Between now and fall practice, we're going to take a walk through the 2015 Hokies schedule and preview each opponent with the people that follow them every day. We will be taking a look back at last season and spring practice, as well as attempting to forecast the year ahead.
After defeating the Buckeyes in Columbus a year ago, the Hokies are looking for a repeat performance under the lights in Lane Stadium against the defending national champions. In an effort to better understand how the Buckeyes offseason has gone and who we might see under center on September 7th, we asked our friends over at Eleven Warriors. to provide some insight. I had the pleasure of exchanging questions and answers with Michael Citro, Senior Columnist at Eleven Warriors. Michael's answers to my questions are below, and you can find my answers at Eleven Warriors.
There's no better place to start than the most polarizing position battle in the country between Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones.
Leading into summer workouts, can you give us a rundown of the current state of the quarterback battle and handicap the contenders?
Cardale Jones is the frontrunner by default because he was the only one healthy in spring practice. That's changing, though, with J.T. Barrett just about at 100%. Braxton Miller may not get to throw at full velocity until midway through fall camp, so he's probably lagging behind the other two. If all three were healthy, it would be Miller's job to lose, but a torn labrum is a tricky injury to return from. We've heard things went well with his surgery but until we see him throwing darts, it's hard to believe he'll be ready by opening day. The prevailing thought is that Barrett will reclaim his starting spot when healthy because he can run more of the offense than Jones, who is not a read option type of guy.
Has there been any indication from Urban Meyer whether or not he would implement a multiple-quarterback system, depending on the situation or opponent?
There has been talk about a dual-quarterback system, using the strengths of both Jones and Barrett/Miller. Urban Meyer has had success before with using such a system with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at Florida. We're not sure exactly how that would look—would it be situational, series-by-series, or some combination thereof? Complicating the matter is the loss of offensive coordinator Tom Herman, who left to become Houston's head coach. There is continuity with Ed Warinner taking over the play calling duties but we have yet to see what impact new quarterbacks coach Tim Beck will have, and whether that will affect any kind of a multi-quarterback system.
Would you say that the fan base is behind one quarterback more than the others, or is it generally divided over who should/will be under center on September 7th?
I think the fan base is divided. There's a segment of the population that will go with the person who most recently impressed them. The fact that Cardale Jones put together three solid performances to win a national championship has a lot of fans on his side. Many are still behind Barrett, who was essentially rewriting the Ohio State and Big Ten record books before his injury on the first play of the fourth quarter against Michigan. But from what I've seen, most fans say Miller's the man, if healthy. If I had to divide the fan base by percentage, I'd estimate 50% would ride with Team Miller, 30% with Barrett and 20% with Jones. But that's just from my observations online. I could be way off.
Man-child Joey Bosa, who many have pegged as a potential number one pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, anchors one of the top defensive lines in the nation. Bleacher Report recently named Bosa and Darron Lee as the fourth-best pass rushing tandem in the country behind *cough cough* Virginia Tech's own Ken Ekanem and Dadi Lhomme Nicolas. Assuming the Hokies' o-line keeps a close eye on Bosa, who else should Stacey Searles' bunch be ready for?
Lee is a good start. He's a playmaker all over the field and seems to have a special knack for making blockers forget he's there. It's like you're trying to double-team Bosa and all of a sudden Lee is eating your quarterback for lunch and you're not really sure where he came from. Adolphus Washington is moving into the departed [defensive tackle] Michael Bennett's old role. As a former defensive end, Washington explodes off the line and gets into space quickly. Whoever wins the defensive end spot opposite Bosa will also likely be a better pass rusher than Steve Miller was last year. Jalyn Holmes and Sam Hubbard are going to battle for that in the fall, with Holmes maybe holding a slight edge. As a true freshman, Holmes saw a fair number of snaps last year. Meyer has lamented redshirting Hubbard, a converted linebacker. They may not set the edge against the run as well as Miller until they get more seasoning, but they should be able to get after the quarterback.
What is the outlook for the Buckeyes' offensive line and what is the coaching staff doing to prepare for Bud Foster's attacking defense after the whipping they took last year in C-bus?
