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I opted for an open thread of a live blog because 1) I haven't been able to test new live blog software yet, and 2) A lot of folks (myself included) are in Atlanta and we'll be able to easily join the conversation from our phones. However, I'm planning on hosting a live blog at some point during the season.
Go Hokies, #BEATBAMA!
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Comments
I already posted this on another tread, but I am so excited, I'm posting it here too. Aj McCarron was quoted saying "You don't really win the game on Saturday. You win it every day before that."
Go ahead and think that. He really believes he has already won. Last time I checked, the game is won in the 60 minutes between kickoff and the final whistle. That arrogance it the very reason why Tech has every chance to pull the upset.
Nice to see he's getting used to the fact he won't be winning today
I'm going to defend him for a second even though it makes me feel like I need a shower. What he means is that preparation wins games, hard work in practice and in the film room wins games. Obviously he knows that the game is actually played in 60 minutes on a Saturday, but a lax effort in practice sets you up for failure at game time.
On the upside, there is no film on the Loeffler VT offense, so an entire half of his team's prep is made much more difficult. Plus we've all seen how hard this team has worked to win every day.
There. Are you happy? I defended AJ McCarron. Now I have to get a chest tattoo and talk during people's backswings.
Hell yeah, kid knows what he's talking about. Reminds me of Ray Lewis saying, and I'm paraphrasing, "You pay me for Monday through Friday. You get Sunday for free"
But AJ sounds like he has bought fully into the process. This is why Saban wins
Just left Bristol and heading to Atlanta! Getting excited! Hokies!
I got butterflies in my stomach and its 7:15am and I have yet to go to bed and Im watching the replay of All Access on ESPN U, posting on TKP just basking in the Hokieness im surrounded by with pre game jitters. I have said it mutliple times this week guys and here I go again I have to work tonite I wont be able to see the game until I get off and watch on DVR around 12:30am. Please guys I want my TKP brothers and sisters to cheer extra hard to make up my absence I know yall have it in you and our boys have it in them #BEATBAMA GO HOKIES... time to go to bed the next time yall see me we will be basking in the glory of beating the #1 team or... I cant say anything negative FUCK THAT GO HOKIES!
Link to where we can watch online?
This is helpful: http://www.isthegameon.com/.
Thx. But I don't have a cable subscription. And I don't have the watchespn app. Another option?
http://www.feed2all.eu/type/american-football.html
Time to show the rest of college football that last year was a fluke. GO HOKIES!
I need a beer to help these pregamed jitters.....
Try several!
MStrawther is in Europe, he got a head start on gameday:
It's funny to be able to put a face to the name. Colosseum FTW. Nice done, mstrawther
Bama is already getting their excuses ready.
I can't embed from my phone so here is the tweet text and link:
@schadjoe: Nick Saban confirms to @cbfowler AJ McCarron will play despite ingrown toenail. See full interview on @CollegeGameDay this am.
https://twitter.com/schadjoe/status/373791163083653120
Go for his...feet....?
REPORT: AJ McCarron suffered a vocal chord injury while talking during your back swing. Compounds suffering with hangnail, canker sore, and bad hair day. Might be held out of VT game.
those canker sores'll really do a number on you though
Hangnails: they'll get after ya
Luckily, the paper cut he suffered two days ago proved not to be anything serious
Lee Corso predicting a closer game!
Whoops double post.
Lee Corso says to expect a close game from our Hokies. Hell yeah.
Shoot I missed it! Will it be on again or can anyone quickly load a video?
They haven't made picks yet, they just talked about it briefly. He says "Ol Bud Foster returns 9 starters on his vaunted defense and I think they'll.give Alabama all they can.handle. it'll be a close one."
Many thanks. This is the problem with only being able to afford internet and for some reason espn 3 wont let me watch it...
No problem, man. I'll.post their picks for the game but I'm pretty sure they'll be predictable.
"Closer than the experts think". I love that guy on GameDay. It'll be a different show when he steps away.
It's a beautiful morning where I am (unfortunately not Atlanta) and it's time to fire up the grill, down a few local craft beers and get ready for the real start of college football. Let's Go Hokies!
Just got done watching VTim's Video and Billdozer/Mstrawther's videos again. I CANT BELIEVE ITS FINALLY GAMEDAY!! Like Joe said, idc who we're playing or how long of a shot we might have, I'm sporting my maroon and orange proudly today and cheering my team on to the point of getting obnoxious! LETS GO HOKIES!! #BEATBAMA!!!!
Guys, we made. It's time.
I don't know how to limit the section of the video that plays but... :19-:58
Paul Finebaum is on CGD
A team with nothing to lose and everything to gain is the most dangerous one to play. With all of our injuries, there will be NO DOUBT, and no wiggle room for anyone to rationalize what happened when we #BEATBAMA.
Fold damn Tide! Let's go Hokies!
Saban says we're not getting enough.respect and that he's concerned about how we're going to use Logan with a new offensive coordinator. And he says we have a good defense that can put pressure on them.
Our favorite guy, George Whitfield is on Game Day.
(i.e. O'Cainspring's favorite scapegoat)
Desmond Howard, Herbstriet say it ain't gonna be close.
Game Day flat out disrespected Virginia Tech just now...let's shock the world #beatbama
I hope they like the taste of crow.
Was walking down the street to the grocery store in my white VT jersey this morning and literally had two separate guys scream "F#$@ the browns!" at me. They thought my jersey was a browns jersey...They'll know who we are by the end of today.
GO HOKIES!!
So Fowler, Desmond & Herbie don't think the game will be close - but Corso says we won't be embarrassed even in a loss. Interesting...
