With the buzz of a potential Coastal Division championship in the brisk Blacksburg air, Virginia Tech played arguably its worst game of the season. The Hokies fell 20-30 against a depleted Georgia Tech squad.
"First of all, we didn't deserve to win the ballgame today," Justin Fuente said. "They deserve a tremendous amount of credit. We didn't deserve to win our division today."
Sloppy and uneven execution — the only thing consistent about Tech's play Saturday — began at the opening kickoff. Fuente elected to receive the first half kickoff instead of differing as he's done all year. Der'Woun Greene fumbled the return to set Georgia Tech up at the Hokies' 38-yard-line. The turnover only resulted in a field goal, but it was a costly early momentum shift.
Fuente explained the decision after the game.
"My first thought was — because we didn't have Terrell (Edmunds) for the first half — if there was any way that maybe, for one less possession, we could not have Terrell," Fuente said. "That was the genesis of it.
The miscues didn't stop there, however. Jerod Evans threw two interceptions and struggled at times with his accuracy. The normally flawless Isaiah Ford dropped a fourth down pass with the game still in striking distance (7-20, late third quarter). Bucky Hodges fumbled while fighting for extra yards. A Joey Slye field goal attempt hit his own lineman in the back of the helmet after Wright Bynum lost control of the snap. The Hokies allowed 5.0 sacks to a team that previously had 8.0 on the season.
The finally tally, four turnovers after three straight contests with none, and far too many errors to overcome.
"When you go back and look — and all coaches say these things, but they're true — the single biggest determining factor in winning and losing ballgames is turnover margin," Fuente said. "No other statistic, other than the score, predicts the outcome of the game. For us to have four turnovers, it's hard. You look at our games that we've turned the ball over in, we haven't fared well. This is certainly no exception."
Turnovers certainly factored heavily in the upset loss, as did Georgia Tech racking up 309 rushing yards without QB1 Justin Thomas (injury, 35 consecutive starts), top B-Back Dedrick Mills (suspension, leading rusher), and two starting offensive linemen.
"We always joke about the offense, that you want to be good up the middle, and we were missing all three – the center, the quarterback and the b-back," Paul Johnson said after the game.
Indeed backup QB Matthew Jordan netted 121 yards and 2 scores on the ground, and backup B-Back Marcus Marshall rushed for 143 yards and a score of his own.
After the game Bud Foster conceded Johnson got the better of him.
"He moved his chess players around better than I did today," Foster said.
After Tech's poor practice week prior to the Battle at Bristol, the overall focus of the team during the week has become a hot button issue among the Hokie faithful. Fuente didn't seem to believe his squad lacked attention.
"I thought we were ready to play," Fuente said. "The guys had a good week of practice at times. I don't sense anything but professionalism and hunger from these guys to do the right thing."
However, the team may have psyched itself out by stressing the importance of every play.
"I just think we emphasized to the point that it became overwhelming," Evans said. "I think we overemphasized on offense that we were gonna get few possessions, that it became overwhelming and therefore when we didn't execute on third down, we would press a little bit more than we normally would. I'm not just talking about players, I'm talking the whole team, staff, everything."
Even after a deflating home loss, the Hokies still sit in the driver's seat in the ACC Coastal. A win over rival Virginia would send Virginia Tech to Orlando to play for the ACC Championship.
"Because of the way they have played and they way they have conducted themselves and the way the games that they've won and the way they've played on the road, that dream's not dead," Fuente said. "We have a pretty clear choice, we can respond and go get after it and pick ourselves up and get ready to go."
Justin Fuente
OPENING STATEMENT:
"First of all, I'm awfully grateful for everybody that showed up tonight. I'm sorry that we didn't play better, (or) didn't have a better ending. Our crowd was fantastic. I certainly appreciate it. Congratulations to Georgia Tech, (and) Coach Johnson (and) the job he did today. You think back on the game, we turned the ball over obviously right from the start. Really never got anything going. I thought our kids played admirably in their willingness to battle through adversity (and) be tough. In the end, we didn't play well enough. We didn't deserve to win the ballgame, they did. Credit to them. We've got to pick it up and be ready to go next week. We still have plenty of great opportunities in front of us. I know that our team will respond in the right way."
