The same thing applies to what I thought about the lone Ohio State fan near me in the student section. It's really easy to gloat and brag in an enemy stadium when you know you're the best team in the country and you're winning. The same people would've been completely silent if they lost, and were at halftime when we were winning. It's just being a bad fan.
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They reminded me of UNC basketball fans. Didn't make much noise at all until the very end when the decision was in hand, then the bad eggs turn really sour and go out of their way to rub it in.
At the end of the day, the ones who are legitimately the bad fans are ones who have nothing else going on for them in their lives. And as a whole, I kind of got the feeling they weren't really happy with the game until they were up a bunch late, which just seems like a miserable way to go about games.
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Just a few thoughts. Woody Hayes used to say ," nothing clears your head like getting your ass stomped". I am referring to the working over VT, Frank Beamer, Bud Foster and company gave us in our house, on TV, and in front of the largest crowd ever to see a college football game. VT caught us at the right time, and took it to us. I do wonder if the national championship would have happened without the trimming we took. Since that time I have followed this and other Hokie blogs regularly. I just want to say how impressed I am with your program and fans. Hokie Nation is a class act. I fully expect VT to rise in the rankings, and strongly compete for the ACC title. If Brewer can come back I think you can win. So, a Buckeye salute to a very worthy opponent.
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You're certainly saying all the right things, though I don't believe that was the biggest crowd ever to see a football game, even if it was the biggest crowd ever at the Shoe.
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It was the biggest at the time...then Michigan had to ruin everyone's fun. At least we all agree that school deserves the beating it will get from OSU...I hope yaw hang 100 on them...Danny Coale caught that ball.
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Brewer getting injured doesn't explain the total collapse of the defense.
Edit: I've read the responses, and while I sympathize, our defense got beaten last night. Yes, the Brewer injury was a let down, but that does not explain the complete lapse of Bud's defensive unit. I don't mean it as a slight towards the defensive personnel, as I think it was more the strategy that failed to make the right adjustments. And I do realize that OSU has talent all over the field.
I see some better explanations of the lapse below. OSU's adjustments in the second half were a lot better than Bud's.
"You don't have to stand tall, but you do have to stand up."
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Yeah let's be honest for a second and admit that we will not play anyone of OSU's caliber for the remainder of the season. So take any negativity towards our defense with a grain of salt. Now if they get torched against Furman and Purdue, we can revisit that, but right now is not a time to be freaking out.
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Our inability to pick up first downs after his injury was a main cause of the defensive collapse. And I know TOP was relatively similar but thar isn't a recipe for success when one team is running the hurry up and the other isnt.
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Speaking of, I really liked our tempo last night. For the first time in forever, we could play offense at the pace the game warranted with no appreciable dropoff in execution whether we huddled or played hurry-up.
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Actually, it does. Momentum shift. Motley did nothing, and a defense called on to go back out after rapid-fire 3 and outs not only get tired, they get demoralized. When playing OSU, pitching a shutout is not an issue. All sides have to contribute. You notice in the first half, the defense locked down as our offense picked up. That's not just coincidence. The units were feeding off each others' energy.
The defense gave up a long scoring drive out of the half, unable to immediately account for OSU's adjustments, but the defense then forced punts the next couple of possessions after Brewer went out. The offense just did nothing. Play that game against OSU and eventually the floodgates will open, which is exactly what happened.
We don't surrender 42 points if Brewer was in the game until the end. I'm not saying we would have won (though I'll go to my grave believing it; just a hunch I have) but the offense was moving the ball. Brewer was zoned in and playing by far the game of his career, 68% completion rate, almost 10 yards per attempt, no turnovers, on pace to flirt with 300 yards. He would have kept the offense moving, kept their offense off the field, and put points on the board.
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Brewer was a stud. Had a few passes i'm sure he wished he could have placed a bit better, but didn't question his judgement on any of the throws. Still took a few sacks that I thought he could have gotten rid of the ball on, but it's better to eat a sack than throw a pick.
