Stewart Mandel is bearish on the Hokies' outlook this season.
ACC Coastal
No. 7: Virginia (3-9, 1-7 ACC)
No. 6: Virginia Tech (5-7, 3-5 ACC)
Justin Fuente worked miracles at Memphis but does not inherit much cause for excitement on either side of the ball in Year 1.
Oddly enough, much of the Virginia Tech squad that Mandel picked to win the ACC Coastal and push for a playoff spot in 2015 returns.
T-No. 4: Duke (6-6, 4-4 ACC)
T-No. 4: Georgia Tech (6-6, 4-4 ACC)
No. 3: Miami (7-5, 5-3 ACC)
No. 2: North Carolina (10-2, 6-2 ACC)
No. 1: Pittsburgh (9-3, 6-2 ACC)
ACC Atlantic
No. 7: Syracuse (3-9, 1-7 ACC)
T-No. 4: NC State (5-7, 2-6 ACC)
T-No. 4: Wake Forest (5-7, 2-6 ACC)
T-No. 4: Boston College (5-7, 2-6 ACC)
No. 3: Louisville (10-2, 6-2 ACC)
No. 2: Clemson (11-1, 7-1 ACC)
No. 1: Florida State (12-0, 8-0 ACC)
http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/gallery/cfb-preseason-picks-pr...
Comments
Some real trash opinions in there.
Except for UVA being last, that I can jive with.
Good.
Stewart Mandel thinks the Onion is serious journalism.
Oh, I'm sorry, it's not Haitin' On week yet?
This is just the practice round of Hatin-On.
Lol says the guy picking Louisville and UNC to get to 10 wins
It seems brother, Howie, had choice words for Stewie
Lauren Barnette, Hokie from Wise, VA is a deal or no deal girl. She's not not attractive.
So she isn't not hot?
She's well qualified.
Correct
A hometown girl! After googling the lovely Miss Barnette (that's not NSFW, is it?), I have no idea where they hid girls that look like that when I lived there. Not that I would have stood a chance...
She lived next to me in the 504 building of Phase 2 for two years. Ended up dating backup VT running back Dustin Pickle for awhile
...aaand cue the Pickle jokes!
Stewart Mandel takes Segway tours.
Stewart Mandel makes blind kids cry
Stewart Mandel cried when ARod retired.
Stewart Mandel agreed with Time Cop's Timeout Strategies.
Stewart Mandel thinks the BCS was the best method for choosing the NC
Stewart Mandel thinks this wasn't a catch.
Start your Friday drinking early.
http://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/436661#comment-436661
Cheers to you.
I'll have to start early today.
Stewart Mandel thinks Godfather Part III was hands down the best film of the trilogy. He also cheered for Fredo Corleone.
I did a segway tour of dc and it was awesome. And I was raised in Alexandria and went to hs in DC.
But yeah, I agree that Mandel should go kick rocks
Also, whilst segwaying down the mall, I saw a kickball ump sitting in a VT beach chair and instinctively yelled "LEE SUGGS!" And sure enough, he turned around and waved at a segway jockey with a brain bucket helmet on.
Mandel thinks it was NOT a catch.
Mandel loves Matt Ryan.
Mandel:
Stewart Mandel drinks Diet Caffeine Free Mountain Dew
And he attends UVa spring games so he can be one with nature.
His final standings can be thrown out as impossible. You can't have a two-way tie between Coastal teams.
What you did there...
This is great, we do much better when we have low expectations from the press
No cause for excitement?
Who the heck is Stewart Mandell and why should we care ?
Half of me is pissed but half of me says that's right where we want to be. But Pitt??
Are you saying we want to be in the butt pitt?
Stewart Mandell = Matt Ryan
That's giving too much credit to Mandell
That's a slap in both Fuente's and the current rosters face. First, he suggests Fuente performed a miracle, i.e. a supernatural gift from the heavens, instead of on Fuente having the ability to coach a lesser-talented team into a top-25 team. Second, a 1000-yd receiver, a 1000-yd rusher, an experienced O-line, and Bud Foster's D is pretty nice inheritance. Perhaps there's no Paxton Lynch on the team, but to suggest that the overall talent in VT would be less than Memphis is just silly.