Also, they put together a nice video package about McCarron and a little girl recovering from leukemia... it's been fun to talk smack about the guy, but it sure is nice to see a college football player use his celebrity status to give back.
In the back of the car in Georgia, reading the new HokieSports, came across this tidbit from Loeffler. This is the key to today's game.
It will be a sad time in Alabama when the Hokies beat the Tide. Go for it Hokies.
http://deadspin.com/welcome-back-college-football-1231629693
A little duck face to get our game day started
As long as the O can score and eat up clock, Bud and the D will keep VT in the game... if the O can't stay on the field, the D will get gassed in the 2nd half and Ala will walk away with it
Looks like today is the day for upsets!!! Texas a and m, ksu, Ohio state is getting everything hey can handle from buffalo and wvu is getting smoked! Lets hope this trend continues into the night.
Amen, brother.
#goacc
To quote seth28: "Darkness will rise." GO HOKIES GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm full of mixed emotions. Optimism, anxiety, uncertainty. It's crazy. I just don't know what kind of offense were going to see. Nonetheless, let's sack up and give these dudes a scare. Regardless of the outcome I'm wearing my VT Polo to work on Tuesday. #BEATALABAMA.
I feel the exact same way.
Well. Here we go. Get on your treadmills. Time to gallop
mmmm, yeah. About that punt.
Fuck.
yeah...
Well...
I wasn't expecting any miracles tonight, but I sure as hell would have expected at least a better special teams performance than THAT...
not good.
Will they settle down and give Bama hell now?
level of alcohol consumption: moderate.
subject to change.
Well, we had one really positive play. If we can somehow find a way to stretch the field vertically on Bama, we might stand a chance.
At least the punt keeps the defense off the field. Trying to think positive here.
play action pass doesnt work when you dont actually run the ball
Anyone else find it curious that we haven't even tried running Trey yet?
Yep, Why would we not try to establish some running game?
Seriously. The option to Coles was interesting play call, but with no blocking at all and running at some of Bama's best defenders, that was just stupid.
Yeah my friend said "they aren't buying".I.said cause we haven't run
Kyle fuller hurt. Who do we plug in? Fuck
double fuck
SIT DOWN.
I love our defense
JACK FREAKIN TYLER
Good stop, good stop.
How long you think he'll be out (season wise)?
Back in.next drive.
God, I love Jack Tyler.
Get knowles out.
AJ Hughes, the MVP of the Russell.Athletic Bowl. Also delay on a punt?
I think Moorehead just turned Knowles into a pile of rubble.
LOL if there is a copy of that DVD, it should be destroyed.
I don't like them starting around the 50. That makes it really hard on the defense.
no kidding knowles has had 2 balls that have hit him in the hands, the first one was hard i get that, but the second was in his chest.
Yeah. Hopefully it's just nerves and he'll settle in.
knowles should ease up on the popcorn..
I think Luther Maddy just wanted to eat AJ McCarron. Good pressure.
Riley filling in.nicely for Fuller
shouldn't have said anything. GOOD COVER LITTLE FULLER
Great play by Kendall in the corner there. He was tracking that ball all the way.
Just wish he hasn't gotten faked on.that out route. would've had a pic
crap.
Gotta stop them on 3rd down.
this is to be expected, they started with good field position.
I'm worried about if our offense will give our defense time to breathe
TREY EDMUNDS!!!!!
TREY. EDMUNDS. GIVE HIM THE BALL
EDMUNDS MOTHA FUCKAS!
Go Trey Go!
Trey!
give edmunds the fucking ball!!!!!!!!!!!
yyyyeeeeeeeeessssssssss!!!!!!
oh fuck. He has a 2nd gear.
YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That punt return is even worse now Damn it
Bama fans:
WUUUUUUUUT THEY CAN'T DO THAT, WE'RE BAMA
What a momentum shift!
I could run through a brick wall right now with the way the D is playing.
Same here.
we just jumped so hard my downstairs neighbor came up to ask us if everything was ok
You can say that again :(
HUGE HUGE HUGE congrats to Trey Edmunds for scoring his first collegiate touchdown in that fashion.
LET'S GO.
Looks like the storm has hit atl... Darkness is rising
Every time you say this I get so fired up.
Shane was so excited!
He thought he was a damn leprechaun!
WE AIN'T GOIN NOWHERE BAMA
You done messed with the wrong SEC TEAM, eh elephants?
#gatorchomp #gigem #mizzou #geauxtiger
Just a few teams behind us.
I'm having a blast at this game sitting in the middle of Alabama fans! Someone give Trey Edmunds a medlal.
Nice play Logan. Wow.
Well, there's one of Logan's five allowed picks...that really stings.
#newLT
My bad Logan, that wason Coles.
Wow, that was not on Logan. Shades of a former receiver.
DJ Coles blew that one. Such a killer after that run and great stop
Coles gave a crap effort on that. I feel for Logan. Knowles cant catch and Coles giving up on plays before they start. Big plays are KILLING us!
Wow actually Coles fault.
FUCK.
All Virginia Tech running backs in 1st game of 2012 vs. Georgia Tech: 79 yards
Trey Edmunds in 1st quarter of 2013 vs. Alabama: 83 yards
UGH! Huge missed opportunity.
I have counted at least 6 drops.
Quit throwing to Coles. He is scared to death of getting hit by bama.
I just don't get his mentality. Bama's secondary is their one weakness (if they have one) and the guy is a beast. He can win the physical battles.
Where's stanford and meyer?
This D is legit!
Great line, and a great play by Kyle on 3rd-and-long.