ON WHY HE HUDDLED HIS TEAM UP BEFORE HALFTIME:
"I do that after every single game — after the first half of every game. It's nothing different. I've done it ever since I was at Memphis and ever since I've been here."
ON THE MESSAGE IN THAT HUDDLE:
"We got ourselves into this hole and we're the only ones that can get ourselves out."
ON HOW TO ADDRESS THE OFFENSIVE ISSUES OF THE LAST TWO GAMES:
"It wasn't what we'd like it to be, that's for sure. It's always easy for a coach to say we never got in flow or in rhythm and all the kind of stuff — which is true — but there are reasons for that. Our execution level just hasn't been — or certainly wasn't today — what it needed to be. When we did get things going, we either turned the ball over or couldn't convert on a third down to keep the drive going, which is disappointing. We just, in general terms, weren't very good."
ON HIS DECISION TO RECEIVE THE OPENING KICKOFF:
"My first thought was — because we didn't have Terrell (Edmunds) for the first half — if there was any way that maybe, for one less possession, we could not have Terrell. That was the genesis of it. Playing an option team and the ball control was part of it, but the fact that there was no real wind and the fact that Terrell was out the first half, the plan was to have us take the ball and then Terrell would be back the second half. That saved us one possession without Terrell. Obviously that didn't go well."
ON IF THERE WAS ANY MISCOMMUNICATION ON THE JEROD EVANS 2ND INTERCEPTION:
"No, it really wasn't. C.J. (Carroll) was in the right spot. A couple of decisions that Jerod would like to have back."
ON IF THERE'S ANY SOLACE THAT THEY ARE STILL IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT FOR THE DIVISION TITLE:
"That's part of what I told the kids after the game. First of all, we didn't deserve to win the ballgame today; Georgia Tech did. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit. We didn't deserve to win our division today. But because of the way they have played and they way they have conducted themselves and the way the games that they've won and the way they've played on the road, that dream's not dead. We have a pretty clear choice. We can respond and go get after it and pick ourselves up and get ready to go. We've obviously got a non-conference game next week and then Virginia coming in here. That was part of the message today."
ON IF HE'S MORE DISAPPOINTED THAT THE TURNOVERS WERE A FACTOR AFTER HE'S PREACHED BALL SECURITY ALL YEAR:
"When you go back and look — and all coaches say these things, but they're true — the single biggest determining factor in winning and losing ballgames is turnover margin. No other statistic, other than the score, predicts the outcome of the game. For us to have four turnovers, it's hard. You look at our games that we've turned the ball over in, we haven't fared well. This is certainly no exception. We understand that in order to give ourselves a chance, we don't have a large margin of error. Teams that are just flat out better than everybody else can maybe get away with some of those things, but we don't have a large margin. We've gotta take care of the ball."
ON IF IT WAS EVANS' DECISION TO NOT BE TAKEN OUT OR IF THERE WAS EVER A QUESTION OF TAKING EVANS OUT:
"I didn't think it was a question. No, to answer your question. It wasn't Jerod. I just felt like we, at times, were moving the well so efficiently, I still felt like we had had opportunities to go win the game. There at the end, it kind of got away. But it wasn't a discussion."
ON THE BETTER FOURTH QUARTER:
"We did a good job. They lined up in base defense for two straight drives. We should be able to move the ball."
ON IF EDMUND'S ABSENCE WAS A FACTOR ON THE FIRST LONG TOUCHDOWN RUN:
"I don't think so. If I'm not mistaken, there were two 3rd downs that we got a holding and a pass interference call that I thought were big. We were in great position. And when I say big, I don't mean bad calls. We were in good position with a chance to get off the field. We didn't do that. There are a lot of things that happened in that game; the kicking game, offensively, and defensively. If you plan on winning the ballgame, you can't do those."