You're right after the 75 yard 1 minute drive to start the half the defense did a better job until the offense had two turnovers and we gave up long TDs on both drives. Still wouldn't want to be in that locker room today for film review with Bud.
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Still wouldn't want to be in that locker room today for film review with Bud.
Bud has his work cut out for him, that's for sure. I don't think the defense lacks for talent (although I'm a lot less confident about that than I was 24 hours ago). But they appear to lack leadership. I think we will learn a lot about them in the next 3-4 weeks.
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"We don't surrender 42 points if Brewer was in the game until the end. I'm not saying we would have won (though I'll go to my grave believing it; just a hunch I have) but the offense was moving the ball."
- Right there with you. Brewer was in control, knew what he was doing and was executing; plus, hearing Scot's comments about being excited for the 2nd half ... I think they could have pulled it out. Too bad my wife is a buckeye + will never believe it.
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No, but Bud explained it pretty well, I thought. He got outschemed.
"They did a great job with their protection," Foster said. "That was their whole deal. Instead of releasing their back, they were aggressive blocking our mike. We were probably over-concerned about them slip screening and draws. ... We folded our guys in. We were thinking more with all the guys out, quick screens and different things like that. And we probably outsmarted ourselves a little bit from that standpoint, as far as getting some edge pressure a little bit more. But they did a great job. They were aggressive in their protection, and they were much better than they were a year ago. Very little slide protection, which we were expecting quite a bit."
Bud Foster was outcoached. It happens so rarely that it's easy to forget that it's a theoretical possibility. But their offense adjusted to our defense better than our defense adjusted to their offense. Yes, the players made mistakes, too. And I think we really missed C J Reavis. But Ohio State did things Bud didn't anticipate, and didn't do what he did anticipate.
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Special teams was one of the bright spots yesterday outside of kickoff returns. I know slye missed a 50 yarder, but he had plenty of leg on it and that's a tough kick to make as the first of a season. He nailed a 46 yarder again with plenty of leg and put every kickoff threw the end zone. Hughes also looked good with good placement and distance on his punts. The only good kickoff return I remember was TM when it seemed like he was off to the races if not for the kicker making a form tackle. Derwoun greene had one where he hesitated and should have taken a knee and brought it out to like the 15. Stroman reminds me of KJ on the punt returns where everytime i'm a bit worried that he's going to get blown up and fumble.
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We returned at least three kicks from the endzone that did not make the 25 yard line. Our best return went from the 3 to the 26. They need to stop taking the damn kicks out of the endzone when the coverage is good.
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yes, but we did take the knee when it was still a game. They really started to try to run it out once it was clear that we needed something like a return for a TD to even keep hope alive. It's gonna happen, especially when your offense isn't even trying to manage the clock when down multiple scores.
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We only took the knee once, and we should have taken it every time.
Here are our six kickoff returns (not counting the one out of bounds):
1Q (15:00) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, touchback.
1Q (9:44) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, Greene, D return 18 yards to the VT18
3Q (13:53) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, touchback.
3Q (2:05) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, McMillian, T return 16 yards to the VT16
4Q (12:26) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 63 yards to the VT2, McMillian, T return 24 yards to the VT26
4Q (8:16) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, McMillian, T return 17 yards to the VT17
The only one on there that should qualify as "trying to keep hope alive" is the last one. Even the 3rd quarter (2:05) kick was only at 28-17.
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My dad made the comment to me during the game that it helps having Slye kick it clear out of the end zone, but their kicker seemed to get a 5 minute hang time that landed a foot in the end zone. By the time our guys hit the 10 coverage was all over them.
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Hear, hear on the special teams. Joey Slye has been putting in work this off season, for sure. The 50 yd that he missed was one of the most spectacular misses I've ever seen, and the 46 yd make would have been good from 56 yds.
