Frank Beamer promised personnel changes after the team's discouraging win to Pittsburgh and on Friday night, fans got a look at exactly what he meant.
The head Hokie made a statement with the players he made sure touched the ball against NC State, and which ones didn't.
J.C. Coleman and Trey Edmunds managed one touch between them. Travon McMillian, on the other hand, led the team in carries with 11, racking up 97 yards and a score to spark an offense that finally came alive in the 28-13 win.
"Our fans are going to like that guy a lot before he leaves here," Beamer said after the game. "He's got it."
OC Scot Loeffler made it plain that his comment about McMillian's future as a "dude" remains true, and pledged that the team will "continue to feature him" going forward.
That's welcome news for Hokies fans, who howled after the team worked in back after back to limited effect over the last few downtrodden weeks.
"It allows me to get a rhythm, get a feel for the defense and what they're doing," McMillian said about his expanded role. "It allows me to see things a lot better now that I'm getting more carries."
But he was also helped out immensely by his offensive line. The group looked considerably more confident in the running game, and protected QB Brenden Motley immeasurably better than it did last week — instead of the seven sacks it yielded against Pitt, the group gave up just one this time around.
"I wish we had more experience, but the thing I think we do have are athletic guys who are tough and will get better each week," Beamer said. "I think we took a step towards that tonight and I think we'll continue to do so. The thing is, you get kids who are athletic and tough on the offensive line, that's a great start."
Yet even though Motley had a much cleaner pocket this time around, he still took his fair share of shots.
Michael Brewer was ruled out ahead of the game, with the team saying he wasn't medically cleared despite being listed as "probable" in the injury report and Beamer insisting it was a decision that came down to the team's doctors, leaving the Hokies few options under center. Motley was even briefly knocked out of the game in the second half, but toughed it out and remained in the game for all but one play.
"I had a previous foot injury and I thought I reinjured it again, but I was fine," Motley said. "I was banged up a little bit, it's what happens in the game. You get banged up, you have to keep going, keep fighting, be a tough guy and we're a team full of tough guys."
Both Tech's offense and defense certainly proved that against the Wolfpack. Not only did the offense respond with 358 total yards, but the defense also stayed stingy. Bud Foster's group allowed just 270 yards to the Wolfpack, roughly 150 yards less than their average coming into the game.
"We were a little slow starting out, but it's not how you start, it's how you finish," Foster said.
The game certainly started unconventionally. Lightning in the area temporarily delayed kickoff, keeping many fans out of Lane Stadium until the game had already gotten underway.
When fans did make into Lane, they got to see a first quarter that kicked off in an eerily similar fashion to the team's loss to Pittsburgh just one week ago. The Hokies only mustered a few plays before punting the ball to the Wolfpack, and on the very first play, QB Jacoby Brissett threw a 24-yard wheel route to TE/FB Jaylen Samuels.
Brissett added on a 14-yard pass to WR Jonathan Alston and 24-yard keeper, where he completely bamboozled the defense and NC State was quickly down to Tech's 15-yard line. Yet the defense stiffened, and the Wolfpack had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Once more, the Hokies couldn't manage much on offense, yet punter A.J. Hughes was able to pin the Wolfpack on their own nine-yard line. Brissett and company didn't flinch.
NC State picked up big chunks of yardage, including a 17-yard swing pass to onetime Tech target Nyheim Hines, a 14-yard Brissett keeper and a 13-yard completion to Alston. Brissett ultimately capped things off with a beautifully thrown ball to WR Jumichael Ramos to beat Chuck Clark, giving the Wolfpack a 10-0 lead.
Although the first quarter elapsed in the middle of that drive, Hokies fans were surely reminded of the Panthers' ominous 10-0 start in the first a week prior, especially considering the Hokies were outgained 145-29 in the quarter.
Yet the Hokies responded in a big way on offense. A quick throw to McMillian for 19 yards down the sideline sparked the offense, followed by a 14-yard completion to WR Cam Phillips that he nearly broke for a score.
A costly defensive holding penalty on the Pack bailed out the offense, and Motley followed things up with a pretty pass to WR Isaiah Ford in the corner of the end zone. The 27-yard score made Ford the fastest Tech player to catch 10 receiving TDs, and cut the NC State lead to 10-7.