The market, may be bearish - Miami, Pitt, UNC will probably be pretty good. Duke and GT are wild-cards. But, I would imagine a coach that can put Memphis in the top-25 should be able to keep VT afloat, if not re-establish VT as an ACC elite.
Remember that time that Bronn was in that buddy-com where he went to Dorne with Jaime? Good times.
I wish we had a whole spinoff of those two traveling Westeros having adventures and dropping zingers on everyone they come across.
That would be epic.
Those were great, but it seems few remember the truly special rom-com times of Bronn and Tyrion from early on. That was a power couple, and I was gutted when they broke up.
Bronn- "I'm not your friend."
Tyrion- "Oh I would treasure your friendship."
Flippin classic
Eh,maybe he's a bit peeved for getting burned last year. He had us making a big push for the ACC title. Then we fell flat on our faces. But his writeup makes it sound like Coach FU found a dumpster fire. That's very wrong. He's bound to get burned again.
Eh,maybe he's a bit peeved for getting burned last year. He had us making a big push for the ACC title. Then we fell flat on our faces after Michael Brewer got injured, just as it appeared we were going to beat the 2015 CFP Champions two seasons in a row. But his writeup makes it sound like Coach FU found a dumpster fire. That's very wrong. He's bound to get burned again.
Quite a few people on here predicted a 6 win season (regular season) as being reasonable, so it's not that far off. With a more difficult schedule I think it's pretty common for people to peg us between 5-7 wins. If we find a QB that can give us average to above average play everything could change.
Or if we get a system that allows an average QB to get above-average play.....
We are long overdue for a break from the injury bug.
I think having Pitt and FSU both winning their respective divisions is just begging to get burned. Clemson should be the prohibitive favorite to win the whole conference...they return Heisman runner up Deshaun Watson. They have amble talent offensively and defensively. They should be in the playoff hunt again this year. Meanwhile, FSU is trotting out a redshirt freshman at QB. The only thing FSU has going for them in their match-up with Clemson is that they play at home. Both teams have buy weeks ahead of the game. Clemson won last year. FSU has tougher cross-division opponents (UNC and Miami vs GT and Pitt) so their conference records could come into play. I think picking FSU over Clemson is silly
....but not as silly as picking Pitt to win the coastal...Miami returns the second best QB in the whole league and hired Richt who figures to be a more offensively sound coach than Miami has had in a while. With all that talent they should make a push for the division crown. UNC should be better on defense this year in Chizik's second year and their offense is always dangerous. Trubisky is not inexperienced and I expect him to have a pretty good campaign. Hood should be a force in the conference. Pitt, meanwhile, has probably the best runningback in the league but little else. I think they'll be about on the same level as us this year but certainly not at the top of the division.
I'm not even mad (Okay, I'm a little mad) that he predicted that VT would have their worst season in over 20 years...I'm just confused how he arrived at Pitt/FSU in the ACCCG
The only position Clemson has over FSU is qb, and receiver (though fsu has some very good receivers as well). The Noles have an elite rb, one of the the best defensive backfields in the nation, return a ton of guys, and are stocked with 5-star talent across the board while Clemson has to reload their entire defense. That game is the definition of a tossup where the winner will almost certainly go on to win the Atlantic, you could pick either one and be fairly confident in it.
Not gonna defend the pitt selection though, they lost their best receiver since Fitz (and 25% of their offense) in Tyler Boyd and hired a huge downgrade in offensive coordinator. They'll be solid as Narduzzi seems to be a good coach, but I don't see them competing with the better teams.
To further elaborate on Mogwai's point, Deshaun was underwhelming in Clemson's regular season big games last year, and in my opinion, having watched all those games, is why he didn't win the Heisman. FSU had Sean Maguire making his 3rd start of his career last year and it took some late game heroics from Deon Cain and Wayne Gallman for Clemson to actually pull away. FSU has a better defense, and if Francois can ball, I think they are the favorite at home.
fair enough...I'll concede the point on Clemson/FSU (I still think Clemson will win that one) but Pitt??!?!