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The defense falling apart is something we have seen many times in a similar situation. You can only hold on so long playing tough D when you know the offense isn't going to do anything. We didn't even have a pulse on offense after we lost Brewer and eventually the defense will sense that and through a combination of being tired, frustrated, and losing hope, sometimes games get away from us. Same thing happened against UCLA. Fuller has never bit on a double move in his career, not something you see from a fully focused Fuller, it felt to me like it was over before that TD and I can't help but think some players had the same thought.
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As far as I'm concerned that was the most upsetting failure of the night. I felt like the defense quit. I know players get injured. I know our offense is still growing. I know mistakes will be made. But I do not expect our defense to quit until the game is over. I don't mind losing to the best team in the country. But I mind quitting.
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I would rather see Mook at Nickel corner than Stroman. I thought Frye was doing a decent job, i don't think Adonis Alexander should have come in too early. Motoupuaka looks a little lost.
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Beamer mentioned Chris Durkin by name as someone who will get more reps this week. Both Beamer and Loeffler hinted at freshman Dwayne Lawson getting a longer look, although neither uttered his name. The Hokies will have to consider all options.
Enter Jack "The Darkhorse" Click.
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I also want to see French's analysis, but it seems like we abandoned the bear front almost immediately after Brewer went down. I don't know what it was, but I swear it looked like we had six down linemen at some points.
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The more I look at it, I honestly believe the total objective became getting out of the game injury-free, and play calling and substitutions on both sides support that. Also explains the loss of all morale on the team if they were picking up on the coaches essentially mailing it in.
Eager to see the reviews on this one.
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Comments
Hello .500 season again...
Not digging those player tweets.
The same thing applies to what I thought about the lone Ohio State fan near me in the student section. It's really easy to gloat and brag in an enemy stadium when you know you're the best team in the country and you're winning. The same people would've been completely silent if they lost, and were at halftime when we were winning. It's just being a bad fan.
They reminded me of UNC basketball fans. Didn't make much noise at all until the very end when the decision was in hand, then the bad eggs turn really sour and go out of their way to rub it in.
At the end of the day, the ones who are legitimately the bad fans are ones who have nothing else going on for them in their lives. And as a whole, I kind of got the feeling they weren't really happy with the game until they were up a bunch late, which just seems like a miserable way to go about games.
Just a few thoughts. Woody Hayes used to say ," nothing clears your head like getting your ass stomped". I am referring to the working over VT, Frank Beamer, Bud Foster and company gave us in our house, on TV, and in front of the largest crowd ever to see a college football game. VT caught us at the right time, and took it to us. I do wonder if the national championship would have happened without the trimming we took. Since that time I have followed this and other Hokie blogs regularly. I just want to say how impressed I am with your program and fans. Hokie Nation is a class act. I fully expect VT to rise in the rankings, and strongly compete for the ACC title. If Brewer can come back I think you can win. So, a Buckeye salute to a very worthy opponent.
You're certainly saying all the right things, though I don't believe that was the biggest crowd ever to see a football game, even if it was the biggest crowd ever at the Shoe.
Whether it was or not, the biggest crowd ever to see a football game will be set in stone on September 10 of next year.
* until the next time that someone decides to set the record.
It was the biggest at the time...then Michigan had to ruin everyone's fun. At least we all agree that school deserves the beating it will get from OSU...I hope yaw hang 100 on them...Danny Coale caught that ball.
You can't blame them too much unfortunately, kids these days are not taught respect or grace...
Brewer getting injured doesn't explain the total collapse of the defense.
Edit: I've read the responses, and while I sympathize, our defense got beaten last night. Yes, the Brewer injury was a let down, but that does not explain the complete lapse of Bud's defensive unit. I don't mean it as a slight towards the defensive personnel, as I think it was more the strategy that failed to make the right adjustments. And I do realize that OSU has talent all over the field.
I see some better explanations of the lapse below. OSU's adjustments in the second half were a lot better than Bud's.