The defense responded with a big series, leading things off with a sack of Brissett by LBs Andrew Motuapuaka and Deon Clarke, then stopped Samuels in the backfield for a loss before forcing an incompletion. The Wolfpack then shot themselves in the foot on the punt, illegally batting the ball out of bounds Kam Chancellor-style to give Tech the ball on their 45-yard line with 10 minutes left in the second.
Loeffler then turned to McMillian on the ensuing drive and the offense rode the RB down the field. The redshirt freshman kicked things off with a 15-yard run on a pitch, then kept the ball for three straight runs to pick up a first down.
After a slant to Phillips and another short run by FB Sam Rogers to get another set of downs, Motley used a five-yard keeper before finding Ford in the end zone once more. This is most certainly where the Pitt comparisons end: The Hokies were now up 14-10.
The Wolfpack sputtered on offense once more, going three and out, and the Hokies took over at their 29-yard line with just over three minutes left on the clock.
Motley shone, engineering a 12 play, 71-yard drive that only ended with a dozen seconds left on the clock. He found Ford for his third TD of the game, finishing off a quarter that saw the Hokies outgain NC State 156-2 and take a 21-10 lead into the half.
"In the second quarter, we started to convert and executed like we're supposed to," Motley said.
After few fans got to experience "Enter Sandman" at its regularly scheduled airing, the song blared over the Lane loudspeakers once more to start the second half.
The defense responded, forcing another Wolfpack punt after they made it to their 42-yard line.
Calamity nearly struck for the Hokies when Greg Stroman insisted on catching a long punt, then promptly ran backwards to give Tech the ball on the four-yard line. Yet Motley stayed calm, getting the team a first down to ease the burden. The drive sputtered out due to penalties, but the Hokies avoided punting from the shadow of their own goalposts.
The Pack responded by hammering the Hokies on the ground on the next drive. NC State ran 10 plays, nine of which were runs to bring the Wolfpack down to Tech's 14-yard line. But on a key 3rd and 2, Brissett lined up in the shotgun and sailed a pass out of bounds to force another field goal. The drive ate up 5:25 of clock, and the Wolfpack cut the VT lead to 21-13.
Motley led off the next drive with a near miss to TE Bucky Hodges down the sideline. He kept the ball himself on second down, and came up hobbled after a short gain. He came out of the game, forcing freshman QB Dwayne Lawson to try and convert a 3rd and 12. The youngster had Ford open deep, but overthrew him to end the third quarter.
NC State drove to Tech's 47-yard line to open the fourth quarter, but the drive sputtered. The Wolfpack nearly pinned the Hokies deep, but the ball rolled into the end zone to make life easier for the Hokies.
Motley looked hobbled, limping around on the sideline, yet he returned to the game. The offense could only manage a three and out, with the QB missing Ford badly down the field. Hughes then made an uncharacteristic blunder with some thoroughly poor timing — his punt traveled just 25 yards to give NC State the ball just shy of midfield.
But Bud Foster's defense held firm, using some very sound tackling to limit the Wolfpack to a three and out.
Tech's offense seized that opportunity. Motley nailed Hodges for a 26-yard gain on third down, then McMillian, with the help of a timely Wyatt Teller pancake, busted into the secondary and flew down the sideline for a 59-yard score. The Hokies grabbed a 28-13 lead, putting the pressure on the Pack.
"I was running to the outside and I saw Wyatt, I saw the block getting set up and I just cut off his block and sprinted into the endzone," McMillian said. I didn't think I was going to get caught."
Foster turned his front seven loose on Brissett, and Ken Ekanem finally broke the dry spell for the defensive ends, registering half a sack with Clarke. The Wolfpack managed a first down, but four straight incompletions gave the Hokies the ball back quickly, and the running game — yes, the same running game that fell short of double digits less than a week ago — finished off the game.
A nine-yard carry by McMillian and a 29-yard, career-long rush by Rogers helped the Hokies bleed just over two minutes off the clock. The team attempted a bizarrely timed fake field goal, giving Hughes a chance to flash his wheels, but failed to convert.
The defense polished off the performance with another Ekanem sack, on his own this time, and an acrobatic interception by Adonis Alexander — Brissett's first since last season — finished off the bounceback win.
It was the type of victory that Loeffler thinks will show the Hokies a lot about their mettle going forward.
"I told them that before we left the hotel, I told them 'we're going to find out if we're men or not,'" Loeffler said. "The fact of the matter is, bad things are going to happen, bad things will happen with your family, bad things are going to happen in life and it's how you respond."