Overall, I think his predictions weren't particularly well thought out, but it's understandable. Outside of Clemson, FSU, and UNC at a distant third, there isn't much reason as cfb media/personality to look into most of the other ACC teams going into this season.
edit: I also agree that Clemson should be the preseason favorite, no doubt, but if Francois turns out to be a good QB, the narrative might shift. That said, it's too big of a question mark for the basis of an offseason prediction.
Bold prediction - UL beats either Clemson or FSU this season.
Please god, let it be Clemson.
Pitt is more likely to start the season 1-2 (they play Ok. State and Penn State) than go 9-3.
We're not gonna take it. We're not gonna take it. We're not gonna take it anymore.
At a time when some media outlets print stories that are actually paid pieces, who gives a crap what this writer hacks out (without much research)? It's actually very simple. If we want respect, we must earn it, each and every year. Get mad. Play hard. Go Hokies!
GT is bound to have a bounce back year and VT has no cause for excitement.
I see GT as the definition of insanity: Doing the same thing every year expecting different results. But at GT you can do that!
Well for good reason, they are quite sporadic with their success.
I don't have a problem with someone picking us 6th, we do need to prove something and you can justifiably list five teams in front of us that have fewer questions....whether it is coaching consistency or fewer talent gaps.
But to say that Fuente didn't inherit anything? That's crazy talk. The offensive talent at VT this year is at least one of the five best VT has ever had (1999, 2010 and 2011 are clearly better). Besides QB, this team is loaded on the offense with 4-5 tailbacks, three of the best WR's we've ever had and a lot of young talent behind them and about 7-deep on the OL. QB is a big deal and can make or break this team, but it's also Fuente's specialty.
{Of note, 1999 and 2011 both were seasons that started with an unproven QB...but with certainty of who it would be.....Mark Leal family aside.}
And Fuente "inherited" Bud Foster.
I started to disagree that the '10 and '11 rosters were clearly better but when I looked at them I realized there were still a ton of really good players on those teams...makes me sad because we should have been a really dangerous offense those years.
For quick reference:
2010:
Tyrod Taylor
Darren Evans
Ryan Williams
David Wilson
Danny Coale
Dyrell Roberts
Marcus Davis
Jarret Boykin
Corey Fuller
Andre Smith
2011:
Logan Thomas
David Wilson
Danny Coale
Dyrell Roberts
Marcus Davis
Jarret Boykin
Corey Fuller
Chris Drager
Ryan Malleck
those were some loaded teams...we should not have lost to Clemson twice in 2011...I can't explain the Stanford debacle of 2010
Stanford?
To this day I still don't understand why we struggled so much on offense against Clemson in 2011, whose defense got lit up many times throughout that season, following their win against us by giving up 70 to WVU.
because Clemson knew the exact plays we were running supposedly.
I've heard that theory, Jerrodd Williams left our team after like 3-4 seasons and walked on at Clemson (he is from Daniel HS, 8-10 minutes from Clemson's campus). Not out of the realm of possibility, but never saw any info from a reputable source.
o'cain was our play caller, former coach at Clemson. Had nothing to do with Williams.
elaborate, I'm interested.
after the first game word came out, again #nosauces this was message board talk on a few different boards, that Clemson literally knew the exact play we were running every time. Even players were mentioning it. Even after that when we played them again in the ACC CG apparently it was the same story as nothing was changed with how we called our plays, our formations, etc.
Could all be BS, but it's awfully convenient for such a terrible defense to look elite against what was one of our better statistical offenses not once but twice.
Interesting, would explain how off both of those games felt. Especially with the different directions each team was going heading into the ACCCG. Doesn't really matter now, I know a few guys from that 2011 Clemson team though, so I might ask them about that one day.
...that
ClemsonEVERYONE literally knew the exact play we were running every time...are you talking about the 3rd and long draw play?
Thank you!
We could do nothing against Clemson's defense both games. I remember David Wilson being quoted saying 'everywhere I went, they (Clemson) were there. It was like they knew were I was going....'
