Bitter blog - Countdown to the ACC Kickoff, No. 14: Andrew Motuapuaka

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My dad has given up trying to pronounce his name, he just calls him "that dude with the hair".

There is nothing in the world like Thursday night in Blacksburg!

Just think Hakuna Matata.

It means no touchdowns?

You've got to realize this is the same guy that STILL calls Adibi (a-Dee-bee), Abibi (a-Bee-bee).

There is nothing in the world like Thursday night in Blacksburg!

Brent Musburger is your Dad? Cool!

Boy, I bet this gets confusing...

What's Important Now

It's pronounced "kevin" i believe.

Glorious!

We put the K in Kwality

Yeah, those Polynesian names'll get after ya. Generally, just voice each vowel: Mo tu a pu a ka, but by mid-season I hope we're calling him, "Mighty Mo".

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. " Rocky B.

if AM can start delivering the blow on contact we could be very solid against the run.

This is the one area of our defense that I have legitimate concerns. Andrew seems to have the tools and brains for the position, it just seems that he is timid stepping into the hole. Though it is a small sample size, the run by Trey in the spring game really scared me. What should have been a loss turned into a touchdown. If he attacks like that against anOSU, it could be a very long night. Hopefully he builds some confidence and starts flying to the football with an attitude. We shall see.

Just me thinking out loud, but if AM isn't progressing as well as we need him to before the season, does Bud have a contingency plan for the Mike position? Seems to me we could slide Clarke into the Mike and have a healthy RVD take over Backer, especially considering how rarely the whip is utilized lately. Can anyone speak to how interchangable, if at all, the linebacker positions might be? I definitely think AM has all the tools to be good, but if he's a liability in stopping the run and timid stepping into the hole, we could have a big weakness in the middle of the defense. Hopefully he can continue to progress.

Clarke doesn't have the size either for the mike spot IMO. Carson is the contingency plan but he's a true freshmen and I don't think he'll be strong enough at the point of attack as a true freshmen. If we had Clarke and RVD as our two inside LBs then we had better hope the DL stones everyone or they will be gaining an extra few yards per LB collision.

Agreed, Clarke doesn't have the prototypical Mike linebacker size either. From a football IQ perspective, however, I was incredibly impressed with him last year. It seems he just has a nose for the football and was always flying around and in on the tackle. RVD at 6'4" 220 would be a rangey athletic backer, a la Xavier Adibi. I think Carson has huge potential, but as you point out, he is a true freshman. I definitely have some concerns with the current Mike situation.

Bud was really high on walk-on Sean Huelscamp in the spring of 2014, if he makes it back from his ACL injury in time he could jump Lydon for the #2 spot, especially if the coaches want to get a redshirt year for Lydon.

I'm a little concerned about Moto, but I think his occasional penchant for overrunning his gap or otherwise not playing it correctly is of much more concern than whatever perceived pusillanimity or size issues he supposedly has. Ohio State specifically presents a lot of challenges for inside linebackers with their variety of read option looks and counters off of those looks. If he makes a mistake against them, it may be a TD.

However, while Motuapuaka struggled and CJ Reavis was the star of the spring game, it was Motuapuaka that was earning much of the praise up until that point. By all accounts he had been having a great spring until the spring game. So, obviously, the time that fans got to see him stick in the mind, but I have a little more confidence than if the coaches had been on him all of spring practice.

pusillanimity

noun
1.
the state or condition of being pusillanimous; timidity; cowardliness.

"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

Thanks for translating.

not sure I'd ever accuse a football player of that to his face. Even if he didn't know the definition, I can't see it being taken well...

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

This would probably happen:

Do not deny our pusillanimous touchdowns.