The win keeps Tech alive in the ACC, evening its league record at 1-1, but Beamer, who is no stranger to big wins after disappointing starts, sees more than that at play.
"We as a football team talked about it," Beamer said. "Some wins are bigger than others and this one was big and critical."
Comments
So glad we won in convincing fashion. This is our 3rd P5 victory at home in 2 years.
Last year, November 2014- UVa
October 12, 2013- Pitt.
A bit depressing, but I'll take it.
Damn pitt
Coastal Choas
ACC Coastal Wheel of Misfortune:
ACC Wheel of Destiney?
It's on ESPNU again right now if anyone wants to enjoy it again.
I watched the first half before I passed out.
See what happens when we consistently use McMillian? I love it. Also very impressed with Facyson, especially that last NC State drive. Love to see players like him get amped up like he was.
Facyson had a monster forth Q in pass defense and a nice batch of tackles early in the game.
I like McMillan a lot but I think people are overplaying this. I need to see him run the ball between the tackles to be convinced he is THE answer at RB. He is great in motion and running to the outside but mostly got stood up just like all our backs running inside. Our inability to run inside, apart from QB option is what limits our play book and our offensive success. Obviously this says as much about our OL as anything.
McMillan had a great game but I don't think we have solved our running woes.
BTW - I am very positive about what this team can do despite the results in the early going.
We are not a run between the trackers team anymore though. We might as well okay to our strengths and mcmillian gives us that.
My only concern in this game is why Stroman is on the field on any play. He hasn't shown much talent as a punt/kick returner or on CB or WR. He seems like a great fast athlete but it hasn't transition to the field at all. Just not sure why coaches keep giving him a chance when he constantly fails
It has been kind of frustrating. I think he just needs to break one to get some confidence, he had a rough go of it at CB. Last year he was so close to taking a punt back, and had a nice one against Ohio St that set up a TD also returned one for a TD in the spring game. He had a great bowl game last year and I thought he would be one of our better players in the future, it hasnt happened. But I think he will make an impact before this season is over.
I seem to remember him having one or two decent returns that got called back on penalties.
I think he has great potential as a return man, he just needs to work on his decision-making.
How about how the Lunchpail Defense contained a very good duel-threat QB, in Brissett
Was at the game tonight, my thoughts...
1. Travon McMillian: finally
2. Mook and Adonis: the future of DBU
3. Stroman is maddening as a punt returner
4. Our interior run D got gashed...again the secondary led by Facyson played great though.
5. We are 3-0 with those white lids, I nominate we wear them the rest of the season. Don't mess with mojo.
6. In spite of everything going on around the program, once they opened the gates the fans packed that place and we were into the game. Made me feel good about being a Hokie.
Edmundses are the present and future.
Yep. Corrected.
If you're going to list 5 things, I think Motley should be one of those.
The guy battled through some obvious pain, and though he missed a couple of throws, he ran for some first downs and threw some other passes that were beauties.
The O-Line seemed a little more robust last night as well.
So, 8 things?
A much much needed and very good team win . Motley and the O played very well . On to Miami.
Yeah, I was running on fumes when I wrote that. You're right Motley was tough as nails, you could tell he still gimpy and favoring his shoulder throughout most of the game.
YES
Those helmets and corresponding records remind me of this book series:
Can I cheat and flip to the ending before "choosing" like I did in elementary school? If so we'll definitely win the coastal.
It's just one win but it's a lot of fun to look on the field and see so many young guys out there doing their jobs and doing them well. Hopefully we are looking at a very bright future for this football team.
This team can still improve a lot. I'm trying to figure out if that is good or bad at this point in the season.
What I liked was that the offense took advantage of opportunities when they were bailed out by NC State Penalties (some times they were forced errors, like the PI in the end zone against Hodges to temporarily save a TD) but I feel like many times in the past second chances don't get capitalized on, last night they did.
Just got back from Blacksburg about an hour ago and man that was one of the best games I have ever been to. After McMillan broke that long one to seal it is when I officially lost my voice and went horse. I even got to shake Moto's hand while lingering at the bottom of the West Stands after the game. Good to see our guys come through like that with our backs against the wall. GO HOKIES!!!!!