Remember, former VT coach and Clemson player Danny Pearman was back at Clemson.
And even before that season, there were rumors of 'tells' that other teams were keying on.
I'm not saying the Tigers cheated, I'm saying they used what they knew and we were stupid to not change, and moronic to not change up in the Championship game.
Clemson was good that season, but not THAT good..twice! (Just ask WVU....at least they looked at the film's and game planned differently.)
Could be. Heck, remember sitting at home and having my brother call the plays before they were going to happen. He was right a shocking(ly sad) number of times.
We are better on the OL this year than either of those teams. Comparable to 1999 on the OL.
But the skill talent on 10/11 was just a tick better. We don't have a RB as good as Williams or Wilson. Ford is better than any WR on those two teams but Phillips isn't as good as Coale or Boykin.
I would say it is pretty close between this team and those teams considering everything but QB. I'm getting a little excited about Jackson, if he can distribute the ball and minimize turnovers, he has the talent to bring him along. What we can't have is a TO machine QB.
I think if we can minimize turnovers (like you say) and also avoid going 3-and-out 8 times a game we should be a 7 or 8 win team
This appears to be the best all around team in years, and hearing Fuente's positive remarks about the o-line and how they've been leading the way is a reassuring sign. I haven't forgotten the days of 1 second drop backs and then scramble for your life. I'm not worried about their record, I just want to see some good football again. If this team does what they're capable of, the rest will take care of itself. Time to sit back and enjoy the ride. Can't wait for the season to start!
We have some concerns that should keep us humble:
1. QB -- Having 3 still in play this late isn't a great feeling. I could see us committing to Jackson, which could be longterm gain for shortterm pain.
2. LB -- Not only is there a serious lack of depth, but there is still the Motu concerns. I'm of the opinion that he's fine, not great. But there are others who believe he's the worst LB in the ACC. No depth behind Edmunds at Backer.
3. DB -- Mostly a depth concern, I like the starters but two injuries and we're sunk on the backside.
4. DE -- Mostly an inexperience concern, good talent and decent depth, but not much on-the-field experience for those guys beyond Ekanem.
5. TB shuffle -- I don't know what's going on here and as much as I am concerned about upsetting The Sam Rogers, I'm not sure I want him as the starting tailback (which he may be).
6. QB -- Worth noting a second time.
I'm leaning towards 9-3 at this time with loses to ND, UT and UNC. But that assumes that Fuente doesn't have the issues that Beamer had in recent seasons about losing games he shouldn't. We have about 9 loseable games, to assume we go 6-3 is bettering our recent seasons by a game or two.
I respect your opinion about the QB's but I think the only way we go with Jackson is if he is the better guy. If he is the best we have to put out there then that is what I think Fuente will do. I don't think there is a short term vs. long term factor in this. The players who give us the opportunities to win and win now will play. Fuente has got to take advantage of the talent at the skill positions this year. Otherwise, I agree with you completely and I think 9-3 is a solid outlook.
If what has been scuttlebutted is true and Jackson has the ball hit the turf (or the defense's hands) the least, then we should start him.....no matter how old he is.
I like the
skillsurrounding talent so much on offense, I would lean to the guy who makes the least mistakes. We don't need upside from our QB this year, we need completions and few interceptions. Get the ball in those quick WR hits on the outside, make the right reads in the run game, keep the machine moving.I think I agree with you, but wtf is scuttlebutt?
I got this! Hopefully this isn't another trap (see: what's a jib?), but here goes:
The "scuttlebut" is what sailors call the water fountain, or water cooler, on the ship. Like the office water cooler, conversations tend to strike up in this area, and ultimately lead to gossiping and rumor.
Thus: scuttlebut = rumor
I understand having a bearish prediction but this seems off the charts low,
especially when we're getting so many good players back.
Stewart Mandel is one of my favorite CFB media members. 5 wins is our floor IMO, but definitely possible. FWIW, Mandel also picked us to go 11-2 and appear in the fiesta bowl last year.