The Buckeyes return four starters (all but right tackle Darryl Baldwin) from last year's group that started as a collection of newbies and finished the season by mauling Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon. The "whipping" last year galvanized them and whenever teams came with the Bear look Virginia Tech used, it did not go well for the opposition. Warinner coaches the offensive line and he's one of the best in the business but his group was not yet ready for Foster and kind of gelled over the next four games or so, turning into a real strength of the team. Phil Steele has left tackle Taylor Decker and right guard Pat Elflein on his preseason All-American teams. Jacoby Boren is the field general at center and, although undersized, somehow doesn't ever seem to get pushed around. Billy Price at left guard, a converted defensive lineman, is a hammer. The right tackle will likely be Chase Farris, another converted D-lineman. They will know what to do against that stacked front when they see it and their chemistry is light years from what it was in the last meeting. That said, opening games typically favor the defense.
For a team that won the National Championship last season, the Buckeyes return an awful lot of impact players in 2015. Who are some of the fresh faces that you expect to make an impact this upcoming season?
Sophomore middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan looks like the real deal. He got on the field quite a bit as a true freshman, stealing snaps from senior Curtis Grant, and he was always around the ball. He made some mistakes, but his athleticism and nose for the football usually won out. The aforementioned Holmes looks like a sack machine in the making. On offense, there aren't many open slots, but you'll probably see more of Curtis Samuel this season both in the backfield and catching passes, as he worked out all spring as a wide receiver.
Comments
They sound confident and for obviously good reason. I'm thinking we're going to see just how good a coach Beamer is in game one. I think we're going to have to come out early and make a statement, go for some blocks, let them know their QB's are not going to run on us, and hit a deep one or two. If we start getting cute however, ala ill-timed fake punts against Michigan, it could look like little league. But this game will not our season make, unless we take it and run the table somehow.
Thanks for the article and those that will come. Nice to see the pic of VT in the Buck's stadium. Will their band be coming this year?
Don't you mean entitled???
Nah, mainly confident from the majority of fans. If you go by the vocal minority, you won't get a good representation of the fanbase.
Yup the band is coming, according to our band director
I wonder if our band is planing to spell out "OSU" in response to their band spelling VT last year. My guess is no since the MV's are quite limited in their show repertoire.
I wouldn't mind it if we did. It would be respectful to do it since they did it for us. While its easy to get caught up in the animosity of college football sometimes, I appreciate the respect of the other team and their fanbase.
Except UVA. They can go sip Zimas and continue their slide to the cellar of college football.
I hope the band forms "OSU" on the field. That stuff's OK.
Makes us look more sporting after we smoke those fools.
yeah them forming the VT last year was pretty classy
After they make the OSU, Enter Sandman will come on and everybody will forget all about it
This, do the respectful thing, then Enter Sandman, and then It. Is. On.
It looks like the MV's wont be doing Pregame so it is a bit of a moot point.
Based on what I recall they do pregame on their alumni day, which is the Fri Night vs NCST this year, coinciding with formal opening of their new practice facility.
Plus FWIW the HT's were pregame in 2012 for the GT Labor Day game.
This is not necessarily the case. We actually normally do pregame at the "night game" of the season. On alumni day we also do a rendition of the "pregame" show (when we spell out HOKIES) and then continue on with whatever the show is that week.
Ok yea my memory of all the shows just really runs together. And yea I guess that makes sense since for my first 3 years 10-12 it was always the Thurs Night game when we flipped. And then of course 13 didnt have a night game.
And of course this year is just like 12 with 2 night games, so we will see if they follow what they did then and keep the band order normal for Labor Day.
It will be interesting to see how Bud schemes for which QB. I guess he could probably scheme for Miller and Barrett the same way but still. It is a little tough to scheme for a guy when you don't know who's starting or if just one or all of them will play.
Excited for the game. I had a good feeling about that one last year for whatever reason, maybe it was the combination of a big openeing game, which we usually play well in but have let some slip through our fingers, and the new OL and QB that OSU had coming in. May have been a different game with a healthy Miller in. Anyhow, if we lose it will be no big shocker but I hope we do win that would be completely awesome. Eager for fall camp to start.
I doubt if we'll see all 3, or even 2, of the QBs in this game. I think that it would be ill-advised to try a multiple-QB rotation. The only reason we would see more than 1 QB would be injury, and I sincerely hope that doesn't happen. However, if Urban decides to try rotating QBs in and out of the game I'm perfectly okay with that. I don't think that will hurt our chances at all.
If he does rotate I'd expect Jones to be the short yardage punch it in guy to spell Miller or Barrett.
I could see that.