This team played their nuts off. You can quote me on that
Best thing of all about this game was it seems that Shane has been demoted to head high five guy and lost the power of being the running back buddy...er coach! Next up da U, it will be interesting to see if we actually keep some momentum going...
Everybody needs a hype guy!
Outside of the game play on the field I'd like to discuss an issue that I think needs to be brought up. VT made the decision on when the start time would be, VT decided that there would be no enter sandman entrance and that fans would have 20 minutes from all clear announcement to get into the seats for the kickoff. I find this to be an issue a HUGE fan issue. People paid money to get in the game and you don't even give them a fair chance to get into the stadium to see said game at the start? I think this was a failure of the VT Athletic dept.
Agreed, I think it could have been better, but since I was just watching on TV it wasn't anything I was too concerned about. I'd understand if an in-person fan had a bit of beef with it, though.
As someone who watched on TV it bothered me and here is why. Visiting recruits missed a great chance to see the entrance, something that gets the entire stadium loud and pumped. Not having stands look full in TV showed, things like that hurt on the eyeball test. A simply solution to this would have been a 30 minute wait with the option to push back game start time based on gate numbers. If people don't bring up this issue with Whit and Co. Little things like this that can have unintended consequences can happen again.
I don't know how the TV coverage works for that.
TV viewers are fans as well. There is no guarantee of the Sandman Entrance.
A Friday night prime game with no competition I bet they would have shown at least part of the entrance.
For sure, but what I'm saying is that a half an hour of tap-dancing from Mack Brown would have been tough on the TV audience.
Oh I totally agree! I can usually only afford one trip to Blacksburg every season and I was really looking forward to catching Sandman this season and recording it on my phone. The entire way they handled the situation post thunderstorms was an absolute clusterfuck I was so pissed when I heard Sandman play while I'm being rained on in the middle of a never ending line to get into Lane and when we got to the gate they didn't even check our tickets they just waved us through saying "come in".
It seems to me that the AD made the same decision golf courses, pools, and all sorts of other paid outdoor events make on a regular basis: safety first. If I pay $500 to play a round on the Ocean Course and I'm making the turn at even par, my day is over if lightning rolls in. Unlike Caddyshack, it doesn't matter whether or not I want to keep playing.
BTW, ESPN did a good job of explaining what was going on so the audience
I'm not complaining about the delay I'm complaining about not giving paid ticket holders time to get in to the stadium and not doing the entrance, the one that Tech is known for.
I appreciate that you're disappointed, and I think you're entitled to complain to Whit, but I think you're overblowing it a bit, unless it's the only game you ever intend to go to.
He drove up from Charleston, SC area and does not get the opportunity to go to many games.
I think his disappointment is very valid.
I agree that it's a valid complaint, and maybe I'm not being sensitive enough.
In the big picture, though, VT delivered a pretty entertaining performance, and I'd take that over a perfect entrance followed by a loss.
Well yeah, there certainly is that.
Full disclosure I did not drive up for this game, was at home watching. But the point I made is more to the game atmosphere and environment. Every school is struggling with filling the stands, one way to keep people both buying tickets and going to games no matter the weather is to think about them when making game decisions when it effects the enjoyment of said paying fans. To me is is unacceptable to open gates 20 minutes prior to kickoff. Whit has already acknowledged that is was a mistake. With everything else he and the atheltic dept have done to enhance hpgamedays for fans and families I feel this was a one time gaffe, but to say it was not an issue at all I think is a disservice to paying fans.
I agree. The announcers did a great job of pointing out that the fans did show up.
True, and they panned to the gates a couple of times to show packed lines of people waiting to get in.
They also showed the audience rocking once the stadium had filled up.
It helped that VT was winning.
Based on post game comments, those were decisions made by the referees. They told the coaches both teams get same treatment, 20 min warmup then straight to sidelines for kickoff. Laser went over it with Beamer on the after game interviews, it was not a VT decision from what was said.
Lightening is inconvenient.
Fan safety is ahead of catching "Enter Sandman". I see what you're saying, but this is the typical way these things are handled. I suppose the tradeoff is making a national TV audience and both teams wait another half an hour for the fans to get seated.
How about 15 more minutes? Or open the gates before the teams start warming up and then start the 20 minute warm up clock. People act like VT wasn't in the Beamer Barn anyway "warming up" getting extra time NCST didn't get.
Officially, NC State had the same amount of time as Tech did. Just no Barn.
