Back when Bud Foster's defense had to go up against Scot Loeffler's methodical pro-style offense in practice, the team had to get awful creative when it came time to simulate playing against North Carolina's up-tempo spread system.
These days, with Justin Fuente's own fast-paced offense providing a sparring partner for Foster's bunch, the longtime DC doesn't have quite the same challenge he once did.
"It's like we're playing against ourselves in a lot of ways," Foster said. "That's beneficial when it's all said and done. With the teams that are the up tempo, that are the run-pass options, they want to be physical and run the football and so do we. Our Tuesday practices and those type of things last week, did a lot a middle drill and a lot of hitting preparing for that part of it.
"At the same time, we've gotta be good about all the bubbles, the screens, getting the ball out in space, taking great angles to the football, making good plays in space, that's part of what this offense is about. We've got to be disciplined with our angles and be good at finishing plays."
Those preparation challenges aside, Foster certainly has a decent track record when it comes to limiting Larry Fedora's offense. After giving up 48 points to the Tar Heels in 2012 (largely courtesy of Giovani Bernard's dominant performance on the ground), Foster's defenses have held UNC to 17, 17 and 30 in the past three years — all of those totals fell below UNC's scoring average for the season.
Yet with the Heels loaded on offense once more — Foster thinks the team may have the most talented group of skill position players the Hokies have faced so far this year — whip linebacker/nickelback Mook Reynolds will likely play an outsized role in Foster's plans for slowing down UNC.
Indeed, Foster expects that the Hokies will keep Reynolds on the field quite a bit, playing their nickel package for the "whole game, pretty much." With UNC's rapid pace, that could prove both mentally and physically taxing for Reynolds, but he says he's up for the task.
"Line up faster," Reynolds said. "Really know what you're doing, 'cause they're gonna be fast. You've gotta know the formations, personnel; fast offenses kind of make you think a little bit more. You're not gonna have time to sit back and look at everything. Everything's gonna be on the fly and you've gotta react to what you see...Just takes a lot more critical thinking, a lot more brains than brawn in a fast tempo offense."
Cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell is no stranger to Fedora or the offenses he typically employs, coaching against him during his days in the Big 12, and he says he has a good idea of what Reynolds and the rest of the secondary can expect from Fedora's bunch.
"The foundation is still there," Mitchell said. "One, let's get as many reps as we possibly can. Two, how can we stress them in space, because this is a spread offense. That's what their primary goal is, to get their playmakers out in space and create some one-on-ones and some mismatches. He hasn't changed that philosophies. Some of the plays have changed a little bit, but the tempo's still the same."
All the talk of tempo aside, the whipping winds and rain of Hurricane Matthew could end up turning the game into a slugfest (if the contest proceeds as scheduled at all). But, as a veteran of all manner of wild weather in the past, Foster said he isn't letting the forecast factor into his gameplan quite yet.
"The game's played outdoors and we've played in all conditions over the years," Foster said. "We have played — some of you guys, I don't know if you were with us — we did play in a hurricane (against) Texas A&M. Rain was blowing sideways. We played in the Music City Bowl when it was an ice storm. It was all different groups, but those are things we can't control. We've emphasized that. All we can focus on is execution and effort and being disciplined in what we need to do. If we do that, we can't worry about what we can't control. That's the bottom line. Let's control the things we can. That's the game."
Bud Foster
ON HAVING SUCCESS SLOWING DOWN THE NORTH CAROLINA OFFENSE YEAR TO YEAR:
"I think our kids get up for these guys, I really do. That's part of it, we've got a lot of respect for what they do. They've done some really good things against us and we've competed well against them. Those games have meant something in the chase for the Coastal Division championship, hopefully this game will be a factor in that this year. We've just gotta go play well and play disciplined. With all of the RPO, the run-pass options, that they do, we've gotta really be great with our eyes. I think we've done a good job with that over the last couple of years."
ON WHAT BRIAN MITCHELL BRINGS TO THE TABLE WITH HIS BIG 12 COACHING EXPERIENCE AGAINST SPREAD TEAMS:
"It varies from week to week who you are playing. This week, these guys are a lot like us. Next week, it's even gonna be faster paced and more like Tulsa. Not that these guys are a slow group, this will be the fastest group that we've played to date. What it forces you to do is be sound fundamentally. I'm fine with that. We've been more technique and fundamental over the years than we have been scheme. Even though we do some things and bring some pressures, that's part of what we do. But at the same time, I like to think we're extremely sound fundamentally. That's what these offenses do now a days, with the up tempo, they maybe take away the defense being able to dictate as much as you'd like to in some situations. That's what we've done over the years. They forced you to be fundamentally sound, and I'd like to think that we are for the most part. When we're good, we are."
