you've never played organized football, because I did play at the High School level and can tell you that this is an unrealistic expectation. Football is not a contact sport, it is a collision sport.
I was a 190 pound Defensive Tackle, I can remember a game against our rival my senior year where they had an All County fullback that weighted 250 pounds. There was a play early in the game where they ran a delayed draw right at me. I had shed my blocker and it was only me and him in the hole, only I was standing still and he had a full head of steam. Do you think that an arm tackle or shoulder bump would have done me a bit of good? Not a chance. I tried the only thing I could do. I took one step, put my shoulder pad in his gut as hard as I could, stopped his momentum, picked him up and body slammed him to the ground on his back. That turned out to be a big play in the game and they never tried running up the middle again.
I guess I could have tried to dive at his ankles, but I didn't really have time. And tripping him up, still allowing him to gain a couple of yards wouldn't have had the same impact on the game as sending him backwards. They likely would have tried that run again and again, thinking he was going to break a big run if I missed tripping him.
Like I said before, I don't want to see anyone getting injured and I don't want to see anyone taking a cheap shot. (For example, the shot that knocked LT3 out of the Sun Bowl should have been targeting as he was defenseless (had just thrown a pass), the player left his feet, and hit Logan's head with his helmet. There's no defending that kind of play.) But football is a violent sport, even when played within the rules.
Cool story bro...
j/k...:p
Oh yeah? Well...
Back at ya! :D
As a former 150# DE, on an 0-10 HS team, there will be no glory days stories here.
None.
I imagine though, if I were playing today, I would be on countless highlight videos.
Other people's highlight videos.
140# WR/DB on a two 3-7 teams that were small enough that if 2 or 3 players missed practice, a coach had to play one of the DB/WR spots on the scout team. myself. My glory days stories consist pretty much of one career catch on a quick slant on senior night after which I immediately tripped over my own feet and my story above about getting hit really hard on kick coverage.
I never said anything about the legality of Kyshon's hit, I fully understand the current rules. I said I didn't like it. I don't enjoy that like I did at one time. I'm not saying I'm right and you're wrong. I just hope the sport continues to evolve.
And your assumption is incorrect.
Alright, cool. I hope that it continues to evolve as well, but I just don't see being able to take the violence out of it without completely changing the game itself.
I will put it one more way, because this analogy came to me this morning and I think it's pretty clear. Nobody would come on here and post a gif of Joe Theisman's injury and say "I hope Dadi comes off the edge like this and does this to whichever OSU QB plays!" That's barbaric.
I see just the simple woozy Bronco's guy the same way. That hit ended Theisman's career. I don't know who #25 is, but this could have ended his career. Nobody would say "Awesome! Look how Theisman's leg doesn't work anymore!" So nobody should celebrate #25's brain not working right like in this gif. Both are legal hits, that's not the question. Same way with Lambert. Whether it was celebrated in the moment or not, he hasn't taken a snap since that play. If he never takes another snap because of that play, we will look back at it as something that shouldn't have been lauded.
Woozy players = Joe Theismann's leg. It's just not as graphic, but maybe much more threatening in the long term.
I think this is a really good analogy, thanks for it.
agreed. very well stated.
Fair enough.
I assumed that he hadn't played when he said that "Arm Tackling" was fine. Arm Tackling was a big no-no on my High School team, because it meant that you you weren't doing a good enough job of wrapping the ball carrier up. We were always taught to come in with our head up, get our head across the players body, and try to put our facemask on the ball. While all this was great in theory, in practice my tackles tended to usually end up with me managing to grab the ball carriers jersey and becoming a dead weight and also some tackles that would probably be considered horse collar tackles today.
I meant arm tackling as the current criticism of the new Heads Up Standards. Clearly, nobody who frequents a VT football board would literally support "arm tackling."
I disagree on your analysis of the block and don't think it'd be a penalty. Sure, it was a hard hit, but Ward does not launch himself more than a typical block (watch the lineman just before Ward's block scoop and engage the defender). He also doesn't lead with the crown of the helmet. The facemask isn't the crown. Neither is the forehead. That's how Ward went in on that block.