The same amount after the weather delay was over BUT VT went into the barn while NCST went under the stands into the locker room and tunnel. VT players were able to keep loose on a field while NCST was trying in a tunnel. The barn was helpful.
Is that why NC State jumped up 10 nil??? Maybe we should start getting "tight."
Tell me about it. I am about a 25 minute walk from the stadium and passed up on tailgating to help get the kids down. eded up having to run across campus I get there when they decided not to delay kickoff (after being told I'd have another 20 minutes to get there). I ended up hearing sad man while waiting at Beamer way I. A crowd to get in. They were doing bag checks at the gates but no ticket checks until you got to the portals in the stands. So at least they were trying to streamline things a little, but I still missed the first four possessions...
I was very, very displeased with that decision as well. By the time I came through the gate(stadium woods so there was absolutely no line) there was already 6 minutes of game played. They tried to make up for it by playing Enter Sandman right before the kickoff in the 3rd but it was nowhere near the same. That's basically the only thing that had me really disappointed last night though.
Did not have any problem with that at all.
Got in the game when they reopened the gates, got all the way to the other side of the stadium, got a beverage from concessions. Got to seat, lots of time to say hello to the other season ticket holders around me before kickoff.
I'm not sure how it was an issue.
What a a I missing? I know we did not do our normal entrance but, I understand due to the lightning and stuff.
How was someone in lot 18 supposed to do that? People were told to go to Cassell or shelter in their cars. Then given 20 minutes to walk to stadium, get in gates and then get to seats. Not quality planning.
Ah, see I was in 18 but left after a few minutes with no lightning.
Looks like I left at just the right timing then.
Ok, that explains it. Thanks.
It was a judgment call. Maybe they could have postponed the game for another 10-15 minutes, but to be fair, we don't know all the factors going into the decision.
I think it was a reasonable enough call that protected the fans from lightning, but I'm sure Whit likes feedback.
The overall result, a win over NC State, is pretty good. I'd rather have the experience you had than seeing "Enter Sandman" and watching a loss.
Gives you a reason to go to another night game.
We were told secondhand that the people at the gates said there was a delay and not letting people in. We assumed kickoff was also delayed. This led to us being in a huge line when the game kicked off. Also, as usual, cell networks were shit so trying to get information on what was going on was near impossible. Common sense to me would have been to delay kickoff. I can live without enter sandman but we also missed two drives.
Thanks, I must have just missed the difficulty.
I noticed people filing in late but had no idea why.
We got to our seats up in sec 29 in time for kickoff. We walked all the way from downtown and I guess just timed it right. It was a good crowd once everybody got in there. Yeah I was looking forward to Sandman but safety first.
I came on strong. I was only concerned about fellow Hokies. Apologies to Hokie Fireman.
What fan safety!? Open the gates at 745 like they did and push kickoff back to 815 or 830.
While everyone is sitting on metal bleachers? Yeah, what safety
I'm not sure what you are trying to say, the gates opened at 745 last night they kicked off at 805. My solution would have been to open gates at SAME TIME , 745, and then push kickoff to 815. No safety issue.
You're a fireman, not the AD. leave the decisions to the experts.
Real classy down voting every post that I disagree with you.
I didn't down vote you, it's your opinion if I didn't want to hear it I would not have posted the topic.
I'm not sure who pissed in your cereal this morning but maybe go get some more shut eye.
You know what? We are all Hokies. Agree to disagree. I'm still with you brother.
The downvotes on this strand seem excessive.
I reset mine after the apology, but calling someone "a dick" on this board is a violation of the stated community guidelines and expected decorum. Perfectly reasonable to see backlash on something like that and it will get a -10 from me any time I see it.
Got it. Sorry
Oh, that's just good moderation.
Alcohol. It'll get after ya
Definitely with you. Adding MORE time after the storm passed makes perfect sense, because it makes the situation safer. Rushing the open was a bad look. The storm hit hard and moved quickly; it wasn't like it was swirling overhead. Straight east-west movement of the front.
aren't the bleachers aluminum?
Still conductive
right..not sure what I was thinking...need to wake up my brain
FWIW opening up the flood gates with no security check wasn't very safe either.
The comments above said there was no ticket check, but there was a security check.
Sounds like the stadium entry was pretty efficient.
For the second week in a row, they tried to scan my ticket but the scanners weren't working right.