Fuller the hokie badger!
I LOVE THE FULLER FAMILY
Our D is gonna be NASTY this year
honestly, I can't see us losing in ACC play if we play with this much intensity all year long.
3rd and Logan....
And yet, after proving that Edmunds is a battering ram (as is Logan), they call a passing play that fails. Ugh.
Stiney is in the box.....
Why are we THROWING ON THIRD AND 1???! STINESPRIN!!!!
dinkleberg!!!!!
Frustrating game so far.
Seriously. This game is 7-7 if not for a punt return and a pick-6/bad WR effort.
Alright can someone explain to me why we didn't just pound in 1 measly yd? Having trouble with that.
the offense play calling really doesnt look like its changed too much from last year. idk if im being too over critical but i just dont see alot or any change. were still in it, give trey the ball and lets grind it out
Terrible call.
I cannot wait for our offense to catch up to the defense. They are damn near 2 decades behind.
Should have been grounding, but good throw by McCarron.
These 3rd downs are devastating. Let's get a stop here.
Kyle Fuller with the pick!
KYLE YOU ARE A BEAST!
FULLER!!!!!!!
FULLERS AGAIN!
WWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I'm absolutely head over heels in love with our defense.
Ya like that Mcarron!? Yea you KNOW you do you tool!
Sam Fucking Roger bitches!
Sam Rogers sighting!
Rogers looks like a bull.
Smart timeout.
Sam Rogers!
Fucking Fullers! Hell yeah!
JUST GET THE YARD. GIVE IT TO DRAGO AGAIN OR TREY JUST GET THE YARD. FOR CHRIST'S SAKE OUR QUARTERBACK IS THREE TIMES THE DISTANCE WE NEED.
sigh of relief.
This team has heart. Just run the damn ball!
I'm so proud of this team right now I could cry
Bad commentator statement Hall of Fame candidate: "He attacks the hole."
Understatement of the year
100 yard rusher on game 1. Much improved!
No Logan no.
Delay of game.
WATCH THE DAMN CLOCK.
Throw it out of bounds.
3 delay of games...ARRRRGGGG. First game BS hopefully. Logan throwing off his back foot not looking too confident on that throw. Good kick Cody. Points off of turnover is a good thing.
Alright can somebody tell me just ytf this penalty shit happens in every single important game we play!? Seriously! Just WTF!?
Should be 10-7 Hokies right now.
And no horse on a treadmill.
Boooooooooo
Really he wasn't down?
no no no no no no NO!!!
CFB typical SPESHUL TEAMS
Welp.......
OH COME THE FUCK ON
SPECIAL TEAMS WTF
Oh my God, I thought we had him. WRAP UP.
Unbelievable.
This isn't fair.
Well, if you take away the PR TD, KO TD, and pick-6, we would be ahead 7-10. Womp.
shit.
Do we practice proper & effective tackling fundamentals on our team?
He needs to stop cutting and jumping on the KO returns and just fucking run. Shit.
I'm reading to take my life. Complete horse on a treadmill shit.
What?
Defense playing their hearts out, however.
And we're back to the O'Cainspring 3 & outs
Special teams has just wrecked all momentum. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Who would have thought it was SP that would be the massive problem. Well, that and receivers having the dropsies.
Moorehead's pissed at the WRs
Hold them please.
I hate how they say that the "players let CFB down" when in reality it was the other was around
Hey, the punt fell without a return! Is that worth points?
No TD! Should have been!
Oh yea, that brings up a good point. What is LT3s completion percentage
Right now? 21.4%
Regardless of the score, I'm freaking proud of this team. Showing so much heart right now.
And no I'm not kidding.
I'm with you. Bud's boys have come to play. ACC take note. Special teams needs serious work. Offense at least has shown some improvement, when you factor in the fact that they're playing Bama.
Come on good guys, get back on the horse...on the treadmill. Settle down and start to do work.
Tech will come back. Sam Rogers will catch a game winning TD. I'm feeling it.
we should be in this much more, idk if frank is going to stroke out but he should. special teams is why its not 14-10 at half. our defense is playing their asses off and are playing great
I really wish CFB would hand over special teams to Beamer Jr
CFB looks at a complete loss for thoughts. Looks like he's run out of ideas.
I'm proud of our D (as usual) and Edmunds...and of course Sam Fucking Rogers (need to use him more, no shit). But so far am unimpressed with Loeffler's strategy and adjustments.
He doesn't seem to have a lot to work with honestly.
I can't fault him for his strategy coming into the game, it's hard to game plan for the first game especially when you haven't played a team before. He had no idea how Bama was going to line up against Logan Thomas in the formations that Loeffler was going to use.
However, Edmunds should be featured much more then he is. Thomas needs to be under center more. Sadly, Tech may be too far behind to switch back to an "under-the-center" approach.
i hate the media, instead of crediting our defense, they're just saying how bad the bama offense is.
It's our coaching and underperformance of the O and SPESHUL teams that are c-blocking ANY respect that our D & Edmunds would garner.
That ticked me off too. Mark May is pretty much a troll at this point though & Holtz is a homer, so it doesn't surprise me.
I mean I'm trying to stay positive, but the best I can come up with is we have our work cut out for us in the second half. And bama can't score again...
Wait, seriously? You're not absolutely fucking thrilled with our D? Because I'm absolutely fucking thrilled with our D
Well I need to thank you for keeping me honest. Yes I'm very happy with the defense. I'm not happy with the score and bama owning us on special teams
Bama's D gave up 80 rushing yards per game on average last year. Trey Edmunds alone has 106 in the first half. That's a positive.