Jerod Evans
ON WHAT HAPPENED ON THE TWO INTERCEPTIONS:
"Bad plays."
ON IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE ENERGY TODAY:
"Not at all."
ON WHAT LED TO THE BIG EARLY HOLE:
"Bad play."
ON IF HE FELT HE WAS EXTRA HYPED UP FOR THIS GAME OR IF THERE WAS ANY EXTRA PRESSURE:
"No, it's not pressure at all. I don't feel pressure. It was more of just (what) was at stake. Since I knew (what) was at stake, that's just what I did (jumping around on the sideline). I didn't catch myself jumping, but I guess that's just what it was."
ON THE MINDSET AFTER THE TOUCHDOWN TO ISAIAH FORD:
"The mindset is if we get a touchdown, like we said in the locker room, do that real quick, our defense was playing good defense like they've been doing, in my opinion, all day, then we get the ball back and go score again. We have a high-powered offense. We didn't show it, obviously, throughout the whole game. But we believe that we can score quick. If we score quick, like we did, coming out of the gate, that we could make it 14-20 and make them get a little jumpy, make them get a little nervous. Get them out of their game plan and what they normally do with the triple option. But we didn't execute that right."
ON IF THERE'S ANY SOLACE THAT THEY ARE STILL IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT FOR THE DIVISION TITLE:
"I'm not looking that far ahead. We lost the game. That's what I'm worried about right now."
ON HIS EVALUATION OF THE FOCUS THIS WEEK:
"I think the focus was there completely. The guys knew what was at stake, the leadership knew what was at stake, the young guys knew what was at stake. I just think we emphasized to the point that it became overwhelming. I think we overemphasized on offense that we were gonna get (fewer) possessions, that it became overwhelming and therefore when we didn't execute on third down, we would press a little bit more than we normally would. I'm not just talking about players, I'm talking the whole team, staff, everything. I think that was more of the problem more than the juice. The juice was there, the focus is there; I just think knowing that we were only gonna get a few possessions, that played a part of over-emphasizing it too much."
ON HOW HE WILL APPROACH THE NOTRE DAME GAME:
"(There's) more to it just for the simple fact (of) getting the bad taste out of our mouth. Losing never feels good. I've said it before, I hate losing with a passion. That's the biggest thing that jumped out to me. Non-conference or conference, just getting the loss out of our mouths."
ON WHAT HE THINKS IT WILL TAKE TO SOLVE THE EXECUTION PROBLEM:
"I'd say getting everybody more involved, to answer that question. Not just a couple of people. I think once that happens, you'll see more execution."
Bud Foster
ON WHAT HE SAW ON THE TWO LONG TOUCHDOWN RUNS:
"I'll say this, on the latter one, they ran a trap. I'll say this, Paul Johnson did a great job tonight. He was a step ahead of me on a couple of things. We were always trying to get our front moving; he did a nice job of countering that. The first touchdown that popped, they were doing a nice job of loading things up and they got up to our mike, who was our pitch player on that particular play. And then the last play was a trap that just popped. Having our mike who was trying to run, because he was reading the trap and the pull, they cut off our backside linebacker. That's what we've been able to avoid the majority of the time the last few years we've played these guys is the big play. They got two big plays against us and it was costly."
ON HIS THOUGHTS ON WOODY BARON'S PERFORMANCE:
"You take away — stats are stats — but you take away a couple of plays — as I was charting the game going through, we had a lot of first down and second and seven or more plays. It was just a couple of plays here or there or it was a couple of penalties that were costly and kept a drive alive. We weren't as sharp all the way around in all phases. Whether we were pressing, I thought we had an outstanding week of practice. I thought our scout kids did a great job with this offense. It's still hard to simulate. But they did a couple nice things, a couple of nice wrinkles that they made us work for, and they just did a nice job executing."