So maybe he's just bad at this prediction thing
I'm sure he just got the 2015 season and 16 season mixed up. We'll probably go to the Fiesta bowl this year.
I like Mandel a lot too. He's pretty good, but I think he's way off on Fuente not inheriting anything.
Stewie's job is to present complete guesses with confidence, so take this for what it is. The extent of his critique was that Fuente wasn't inheriting much on either side of that ball. Hmmm.
Georgia Tech was ranked #23 in last years Preseason Top 25, only four spots behind #19 Clemson. Womp womp.
via GIPHY
This is when the picture in a picture sign language girl needs to still be around
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Welp, this certainly tempers expectations.
If anything, this only builds the hype. VT has a record of being a better team when every one thinks they are gonna suck!! This kind of suckage prediction mean 8 wins or more.
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I refuse to allow this person to change my opinion on anything
He definitely changed my opinion about unibrows.
Good thing I have the SS HYPE BOAT to save us!
Who took a wee wee in his cereal...
Generally speaking - why do I care if this dude picks us so low? Not like it really affects (effects?) us.
Affects is correct. Ironically, to affect means to produce an effect. English is stupid sometimes.
Effect as a verb means to put something into action. "He effected an English accent to pick up chicks at bars."
this....is probably one of the clearest explanations I've had on this. Thanks! +1.
I effected a turkey leg to increase your comment score
He can effectively affect the accent
or, drinking too much affects the accent he's trying to effectively effect to affect the affections of said coeds.
this is why I did engineering...
Accents are "affected."
It's another meaning of "affect" - "to put on a false show of." (See entry 2 here.)
Spelled with an "E," it's as wrong as "this crowd has lost it's mind" and "I know what your saying" and "Mike O'Cain had a negative affect on our QB development." Officially speaking, anyway.
Truth be told, I had never read nor heard "effect(ed) an accent" prior to this thread. Always "affect(ed)."
I'm pretty sure he was wrong about that, you "affect" an accent, "effecting" an accent is non-nonsensical...Unless you said something like "biting my tongue effected my accent".
yes I'm wrong. See: psych gif "I've heard it both ways" which always comes after Shawn is corrected for saying something wrong.
BUT, wouldn't biting your tongue affect your accent?
I don't often correct people, but when I do I make sure to be wrong about something else as I'm doing it...
That would be "affect" entry number 1. :)
I'm not familiar with Psych, so you get a leg for catching me up with the times.
Well that's just plain wrong
I got excited about a mogwai meme then realized this is a furby...carry on.
That's a bold move, Cotton. Let's see how it plays out!
Hopefully we get the thumbs up from Chuck!
Its kind of a toss-up. I think Florida State might have the advantage having Clemson at home. I dont know if either of these teams end up 12-0, but I feel like depending on how the SEC shakes out, on paper Clemson has the easier out of conference schedule.
I've got FSU at 10-2 with loses to Louisville and Miami.
I've got Clemson at 11-1 with a loss to FSU.
They both have it easy, b/c they don't play US!!!
Looking at the Coastal, UNC Pitt and Miami have brutal schedules, I think we might have an easier run just because of the timing, not necessarily the caliber.
UNC
*They could easily go 1 - 1
Then they go
thats a tough run, I think theyll be lucky to go 2-2 and end up 9 and 3 for the season.
Pitt
they'll be lucky to go 2-2 in that run
then at the end of their schedule they have
theyll be lucky to go 2-2 in that run
that puts them at an 8-4 season
Miami
then theyve got
If they end up going 3-3 in that run, Id chalk that up as a successful season, thats a tough 6 weeks.
Our schedule is spread out I feel like
-Liberty - Then Tennessee - then BC at home, ECU at home - then UNC away - Syracuse away
then our toughest run I think with Miami on a short week but its at home on Thursday night
Pitt away Thursday Night
Duke away
Georgia Tech at home
Notre Dame away
I think technically, we play a game after Notre Dame. But for the last 20+ years, that's just been a technicality.
Notre Dame, since you mention it, had six players arrested this weekend, looks like their secondary depth is going to have problems early in the season.