Trey Edmunds is who we hoped he would be. The defense is outstanding. But my God, the Special Teams blunders are KILLING us.
Even if Tech doesn't come back and win, I'm expecting for this to be a great season. Maybe the best defense in the country, and this is without Exum AND Marshall.
And RVD
yeah but he won't be back this year unfortunately, Exum and Marshall should.
Wait, I know I missed a lot over the off-season due to real life, but what happened to RVD?
Shoulder injury, requires surgery.
Ugh, boo!
The defense will factor nicely this season, can the offense pickup the slack?
to be honest, if trey edmunds is legit (and it's looking like he is) I expect our offense to be pretty good this year. having the run will take so much off of LT3...
lets talk special teams though...
to be honest, if trey edmunds is legit (and it's looking like he is) I expect our offense to be pretty good this year. having the run will take so much off of LT3...
special teams though...
It took us a little while to get settled down, but the defense came out ready to go. It feels like we believe we can play with them, whereas the first two offensive series made us look like deer in the headlights.
Kyle Fuller looks much improved. The first hit probably knocked him back into the game. Haven't heard Kendall's name called all game, nor Facyson's. Must be doing something right.
Sam Rogers, nicely done. We have had stud scholarship RBs who spend a year or two getting their first carry in a game, and this guy walks onto the field and gets a few yards. Well done, Sam.
Defensive line is sick. They're ready to go. Kysheon Jarrett is playing well, too.
It looks like our offensive execution is much improved in this half, given the level of competition. Trey Edmunds with 106 yards in the first half. Really like how he looks so far.
We've outgained Alabama 155-97 in the first half according to ESPN's GameCast stats. Granted, half of that was Trey's 77 yard TD, but it just goes to show the defense is ready and the offense has potential.
Not a bad first half. We'll see if we can keep it up the second half. Note I did not mention CFB's Pride nor his Joy. Because he is not proud nor joyful at this point.
Kendall had that nice pass break-up in the end zone. Otherwise, yea, looks like he's just doing his job so not much going on around him.
Facyson has had at least one tackle in the middle of the field, I think it was Cooper.
HALFTIME THOUGHTS
- Special teams are killing Tech. Tech might be winning this game without all the inexcusable miscues taking place under Frank Beamer's watch. This HAS to change.
- The offensive line looks very promising. Logan Thomas has had time to throw, and when Loeffler has decided to run the ball they are getting a good straight ahead push. The interior of the line looks to be playing very well. If they continue to play this well the entire year, Tech will be in great shape to get back to 10 wins.
- I was completely wrong about how special Trey Edmunds was. I had doubts about whether he was good enough to change the running game around... Well no anymore. He is absolutely talented enough to be the next great Tech runningback.
- Loeffler is making some...interesting... choices in his game plan. I think if Loeffler could start the game over, he'd choose to run from under center far more then he has. The straight ahead rushing attack looks really good and it'll be a strength for the team going forward. Tech might be too far behind to straight pound the ball in the second half, but they have shown they are capable of doing that vs one of the best defenses in the country. The ACC better watch out.
-Logan Thomas isn't having a great game, and that's in large part because his WR's aren't doing him any favors. Knowles is playing like someone who deserves to be benched, and Stanford has been absolutely silent. Unfortunately, I don't know if Moorehead has anyone to look to on the bench to make any changes. The WR HAVE to step up if Tech is to win this game.
- Tech might be too far behind to win this game, but they are showing a tremendous amount of improvement already. The talent on defense is incredible, look for this defense to finish in the top 10 by the end of the year.
Tech can win if the make some plays on special teams, the WR's start to make plays, and they win the turnover battle in the 2nd half.
If all 3 things don't happen, you can forget any miracle comeback.
Here's why I am so angry.
Virginia Tech should had committed to the run game early and often. French and I have been raving all spring/summer long that Edmunds was a star. I have said it before that Virginia Tech can score on Alabama's defense. What is also pissing me off is that butterfinger Knowles and Coles are getting targeted too often, letting Bama's defense sit on those two. Where's Stanford? I thought that Stanford was Thomas' favorite target.
Special team is a fucking joke right now. Two gaffees have given Alabama two free touchdowns, and then that pick six just added insult to injury.
I sincerely hope in the 2nd half, Loeffler just say, "Fuck this, I'm riding Edmunds cuz he's playing like an elephant right now."
It's far from over. GO HOKIES!
Fellas we have been here before. We spotted duke 20 points and one pick from the d changed the whole game. Bama scored on so teams and defense and we can too. Our offense needs to get a rhythm going but the storm is still there and the darkness is continuing to rise... When you are fighting for your life and it seems all hope is lost that's when you find out what you are made of... It's time to rise.....
Preach it brother.
Now that's how you cover a kick!
Great start.
Yea! Back to the sideline mcarron bitch
fucking special teams!!!!!
Terrible field position now, plus penalty yardage.
UGH!
Beamer needs to fire the special teams coach.........Oops, can you fire yourself. He needs to do something. That face he made in the first half can not be very motivating to the team
It's his WHO-FARTED face. A good drinking game to play is every time you see his who farted face you have to down a shot.
Edmunds is a freaking beast.
Run the ball.... Run the ball... Run the ball
Alright, everyone's thinking it, I'm saying it, CFB needs desperately to attend an nfl special teams convention.
Give it to Edmunds every time.
Keep feeding EDMUNDS. 10 yard gain. The run blocking has been outstanding. In fact, the O-Line play in general
I don't understand why we aren't running him until they stop him.
Da fuck was that!?
Bench Logan?
Mark Leal?