We went through about six abreast. They might have been doing spot checks of bags, but it looked to me like they were given the green light.
Not good, but they got you in before halftime.
They should not make a habit of that.
Seriously guys? Down voting me for fan safety?
I think it was the way it was worded and perceived tone.
Fair enough. Just concerned for the well being of Hokies.
After looking at all the comments: I think you saw the orange as half empty, Fireman saw the apple as half full, but it's clear you both like fruit, so no real problem.
We won....I say do the same every week
Don't know if you saw it, but Bitter wrote a post about this today and Whit acknowledged that he wished he had been more involved with this and would've done it differently. They did Enter Sandman before the coin toss and then again before the kickoff of the second half and shot off the fireworks I'm assuming we're meant for the night entrance. I missed not getting the traditional entrance, but that's a minor thing to me as long as the team played well.
First time ive seen the hokies win in person in a loooong time. Thank you for breaking that miserable streak of failure hokies.
Last time I saw the Hokies win in person was 2012. I'm starting to think it's me...
I was there , Great Win for VT . Thank you Frank Beamer for getting things Right with your OC and RB coach . And Motley has done very well , I wish VT fans would give the Kid his dues !!
Listen, I am just as much of a dreamer as the rest of you. However, my week long pitt of despair after that loss says otherwise.
McMillian really put an impression on Mack Brown because I think he thought he was Ryan Williams /s.
Seriously though! What personnel sheet was he reading? Was he looking at the name McMillian on his sheet, couldn't pronounce it and said "F It, I'm going with Williams"? That was making me unreasonably annoyed last night
Mack couldn't pronounce Motuapuaka to save his life
YASSSS. Also this! He kept calling him "Drew". I think when he listed him as an impact player it was his only attempt at saying his last name and it sounded like Ma-too-ah-poo-kah. But I'm more so bothered by the casual use of "Drew"
The day before when the team met with ESPN, Motu told the guys they could just call him Drew.
I'm calling it right now: this win will prove to be a big turning point in the Hokie's season.
They looked like how I expected them to look. Defense was really good overall.
I have a little of the same feeling, but we have Miami next. Miami and VT have a history of beating each other when they're up.
And what about they are both down.
Miami might not be down. Knowing the history, I'm hoping they end up ranked after tonight.
The sad thing is, some of there fans (about 3 of the 5 total that they have) are hoping they lose so Golden gets canned.
Apparently fsu is trying to raise money to save goldens job. Sound familiar?
I'm sure we had our fair share of fans hoping we lost to NC State so that Beamer would get canned. :/
I have a more objective perspective because I wouldn't have melted down if NC State had won last night. :)
But wanting VT to do well for OSU's sake, as well as VT sake, I see a team with the bones of a very solid defense. As long as they play consistent, they will give VT the opportunity to win every game. The offense is a work in progress, but offense is something that tends to get better as the season goes on. I would like to see Beamer-ball come back where we see punts being blocked, big returns, etc. But they can turn this around - and a win like last night looks to me to be the kind of game that jump-starts them in that direction.
I sure hope so!!
Glad you're sticking around..I think your continued participation on this site is a testament both to our fans and this site and that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Also, I had an irrational hatred of OSU and their fans before our home-and-home series. After visiting Columbus and having multiple positive fan interactions with Buckeyes, both in person and on TKP, my perspective has changed. I appreciate your even-keeled take on things and I want to thank you (and the rest of OSU nation ((is that a thing?))...) for making me a better person.
Hear! Hear!
The Bucks were great at both venues and I'm a conflicted fan. I hope they do well even though I lived in Detroit for a while and was a fan of that Team Up North.
(They have the coolest helmets, but Danny caught that ball.)
My experience? People are people, no matter where you go. CFB tends to bring the craziness out in a lot of people, but there are a lot of good folks out there, and some bad ones, that identify with every program.
Dare I say there are some good folks at scUM and UVA? Well, those people are the exception. :)
Appreciate it, I'm expecting to Buckeyes to start getting things rolling soon as well. I think the loss of Herman has hurt a little more than expected early on, but I trust that Meyer will get it right and you guys should start dominating teams again soon.
Zeke has been nothing sort of sensational, people seem to forget about him because of what Fournette is doing but Zeke hasn't been very far behind him in terms of production.
