[Mark Umansky]
Frank Beamer appeared on Tech Talk Live with Jon Laaser and Mike Burnop Monday night. Frank's answer as to why the Hokies don't throw more on first down is a classic.
In case you're wondering, here a passing and rushing stats segmented by down via cfbstats.com. Virginia Tech passes more on first down than any other down. If I'm to draw a conclusion from a limited dataset in half-a-minute, that's because the Hokies have possessed the ball on first down more than any other down.
Passing Offense By Down
| Situation | G | Att | Comp | Pct. | Yards | TD | Int | Rating | Long | 1st | 15+ | 25+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Down | 9 | 96 | 54 | 56.3 | 799 | 4 | 4 | 131.58 | 61 | 27 | 16 | 10 |
| 2nd Down | 9 | 87 | 54 | 62.1 | 594 | 8 | 1 | 147.47 | 40 | 28 | 13 | 6 |
| 3rd Down | 9 | 74 | 40 | 54.1 | 480 | 5 | 3 | 122.72 | 60 | 23 | 11 | 4 |
| 3rd Down, 1-3 To Go | 6 | 7 | 5 | 71.4 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 229.66 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3rd Down, 4-6 To Go | 9 | 26 | 14 | 53.8 | 125 | 2 | 2 | 104.24 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| 3rd Down, 7-9 To Go | 8 | 19 | 11 | 57.9 | 165 | 0 | 0 | 130.85 | 60 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| 3rd Down, 10+ To Go | 9 | 22 | 10 | 45.5 | 176 | 0 | 1 | 103.57 | 28 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| 4th Down | 5 | 6 | 2 | 33.3 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 98.40 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Rushing Offense By Down
| Situation | G | Att | Yards | Avg. | TD | Long | 1st | 10+ | 20+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Down | 9 | 191 | 802 | 4.20 | 7 | 63 | 18 | 20 | 8 |
| 2nd Down | 9 | 130 | 520 | 4.00 | 2 | 59 | 40 | 13 | 2 |
| 3rd Down | 9 | 60 | 106 | 1.77 | 2 | 16 | 24 | 5 | 0 |
| 3rd Down, 1-3 To Go | 9 | 28 | 96 | 3.43 | 2 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 0 |
| 3rd Down, 4-6 To Go | 6 | 8 | -2 | -0.25 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3rd Down, 7-9 To Go | 7 | 10 | 4 | 0.40 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3rd Down, 10+ To Go | 7 | 14 | 8 | 0.57 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4th Down | 4 | 5 | 27 | 5.40 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Clips of Beamer's opening statement and his take on his legacy are below. Thank you to IMG Audio for making them available.
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Frank, tell them all to stick it.
But we can't do that anymore. Hokies Respect /s
if Frank wants to stick it in you let him.. I'm talking the full 3 pumps and all.
"Take that up with the next guy!" >>> "I think you're out of whack."
Both will go down as classic moments when Frank got tired of the bullshit.
I sometimes think we throw TOO much on 1st...see Brewer's INT on 1st & goal, Motley's INT vs Miami inside their 25 on first poss. Of 2nd half
Whoever asked the question should be slapped right in the pecker.
Looking at those stats, it is quite shocking that the Hokies are so poor when they pass on first down. The old adage is that first down is the best down to throw because the defense is often in a run defense mindset.
Half our games, nobody respected the run
... and they didn't need to.
According to the stats, 2nd down passing is doing much better than 1st down passing
That is just a great answer. I mean, who at this stage of the game asks a question like that with any expectation of any substantive response?
To reporters for the rest of the year:
1 - If you look up "coach speak" in the dictionary, there is a wood engraving of Frank Beamer.
And most importantly, 2: The man just declared he is retiring midway through what is still an under-500 season. Don't be a douche try to pose "hard" questions -- ask him instead a question about how much he's looking forward to spending quality time with his grandkids and everyone ends up happy.
I agree with your sentiment. However, I do believe that the question was posed, vicariously through Laaser of course, by a fan who I'm guessing wrote into TTL beforehand. I'm not trying to defend the fan who asked the question in any way, I just think that in fairness to the reporters, we shouldn't assume or imply that this question came directly from the media.
Yes, and I also think Laaser threw it in at that particular moment as a joke, which Beamer fielded perfectly.
When asked if he won't be seen around Blacksburg after retirement:
"No no we'll be here at games sreaming at that coach and if he dont do something the way i see it Im gonna let him know it!"
Ha! That's awesome. And Im glad to hear he plans on being around. This really has worked out about as perfectly as anyone could have hoped. If we can win out for the man then Id say beyond perfect.
If we all of the sudden see 'F.Beamer' starting to comment in here, his transition to vested fan is complete.
Or its a huge hater
Or more likely Shane, knowing that if he created and "S. Beamer" account to post then he would get crucified by some.
Or maybe Shane will just rotate posting between different accounts
Yeah I totally read that as "eff beamer" (think "eff Matt Ryan") and thought, "gee, that's pretty harsh"
He won't be fully vested until the new coach tell's him he's "OUT OF WACK" when he calls into TTL questioning the coaching decisions...
Using the stats given above, on a percentage basis, it breaks down like so:
1st down: 33% passing
2nd down: 40% passing
3rd down overall: 55% passing
3rd and 1-3 yds: 20% passing
3rd and 4-6 yds: 76% passing
3rd and 7-9 yds: 66% passing
3rd and 10+: 61% passing
4th down: 55% passing
Of course, I suspect that sacks are going down as running plays in those statistics, so take that into consideration.
So our RATE of passing on 1st down is much lower than other downs other than 3rd and short. It also seems like we get less aggressive on 3rd and long vs. 3rd and medium, so we're kind of risk-averse when the defense expects a pass.
Just to add, according to CFBstats.com, we've given up 24 sacks total on the year. So it won't skew the above percentages significantly, especially the early downs which have such a big denominator.
This is the stat that matters. I also feel stupid for calculating it before reading the comments.
But this is the stuff that opposing teams are using to calculate tendencies.
https://twitter.com/AndyBitterVT/status/661537224228364288/photo/1?ref_s...
edit: whoops, wrong thread, but I'll keep it up.
I can't imagine how difficult yesterday's presser was, and I'm sure it wasn't half as emotional as Sunday.
That being said, its great to hear people who were at TTL say that it seemed like Frank had a weight lifted off his shoulders.
I hope he has a long, happy retirement. He earned it.
Works anywhere.
I can't believe that I have been watching CFB for almost 30 years now and then I look back at all the stuff that has happened during his tenure. My wife and I were almost newly weds. I think I can honestly say that this may never happen again at a D1 school. What we have witnessed is history in the making. Thank you CFB, it has been a long strange journey but one worth taking!
Those clips made me laugh out loud, I'm just picturing Frank going " F*** YOU, F*** YOU, F*** YOU, You're cool, and F*** YOU!!! I'm out." Drops mic
It makes me happy to see that Frank has not lost his sense of humor or quick wit. This exchange, however, leaves me a little disappointed in Laaser for missing the opportunity to ask him "And who would that be?".
I'm sure Beamer would have said "Nice try."
Frank's retirement even made the Albuquerque newspaper. We're out west and outta touch. I was stunned, but like all concerned, not surprised.