"You don't have to stand tall, but you do have to stand up."
it explains the lack of rest we got.. OSU knew Motley wasn't going to throw.. so they loaded the box and had 1 safety deep just in case.
Our D looked ok at times and mediocre at others, OSU will absolutely eat teams alive this year. I'm proud of the way they still fought.
Yeah let's be honest for a second and admit that we will not play anyone of OSU's caliber for the remainder of the season. So take any negativity towards our defense with a grain of salt. Now if they get torched against Furman and Purdue, we can revisit that, but right now is not a time to be freaking out.
Good point about not freaking out. You still have very good players on both sides of the ball and I think you'll still have a very good season.
Our inability to pick up first downs after his injury was a main cause of the defensive collapse. And I know TOP was relatively similar but thar isn't a recipe for success when one team is running the hurry up and the other isnt.
Speaking of, I really liked our tempo last night. For the first time in forever, we could play offense at the pace the game warranted with no appreciable dropoff in execution whether we huddled or played hurry-up.
I'd call that one of the bright spots.
Actually, it does. Momentum shift. Motley did nothing, and a defense called on to go back out after rapid-fire 3 and outs not only get tired, they get demoralized. When playing OSU, pitching a shutout is not an issue. All sides have to contribute. You notice in the first half, the defense locked down as our offense picked up. That's not just coincidence. The units were feeding off each others' energy.
The defense gave up a long scoring drive out of the half, unable to immediately account for OSU's adjustments, but the defense then forced punts the next couple of possessions after Brewer went out. The offense just did nothing. Play that game against OSU and eventually the floodgates will open, which is exactly what happened.
We don't surrender 42 points if Brewer was in the game until the end. I'm not saying we would have won (though I'll go to my grave believing it; just a hunch I have) but the offense was moving the ball. Brewer was zoned in and playing by far the game of his career, 68% completion rate, almost 10 yards per attempt, no turnovers, on pace to flirt with 300 yards. He would have kept the offense moving, kept their offense off the field, and put points on the board.
Brewer was a stud. Had a few passes i'm sure he wished he could have placed a bit better, but didn't question his judgement on any of the throws. Still took a few sacks that I thought he could have gotten rid of the ball on, but it's better to eat a sack than throw a pick.
You're right after the 75 yard 1 minute drive to start the half the defense did a better job until the offense had two turnovers and we gave up long TDs on both drives. Still wouldn't want to be in that locker room today for film review with Bud.
Bud has his work cut out for him, that's for sure. I don't think the defense lacks for talent (although I'm a lot less confident about that than I was 24 hours ago). But they appear to lack leadership. I think we will learn a lot about them in the next 3-4 weeks.
"We don't surrender 42 points if Brewer was in the game until the end. I'm not saying we would have won (though I'll go to my grave believing it; just a hunch I have) but the offense was moving the ball."
- Right there with you. Brewer was in control, knew what he was doing and was executing; plus, hearing Scot's comments about being excited for the 2nd half ... I think they could have pulled it out. Too bad my wife is a buckeye + will never believe it.
Scot REALLY thought he had something. Makes me wonder what he saw, but he was crushed that he didn't get to tinker in the second half.
No, but Bud explained it pretty well, I thought. He got outschemed.
Bud Foster was outcoached. It happens so rarely that it's easy to forget that it's a theoretical possibility. But their offense adjusted to our defense better than our defense adjusted to their offense. Yes, the players made mistakes, too. And I think we really missed C J Reavis. But Ohio State did things Bud didn't anticipate, and didn't do what he did anticipate.
a teams offenses and defenses are more emotionally tied than most appreciate. the momentum shifted with the Brewer injury, on both sides of the ball.
Special teams was one of the bright spots yesterday outside of kickoff returns. I know slye missed a 50 yarder, but he had plenty of leg on it and that's a tough kick to make as the first of a season. He nailed a 46 yarder again with plenty of leg and put every kickoff threw the end zone. Hughes also looked good with good placement and distance on his punts. The only good kickoff return I remember was TM when it seemed like he was off to the races if not for the kicker making a form tackle. Derwoun greene had one where he hesitated and should have taken a knee and brought it out to like the 15. Stroman reminds me of KJ on the punt returns where everytime i'm a bit worried that he's going to get blown up and fumble.