My Buckeyes have almost driven me half-insane this year. They played pretty well at Blacksburg. They obviously felt threatened, but they took the entire 2nd qtr off that game (yes, I know the Hokies had something to do with that), but you couldn't call that a complete game because of that qtr. But you chalk that up to first game kinks. Then they play Hawaii, and despite a 38-0 win, they did not look good offensively. For sure, the loss of Herman has had something to do with that, but there was something else going on. Nothing wrong with the defense tho. The D has another strong showing against No Illinois (who is better than anyone thinks), but the offense was really terrible. Unwatchable - with all those weapons and all that experience, they struggled with a MAC team. Then they play W Michigan and soundly beat them, but the offense still didn't look good, and the Broncos busted some inside runs on the defense. At Indiana they really could not string first downs together. They had one (that's 1) sustained drive the entire game of 10 plays, 66 yards that resulted in a FG. Indiana faked a punt on their own 13 yard line and didn't make it. The Buckeyes followed that gift up with a drive of 4 plays, gaining 4 yards that resulted in another FG. OSU's 4 TD's came all on short drives due to explosive plays. The defense had some serous breakdowns with QB run. Throughout the first 5 games they turned the ball over 13 times. Ugh. Then last week they play pitiful Maryland, and get the offense straightened out (0 TO's, 500 yards, 300 passing, 49 points), but the defense shows more trouble with QB run and a few other breakdowns allowing the Terps to score 21 points on the 1st team. Yick.
I enjoyed the VT game. I thought the Bucks looked like the #1 team on the road playing game 1. I haven't really enjoyed a game since. I'm probably spoiled, but they have looked like a #20 team trying to figuring it out, and we are halfway through the schedule! At first the defense was solid, but the offense was a cluster of dysfunction. Finally, the offense gets going and the defense goes to shit. Frustrating!
That said, they had qtrs., halfs, and games last year where this was going on. They have what I believe to be the best coach in the country, and they really need to peak in about a month - and they have the kind of schedule that will give them to opportunity to win even if they aren't at their peak. If they beat MSU, and especially that team up north, they will be right where they need to be to go after another one. But in the meantime, I would like to enjoy one complete game with good performances on both sides of the ball. Maybe this week vs. P State.
My only negative comment is that I really want to see our 6'4" qb hit our 6'7" te over a 5'10" CB on the fade. That befuddles me. I am befuddled but fully dipped baby!
They tried a few times. When the ball wasn't overthrown, the only thing said 5'10" CB could do was trip up Bucky and give us a first down at the 2. I'll take that.
It was great to see the "running back by committee" rotation trimmed down to the two most productive guys, McMillan and Rogers. Outstanding performances by both!
Go Hokies!
I firmly believe that we would have won both the ECU and Pitt games had we used McMillan and Rogers the way we did last night. Those losses were very close - close enough to believe a little more rushing game would have made the difference.
It is maddening! But, IIWII
Go Hokies!
While Kam forced the fumble, it was KJ Wright that batted it out of bounds.
THANK YOU
That was my only beef about the write-up. KC31 did his job, Wright was the goon that dorked up the recovery.
you beat me to it...I was going to post this exact same thing..
Did anyone else notice in the 4th quarter that when Mack Brown was talking about how Tech needed to just run the clock out, get some first downs and maybe a field goal, that was when McMillian broke away for the TD and Sam Rogers got a 30 yard run?
Mack Brown's "broadcaster's curse" was in full effect last night - Adonis picked off Brissett right after Mack was trying to salvage something for the Pack by saying something like "he's really careful with the ball, maybe too conservative, but he doesn't turn it over."
The biggest bit of irony I took from that is the play design was suggested by Searels. Loefler confirmed it on the post game radio, and Mack Brown also stated "Searels loves that play". From coaching with him at Texas.
So after all the jet sweeps, our line coach had the best play design of the year thus far. (With great effort from McMillian and Rogers).
O Linemen know football. I think we have a great example around here somewhere.
Kinda unrelated, but is this the first game where enter sandman wasn't played when the players were coming out of the tunnel? They played it at kickoff and the half, I missed the kickoff one but my friend told me about it.
The players were on the field already and the coin flip had Already been done. They were playing sandman during the kick.
That said I was at my seat and was able to get a drink first. The staff told us the gate was opening at 7:45 and kickoff was delayed until 8:15. So either they didn't know the truth or were lying to the fans.