ON IF JUSTIN THOMAS NOT PLAYING IMPACTED THE GAME:
"No, they kept with what they were doing. And again, what they did last week — they rushed for about 350 (yards) against North Carolina last week and put up a bunch of points and turned the ball over a couple of times — they were loading up the D gap, or the alley, early and I thought we did a nice job adjusting to that. They caught us with a trap in the second half. We had a short field that was a tough position for us just before the half. We needed to hold them to three points and we didn't. It is what it is. He moved his chess players around better than I did today. Credit to Paul and Georgia Tech."
ON GEORGIA TECH RUNNING UP THE MIDDLE:
"They did and they didn't. Those things are gonna pester you. The trap popped, and that's a tough play. It pesters you, but it didn't cost us. Those, just milking the fullback, they're gonna do that and get that. We needed to not allow the big plays and we gave up two big plays and it cost us the football game when it's all said and done."
ON HOW HE FELT THE DEFENSE PLAYED IN EDMUNDS ABSENCE IN THE FIRST HALF:
"I'll look at it, but obviously Terrell's a dynamic football player and is a leader for us in a lot of ways. He's a guy that's really come into his own. I don't know if that was a factor when it was all said and done. Looking at it, I'm sure Mook (Reynolds) probably played extremely well. He had an untimely penalty which was (costly) because they ended up going down and getting seven points out of that when we had the chance to get off the field. I'll have to go look at the film."
Ken Ekanem
ON IF HE FELT THE OPENING KICKOFF SET A NEGATIVE TONE FOR THE GAME:
"As an individual, I thought as a team we could bounce back from that. It's kind of hard to start off the game setting the tone and the momentum got on their side pretty quick. That was pretty big for them."
ON IF GEORGIA TECH DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT FROM WHAT HE'D SEEN BEFORE:
"Other than the new quarterback coming in there, mainly them just running to their right the whole time. That was the main difference. They came out pretty hot. They had a lot of plays where they had a guy man for man and caught us off guard a little bit. They capitalized on mistakes. Hats off to them. They had a good game plan coming in. They had a lot of guys step up; had a lot of injuries coming into the game. They had a really good game."
ON IF HE WAS SURPRISED HOW LITTLE GEORGIA TECH THREW THE BALL:
"It's kind of expected for the QB to run. Georgia Tech's basically putting a running back at QB. He came in and had a really good game. Kind of shut him down a little bit in the passing game, but he hit us for quite a few big runs. He stepped in and had a really good game, being one of his first starts. It's kind of what they expect. They're not known for passing the ball. They pass the ball 7-10 times in games, it's what's expected."
ON THE DIFFERENCE TO A DEFENSE WHEN THE OFFENSE TURNS THE BALL OVER:
"It's tough, obviously, being put in a situation on a short field. Earlier in the game when we got the kickoff return and fumble, just putting us in bad field position and stuff like that. But we do pride ourself in trying to stop the short momentum changers and stuff like that. It is tough coming off and going back on the field, especially with Georgia Tech. They have the ball the majority of the time in time of possession and stuff like that. You try to get off the field as fast as possible and then you're turning around and the offense turned it over and it's kind of tough. We've gotta do a good job of holding them to a field goal."
ON THE MOOD OF THE TEAM:
"Very optimistic. Our destiny is still in our hands. We can control it by winning out, obviously, against Notre Dame and then clinching it with a UVA win. We can't get too low. We can't be mean to ourselves. We've gotta get ready to turn around and get ready for Notre Dame tomorrow."
ON IF THE RESULT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA LOSS TO DUKE CHANGED THE MINDSET OF THE TEAM:
"I don't think it really had an effect towards to me. It might have to other people. We still have one game. (If) we don't take care of business like we didn't tonight, it doesn't really matter. You've gotta go clinch (against) UVA. It might have played a factor. It didn't with me. We've gotta have a better mindset going into this game and just taking care of business and not looking too far down the road."