We returned at least three kicks from the endzone that did not make the 25 yard line. Our best return went from the 3 to the 26. They need to stop taking the damn kicks out of the endzone when the coverage is good.
or when you do take it out do it with a sense of urgency. if you hesitate you might as well just down the ball.
yes, but we did take the knee when it was still a game. They really started to try to run it out once it was clear that we needed something like a return for a TD to even keep hope alive. It's gonna happen, especially when your offense isn't even trying to manage the clock when down multiple scores.
We only took the knee once, and we should have taken it every time.
Here are our six kickoff returns (not counting the one out of bounds):
1Q (15:00) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, touchback.
1Q (9:44) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, Greene, D return 18 yards to the VT18
3Q (13:53) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, touchback.
3Q (2:05) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, McMillian, T return 16 yards to the VT16
4Q (12:26) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 63 yards to the VT2, McMillian, T return 24 yards to the VT26
4Q (8:16) -- Willoughby, J kickoff 65 yards to the VT0, McMillian, T return 17 yards to the VT17
The only one on there that should qualify as "trying to keep hope alive" is the last one. Even the 3rd quarter (2:05) kick was only at 28-17.
My dad made the comment to me during the game that it helps having Slye kick it clear out of the end zone, but their kicker seemed to get a 5 minute hang time that landed a foot in the end zone. By the time our guys hit the 10 coverage was all over them.
we just need to stay in the endzone.. unless its a line drive right to us.
Their kicker got close to kicking it out 2-3 times.. I know he did it once but he seemed to pin us in 1 corner
Hear, hear on the special teams. Joey Slye has been putting in work this off season, for sure. The 50 yd that he missed was one of the most spectacular misses I've ever seen, and the 46 yd make would have been good from 56 yds.
The defense falling apart is something we have seen many times in a similar situation. You can only hold on so long playing tough D when you know the offense isn't going to do anything. We didn't even have a pulse on offense after we lost Brewer and eventually the defense will sense that and through a combination of being tired, frustrated, and losing hope, sometimes games get away from us. Same thing happened against UCLA. Fuller has never bit on a double move in his career, not something you see from a fully focused Fuller, it felt to me like it was over before that TD and I can't help but think some players had the same thought.
As far as I'm concerned that was the most upsetting failure of the night. I felt like the defense quit. I know players get injured. I know our offense is still growing. I know mistakes will be made. But I do not expect our defense to quit until the game is over. I don't mind losing to the best team in the country. But I mind quitting.
I would rather see Mook at Nickel corner than Stroman. I thought Frye was doing a decent job, i don't think Adonis Alexander should have come in too early. Motoupuaka looks a little lost.
Enter Jack "The Darkhorse" Click.
He went to Exum's hs (Deep Run) West End, represent!
Don't sleep on QBs who wear #16
Maybe he can get the offense Clicking so that the defense can Settle down a bit and catch their wind.
......also something something Rogers
At a point earlier than I anticipated, I started seeing numbers on defense that I could not put a name on.
I forget when but, it a
Pearled to me that soon after Brewer was out, there were subs in that were for the reps and to protect our starters.
Was I wrong and just don't know numbers?
I also want to see French's analysis, but it seems like we abandoned the bear front almost immediately after Brewer went down. I don't know what it was, but I swear it looked like we had six down linemen at some points.
I thought I was seeing things wrong.
I thought I saw that but there was a lot of shifting going,on too so, I'm nit really sure.
The more I look at it, I honestly believe the total objective became getting out of the game injury-free, and play calling and substitutions on both sides support that. Also explains the loss of all morale on the team if they were picking up on the coaches essentially mailing it in.
Eager to see the reviews on this one.