Barrett is the more mobile running QB, Jones is just bigger and hard to tackle. I anticipate Jones being the starter. I'm not sure how you can bench a guy who won a national title, if you do and come out and lose then you will hear a lot of second guessing
I see it a different way. Barrett is the captain that guided them to the 'ship. By the time they were there, the team was firing on all cylinders. At that point, all they needed was a distributor. Don't get me wrong, Jones is a great QB from the limited sample size he has, but JT has already proven he can lead the team through the gauntlet. If all QBs were 100%, I see Miller back in his starting role (there's a reason he was there), but unfortunately due to lagging injuries, I anticipate Jones being the starter as he is the only one not recovering, therefore has a leg up on reps.
In other news, apparently Bosa tore a ligament in his foot? They're saying he'll be in a boot for two weeks and that its only minor, but an injury like this, however minor, can nag on a whole season. All I'm saying is I don't want any excuses when Dadi and Kenjamin each put up better numbers on Labor Day than Bosa.
Foot sprain:
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2015/05/54157/ohio-sta...
It's not a lisfranc sprain, is it? Those can be debilitating after sending to initially be nothing serious. It's the injury that ended Kevin Jones' NFL career, and we got hit with three or four of them in a season a few years ago. Nasty stuff.
Don't know. The staff MD at 11W (Yes, we have one) hasn't weighed in yet but if she does it will be a worthwhile read. She did a good article on BM and one on fractures.
Here is her take on Bosa's sprain:
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/college-football/2015/06/54268/the-descrip...
"Everybody Poops."
I thought the same thing....ha ha ha....leg for you
I was reading and in my head thought.....why did she do a piece on bowel movements......ha ha ha...
That was a great article. As a guy who suffered a pretty severe foot sprain playing rugby, I can say with certainty that they suck. It's definitely possible to play on them and be close to 100% functionally (speed, change of direction, etc.) but if it's a bad one that's gonna hurt and linger for several months. Hope Bosa's good to go this season. He's a terrifying matchup for our RT especially, but damn is he fun to watch.
Not to be that guy, but I think you meant "gauntlet."
I'm confident there will be all kinds of uproar doubting the QB decision (no matter who is starting) as soon as the team loses their first game.
Throw a few picks, and they'll be calling for Leal to be put in.... or something like that.
Bud will probably do what he has always done against QBs. Crazy pressure and man coverage. He will make the QB beat us. All we need is a sacks, and our fans and players will be bloodthirsty for the rest of the night.
OT: The Adama Maneuver totally owns the Picard Maneuver, though what I'm choosing to call the Coulson Maneuver from one of the later episodes in the second season of Shield is pretty awesome too.
I think Jesus was the first person to perform the Coulson Maneuver.
Adama was the shit. Nerd leg.
I was talking about when they had one cloaked plane docked with another cloaked plane. The Hydra base detected the larger plane and shot it down and while that plane was flat spinning into the ocean the Shield team in the smaller plane detached and flew in under the radar.
I know. It was a great move, I was just making a joke about bringing Coulson back for the series after killing him in Avengers.
OK, I just wanted to make sure it was clear that I was talking about the double cloaked plane thing and not the back from the dead thing.
I wish I could give you a thousand legs because this was my favorite show
#SACKSBURG
Idk about you guys, but I definitely got the sense that Michael wasn't buying into the lighthearted ribbing Joe was throwing his way
Joe?
Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?
well, Joe wasn't asking the questions so maybe that's why?
Apologies. PhillyHokie. PhillyHokie's lighthearted ribbing. I think I am just going to quit at internetting for a little while
Wait. I thought we were the only team forced to do something as drastic as convert D linemen to OL.
My overall takeaway from this is that their OL coach took the loss personally and has adjusted to the Bear front. Wonder what Bud will surprise them with this year.
I will be called the ManBearPig defensive front. It's top secret. I heard Bud wept when he conceived of the idea, reveling in his own brilliance.
Bud would never weep.
Maybe he would if he could, but I think a tear would vaporize like a mosquito on a bug zapper when it tried to escape the intensity of his glare.
Some other fierce forest animal front.
It will be called the shark front and then we'll have this.......
I'll just go ahead and leave this here again.
With all the attention the Bear defense has gotten, I'd love nothing more than to see Foster come out with something completely different and see the OSU coaching staff make all the same excuses about seeing something they didn't expect.