Next stop: taking advantage of da U after they battle FSU
Reminds me of a girl I once knew...
You knew a girl that looked like middle-aged Al Pacino? Scary.
/thread
Dadi's expression is everything
Thanks for sharing!
Glad to see the attribution for this photo, it's a very, very good one
Did anyone else hear the ESPN guys talking about the staff played video of plays from the Pitt game and ECU game and specifically showed good plays and none of the players reacting on the sidelines or in game. Basically saying you have no fire, no passion no will. I think that really showed up last night. The players were ALL hyped up every play, making sure to get to a player that made a quality play etc.
I noticed the whole team jumping together in between the 3rd and 4th quarters. That made me feel good to see.
When they were playing "WE READY" they showed the players getting a bit hyped. Good to see.
SO this is what saw on TV last night. 1st quarter = same crap storm as last week. 2nd QRT Lefty calls some short quick passes that Motley gets completions on. The first touch down to Ford was HUGE. In my opinion Lefty and Motley turned this game around. The quarterback leads the football team on the field and Motley's turnaround in confidence lead to every other positive thing that happened last night on both sides of the ball. I will apologize here publicly because by the end of the 1st QRT I was trying to google Whit's cell phone number just to ask him WTF. As a side note; If we can lay an invisible fence line down across both 10 yrd markers and make Stroman wear a dog collar he could be a great punt return guy. He certainly is fearless.
I visualized the invisible fence scenario and laughed perhaps a little too much
Did they happen to say on tv why the wolf pack mascot was wearing a pink dress? Something with breast cancer awareness obviously, but why a dress?
Nothing compares to this
They have 2 mascots...Mr. and Ms. Wuf. Ms. wears a dress...
Yeah but, which one had the Pink dress?
That was Ms Wuff. She's a girl.
I guess I never saw Mr. Wuff.
Glad to see VT win. I hope the RB controversy is finally over! On to da U and I hope we destroy them! Let's Go!
Not much else to say that hasn't been noted here. One thing that stands out though is this... Why in the hell do we have to lose two football games to mediocre-(my opinion)-opponents to see this kind of result? What is the problem that we can't prepare our team to come out of that tunnel ready to do this every week? I support this team. I'm proud of a good win. I'm glad there's positive comments to read. Here's the kicker. The season started 5 weeks ago. If it takes four weeks and two ugly losses to get your team to this point there's a critical breakdown. With the Brewer injury taken into consideration here I'm going out on a limb and say that the adversity this team has seen so far with regards to personnel doesn't get this result in record for a well coached team. Again, my opinion. All that being said, great win guys! And as always I'm still proud to be a Hokie.
Looks like Whit felt that last night's gate opening/kickoff situation is a learning experience.
http://www.roanoke.com/sports/columns_and_blogs/blogs/andy_bitter_virgin...
This was a little weird to read from the AD.
I'm going to guess that once the gates were open, everyone tried to get in pretty much at once. This would contrast to a normal gameday where people saunter in as they please over the hour or two prior to the game.
I'd be curious to know how much time elapsed between opening the gates and the lines for admission to disappear.
the lines were in place before the gates opened. Some lines were worse than others.
Also interesting:
That wounds the pride more than a little.
I personally had no beef with the way the storm messed up everything. We were in Litton-Reeves when the storm hit, got the message that 7:45 was go time, walked over and got in section 14 as warm-ups ended, got to jump to Sandman, and enjoyed 3 good quarters of good Hokie football. I see the way they handled the storm situation just as they did 4/16. They didn't have anything to compare it to in order to have time to do it differently. Would I have been PO'ed had I got in after kickoff? A big loud NO! Stuff happens and you deal with it. Bottom line, we won, we looked good and Lane was rockin'. Just my $.02.
Apparently, according to ESPN, NC State researchers have perfected cloning, but unfortunately it took more than one try:
And I should expect a victory against this level of competition:
I saw that FCS thing on SI. Lazy.
I would be surprised if that's not supposed to NOT against FCS-level competition. Proofreading is hard, huh?
Watching the replay of the 1st TD I was impressed by the way Nijman slid off his block to pick up the cb.
I noticed that, too and even pointed it out to everyone else watching with me.
Coach Searles' feelings, I'm sure.
What ever happened to giftory? I can't be the only one who misses it.
It's coming. Joe was taking suggestions/requests via Twitter immediately after the game.