ON IF THIS IS THE BEST COLLECTION OF SKILL PLAYERS VIRGINIA TECH HAS PLAYED SO FAR:
"I think so. I think you hit it on the head. I think the quarterback's playing extremely well, spins the ball very good, makes good decisions. He's more mobile than you'd like him to be. He can run, they do run him some. The receiving corps speaks for themselves. You've got three guys with a lot of experience there and then you've got the (Austin) Proehl kid coming in and does some good things. And obviously you've got some running backs. I think where they're better than maybe the teams — other than maybe Tennessee — is their offensive line. They're big and physical up front. They want to be able to run the football. They couldn't against Pitt. I'd like us to be able to — if we can make them one dimensional — I think we can be a little bit more versatile than what Pitt was on the back end. We've got to stop the run and then we can't give them a wide array of explosive plays. We can't allow them to do that. That's what we've been able to do over the years is not let them beat us with those kind of plays."
ON IF HE HEARS THE KIDS TALK ABOUT THE CONDITIONS:
"Naa, you guys are the first ones telling me about that. Maybe it will bounce back out to the coast and who knows, it might be beautiful, you know? That's why you guys are doing what you're doing and not weathermen. We can't control that and it's to our benefit one way or the other because we're gonna be disciplined and control what we can control."
ON IF THERE IS ANY REVENGE FACTOR AFTER NORTH CAROLINA BEAT THEM IN FRANK BEAMER'S LAST GAME:
"Not really. We played a great ballgame. They had a great football team last year. I thought we played well enough to win defensively. We didn't (win). This is a new year. We've got new challenges and obviously this game, this is gonna be a championship-caliber football game. You get to this point in the season and every week, with conference games, they're a factor in the race. Obviously with this being a divisional game, it has a little more weight than maybe some other. But they're all important. This is the most important because it's the next one. We feel like we should be in the mix in this thing. We have been the majority of the years we've been in this league. I'm sure Carolina feels the same way. They've been in the hunt, too. It should be a great matchup. We just need to continue to play like we have. Let's build on what we've done and continue to be consistently good in all aspects and we give ourselves a chance after that."
ON IF HAVING MOOK REYNOLDS PLAYING BOTH WHIP AND THE NICKELBACK HAS AN ADVANTAGE THIS WEEK:
"Yeah, we're gonna be in nickel the whole game, pretty much. There's not gonna be many personnel issues when it's all said and done. We're gonna be in our nickel package."
ON IF HE ACCOMPLISHED THE YARD WORK HE WANTED TO OVER THE WEEKEND:
"You know what, I did cut a couple of limbs down. It was pretty cool. I got an extended chainsaw. You talk about the neighbors coming out when I crank that up. The neighbors came out to make sure I wasn't gonna cut myself, first, or somebody else. That was probably the biggest thing. I didn't mow. But I did get the chainsaw out. It was pretty cool."
ON WHERE HE THINKS MITCH TRUBISKY RANKS IN THE ACC:
"We played against him two years ago. He was young at the time. We got a pick-six, I think, and we didn't see him after that. But what I've seen, just watching him, I see a guy that's really developed into a leader. I see a guy that has developed his skill set. I see a guy that has tremendous poise in the pocket. I see a guy that knows where his receivers are and then where he's gonna check down if things aren't there. Just seen a guy very comfortable in the offense. He can spin it. He can throw it from one hash to the far sideline and get there in a hurry. He's a lot more mobile than you'd probably want him to be. He ran a couple nice plays against Illinois. They'll run some zone read and some power read with him. They're not afraid to run him. I think he's really developed to be one of the better quarterbacks in our conference. And I think our league's pretty good with quarterbacks. I think he'll rate up there with some of the best we'll play."
Brian Mitchell
ON WHAT CHALLENGES NORTH CAROLINA PRESENTS WITH ITS PACE:
"They're very experienced, I would say that first and foremost. Those wide receivers have a ton of reps in the scheme. Larry's been doing a great job. I've been facing Larry since I was in the Big 12 when he was at Oklahoma State. And Southern Miss when I was at East Carolina. So I know the pace at which they're gonna go at. I know the philosophy behind what he thinks team-wise and offensively what they want to get done. They've got some guys with some great tools and they've got a quarterback that can command it."