I agree that he didn't launch. I never said that he did. But he lowers his head right before contact and his facemask is pointing straight down at impact. That means he makes contact with the crown, not the forehead or the face mask. In today's game, if an official sees you drop your head like that, the flag is coming out of his pocket, especially if said official is erring on the side of caution. Proper technique is to see what you hit. The only part of the defender he might have seen at impact is the tops of his shoes. Like I said, I applaud the effort, just hope our guys use better technique, not just to avoid the penalty, but for their own safety.
But you don't hit a guy facing straight in unless you want to whip your neck back. You have to dip your head at least a little bit and usually end up making contact using your forehead, which is not the crown of your head. In order for Ward to hit the guy with the crown of his helmet from the angle his body is in is by tucking his chin to his chest. Just think of how a RB tucks to break a tackle. If you think Ward's hit should be flagged, you'll likely see a lot of penalties also thrown on RBs for the way they hit a LB or Safety in the open field.
"But you don't hit a guy facing straight in unless you want to whip your neck back"
Then why do I always here Chris Spelman say, "See what you hit" on broadcasts? I think he would know a lot more about proper form than you or I. Tackling or blocking in the open field, you don't lower your head (within the tackle box is its own animal so comparing Ward to the lineman is not appropriate by the rules) unless you want a flag.
"Just think of how a RB tucks to break a tackle. If you think Ward's hit should be flagged, you'll likely see a lot of penalties also thrown on RBs for the way they hit a LB or Safety in the open field."
Funny you mention this since a RB tucking his head like that was made illegal in the NFL starting in 2013. I do not know whether or not it is illegal in CFB. Although it is made by the NFL and focused on RBs, the first part of this particular video does a good job of showing the difference between seeing what you are hitting and leading with the crown of the helmet.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000238662/article/new-nfl-rules-cro...
The main point that I was trying to make, was even if it is borderline, like Ward's block, it will get called in today's environment. See here (emphasis mine):
http://www.afca.com/article/article.php?id=2342
In particular from this link:
"Targeting and Initiating Contact With the Crown of the Helmet (Rule 9-1-3)
No player shall target and initiate contact against an opponent with the crown (top) of his helmet. When in question, it is a foul.
Targeting and Initiating Contact to Head or Neck Area of a Defenseless Player (Rule 9-1-4)
No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, fist, elbow or shoulder. When in question, it is a foul. (Rule 2-27-14)
and
Defenseless player—a player not in position to defend himself.
Examples (Rule 2-27-14):
A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass.
A receiver attempting to catch a pass, or one who has completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a ball carrier.
A kicker in the act of or just after kicking a ball, or during the kick or the return.
A kick returner attempting to catch or recover a kick.
A player on the ground.
A player obviously out of the play.
A player who receives a blind-side block.
A ball carrier already in the grasp of an opponent and whose forward progress has been stopped.
A quarterback any time after a change of possession.
I do not necessarily think that the Bronco defender was a "defenseless player", but the rule can be interpreted to mean that he was if an official in real time thinks it was a blind-side block (I'm not so sure). That would make the Bronco defender a "defenseless player" and Ward made contact with the defenders head (regardless if it was with the crown, facemask, or forehead) so it is illegal.
Again, the point is, why open yourself up for the possibility of a flag or injury by using improper form? Even still, if Ward doesn't drop his helmet and "sees what he hits" then this block is still possibly illegal by today's standards due to potential "defenseless player" issues.
I think he hit him with the crown of his helmet and shoulder simultaneously, you and others do not. Let's just agree to disagree on that point. My main point is, in today's environment, that is getting a flag. Especially if the defender gets up and stumbles like that.
Sorry everyone, I didn't mean to open a can of worms with this. I was using Ward as an example because he was noted (and sometimes feared) as a great blocker and our receivers need to be better blockers. I used this gif because at a quick look it looked like a good solid block. I can see how it could be considered borderline, but still think it's good, much clearer than the others I found and described above. I'm not advocating that our receivers push the rules or use improper technique, but it would be nice to see them play with the same mixture of fierceness and joy that Ward played with.
And my main point is that it isn't. That defender was not defenseless.
His helmet is down and to the side as he raises his shoulder for the block. Now the defender might make contact with the crown of his helmet. Ward, not so much. The technique is solid.
Perfectly legal, as that isn't a defenseless player. 100% of the time in college football that does not draw a flag.