I have 2 thoughts on this:
1) Bud will absolutely change it up. If Facyson is back and healthy then the back 4 will be Fuller, Facyson, Clark, Reavis. You have 4 guys that can play man, zone, support the run and, most importantly, tackle. In front of them will be one of the best DLines in the country. Based off of the Cinci game (and French's great analysis of it) Bud/Torrian have a fully interchangeable secondary that they can get REALLY creative with. Factor in a healthy RVD and the "Bear Front" might be the least of their worries.
2) OSU's OL stopped other teams when they went to the Bear look but that is misleading. The Bear Front worked for Bud because of how he runs his D and how everyone is coached. Any other team doing it was doing it based off of 1 weeks worth of practice. Best way I can think is if an offense decided to run the triple option for a week, there is no way the execution would be close to where it needs to be. Bud has been open about talking about the Xs and Os of the Bear Front because he knows most can't do anything with it because they can't execute it.
Edit: Here's the link to French's analysis, but here's the part that I was thinking about
Did someone say military bowl? I was really happy how Clark stepped it up through the season. He was kind of getting picked on at the beginning, but by the end he was making nasty plays like this.
so...from getting picked on to just plain getting picks, eh?
That's what I'm talkin about!
And there it is, my new favorite upvote gif. Gotta love classic Mean Joe.
Especially when he's banning people for talking smack on Twitter.
Wait...
If Motuapuaka has a great day, the defense will be solid. And it sounds like OSU is bringing a defense, too. If there's a meme the next morning of Coach Beamer pumping his fists over a final score of 0-0, will they laugh or will they cry?
0-0 vs OSU is epic.
0-0 vs W&M is several magnitudes shy of epic.
It was against Wake, but I get your point. That Wake 0-0 Beamer celebration picture was just embarrassing. My SEC friends (I'm surrounded by them) still have a field day with that one.
If football is to become internationally popular like soccer, 0-0 is a good place to start. So I understand where Beamer was coming from.
Impossible!!! We haven't played Wake in years.....
Wouldn't it be great if we played GT in week one and they beat us, so that every team for the rest of the schedule tried to go triple option against us?
boom...man pig defense
IH once again you steal my thunder! They are the champs so Stiney and Newsome were on to something!
I'd wager it's an oddity to find a team at the FBS level that doesn't have a converted D lineman somewhere on the roster along the OL. It's a pretty standard practice. It just requires having an OL coach that knows shit from Shinola.
The thing about the Bear front is that there's not really any amazing counter to it except for your WR's to get open - quickly.
The reason other teams that tried it didn't have success was 1) lack of DBU talent in the backfield and 2) lack of #kendadicoreyluther up front.
Entitled by a little more history maybe, but I'm pretty sure that this year their team isn't going to come into Lane feeling entitled. They knew they took an ass-kicking last year and will want to do something about it. That's why I feel we will need to play the newest version of our greatest game ever. I like our chances to do that as we match up well and as things stand now we're going to see a sturdier Trey Edmunds and a healthier Facyson, two things we could have used last year.
Edit: don't know if it's me or what after signing in, but I meant to respond to bragghokie above.
the entitled comment was a reference to the thread about Burrell....it was supposed to be a joke
in all seriousness though I think if we can shut down their running game, a la Bud Foster 101, and force them into passing I think we have a great advantage with our secondary. Short passes over the middle, I don't know but we'll see. If Elliot gets rolling I think we'll be in for a long night.
Got ya. But part of gist I took from that Burrell story is that fans and players alike have some sort of entitlement just because they are OSU.
Yep, we will need to force them to pass. But on the other side of the ball, I see us more balanced and able to do things against them this year we couldn't last.
This^^
I love the entire focus on our defense in this preseason up to this game. Bud Foster will change things up and keep anOSU guessing. While that happens our offensive skill players will be surprising them.
From this interview this game is won in the trenches (shocker). anOSU has a great DL and a real good OL. VT has a great DL and a better OL with our OL backups capabilities as an unknown.
The basketball coach that recently passed away. Obviously. /s
So something along these lines then:
Don't put it past Bud to change his name just to confuse the other team.
You mean Bear Front Foster? He's a hell of a coach.