ON WHAT HE DOES TO PREPARE HIS CORNERBACKS TO FACE THIS TYPE OF TEAM:
"We don't do anything different. You put in the extra work. You put the extra film work in. Let's study route progressions. Let's study Tennessee's, let's study the player that's gonna be in front of you. Put a little bit of extra time in in your position mastery. If you need to take another 10 minutes after practice or 10 minutes before practice, do something extra to gain a competitive advantage."
ON IF MOOK REYNOLDS WILL BE THE NICKELBACK OR IF HE WOULD CONSIDER PLAYING GREG STROMAN, BRANDON FACYSON, AND ADONIS ALEXANDER AT THE SAME TIME:
"No, Mook's the best of both worlds. He can go in there versus 21 personnel, 12 personnel, yet be out in space and cover like a corner. Mook really is a corner, y'all just don't know that. That position requires a guy to be very dynamic and very versatile, and Mook's that."
ON WHO HE WILL START BETWEEN STROMAN AND ALEXANDER:
"I'm gonna play three corners. In this league, you're gonna need as many corners getting as many reps to keep those guys fresh. You saw the up-tempo that we saw at East Carolina. It's gonna be times whatever this game. We need to keep those guys fresh."
ON HOW ALEXANDER HAS COME BACK AFTER HIS OFFSEASON TROUBLE:
"He's a lottery ticket. He's a kid with so much potential that if you keep the focus there day-to-day, he's progressing. That's what we're working on. Today he had a great day of practice. He's had a good week of practice. Moving forward, I don't expect anything less of him. On the football field, he's exactly what you want. He's balancing the social life, the academics, and he's going a great job of balancing that with the football. If I told you what his grades were like, you'd be like, 'OK.' In a great way."
Mook Reynolds
ON IF THE DEFENSE IS AWARE OF FOSTER'S TRACK RECORD AGAINST UNC:
"We haven't really thought about it. They do a lot of things differently in the recent years. Just adapting to the game, every year there's gonna be something different. Everybody watches film, so they pick up on things that they can try to throw you off with. He has a gameplan for every week that's a pretty good game plan every week. Whatever it is, it's just our job to go out and execute and do it."
ON IF LAST YEAR'S UNC LOSS STINGS MORE THAN OTHERS:
"It hurt to lose it for (Beamer). They were a good team. It's the reason they went to the ACC Championship, had a big opportunity to win it. This year, it's a new year, obviously, with us. We've got a lot of new things that we're doing. They've got things that they want to build off of last year and finish off where they left off last year. We want to build a brand for ourselves and make a name for ourselves. It's a new year, it's a completely game. Completely different reasons to go out there and play, different purpose."
ON IF HE SEES THIS GAME AS A SHOWCASE GAME FOR HIS COVERAGE SKILLS:
"I think every game is a showcase game. Just with that position, whatever the need is, or whatever the team's scheme is offensively, you're gonna be where the action is, (no matter) if it's a run team or a pass team. Every game is a showcase game. At the end of the day, I wanna display my skill set, but I can't get out of my character or out of my responsibilities. I've still got assignments."
ON IF THERE'S MORE COMMUNICATION IN A GAME LIKE THIS:
"A little bit of both. I think our job as a unit (is) to make sure everybody's on the same page. If you see somebody that's not on that same page, it's your job as a teammate and as a brother to them, to make sure what they're doing. At the end of the day, it's our job all week to watch film, get our checks in practice, practice like we're supposed to to make sure we don't have those slip-ups, miscommunications on Saturday."
ON IF HE'S CLOSE WITH ANYONE ON THE TEAM AT UNC:
"I played with a couple of guys on their team growing up, a couple of them in high school. I know a couple of guys on the team."
ON IF HE WILL BE LINED UP AGAINST RYAN SWITZER AND WHAT CHALLENGES HE PRESENTS:
"He's a good receiver, but I've played good receivers before. Just gotta go out there and play football."
ON WHO HE KNOWS ON THE ROSTER AT UNC:
"I know T.J. Logan, Carl Tucker, Corey Bell, Jr., Austin Proehl, Anthony Ratliff-Williams, Simeon Gatling, but I don't know that he travels or not. That's all I can think of off the top of my head."