At least 3 different punt returners and kick returners so far. Punt: Byrn, Jarrett, & Ke. Fuller; Kick: Knowles, Mangus, & Greene.
This horse on a treadmill has shit all over it.
I hold my breath everytime we punt. goodness.
BUT... I don't know about anyone else, but I'm pleasantly optimistic right now. usually when were losing I'm a drunken mad man. even if we take the L.. I'll still feel good about this team.
Same here. D is looking solid, and based on what I've seen from the ACC thus far, we're the best in that category. Clean up special teams idiocy and we're looking great. The O-line is actually doing really well, and that was our biggest unknown. Grimes for president!
Is Bama's offense this bad or our defense this good ?
Our defense is just this good.
ESPN puppetry... How you know they don't respect us.
Most ridiculous waste of time I've seen on ESPN thus far.
Commentators being fucktards... what's new?
These commentators lol.
3 & out
We have no passing game whatsoever. We have Trey Edmunds and defense, nothing else. Very frustrating to see.
Come on Knowles!
Ughhhhhhhh, WR fail seems to be continuing over to this season...
And we thought the receivers were bad last year!
Knowles - put our hands up and you catch that ball.
That ball hit him in the face. How much more do you want?
Wow WRs sucking it up.
Wide receivers catch the ball, this is a different game.
Defense getting tired because we can't sustain drives. Knowles should've had that catch. it was in the bread basket.
The way the D swarms Yeldon does make me happy, though.
Who is to blame for the complete lack of offensive talent except for Edmunds at this point?
The receivers are completely dropping the ball. All applicable puns intended.
This defense is freaking incredible!
SACKS ON SACKS ON SACKS
Kyle with a big block!
That hit made me so happy. Despite the lack of a real return, that was a beautiful block.
Dangerously close to that targeting rule though.
I'll have to look at it again, but it looked like clear shoulder-to-shoulder from the front/side.
our receivers look like crap but thank goodness our d is playing lights out
I think this is the single happiest I've ever been with our D in our first game. Now if only our O can attempt to catch up...
I love healthy Kyle mothereffin Fuller
Yeah @ least Foster's making MCarron look like the little p-$$y bitch he is.
Why just the run or deep balls. What happened to short routs?
Logan has hit Coles and Knowles in the hands a few times on medium and short routes and they straight up drop them. I guess they figure they might as well gamble on big gains. Bad plan.
They keep getting the ball at the 50ish yard line. No bueno.
I digress.
Christion jones....
christion jones...
man oh man, just took the wind outta my sails.
Defense is going to tire out here soon. Playing out of their minds, but need some help.
And THERE it is!!!
Christion Jones 21- Hokies 10
Ugh, new a play like that was coming.
Defense is getting gassed. The offense needs to stay on the field for a few minutes to give them a break. Repeated 3-and-outs are going to kill us.
Now I'm afraid, is where bama pulls away. Still many reasons to be optimistic, given our schedule.
False start
did...did Logan Thomas slide? ...since when does he slide?
Since the Miami game last season.
Tough game to swallow.
I'd hate to be western Carolina's offense next week.
They're gonna get soo f-k'd up
N/m illegal motion. 6 penalties. I bet we got more penalty yds than offensive yds
finally, Stanford.
where has he been?
Finally, someone caught a ball!
Finally a throw to Stanford, I'm pretty sure that's the first time he's been targeted all night.
CJ Mosley just whiffed on Edmunds
The Freshman's play tonight is promising. What a move by Edmunds
Playing better than RW did against Bama
I'm surprised... LT's deep ball is usually spot on.
Most of the throws haven't been that bad, but the WRs are getting no separation at all from Bama's secondary. Hell, Logan pretty much hit Knowles between the eyes with the one throw and he dropped it.
He needs a few consecutive completions for some confidence.
There's no window. No separation.
Uhhhh...
Saban won't run the score up on Beamer I think. He has too much respect for our program.
I agree. I think we'll see a lot of run plays during the 4th. Bama's D has us completely in check; they don't need to do anything but bleed the clock.
I doubt that. Our defense is starting to break. They can't hold there offense the entire game like this. And is Jarrett hurt? I'm seeing Frye in the game more?????
Jarrett is being treated for cramps. Frye is getting most of the playing time.
According to Andy Bitter's twitter, he's cramping.
Jarrett is back in.
Leal please
Do we have a tight end in the game? No pass to them.
Perez-Means? Haven't been paying attention that much.
i cant decide if our receivers are that bad or if bamas secondary is that good. logans numbers are horrific right now but it looks like they just arent good enough to get seperation. thank goodness for trey, hes my new favorite hokie
A bit of both. Their secondary was supposed to be somewhat weak, but their talent baseline is pretty high. The fact that most of our receivers have zero meaningful playing time is really killing us.
Yup this
LOL intentional grounding
Needed that intentional grounding call in the first half
Forgot Yeldon went.to Yulee High. I live near there.
Playing for pride now
I hope for another score, finish 35 - 17 and just beat the spread.
Coles didn't want to catch that
Coles is the worst player on the field tonight. Period. End of story. How many balls has he dropped? How many has he dropped because he was afraid of getting hit? Unbelievable.
Or that one
drops.
so many drops.
we miss you danny coale and Boykin . hell, even Marcus Davis.
Nope, don't miss MD7 at all
at least the man could catch, I've never EVER seen anything like this..
LT3 5-25. Wtf is with DJ Coles? Thought he was supposed to be the dude.
Bud Foster is amazing. That is all.
