Alabama usually doesn't impress me at all in their victories. They aren't a spectacular or flashy team to watch. They can play a D+ game and still win because of depth. They literally just play a battle of attrition with every opponent; as soon as they get tired, they throw in a fresh pack of dogs. It's actually pathetic, but if that's what floats their fans' boats, so be it. It's like slowly being assimilated to the Borg when you play them.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I don't agree that this is what most of their games look like. They've looked absolutely stellar in most games during the Saban era. They do play games like that sometimes, but not as often as you're implying.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
That title game against Texas was definitely not stellar. I think McElroy may have thrown 50 yards total the whole game. Bama to me strikes me as a "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" team. Just great talent and depth up front on both sides. Henry's long TD run against Clemson last year, I told my buddy he should give the Heisman to the OL. Anyone could house it with the holes they were opening up. Again, just my opinion, but I don't get overly thrilled watching Bama.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Whatever it takes. Outside of the LSU game, none of Bama's games have even been close. Wear the opponent down, bludgeon them with scoring, whatever. They're playing at an elite level. The fact that anyone expects to see VT "dominate" on both sides of the ball this year is just setting themselves up for disappointment. We're in a transition year, aspiring to one day be an elite team, of which there are precious few.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Not saying that VT should be dominant at all, just commenting on how I see Alabama. They don't do anything earth-shattering on either side of the ball and play a pretty vanilla NFL style 3-4 defense with elite recruiting and depth. Put them against the '01 Hurricanes or '04 USC and I think they lose handily. Just my opinion, just tired of hearing the media comments on how they would beat the Browns.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Pretty much this. It's easy as a fan to have unrealistic expectations. It's what we do. But this team isn't great. They're good but inconsistent. So we get the Tennessees, Syracuses, and Georgia Techs, but we also get the Miamis, Pitts, and Notre Dames. It's hard, and I'm still learning how, but best thing to do is forget the losses as quickly as possible, and relish the victories as long as you can. This team has an upward trajectory. As long as recruiting follows a similarly upward trajectory, Hokie Nation has a lot to look forward to. But we aren't Alabama-esque world beaters. At least not yet.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Unbelievable second half adjustments by Bud. I think we forced 4 three and outs in the second half, and only one score on an assignment bust, not a schematic issue.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Yeah, I wasn't happy in the first half, but Bud proves time and time again that he's a football guru. The doubt from Hokie fans, myself included at times, is silly.
Meanwhile you've got people calling for Motley after 10 minutes. Evans was clutch near the end of this game.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
People calling for Foster to be replaced ate paint chips as a kid. And are old enough to have been kids when lead paint was a thing. My point is they are as dumb as a sack of doorknobs.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I personally don't think we should question Bud's first half strategy. He said that ND came out doing some things they hadn't seen before/weren't expecting and they got beat. Bud made the adjustments at halftime and we see what happened. Sometimes you get beat, you can't be perfect 100% of the time.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Exactly. The offense had 4 yards in the first quarter. At one point, the TOP was like 12:30 to 4:30. That's not much time for the defense to regroup and implement changes.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Our D-Line waits for the QB/Center to make their calls then shifts (sometimes with LB motion/feints as well). We've been doing this in every game this year (and last I believe) and I haven't counted up, but I'd wager a lot that we've shifted on greater than 2/3 of all defensive plays this year.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Cam Phillips seems to have found his identity as an ankle breaker. The announcers seemed to want to sell him as a possession receiver with their "vacuum" comments but I'm not sure I agree that's his game.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
To be fair, I believe they said our coaches called him the "vacuum", so they were just going with that.
For obviously "homer" commentators -- they have a job because of the ND-NBC deal -- I thought they did a pretty good job. They gave us a lot of props throughout. Yes, Flutie complained a lot about the PI call near the end. But, all in all, I enjoyed the NBC pregame and in-game coverage.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Since this game was on NBC, does that mean no highlights except on NBC (which isn't even working)? ESPN has no highlights. Fox Sports no highlights. What kinda bullshit is this?