ON IF HE TALKS TO THOSE GUYS DURING THE WEEK:
"Sometimes. I ain't talked to them this week though. I might try to a little later."
ON IF THERE'S BEEN A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN NICKEL AND WHIP FOR HIM:
"Not really, to me, it's all the same. You've kinda got the same responsibilities. Based off how we're playing defense now, it's not much of a difference. It just gives us an advantage to if we want to go to more of a coverage check, we can just do it without making a big move. We can just play what we wanna play in here and just lock up the outsides and lock up the islands. It gives us an advantage in run fits and gives us solidity on the outside in coverage."
ON IF THE TEAM TALKS ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN WITH THE WEATHER:
"We haven't really thought about it right now."
Comments
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Well if he was like me, he was out searching for the clowns
Get your viking axe and grab some mead! We're goin' clown huntin'!
Also, have you seen the new CapitalOne card?
Haven't seen the new card, but did see a clown tonight. It was very exciting and I'm surprised it didn't start more of a scene
Hey can anyone tell me what this whole clown thing is about? I've been hearing about it for a minute but have no idea what on earth everyone is talking about. Is this because they're remaking Stephen King's IT?
It started in SC with a group of kids at an apartment complex reporting a person dressed as a clown trying to lure them into the woods nearby. This was a month or so ago, I think. A few adults then reported similar things at that complex. There have been other reports of similar incidents in other states, I think one near Baltimore was a confirmed hoax, but I haven't kept more than a casual eye on the stories.
It was a local news feature up in NY as well, they've been showing up in several states outside of schools. Copycats stemming from SC as far as anyone knows. They also reported (or maybe this was Facebook) that one clown had been shot by a driver or homeowner that wasn't taking any crap.
MrsEMC said they'd been sighted up (down) in Winchester amongst other places.
Police departments have been issuing statements that it isn't funny and is dangerous because there's no way to tell who's being a joker and who has evil intent.
If you are dumb enough that you think it is funny to wear a clown costume, walk around in the woods and try to lure children, you absolutely should be shot... maybe in the crotch so you can't reproduce.
Man, that's brutal. I can understand shooting someone in the nuts for not knowing if they live in Hampton Roads, but dressing up as a clown?
^ Confirmed clown. Grab your pitchforks.
Except slashing and crushing weapons are recommended. Clowns are lightly armored.
And your mom reminds you to wear a sweater (chain mail)!
A month ago there were several sightings in the Triad. In one instance cops were called to gas station in High Point and questioned the clown. Turns out he was on his way to work for a kids party or something. Local police then issued statements about how it was pulling resources from other issues and I haven't heard much since.
All clowns are evil.
Nailed It.
Oh, you guys dont know about Sprinkles I see. . .
It's some kind of trend -- there's an entire Twitter page dedicated to clown sightings across the U.S.
My friend at Penn State recorded the 6,000 person mob and went viral over it. There was a clown on the Tech campus last night so that's why I mentioned it.
So I don't know what happened with clowns and how it's a big thing - can someone explain?
EDIT: NVM - saw it was posted above.
This is what I've been shown as the source of the silliness.
https://www.facebook.com/Channelthirteen/posts/1695315790749349
I was actually attending Ring Premier. Finally got to see what my class of 18 ring will look like. Also met Beamer and got a pic with him. It was worth having the story up a little late.
via GIPHY
one of my all time favorite GameDay moments. Its a shame the Miami game is a Thursday nighter this year, or we could have relived this in a few weeks should we win this weekend.
But seriously, one of the reasons I love that we're trending upwards and again ranked is that it significantly increases our chances of hosting GameDay again. And with Beamer having just retired, you KNOW those guys will make any excuse they can to come out and honor him after everything they openly say that he did for their show.
That's sarcasm, right? After #GameDay4Frank was completely ignored, I don't give any credence to these guys saying Frank means anything to them.
except it wasn't completely ignored...linky
you're right, that was hyperbole.
I totally appreciate how they allocated 1 second for each of his years coaching at tech. In fact I'm overcome by the the lengths they were willing to go to show their love for Frank. /s
That's more accurate.
I mean what more do you want? Gameday was never coming to Blacksburg. That was never the point. The fact they even mentioned it is amazing to me. They really didn't need to do that. You're insane.
ummm... ok?