And all ye Hokie Faithful say "Amen!"
logan is not the problem in the passing game for the most part. he overthrew some balls but this is about the wideouts not catching the ball. theres no effort from coles that i can see. hes scared of getting hit and thats clear. if the announcers are pointing it out then its bad. id be frustrated as hell if i were logan but the receivers have to put up a better effort if were going to compete for the coastal division title.
Without the drops, Logan's probably 15-25 or better and we're actually in the game.
o agreed it wouldve been a completely different game
ESPN showing our remaining schedule. If defense plays the rest of the year like this, we can win them all if someone will catch a ball
I feel bad for Logan. His numbers look so bad and I don't feel like it accurately represents his mental decisions or physical play. I feel like he has played so much better tonight.
KYLE FULLER. GAME BALL.
166 yards of offense for the elephants......great job D
What. The. Hell.
am I being pranked
Drops are definitely the biggest part of the story of why our offense is doing so poorly tonight. I wouldn't want to be in the first meeting of the week with Moorehead and the receivers.
These receivers need to put stickem on.their gloves or something.
Oh god. The commentators just compared Logan to Ben Roethlisberger. Now we're really in the rough stuff. The worse comparison from there is J.P. Losman.
What's wrong with that comparison? At least on the field, Ben is a very respected tall physical quarterback, the comparison is obvious.
When the fuck was the last time our O even got a 1st down?
As far as I can tell, it was during the Russell Athletic Bowl.
I just want this game to end, while I can walk away with some positive things
I honestly can't believe these are d1 caliber receivers, heck we should consider both fuller brothers to play both ways.
Might be a joke but Kendall cant be far from getting a call from Moorehead.
So, anybody purchase their crimson turd apparel yet?
No I didn't participate in the bet. Mangus is getting some good runs in.
Well, everyone expected us to lose and we lived up to that expectation. Here's my takeaway:
1. Our defense is insanely good. We completely stifled one of the best teams in the country.
2. Logan's mechanics are vastly improved, as is his decision-making.
3. Our O-line was surprisingly good.
4. Trey Edmunds is going to be ridiculous.
5. Our receivers are completely unacceptable. Most may not survive the next practice.
6. Our special teams had major letdowns that need to be fixed immediately.
That about sums it up. I'm not too worried about special teams. It can be fixed. WRs though were awful. I'm starting to question Morehead.
Remember the complete lack of experience from most of our WR's. If we're still having issues in two weeks, then start blaming Moorehead. From what I've seen and heard, he's a hell of a coach in terms of his attention to detail and intensity.
Fair. I just got a little turned off from the all access show and the comments he had for the group. It just seems like a lot of "ah. Come on. You can do better" and not a lot of coaching. Could have been the editing. I will take your advice and be patient. But I wouldn't mind another rant like the one he had at the scrimmage.
Oh, they'll get (and deserve) a rant or two. The reason I have hope is a report I read (maybe Andy Bitter's) that described the attention to detail that Moorehead had while working with either Carlis Parker or Josh Stanford regarding lining up, footwork, timing, etc. It seemed he was very attuned to proper technique, which is why I'm still scraping my jaw off the floor at the horrendous performance tonight from that group.
You can't blame moorhead for the personnel he inherited. You can only coach some one up so much to catch a ball and run routes, when you convert rbs to wrs, it is the same thing as converting a te to a lineman
I'm sorry, but with the number of penalties on offense & speshul teams over the years it is blatantly obvious that CFB is NOT coaching the basics or stressing/emphasizing the fundamentals of the actual game.
At least we confirmed that we can punt!
Takeaways from this game:
1. This defense is amazing.
2. Trey Edmunds is ridiculously good.
3. The O-line was good.
4. Logan was okay.
5. Recievers were awful.
6. Special teams were awful.
I think that we will have a pretty good year. Logan will get better and hopefully so will the special teams and receivers.
General takeaways:
-D is legit and belonged on the field with the best in the country.
-Our WR's are horrible. DJ looked like Roberts and Davis of last year. If this continues just put him on the bench. Knowles, I dont get it. Was last years catch against GT the exception to the rule? I had high hopes for him, but that has quickly changed.
-O-Line is much improved, somewhat shockingly.
-Edmunds stepped up. This kid may be the next great running back at VT.
-Logan is not as bad as the numbers show. A lot of his passes were catchable and his WR's are KILLING him.
-If we continue to recruit well, we will be very good. Our frosh and R-frosh are very good.
-Lets not hang our heads, this game was 4 plays (3 their way and 1 ours) from being 14-3 which is not an awful showing against the nations best.
-GO HOKIES!!!!
I'm pretty optimistic.
1) The game was closer than the score suggests. We won the yardage battle, 212 - 206. Tied in turnovers, although theirs was a pick six. Won the running game.
2) As others have mentioned, the offensive line didn't look like a train wreck. I'm not the best horse to evaluate it, but it looks like we've improved. I'd also suggest the game plan/play calling was more....enjoyable?
3) The defense is sick. With coverage like it looks like we can get (assuming the starting DBs are in the game), it'll give our very deep and talented defensive line time to get to quarterbacks all year long. I'm anxious to see this.
4) Our run defense is good. With the exception of Duke Johnson, Yeldon is the best RB we'll see all year and we did well against him (they're probably two of the best in the country, too).
5) Moorehead was given a bare cupboard when he was hired. But he has a whole lot of work to do. Knowles needs to sit. Stanford looked like he could get open, though. DJ Coles looked fearless on the first few plays, but appears to be a disaster overall. Joel Caleb might help. Didn't notice Charley Meyer at all.
6) Glad to see we're getting young'uns in the mix. Should help us down the line.