Woody Baron
ON IF BEING ABLE TO CLINCH THE DIVISION PUT EXTRA PRESSURE ON THE GAME:
"I wouldn't say it added pressure. Regardless of what happened in that game on Thursday, we wanted this one just as much as we've wanted any other game on the schedule."
ON IF THE OPENING KICKOFF SET A NEGATIVE TONE FOR THE GAME:
"I wouldn't say negative for the entire game. Definitely bummed out when it happen because I thought we had a good return. But it was one play. It's a 60 minute ballgame. I felt we could overcome that easily."
ON THE DIFFERENCE TO A DEFENSE WHEN THE OFFENSE TURNS THE BALL OVER:
"I told the guys on the sideline, 'Regardless of where the ball's at, we've still gotta make a stop.' Every time we went back on the field I just thought we had to make a stop. Obviously that didn't happen. I'm bummed out about that as well."
Comments
Does that seem like a coach who doesn't want the win? This seems like a coach not making excuses, not blaming refs or prep, he called it like it was. I like this.
I agree. I'm glad he holds himself accountable.
I agree I wasn't saying it like that, I can understand how it came across that way. It was a question for people blaming the coaching staff.
He is all class. PERIOD. He is working with most of a team left to him. I applaud the O-line on pulling play, but on straight ahead blocking to open holes, they failed, and repeatedly. CJF needs to get O-linemen that can execute his offense, fully, Remember, it is just year 1 and we are overachieving. The future looks bright.
OL recruiting hasn't been encouraging thus far...
Perhaps vice is used to going after smaller OL guys that he could get at Memphis.....
You could even say it's his...Vice.
We deferred the kick because of one player? I can't say I agree with that reasoning. Trust your players.
I can't say I disagree with taking the ball against GT. Get out ahead quick, start them from playing behind early.
Just didn't work out.
Agreed, that's sound reasoning. Planning around one player is less sound.
And if scoring on your first possession is important, don't call slip screens on 3rd and 8!!!
Classic Virginia Tech letdown game. Still a holdover problem from the Beamer era, but maybe it takes time to build a culture on the team. No doubt this was an incredibly disappointing performance considering what was at stake and the recruits who were on hand. But somehow, as usual, when things are looking up and going our way, we find a way to completely shit the bed.
Still control the division, which is a testament to our strong play earlier in the season. But consider me worried. Our offense has regressed considerably over the past few games, and Evans in particular. His accuracy and decision-making has diminished, and the offense just can't seem to find their rhythm.
If we continue to play at this level, I'm really worried this team could fold and drop the last two. Notre Dame is ultimately meaningless, but UVA has enough talent to be a threat and has absolutely nothing to lose. Us having to beat them for something significant yet again will have them ready to play. Let's hope we can figure out what our problems are and correct them quickly.
Woody Baron was ready to show up that's all I know ! I just feel bad for the seniors that they didn't get to clinch the coastal.
All the more to stomp the crap out of LOLUVA.
I have to admit, I was pretty bummed and surprised yesterday. This seemed like a very winnable game that was lost on miscues.
I think the team will be fine, though I do have some concerns. VT still has a strong possibility (but far from guaranteed) of going to the ACC Championship game. UVa sucks this year, but is still capable of winning a game if you don't take care of business. I expect the UVa game to be hard-fought. VT is the better team, but they'll have to show up prepared to play.
What troubles me more is some of the fan behavior. While I was disappointed, I'd never boo our own team, or even leave early. Certainly wasn't the look I wanted to show high-value recruits.
I am also troubled by the sudden expectation for excellence. This team has not shown me anything to suggest they deserve that high of a standard. They have however proven capable of buying into a new philosophy and maximizing the talented players while struggling to conceal the less talented ones.