We were an unranked team barely holding onto hope for a bowl bid. Lets be real here, you're complaining that they went with a Top 10 matchup of #9 Michigan St @ #3 Ohio St with legitimate playoff positioning on the line over a game of #12 UNC @ unranked and struggling to hold onto bowl eligibility VT with the only postseason implications that nationally mattered was if UNC won, they had the right to lose to #1 Clemson in the ACC title game. The fact we even got a mention more than shows they have respect for Frank.
I agree. That was the most half-assed, insincere, last-minute video they could possibly throw together. Frank Beamer literally helped build College GameDay into what it is today. Frank wanted to get them into Lane and pack it full of students, making for a very raucous atmosphere and lots of gameday signs. I'm not saying he should get all the credit for the show's success, but he had a very big hand in it (Chris Fowler even directly acknowledged this last season on the first episode). They chose to have the show in Columbus for the millionth time this decade instead, citing ratings and the playoff race. You can't tell me having it in Blacksburg for Frank's last game against a top 20 UNC team would have been bad. Honestly, does it really matter where the show is located? People tune in every freaking week regardless to kickoff the day's games. Just another heaping load of ESPN and Buckeye BS.
To be fair, I'm sure they get "graded" on ratings, so it's probably an important consideration.
Jeez, who shit in your cereal? Face it, Beamer means 1000x more to Hokie nation than to the rest of the country. He isn't Saban, he isn't Bowden, he isn't Bryant. He never won a Natty, rarely won the big games when the eyes of the nation were on us. But that's fine because he basically brought us from nothing to something. But that something is more meaningful to us Hokie fans, than to the rest of the country.
Not sure why this was down-voted (I think it is a fair assessment), but I brought you back to positive leg land.
Hey guys. Hey, yo, yeah, we didn't deserve Gameday that weekend because of the MSU OSU game. They didn't have to respond to us at all but they did anyway.
I'm pretty glad we have the new Hokie bird. That thing is sketch
As a former ring design chair, I grant you a pass
I absolutely love these write-ups, thank you Ryan. It's obviously great to hear from our coaches and players regarding our team and our opponents, but there's also always a few non-football quotes that stick out to me as wildly interesting/informative.
Gotta love the image of Bud's neighbors knowing what he's capable of and fearing for their safety.
And it's always great to see quotes like this, proud of Adonis. If he keeps up the hard work on and off the field, I think he's going to be right there with a healthy Kyle and Kendall repping DBU in the league for the next decade.
There are folks that hire out that kind of work. Bud, however, has never struck me as that type. He can legitimately preach the work ethic of the LPD because he is a worker. If nothing else players who come under his tutelage are going to know what effort and hard work looks like. And even more importantly will connect that effort to the outcomes that follow. This is an asset that will serve them well. It's good to be a Hokie.
Bud + chainsaw = UNC's worst nightmare
Must have taken forever to trim the lawn
Wonder if they'll let me bring a chainsaw to the next fan day for Bud to sign.
Wouldn't Stihl be the perfect sponsor for the football team? If there is one man built to model Stihl tools, its Vice. Hell they would be a great sponsor for TKP! Get on it Stihl people!
Am I the only one that has watched the collegiate lumberjack championships?
Hasn't tech won those like a lot?
Please, please, please, try to get it in. Use that quote as your excuse.
Budsaw
Somebody photoshop Bud's face onto Ash's body from the Army of Darkness movie poster.
After a few more storms come through, he'll be able to carve some topiaries in his bluegrass.
Nah, he said in an interview last week that his wife mows the lawn during the season. Behind every great man......
Maybe he wasn't talking about that lawn....
too far
No no, he meant the other lawn, like the backyard.
EDIT: oh god just realized that could be a metaphor as well
I was talking about the practice fields, man... get your mind out of the gutter...
and no, I don't mean "practice fields", he isn't Petrino
It feels like we have a system for improvement now rather than just hope for improvement. Also..I can't tell you what play we will run, before we run it, from the couch any more. These are such good things.
It is indeed. I can't understand why I keep calling a WR Screen and it doesn't happen
A lot of plays get call from the couches and armchairs never get run.
I keep calling for a reverse on the Jet Sweep, to no avail!
Got to love it when her beefsteak gets run. Wish I was there.
I have the joys of autocorrect!
.
..
...nah too easy
Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
Need good tackling especially on their short throws. And punish tribusky
I've heard some talk about Trubisky playing his way into the Heisman race. We need to put an abrupt end to that Saturday, Jacory Harris style.