7) Jack Tyler, Trey Edmunds, #boththefullers
All in all, not too unexpected, except the special teams.
I'm scratching my head watching Arron Murray and the receivers he has. These guys will catch anything thrown within 5 feet of them.
Agree. Watching this thinking "Our WRs wouldn't catch that"
Agree with everyone's assessment so far. Feeling optimistic despite the score line. But I'm not sure what I should be the most upset about. Special teams, receivers, or no horse on a treadmill. We need to have a serious talk with Weaver. #allmarooneverything #bringbackthehorse
WR's get my vote. Special teams was fielding mostly second-stringers (against Bama, yikes!), so that's easy to fix.
Agree. Special teams will be fixed. Especially against lesser opponents. Overall I'm actually quite happy with our showing.
Yep. I think this is the best litmus test we've ever seen for the Hokie team.
Our offensive line is meshing. Watch out.
Getting Stanford and Knowles out in the open next Saturday will help. However, if Coles is going to play scared, give the shirt up and give it to someone who wants it. We get it, you've been hurt. Not withstanding, we NEEDED you and you whiffed BIG time.
This is an ACC championship team again. No reason we can't win 10+
We need to just run Paul Johnson's offense this season, until our receiver corps shows vast improvement. But hey, we knew they'd be raw
I could not be more proud of our team tonight. Yeah, it would had been nice to get a win, but know what, I think that this team is going to make a lot of ACC DC very nervous going forward.
Going forward, I expect to see Virginia Tech returning to the power running football team that was being shown tonight. I wish Loeffler had called more running play, but know what, I'll take it. The dropped passes will be addressed. Moorehead is going to die trying to get that message across because it is simply inexcusable for two experienced receivers to have more dropped passes than UVA had fans at their spring game.
I'm calling it now. Trey Edmunds will either come close to or break David Wilson's single season rushing record if he keep playing a beast. The offensive line has been hell of a pleasant surprise. David Wang is mighty comfortable as a center and the rest of the line is solid. Grimes has clearly made the correct decision in naming his starting five. I shudder to think what happens when the #Fab5 comes to Blacksburg next once current players get experience under their belt.
The defense are going to be nasty. They made AJ's life miserable to the point he was pouting and calling out his teammates on the field, captured by ESPN's cameras.
They don't give place for moral victory, but fuck that shit, the Hokies may not won on the scoreboard, but stat line tells a whole another ball game.
One final thought: if Frank is serious about putting veterans on special teams, that would be welcomed because that is what made Pride and Joy feared.
AMEN. I loved raining on AJs Heisman campaign parade
I said to a friend tonight that Beamerball had the final foot of dirt piled on its grave. Ugh, but do we really want vets on special teams? I don't know the right answer to that.
We barely even have vets on the starting sides of the ball, its a lot to ask for young inexperienced players to excel at their positions and on special teams.
I'm not willing to accept that this is the best we can expect from a VT team. This wasn't a case of a team that was just outclassed. We know exactly where the team underperformed. VT has the pieces to beat Alabama, but they got zero effort from their receivers and special teams weren't prepared for the season, AGAIN. These are fixable problems. I am mad they weren't fixed before the team blew its chance to play its way into national championship contention. If this is the standard we're willing to accept then remove the empty trophy case and take the money we're spending on football and put it into medical research or need based scholarships or improved facilities or something.
I dont think anyone is saying this is the best we can expect, just the best we can expect given the circumstances. Those special teams touchdowns were bad yes, but Alabama has truly elite players and they make everyone look bad. That second touchdown was bad tackling form/elite power not a complete special teams oversight. The receivers with the exception of DJ Coles are just too green for this kind of matchup. Its not a matter of effort.
Why not hold offense and special teams to the same standard as defense? The defense had more depth and youth issues than anyone else to contend with. Blown tackles and assignments on special teams shouldn't just be shrugged off. These guys have been in practice all summer. Someone should have gotten them ready to tackle in week one.
On the WR front, I don't even know how to respond. 80 flat out can't catch. 18 doesn't want to try. These guys are veterans. If they don't want to be on the field against the #1 team in the country, they shouldn't be on scholarship. The coaches could have recruited some men who would have loved to take their spots and probably would have put up a more serviceable performance than they did, like Fuller and Facyson did on the other side of the ball.
The bottom line in my opinion is the team isn't doing everything it can to win. If they were and it didn't work out, I could accept that. It happened in '99. That's just life. This is fundamentally different and that's why I'm angry.
If Beamer can't prepare a special teams unit, regardless of whether there are a handful of freshmen out there, he should swallow his pride and let someone else do it who can be successful. If WRs aren't giving the bare minimum effort required of a scholarship athlete, give their scholarships to someone else.
Let me address your comments.
Offensively: Loeffler made some headscratching calls early in the game, but when he realized that Edmunds is pushing the pile, he started to give him the numbers. The problem is dropped passes from the receivers, mainly from Knowles whose hands are simply not reliable and Coles is playing as H-back/wide receiver. Moorehead is going to address the dropped passes. Did you go to the August scrimmage where Moorehead went off on his receivers after dropped passes? I'll have you to know that the offense are finally being held up to the same standard expected from the defense. Loeffler is not simply going to brush this off. Grimes, according to some tweets, called out players who missed their blocking assignments.
Special teams is what did in this game. Using heads/shoulders to "tackle" is not an ideal way to bring down a runner, and that is either going to be fixed or not. According to Bitter and Barber, Beamer is going to bring the veterans and starters back on special teams like it used to be. In other words, maybe tonight Beamer's eyes were finally opened.