There appears to be two ways to lose according to fanbases (not exclusive to VT). Either you can't win the big one or choke on the games you should win. Truth is, sometimes things don't align and another team full of scholarship players wins. It doesn't have to mean any more or less.
This team will be unstoppable when we have 2 things...
1 - players who can consistently execute the game plan the coaches have set up
2 - across the board depth where we aren't screwed if any one starter goes down, outside of QB
Right now we are lacking in both. We are very thin behind the starters, especially on defense and OL. If we can bolster up the 2 deep with guys you can trust for plays here and there itll help the first part in being able to keep the entire team fresh enough to execute.
Every team would be unstoppable in those conditions. By my estimation, there are currently three of them in the country: Bama, Clemson and OSU.
And 2 of those teams lost to inferior teams this year.
That's one of things that makes College Football (and really all sports) so amazing. Anybody can find a way to win.
The fans walking out was NOT an "expectation for excellence" (booing is NEVER acceptable though). I'm not sure I'd stay for the entirety of that atrocity of a game (and I've never left a game early). It was bad football. Bad passes, game planning, execution, and mental mistakes. We may not be an amazing football team, but for the fanbase to expect better than what we saw Saturday isn't unreasonable.
Let's also not forget UNC has to beat NC State, which is no guarantee.
That being said I never want to back into a game, so beat loluva!
"Beat LOLUVA" is always top priority.
My expert analysis...much yuck.
Was it really that bad? Despite all the top ten losses yesterday, we still probably would not have made the playoffs. Now we're putting it all on the line against an improved but still pretty bad UVA team, and I feel like the Georgia Tech athletic department might keep Paul Johnson around another year, just because of this game. That's a favor to the whole conference.
I'm not sure having to prep for the triple option once a year is worth having Paul Johnson in the conference.
I disagree really. The answer is offense. If you can score on his team with any consistency, you are going to win. I think they are a relatively easy out if you can put 30 points on the board, especially with Bud Foster running D.
Paul Johnsons contract is until 2020.
GT is committed to him, and as noted in the Q&A article, GT is still paying for former Ball coaches.
Meh.
I was upset yesterday. Too upset.
Not today. We are a better team than we expected to be at this stage, but it is too early in a new scheme with a new coach to expect consistency.
As with Loeffler, I will try to refrain from passing judgement until we are into year 3 of the new coaches tenure. There's a lot to feel positive about going forward.
The difference between Fuente and Loeffler - now there is a clear identity. There are 'bread and butter' plays. There is a specific intent and flow to the offense. We're ahead of the curve right now, but the curve is still there.
I'm not so sure about being ahead of the curve. I kind of expected us to go somewhere around 7-5 or 8-4, but that was also when Notre Dame was still looming large and would probably be our toughest game of the season, meaning that we'd probably be 7-3 or 6-4 right now, so record-wise we're right about on schedule.
I also expected us to struggle a bit early on offense, but make improvement throughout the year. Instead, the offense was racing at the start (ignoring the Liberty game), but seems to be limping home down the stretch, and that's what concerns me the most right now. 3 times in our last 5 games, the offense has come out and laid an egg on the field, including twice against defenses worse than #80 in the S&P. We may be right where we expected record-wise, but I feel like we are trending downward.
Will be interesting to see how we respond these next 2-3 weeks.
I think we have a better record than most expected us to have. I don't think we're a much better team then the past few years. This is the most talent Fuente is going to have on a roster over the next few years IMO unless his recruiting picks up drastically.
We can pretty much expect a 1230 kickoff on ACCN against Uva at this point.
Not so fast my friend...
Agreed. That game will still be to clinch the Coastal. Highly doubt we catch the 1230 ACCN game.
All is not lost. The team is still on track to go an ACCC game. Two tough games ahead . The hokies cant afford to overlook any team now , even UVA.