There a whole article / thread on it at Inside Carolina.
http://www.scout.com/college/north-carolina/forums/1408-tar-pit/15021145...
I came across the title and had a good chuckle.
I wonder if they realize that Foster is playing a lot more zone defense this year? They are assuming we will send 7 every play and leave their WR's in single coverage all game long.
It was actually a fairly well-reasoned discussion on that thread. I liked this statement:
Wait. Is Trubisky actually getting Heisman talk? Where? Or is that in their own minds?
I think it is in their own minds. The link above is to a Heel message board. Although, many on there were quick to say they thought it was too early to start any Heisman talk about Trubisky.
I heard it on FOX Sports 910 in Richmond on Monday morning. Wes McElroy said something like, "Is it time to start thinking about Trubisky as a Heisman candidate?"
I just kinda laughed and thought to myself, "Sure, you can call him a Heisman candidate until Saturday if you want"
I don't think it's unreasonable to call him a candidate at this point. His number are impressive. But not much more than Jerod's numbers. Doesn't hurt they put the ball in the air 33 times a game while Jerod hasn't thrown that many passes in one game as of this week.
Jerod Evans has been getting Heisman talk on TKP. Just sayin'.
Yeah. IllinoisHokie guaranteed Evans would win it.
this guy TKP's
I'm hoping for a nice 3-interception, 47% passing kind of day for 'ol Mitch.
Out of context quote of the day...
This new play works especially well with quarterbacks.
When Charlie joins in, it means watch out for Tim Settle.
Also known as the new Fuck Matt Ryan symbol.
With both teams being up tempo both defensive are conditioned to it, so either it will be a shoot out or a defensive battle.
I'm counting on Bud to shock UNC with a highly disruptive game plan that will frustrate the cap out of Fedora and Trubisky.
UNC's defense doesn't equate to defensive battles.
Bud has a lot of flexibility with running this new nickel scheme. It allows a lot of different blitzing and coverage options to take place. This will keep UNC's offense guessing. I do recall Trubisky throwing that pick-six two years ago, so we know he does make mistakes. I am worried about the one on one match ups with our secondary and UNC's WR's. Greg Stroman, to me, is a liability in the secondary. I know he had two picks against Liberty, but that was against Liberty. He got beat a few times in one on one against Tennessee. UNC has wide outs similar to Tennessee. I think Adonis, Chuck and Brandon need to have a huge game. This is definitely one of the most intriguing match ups of the weekend. Trubisky is playing at a very high level, completing 76% of his passes, with no picks. However, ECU's QB Phillip Nelson came into the match up against VT with a completion rate of 77% and he only managed to complete 50% of his passes against us. So it'll be really interesting to see how this plays out. It'll surely be a test for Trubisky. I see our DE's creating havoc in the backfield though. Ekanem is playing like a man possessed right now and I think that continues in this game. UNC is an experienced and highly tested team. There is no doubting that they are resilient. However, they did struggle mightily against JMU, soooo.... I really just cannot wait for this game. I think we have what it takes to beat UNC, it'll just come down to executing.
Stroman is a very talented corner and the first TD he gave up at Tennessee he played extremely well but lost a jump ball that he got his hand on, it happens. The second he didn't play as well, but until he starts getting beat regularly and busting coverages consistently, calling him a liability is a bit strong.
Are we ignoring the secondary breakdowns in the ECU game? Alexander gave up a 75 yd TD.
I'm not ready to anoint Alexander over Stroman. Both are extremely talented. In the two TDs that Stroman gave up, he was in position to make a play but just didn't get his hands in the right place. In the TD Alexander gave up, he messed up his footwork, causing him to trip up. These mistakes are correctable, and I think both are extremely valuable in the secondary.
Secondary isn't as good as stats suggest. Each of the corners has had their bad moments, which happens. Fortunately for us not a ton of them have been taken advantage of.
True of most secondaries, bad throws/pressure can conceal less than stellar coverage. I think the way we have been rotating Stroman, Alexander, and Facyson is good system for dealing with fatigue and possible injuries down the line. I don't think Stroman or Alexander are great yet, but getting them all work and keeping them fresh can't hurt, and they have flashed a lot of upside.
I agree. Bud will continue to rotate them. Reps and injuries killed us last year, by having three guys who continuously rotate the two corner spots we are prepare, knock on wood, if an injury should happen.