This team didn't do anything to win? I disagree. Alabama is simply loaded to the gills and Virginia Tech dominated them in the stat line except the scoreboard. I'll take it.
This game provided a glimmer of hope that finally, for the first time in a long time, the offense will be evenly matched with the defense. Give it time.
That was eloquent. I think the word that needs to be stressed is patience. Like you said, the offence isn't going to improve overnight. But at least now we are finally take steps to improve it. The only thing that worries me at this point in the special teams
The offense still has a long way to go before it gets on the level of the defense. There are some glaring deficiencies on some parts of the 1st string offense. Deficiencies that will prevent our offense from having a solid, balanced attack. We simply weren't ready for this game on offense, and I think we might need more dynamic playmakers to solve it. That will only be solved with better recruiting which may be a long process.
I think in the all access show, Coach Wiles was doing part of the ST coaching. At least I think he was the coach with the "Scoop and Score" on a blocked kick behind the LOS comment.
Wow wow wow. I don't think anyone is accepting this as the standard. It can and should be better, but as you said they are fixable and that's why I'm optimistic for the future.
I'm somewhat optimistic, but for the fact that the problems are clearly obvious and fixable and yet they weren't fixed. Why assume they're going to be fixed now? Why assume there's not going to be a similar issue at the start of next season? I think it's reasonable to want some accountability at this point- especially given how long we had to watch the program put up with some obviously sub par members of the staff. I don't want mob rule, just a healthy level of accountability.
Good point. I'm assuming they will get fixed though this season. But you are right. Think how we shat our pants the first quarter vs Boise. How do we fix these stupid, fixable issues for the first game?
Thank god for our defense and special teams cause our offense was doin to well.. It was a hard fought game though. If any of y'all are here at the game be safe traveling back. As much as I would like to see the people who excepted this bet pay up I'm not gonna hold my breath. Good luck in your season. I'll be pulling for y'all when I see y'all playing! Best of luck to y'all
Know what? I think that Alabama is going to destroy Johnny Manziel. I watched the game this afternoon and Rice's offense was giving aTm fits all afternoon. How are they gonna contain Yeldon and the rest of the stallions? LOL. I can't wait to see Bama wipe the smirk off Manziel's face.
I hope so! I know the VT is allot better then people give them credit for. You guys will have a awesome season. I can't wait for us to put Jonny football in his place!
Thank you, sir, and thanks for your service for our country.
Good game by your guys tonight. I will be cheering for the Tide to wipe that stupid smirk off of Johnny Moneybags' face.
Best of luck to you and Hooah!
Well ... At least Kyle Fuller got to blow someone up. God I wish we had Exum and RVD though. Maybe another turnover somewhere in the mix
Yeah I loved that. The Fullers were even on blowing up though, because Kendall got rocked a second later. I think he may have been admiring his brother's handiwork.
Both of them had a helluva game. I'm so excited for the lil one's future and I'm really happy to see Kyle back in his usual form.
Facyson and Kendall Fuller are going to be killer combo...not since we had Macho Harris and Brandon Flowers.
Educate me. Should a receiver catch every ball that touches his hands? It seems to me every ball Logan throws packs full heat...is that a good thing, or should he have more "touch" and add only the minimum heat needed for the situation? In other words, are tonight's drops all on the receivers?
With very few exceptions, if it hits the hands, it's catchable. If Logan takes something off the throw, the timing of the route is off and it doesn't actually get to the receiver. If it's in his hands, that means the timing was right. I remember when the WR's were adjusting to Logan, Boykin's gloves were splitting because he was throwing so hard. If it were a problem, Loeffler would have fixed it. Logan's mechanics were much better, so the speed of the throws is probably fine. If the ball hits you in the hands, chest, or face, it's catchable.
What about if it hits you in the face?
Then you can't say you didn't see it coming!
90% of those throws were catchable. At least.
Definitely. Logan's line should not have been 5-26. Easily should have been 17-20 completions.
If we still had Danny Coale and Boykin, I'm pretty sure they'd be catching a lot more of those balls. It's not like they haven't already proven in the past that Logan's balls are catchable.
A bit of an understated point post game, but the zone read... It didn't seem to work all night (the early lack of runs didn't help). Personally I would like to get away from it. Pick an offensive concept and stick with it.
I'm sure its been said already but I think Logan played well tonight. His stats were awful but his decisions were good and the throws were pretty good. He had a few tosses that weren't good but that happens. He threw a couple balls away and the WRs probably had 8+ drops. He could have easily been 17-26 or so in this game with a couple of those big plays that were dropped. I am pleased with what I saw which is odd after that stat line he had.
Has anybody read anything by Zac Ellis, a writer for Sports Illustrated? I started reading an article he wrote about the game last night and had to stop because I was so angry. Dudes talking about how completely dominant Bama was in every single phase of the game, like our defense did nothing last night. Just generally hyping up bama, sounding more like a fan than a reporter. Just wanted to vent and see what everyone else thought
Yeah, Ellis's reaction was inevitable.
The focus was always going to be on how Alabama played, not how we played. Imagine how professional golfers feel when every tournament is highlighted by analysts with a, "Now, did Tiger lose this or did whoever won it actually win it? Who did win it, actually, I wasn't paying attention". The quotes from Saban sound like he gives our defensive line credit where it is due.
It is frustrating to see such a great defensive performance lost on the media. If we can dominate the next few weeks, I think people will start to sit up and notice how good the defense is. Pitch a few shutouts, hold opponents to less than 200 total yards, and generally personify Bud Foster and the national media will point to us as a great defense. Of course, it will take until week 10 until this happens.