Oops, was typing fast. Stupid brain! Thanks for catching it. Good laugh at my expense. Legs for all. I fixed it.
right with that I agree....but Burrell was saying that WE seemed entitled....somehow....after a huge win against all odds in a historic venue.....sooo there-in lies the irony / joke of my comment
I also agree that we will be able to do more against them as well.
my take is that
1) Burrell was all OSU long before that game
2) He was buthurt his team lost at home in a huge OOC matchup
3) His comment about entitlement didn't make sense at all, even if you consider it to mean that he thought VT was acting too entitled to celebrate at the epic level that our coaches/players/fans did. Kinda like he was pissed our players coaches and fans were feeling so entitled to a post-game celebration post-game in the shoe. Instead of just walking back to the locker room like a good anOSU opponent.
Do not give Elliot another night like Duke Johnson had in our stadium. that was freaking embarassing! I expect having Maddy in there will make a difference and hopefully Walker will remember that shellacking not let it happen again.
Samuel on the sweeps and screens is the only play I think we will have trouble in defending due to experience. Everything else comes down to physicality and execution imo.
While I agree with you since we use the run to establish the pass with the threat of Elliot, Samuel, and our QB to run I think it will be harder to do this year. If you do key on the run you give our TE a chance to get open and force your man coverage on our WR to decide to bite on him, or come up to defend against the run.
I think we will execute a lot better this year and be more aggressive and try different looks to keep you off balance.
As for the Bear, it worked great against us but as the season progressed and we started to come together as a team it wasn't nearly as effective. If you can disrupt our QB and force him into quick decisions then it could be a long night for us. However, if we establish the run I think you'll have a hard time adjusting and we will take control of the game. I see us pounding the ball to start to establish the run and thus it will be a low scoring affair. Turnovers may be key and we need to do better at holding on to the football.Better QB decision making should help us avoid turnovers as well.
The big advantage I think we have is depth. You'll probably see some rotation on the D line especially to keep players fresh. The reason I think we have more depth is how your performance trailed off as injuries mounted. No great analysis on my part but a thought on how your season played out.
First, let me just say, I appreciate seeing you on this site regularly and contributing in a very respectful way. This says much about your character to me.
A reasonable take on the lack of depth (compared to Ohio St). I think most of us here feel decent (not great, but decent) about the matchup of 1s vs 1s with OSU. But, I think it's very fair to say there's more of a drop off in talent for us going to the 2s and 3s. Simple comparison of recruiting confirms this. By the way, that is speaking only to raw talent and not to coaching and scheme. But, I'll set that aside as I think OSU is a case where excellent coaching only makes that talent even better.
About OSU establishing the run against our D -- I think this is where we'd argue that's easier said than done (considering our D Line). I'll be very surprised/disappointed if OSU is able to easily establish the run. If it is, I agree with your take and it will be a long night for the home team.
I think we all understand the challenges of defending Urban Meyer's offense. However, I, feel that too much emphasis is being placed on the scheme in explaining VT's performance on defense. The prevailing thinking seems to be that, as long as you solve the bear front, this will be an easy win. While this was a big reason for the utter dominance last year, this doesn't give enough credit to how good our players are...
VT, when healthy, was arguably the best defensive line you saw last year and it was definitely the best pass rushing DL you played. It was the best pass rushing DL in the country last year, performing well against OL better at pass protection than yours. Barring mitigating circumstances, we should be even better in 2015-one of the best in the country. I understand the confidence and perhaps your OL will just maul us, but I doubt it. Overall, there were only a couple of defenses that you played last year that compare to us- Penn State and Bama.
VT had a tremendous amount of success last year versus OSU going mano a mano. Very rarely did you exploit the man coverage that you did see, at any position. It wasn't that our guys were always going unblocked, frequently it was just our guys beating yours. While you had a definite personnel advantage over Bama, MSU, and Wisconsin, both because their defenses are built to stop the power running game, and because your receiving corps were better than their secondaries as a whole, VT's defense very much has the ability/speed to keep up. While Ohio State was a bad matchup for Bama and Wisconsin, VT was and still remains as bad a matchup as OSU will see.
I think the convincing victory over Oregon in the NCG and big plays against Bama have blinded many Buckeye fans to the weaknesses of the team. Your OL only played okay against Bama (11 tfl, 3 sacks) and Profootballfocus gave half of your line negative grades. Penn State got similar penetration. Teams can get pressure on your QB and disrupt things.
https://pff-pffanalysisltd12.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/p...
As for depth, it depends upon to what position you're referring. OL? Yes, absolutely, but linemen shouldn't really wear down too much. That has much more to do with staying healthy throughout the season. The injuries there really served to devastate that unit and set back the offense. DL/CB? We were really able to build depth there because of the injuries last year. We should be more than fine there.