Careful. If you play against yourself too much you'll go blind.
Wait, that's something else.
Bud Foster will hold them to substantially less then their average. Cornelsen will get us to our average. WE GONNA KILL THEM in blacksburg after they move the game for safety.
I mean, if you look at how bad UNC's defense is this year, we really should set a new season high in offensive production. They are not good at all, and if the weather ends up being nice, it really should help us out. Plus, we should have the advantage of having seen the UNC offense numerous times before, and UNC still hasn't had an opportunity to really see what we do.
No one has mentioned the impact of special team play on this game. I know the UNC kicker won the game for them against FSU with a 54 yard field goal. Joey Slye has been pretty consistent for us but has yet to kick a field goal in an game for anything close to that distance.
Mitchell Ludwig, our punter, started off slowly but has improved. I don't know anything about their punter.
Cam's blocked punt and Stroman's big return were a welcomed reminder of the Beamer Ball in its hayday, but even the most optimistic of us can't expect that every week (hope for it, yes; but to expect it, is too much). How is the UNC return game?
And then there is the weather. A wet ball and windy conditions are wild cards that make things even more unpredictable. Both teams have to play in the same conditions so it ought to be a neutral factor, but I remember some really ugly play by VT in games in the rain last year. It is encouraging to hear that the coaching staff seem to have placed an emphasis on preping for the weather.
My wife and I have tickets for this game. I hope that we are "singing in the rain" this year.
I wouldn't look too much into the Special Teams performance against ECU, as the Pirates had their share of ST issues against UCF last week as well. It very well could be the Pirates are just that bad at kicking the ball.
Tbh, and I'm sure this will be an unpopular opinion, I don't want Joey trying a kick that long unless it's absolutely necessary. My confidence in him hitting anything from much beyond 40-45 yards is approximately zero. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash him. He's been excellent from inside 40 and I really respect that, especially after our kicking struggles before him (see: Journell, Cody and then Walmart kicker). He has all of the leg in the world to nail the longer kicks but unfortunately accuracy is a part of the equation to and, for whatever reason, he just hasn't been to get that part down.
I am with you, I would rather go for it on any FG attempt that would be 40+ yards than try and kick it.
To be fair, UNC's kicker isn't all that great either. No one expected him to make that kick because he'd never come close to making one that long, including missing a 51 yarder I believe earlier in that game. Slye is a solid kicker.
I'm just trying to say Fedora didn't really want his kicker doing that either.
Yeah should be real interesting how weather will affect
both teams' offenses.
Wet ball? Let's hope we don't see a return of fumble-itis.
Paging Dr. Fumbles
This stood out to me as another sign of frustration. As the story goes, the defense was there when it mattered, but the offense, not so much.
Oh so much this. You know he had to bite his tongue the last few years, but it just wasn't fair to him what he was being asked to do with an offense like we had. Even throughout our run at the top, we were always a team playing with one hand tied behind its back.
And this is why I don't think he's going to bail for another job, even as a head coach. He's now in a spot where its looking like he has an offense on this squad that can offensively carry a team on a given weekend. He doesn't have the weight of the entire program on his shoulders anymore. That has to be so damn refreshing after all this time. I think he's going to just enjoy the ride for a few years here potentially watching our offense put up 40 a game and knowing his margin of error is so much wider than it used to be. And really, why shouldn't he, he's completely earned this.
Our best defense might be running the ball well enough to sustain long drives and keep Trubisky and company on the bench.
Wait, you mean you can win football games by running the football, controlling the clock, and playing great defense? Now that's just absurd!!!
Doing that will get VT to .500 over the season, as we have seen the last few years.
You also need an offense that can sustain drives and score points, regardless of whether its through the air or on the ground, to have real success in this sport nowadays.
Completely agree. Sustaining long drives can't mean coming away with no points at the end of them. Wearing out their D though by running them all over the field chasing the spread offense and getting to the second level with our running game allows us to manage the game in the 4th quarter and put it out of reach.
After watching UNCs last couple of games, I am hoping I don't end up using the rally cap, salsa on the ceiling, scare the dog, the kids and the neighbors approach with 30 seconds left. I mean.. it works but it's just painful.
Has anybody else noticed that our fast offense seems to have slowed way down in the last couple of weeks? Now granted we have been in the middle of some huge blowouts, but it seems like we are snapping the ball with only 15 on the clock on average.