Yesterday obviously sucked, but I don't think it's as bad as it seems. We can still go to the ACC Championship with a 13th consecutive win over UVA. I've seen several comments saying we got blown out. Yes, we were getting blown out, but we didn't get blown out. We lost by 10. I thought the team showed some fight in the 2nd half, but it was just too late to come back against a team that's designed to get a lead and then shorten the game.
We're going to experience some growing pains. Hopefully, we'll have a great week of practice and go up to South Bend and get back on track. And then we have UVA, and while they could beat us, I think we still win that game at home with the Coastal on the line (I know, kinda like yesterday). Just about everything that could've gone wrong yesterday, did. But if we get down 13-0 to UVA, we won't feel like we have to execute perfectly on our handful of possessions to have a chance to win.
Oh, and it's basketball season.
Good optimistic post and agree with you.
Count me as not surprised at the outcome yesterday. I always have a sense of unease playing the bees. All is not lost, this team overall has me pleased for this season and expectations for the future are bright.
I'll take an 8-4 or 9-3 season and chance to play in the championship game any day. If this team stubbles to a 7-5 finish it will be disappointing. However, there will still be much to build on.
For now, beat Notre Dame!
These last two weeks have kind of been head scratchers. The only reasoning I can come
up with for why the offense has been so bad, is the line play. We simply don't have athletic enough lineman to consistently play the way we want to.
I'm thinking of two interior guys in particular, one of whom had his jock juked off on passing plays pretty much the entire game. There are similar struggles when we pull the lineman on run plays.
We need to develop more guys to have more depth on the line, it's that simple.
I think DC's have figured out what Evans struggles with and they are going to make him be a better passer to beat them.
On the ground, we aren't strong enough and consistent enough in blocking to run between the tackles.
So, take away the edge on the ground and try to take away the first read in the air. Make Evans throw accurate long balls and (and screen passes for matter) to beat you.
Fu's offense relies on making the gimmes. Yesterday, we couldn't make them.
On D, every game there have been a handful of potentially disastrous lapses either at LB or in the secondary. Those errors are ALL mental and some opponents make us pay more than others. Both long runs yesterday looked like busts in assignments.
Finally, losing the turnover battle against anyone better than Liberty is death.
Matu kept over pursuing the play and getting sucked in, thus out of position. We would think he would have learned this by now. When he stays back and reads the play, he's a beast, otherwise he's a spectator of the run play.
French how in the hell can every other team recruit OL who are least serviceable? I get recruiting struggles and priorities but why does it seem must other P5 teams can put 5 guys out there who at least limit mistakes?
I'm not French, obviously, and no expert on line play, but my guess would be that outside teams at the top of the mountain, every other team has struggles with OL play just like us. I don't this this a uniquely VT problem.
I'm just so sick of Bud Foster's lack of in game adjustments. The man is either a mastermind or the biggest idiot on the planet and it varies week to week. I get the offense didn't help at all with quick 3 and outs and turnovers, but we play this team EVERY YEAR. How has Bud not figured this system out at all yet. My favorite play was a fourth and inches play where we only had a linebacker and our down lineman in the box. Heaven forbid we actually prepare for the run since they are a running team!!!!!!
Georgia Tech has a football coach, and he gets paid money to win football games too. Paul Johnson tweaks the Yellow Jackets' offense like Foster adjusts the Hokies' defense. This happens not only year-to-year, but constantly throughout the game. Each system incorporates new wrinkles in each matchup, and it is both Johnson and Foster's job to stay one step ahead of the other. More of than not, Bud wins the matchup. However, this season Johnson got the better of Foster. He admitted as much, and the quotes above lay it out rather clearly. It happens.
Seriously I feel like you are looking at yesterday's game in a vacuum (in regards to Bud and PJ matchups). If you need an example of Bud winning the preverbal chess match just take a look at French's postgame film review FROM JUST LAST YEAR...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/virginia-tech-football/2015/11/10935/hokies-de...