I just heard this on the radio and don't think it necessarily needs its own thread but on "The First Team" they were talking to a guy from the ACC network.
When it came to VT he said he was unsure because Brewer didn't preform as well as expected last year and that.....DURKIN!!.....may unseat him this year.
I'm sorry but when you're an "analyst" or whatever you gotta do some research. I mean it would have been more believable if he would of said Lawson was coming in and could give him a run for his money. I could understand the logic there. But did he not pay any attention to the spring game or any blog at all?? Durkin is obviously the #3 QB right now. I was just like, well nevermind to the rest of what they said about VT.
I always love to hear what people on the radio shows and such have to say when it comes to VT football but then I quickly realize they know a lot less than I do from being on TKP. So kudos to you guys for a great site.
If it were just limited to this one radio show, the world would be glorious.
Let's hope that OSU's scouting analysis of VT is as spot on as this one...
Actually, I think Durkin has a better chance at the starting job than Lawson considering he will probably get redshirted.
Stop their run and dont turn the ball over at the most inopportune times and we will once again be celebrating!
I had no idea that Miller wasn't even throwing yet or that he was most people's top choice (I thought Barrett was every bit Miller's equal last year when healthy). If Miller's not throwing yet, he's not playing against us. I imagine they will play Jones and Barrett in some combo. I don't think it matters that much to VT, both are dangerous. One dude's bigger, one dude's faster.
Gotta tackle.
Fundamentals.
I love it when Buckeyes nation gives the Hokies no chance, the opposite always happens.
When you give Bud Foster an off-season to prepare for teams , lunch-Defense always shows up,
To be fair, you're basing this off a sample size of one...
I agree completely. At the same time, he's actually right, technically
Actually, when the Hokies played Alabama, in '09 and '13, I remember the defense showing up in a big way for both games. In 2009 their defense was pretty good also, and in '13 our offense and special teams gifted wrapped 3 tds.
You're spot on. Edmunds however showed a little speed dusting the Alabama D. I'm hoping Loeffler will have learned how to use him to better effect. With this line if he can get into a rhythm this year he is going to be a beast and will have help from Coleman and McMillan to do it for a full four quarters..
Upvote for you, sir. One of my favorite gif's on this site. That was early in the game and I don't think Loeffler ran that same play again the whole night. That was one play where the o-line obliterated the Bama front. While waiting for eleven dropped passes to be caught, I'd have run it to both sides until the guy in the gif started crying.
I like it but it's bittersweet because we failed to win.
Well worded, 'failed to win' rather than simply lost, as in two special team TD's, a give-me pick six, and those dad-gummed dropped passes.
This is a very important game, because every single time these two have played each other the loser went on to win the National Championship.
"He's on pace to hit 324 home runs this season." - Scott Van Pelt, after a guy hit two homers on opening day
I hate to hear that about Holmes
Well, at least we got D'Shawn Hand.
woof
This is a surprise to me, because the word was Tyquan Lewis was going to start and had a great spring. Then he doesn't even get mentioned here...
I still don't understand what sway Urban Crier has over Miller. Why is he staying around to sit out, not to mention many people don't think he can make it as a NFL QB.
I would not be surprised to see Miller on the field at a position other than QB this fall. Urban knows he is not an NFL QB, Miller likely knows his future is not an NFL QB so I expect some shenanigans with him this season.
beyond loyalty to the team and school; did he have a better shot elsewhere. if he is 100% he's the odds on favorite to start and is familiar with the offense, has teammate that have played with him and have established a chemistry and rhythm, and is a hero to boot for post NFL days. if he leaves and is 100% he will still have to compete in an unfamiliar system with a bunch of new guys. If he isn't 100% he may not start anywhere.Very little upside for him leaving vs staying.
He moves to WR or another postion where his obvious athletic ability allows him to get some field time and maybe a reach in the draft.
I'm think H-Back, throwing an occasional pass for a little trickeration. Or a direct snap with 12 Gauge blocking.
Doing that won't help him make it to the next level. If he had left already he could have been playing WR on a team showing his next level potential.
Yeah, Miller was kinda screwed either way.
He's not healthy yet, so transferring wasn't a great idea. Staying isn't a great idea, unless everyone gets hurt again. Going pro wasn't an option.
Free tattoos?
Already gets them!