That's a good point. I have noticed some slow down, but nothing too dramatic. It seems like in a lot of those cases Jerod is reading the defense and calling audibles and making pre-snap changes. I don't think it's anything to worry about. Even with a minor slow down this offense is leaps and bounds faster and more productive than the past few years.
I didn't think Evans was calling audibles. The play call is basically make a read and make a single choice.
Your QB can do a pre-snap read on the defense and call an audible that switches from one primary read to another, while keeping the same "play"...
But rather than Evans just calling an audible, it seems like to me on plenty of occasions, the coaches are signaling in a change to the play call / formation from the sidelines and Evans is relaying it to the OL/RB. WR's are reading the signal from the sideline themselves.
I think we are going at a decent pace. Teams like Oregon and UNC seem like they go fast for the sake of going fast. It seems to me that Fuente wants to go reasonably fast, but getting to a certain number of plays per game isn't really the priority.
And we've only scored 103 points in the last couple of games!
Going fast for the sake of going fast doesn't matter. As long as our offense scores, they could be snapping with 1 second left on the clock for all I care.
Sounds like an interesting matchup for our defense. Will be
interesting to see it play out.
How their defense responds in this game will determine the winner. Our defense vs their offense is a push. We will win some, they will win some. If the offense can score 30 I like our chances.
To your point, UNC has won 16 straight games when scoring 30 or more. UNC has lost 10 straight games when scoring 24 points or fewer.
If you guys haven't checked out Inside Carolina yet, now is a good time. That prediction thread is chocked full of shade and disrespect.
This gave me a chuckle
Other highlights include
The last one especially confuses me, considering we were up 24-13 at halftime.
Not to bring up bad memories that we've blocked out, but I can think of at least 5 games that have made me feel worse than any Loss to UNCheat without putting much real thought into it. #1 Fuck Matt Ryan Game, #2 USC Game, #3 Stanford Orange Bowl (Because I drove down for it) #4 Danny Caught that Ball Game #5 Whatever happened on 9/11/2010.
Which game do we think they're referring to as our worst loss?
edit for grammar
Well to be fair that guy is a Carolina basketball fan who just started watching the football team around week 6 of last year, so he's probably only seen 1 or 2 of our losses.
Very true. There I go trying to think objectively again
They had 10 points entering the 4th quarter at Lane last year. Someone had mentioned a good dose of Hood, but he didn't find the endzone until Q4 either.
Worst loss by what metric? JMU was pretty bad. BC 07 regular season was pretty bad. LSU 07 was pretty bad. Do they mean margin of victory? What year was it in?
That last one about losing the first half would make sense if it said "Liberty, which they actually lost the first half of their fumbles this year to"
I believe there's a 45-3 loss to UNC somewhere in our shared history.
TL;DR - Too Lazy Didn't Research
42-3 - 1998 Gator Bowl - living in Raleigh, the memory is burned into my scalp
That said, I highly doubt Mr UNC Football Fan remembers they had a team 20 years ago, let alone the scores to any of the games
holy crap...98 was 20 years ago? I feel old.
42-3 in 1998
I don't know if that is VT's worst ever loss...didn't get that far
winsipedia is pretty neat though
Ah, I see. I recall losing by 41 to LSU in 2007, 48-7
I've wasted too much of my lunch break reading their predictions, and they remind me of the ESPN message boards from like 2005. They remind me of 14-year-old-me
You wouldn't believe the number of arguments I got in on those message boards in 2006-2007 over Brandon Flowers being a better corner than Malcolm Jenkins. Most of my distaste for tOSU began in that era, and our home and home actually lessened that significantly.
They're predictably riding high off the FSU win (and have apparently forgotten about their first quarter against JMU). Hopefully their players are equally dismissive of us.
The media down here is still talking about their win over FSU. They really haven't begun to focus on our game, yet.
This is really setting up nicely in our favor. And let me remind you, there are still over 1700 tickets available for purchase for this game, and this is a game that VT usually brings a sizeable fanbase. You could see a 70-30 crowd split in their own house, which would be deflating out the gate for them.
Genious.
not surprised....UNC degree....blah blah....
Actually probably not. I would say that over half of UNC "fans" have never enrolled at the school.
They really do think they will drop 40+ on us....I want them to crawl back into the deep hole and sadness Villanova caused them to go into.
Sidenote: If anyone from charlotte is thinking about going, let's get together and head up.