That was a very Beamer game until the 4th quarter. Hopefully no more of those this year or ever...
The kicker is how effective we were in the 4th. I'm not in agreement GT laid back, we just played with intensity and determination. We needed to have that urgency and drive the whole game. Evens needed to be a leader on the sideline and rally the team. Motivation to next week, and LOLUVA. Time to dominate
Fuente himself said GT played in their base defense the last 2 drives...
While I'm disappointed at the game, I'm still excited for our future. We can still win the division, beat ND and uva, go bowling......if we do those things, this season will be a huge success.
As far as all the recruits go, it was still a successful day. Getting all that talent on campus is a win, and VT does a great job on the other parts of the visits.
And as far as the coaches go, IMHO, our group is quality and we are fortunate for what we have in place. Fuente is the youngest Coach in the ACC and has surrounded himself with quality.
Go Hokies!
ND has to win out to go bowling and LOLUVA has lost the last 12 games to VT. These two games could be the hardest back to back games VT has played in a long time because their is so much at stake for every team. The need to focus and execute is at the highest level. I think we can pull it off but I see see us fumble the opening kick-off in either game, I think we will be in for a long night.
I guess those recruits that visited tech that game are gonna go somewhere else
A single game rarely if ever convinces a recruit to attend a school.
If they are that fickle, let 'em go. I'd love to have some more Sam Rogers next year. (Team players, humble, and willing to do what is asked and it with all his effort).
Or perhaps they realize playing time at Virginia Tech is ripe.
Hopefully, but feel like that's also been our message/selling point the last 4 years and it hasn't worked out in our favor.
The thing that has occurred to me is that we do not have ANY players on this team that were a part of our last Coastal Division Championship. There are no upperclassmen to look to for how to handle the additional attention/pressure/distractions and this team faltered in the limelight.
Let's get there first.
And I'm sure that some of the players that were on that team would be happy to lend some encouragement/support to the team.
It feels great when we get to jump on the hype train and it hurts when we all have to jump off.
It's my opinion that we (and I'm preaching to the choir here) should all enjoy the ride. Remember when we were running through the ACC and then getting fired up because "Beamer can't win the big game"? Boy, wouldn't we all love for that to be the case again. I think VT football is exactly what VT football is right now. Our team, fun to watch at times, painful to watch at others, but always bringing us to the Stadium/TV/Radio with an element of suspense.
We just aren't a great football team, but there are only a handful of those teams anyway. It appears that the trend is an upward one in Blacksburg, lets just hope the recruits see it the same way.
Go Hokies!
I remember not that long ago, instead of the winning the big games, it was Beamer couldn't win the 'gimme' game (Temple anyone? Yes, that goes back a ways...).
Consistency is hard.
There were a couple of positives in that game.
A) The team never gave up.
B) The first onsite kick was executed textbook perfect and the second wasn't that bad. We just didn't get the recovery.
C) We demonstrated that the hurry up still works, why we don't go at that pace all game still boggles my mind.
The booing... The few fans I heard booing at half explained they were booing Fuente's refusal to use his time outs and actually attempt a drive with the 23 seconds left on the clock after the kickoff. That he came out and passed the ball had them happy, but when the clock kept running it was clear he was just padding stats not making a serious attempt.
He tried to call a timeout then threw his headset when he didn't get it called.
Saw that on another thread. From the west stands, I couldn't see him. But I reiterate, why not call the first of his two timeouts after the first play when there were 16 seconds left on the clock.
I wonder if he was trying to catch GT out of position by going hurry-up and not calling the timeout there. If it works he looks like a genius, if it doesn't he gets boo-ed.
By the time he tried to use one it was too late. We had 2 timeouts with 23 seconds left. No reason not to take one after the first play when he stayed in bounds and didn't pick up the first down. It was his own fault we only got one more play off.
Sting of defeat...Ha...thasa joke