I don't really see this as that absurd. We're talking about starting a true freshman qb and lost a lot of contributors off of a team that won 6 regular season games last season and plays basically every tough game away from home and has a generally tougher schedule. I think we win 6 games but I think 6th place is fairly reasonable for a prediction, though one I see us beating. Have to keep in mind he's a national guy, doubt he really paid that much attention to anyone on our team other than Isaiah Ford, McMillon ran for 1000 yards but he's like at best the 4th best rb in the ACC. We love Bucky and he's full of potential but he's still never done anything that amazing, I don't think 500 yards receiving really strikes that much fear or awe into people. So I can definitely see where he says we don't have much returning excitement
I think Pitt and UNC are the top 2 in the Coastal, could go either way for them. Pitt does get back James Conner though and returns pretty much everyone else of note. UNC might have the most offensive firepower out of anyone in the league not named Clemson, but their defense still sucks. Miami has Kaaya and not much else thats done anything so far. I don't see it with Duke and GT but I guess we did lose to Duke last year at home and GT still has Justin Thomas.
I think you're backwards
Lost a lot of contributors? Really? Brewer. Which other contributors did we lose?
yeah, except 25% of their offense...the best receiver they've had since Fitzpatrick...
I'm not saying this team is going to win the division or anything..but I think it's absurd to think this is going to be the worst team we've had in over 20 years. We have a ton of experience on the offensive line, we're returning our 1000 yard rusher, 1000 yard receiver, TE Bucky Hodges, Cam Phillips....we have promising young talent offensively and now we have a coaching staff who probably actually knows how to utilize all of that talent to it's full potential.
Meanwhile, Pitt returns beast RB Connor but they still don't have a QB and they lost their ace receiver, Boyd. And their offensive coordinator. Pitt figures to be stout defensively but they're going to struggle on offense this year IMO. They are going to be super one-dimensional which will make it hard for them to win the division. Especially against teams that will be able to score in bunches (UNC, Duke, Miami, potentially VT)
I think Pitt lost more contributors from their team than we did. I also think we return more "players of note" than Pitt...your statements are flip-flopped
That's what I didn't understand about the analysis, acting like
our offense has been decimated.
Seems like we have most of our weapons back and maybe some better ones.
Put that together with a more experienced D backfield and hopefully we'll
win some games.
We lost a lot of contributors? Who? We're returning an incredible amount of starts from last year, and the place we lost the most starters, dline, looks to be in good shape.
Could just be my opinion but I'm almost positive opponents are game planning on defense to slow down Bucky as well as Ford. Just because we haven't had an offense capable of using Bucky correctly, doesn't mean he isn't a very dangerous offensive player. Fact of the matter is, Mandel saying we return nothing exciting on either side of the ball is a false statement.
Number one, I think Stewie is sour on us because he pushed all his chips in on us last year and was left looking kind of silly (not hating on us, but we were not anywhere close to a Playoff contender last year).
I think our outlook for this year rests on two things. One is QB play, if we can develop a consistent passing game without turnovers, we could be a very above-average offense.
Number two and probably the bigger concern is avoiding injuries, especially on D. We are pretty thin at most positions on that side (other than DT) and 1-2 injuries could really wreak havoc there (see the secondary last year). Hopefully, with improved recruiting we will develop some better depth over the next few years.
Nice post for those that may not read / listen to Stew a lot. He flies at a pretty high level, and really got behind the Hokies last year. His article suggested he hadn't even looked at the ACC rosters much outside of household names, and I was honestly really disappointed this made it to "print."
He does an excellent job at national CFB news, but when he get into the weeds, things sometimes go off the rails.
i just took a look at scUM's schedule. They have FAMU, FAU, APPY St., and GT before the Crima-noles game. So, 4-0 before easily before their real first game. Mandell predicts them at 7-5. Maybe 9-3 and contend with UNC.
I wouldn't count that App game as automatic. They're playing in Boone and unknowns with Miami, as much as it pains me I can see App winning that game.
who the hell is Stewart Mandel and who the hell thinks Florida State is going 12-0