Miller is the new Tebow
One of my big questions that I haven't seen mentioned is, Will OSU be able to cover VT's skill players? A big part of why Brewer was able to get out of third and long situations so frequently is that receivers were open all night. Re-watching the game recently, there were only 4-5 times where there wasn't a receiver open. This is especially true of the tight ends, as Bucky Hodges and Malleck absolutely abused OSU's safeties and linebackers. A lot of it was by design through rub routes and things, but OSU's back 7 (other than Doran Grant, who graduated, and Vonn Bell) was completely lost all night.
Michigan State, Oregon, and to a lesser extent Michigan did similar things (as did Cincinnati, but they did that to almost everyone). Something to watch out for...
Leg for the good point! Jeez it is only June. Lets see June, July, August...September!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm at least half expecting our defense to come out in a bear front and then shift to a different formation at some point
I've rewatched almost every Ohio State game already, and I can confidently say that no other defense ran the Bear look that Virginia Tech used. Not only was no other defense as committed to the Bear as Foster was, no other team used the techniques that Foster did. No other defense was as aggressive getting into their gaps.
Most importantly, no other team was willing to get into man-coverage with no deep safety as much as Foster was. Without the free safety in the box, you will be outnumbered if the QB gets involved in the run game. That's what happened frequently Post-VT. Rather than trust their corners in single coverage, opponents moved out of Bear when presented with zone-read counters that got a puller on to the MLB.
Stay tuned.
remember a while back somebody posted the 32 best movie scenes that were improvised. I'm not saying that this is a great scene, necessarily, but I'm willing to bet throwing the glass was improvised. Everyone in the frame looks genuinely surprised when he smashes the glass on the floor. Pretty good improv IMO
The scheming VT does now for each opponent is great. Lefty brought that with him, and for the first time in every game I usually feel confident with the plan. I've questioned in game management a few times, and thrown my remote once or twice. But I feel good, we have a better o line, more experienced receivers and TE's, oh and who's our Bud? That guy we've leaned on over the years? I'm feeling good...
I believe Tech's defense will not let this game get out of hand, and the crowd will play a MAJOR part in this game. But, ever since 2004 Tech has struggled in their opener. There are a few exceptions (2004, 2009, and 2011), but in general, Tech has really struggled in their season openers.
This is very similar to when Tech played USC back in 2004 in fact. The 2003 season had a nightmarish ending and USC was coming off a National Championship (okay, that's not true, but most of us know what happened that year), and USC was expected to smoke the Hokies. Tech played a very good game, and if it weren't for that phantom pass interference call on Josh Hyman, Tech might have won that game.
Back to what I was saying about season openers though: the question is, are we going to see the 2004 Tech team that played against USC (and hope we don't get screwed over by the officials)? Or are we going to see the team that loses to ECU/goes down 17-0 to Boise State in the first quarter? I think by the end of the first quarter we'll know.
But, Ohio State will not kill the Hokies, and I'm confident Brewer and the defense gets the job done once again.
Cardale Jones' nickname "12 Gauge" might be one of the lamest things I've ever heard. Probably didn't help that I saw all these ridiculous photoshops of Jones as a cyborg with an actual gun for an arm, which seems to take things to Kellen Winslow levels.
It came from his number (12) and that he has a canon for an arm. As for comparisons to KW, I doubt that is fair to Jones.
I actually liked it. It would've been better if he didn't give himself the nickname (I remember that being the case. Maybe I'm wrong), but still. His jersey number is 12 and he's got an absolute howitzer attached to his shoulder. Might not be the most accurate guy in the world, but dammit he gets the job done. Hence, 12 Gauge.
So did Kyle Boller but I definitely would have laughed and shook my head if I saw photoshops of him with a cyborg rifle arm. It's something about the mix of amateur football, guns/warfare, and superheroes/comic books/anime that comes across as entirely ridiculous to me.
anime........
If you have not yet, it is worth a visit to the 11 Warriors site to read their thoughts about the opening game. I find it funny that they have all the same types that we have here. Does not matter where you go its all the same. One guy says we will lose 45-0 and another guy warns about our D. Using the Universal Blog Analytic Formula The Key play scores as the more informed and intelligent group.
I saw one guy over there making fun of us for how we give out turkey legs. The only thing I could think was "wow, some people really reach just to hate."
Ha, their players get stickers as a reward...
it's to encourage them to not just play football, but also to
Stickers of a poisonous hairless nut no less.
Poisonous hairless nut you say...
nailed it!