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Also, was I the only one not aware of how bad NBC is on Notre Dames dick? The damn post game article might as well have been written by a Notre Dame fan site.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I think that's when NBC schedules their weekly business meeting/party. Just turn over the entire operation to ND, "here's the keys, see you in about 4 hours."
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Are you the only one not aware that they have an exclusive contract to broadcast only Notre Dame college football games so they, by definition, will be on their dick?
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Wasn't aware. I only follow Tech football. Too busy hunting in the fall to care about anything else. Thanks though.
Side note, do you think this contract had something to do with zero snaps during the game from the VT Football account? I only saw pregame and postgame snaps. Don't they usually show some stuff during the game?
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Not to be a Debbie downer but why would the other channels want to run our highlights. Neither team ranked, Golden Domes not going bowling, not a shred of drama other than ND bowl eligibility riding on this game. Important to us but nationally it's kind of a dud of a game. We essentially end up on the "other scores" screen for the ACC.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Well of course it would have. They would have upset a better team in a game saving the head coaches job. Nationally that would have had more relevance than yet another ACC program beating the Domers on the season at home.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I'm just used to seeing brief highlight videos for every game on espn after the game. The box score> little link at the top for videos. This is the first time I've not seen any.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
If you can wait a day or so check YouTube - usually The Virginia Tech Athletics page and the ACC Digital Networks page will have highlights. "Hokie Tapes" may post the entire game as well. I usually spend my work day watching, rewatching, and re-rewatching the highlights. Production level will be low this week.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
They're up on YouTube! @HokieTapes has the game, and Virginia Tech Athletics has highlights and post-game interviews (@HokieVision) from ND as well as B-Ball vs. VMI.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I'm still very concerned about the running game. I don't know why McMillan isn't getting carries. The coaches must know something we don't. I don't exactly agree with using Evans as a battering ram similar to the days of Logan Thomas, as he is our quarterback.
Nonetheless, we got the win. We enter the UVA game with some momentum, which is important. It will be their bowl game, their players will be ready to end the streak, and Mendenhall is one of the most competent coaches they have had in a long time. I'm sure he has been thinking about this game way in advance. Nothing would endear him more to their fans than beating us for the first time since 2003. Our guys better be ready.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I don't expect for the running game to be consistently better until we either 1) change our blocking scheme to a power one with the personnel we have 2) embrace and field OL who can execute the blocking schemes they want. 3) get better OL talent overall. None of these are immediate fixes, but I think 1) is our best option for this season.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I really really liked the Peoples Juice rotation. McMillan appears to be very tentative this year. I know we weren't picking up chunk yardage on the runs, but I really liked the hard nose running Peoples and Juice were giving us today.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I agree. When your running game is struggling and the offensive line isn't exactly blowing away the other team, it's always nice to have running backs that can get that extra 2 yards after contact. Despite McMillian being the most talented running back, Juice and Peoples are much more suited for where our running game is at right now.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
#VaTech RB Travon McMillian is avg just 1.26 yards after contact/rush. Only 2 P5 backs w/40+ carries avg less.— David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) October 11, 2016
I know it is old, but the Dragon just isn't getting it done this year between the tackles.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Tight splits and poor interior blocking hs contributed heavily to this. Dragon has been good and explosive when he has a crease to blow through. Unfortunately, we haven't had a lot of push or solid holes to run through.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
No one wants to immediately point at the officiating crew as one of the reasons for a loss. It seems weak. Somehow though, today seems different. Somehow, the ACC refs were so incredibly terrible that there is just no way of getting around it if we tried.
Notre Dame was on the short end of a very brutal stick when at two different times, DeShone Kizer took a blow to the head (targeting) and the play was neither called- or even reviewed. Both times Kizer looked visibly hurt.
...
For those reasons alone this ACC crew should be banned from planet Earth, but they also spotted the ball like a bunch of toddlers were running the show. They were consistently off by a yard on a big plays and on that backwards pass of the Hokies, they spotted it 3 yards closer to the first down line than it should have been.
The whole game was one big screw up.
I haven't watched the game yet, but DAMN. You're gonna get hypertension with that amount of salt.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
The radio guys said Keizer looked hurt also, but neither one of them mentioned that the coaches or medical staff should have yanked him out of the game then.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Evans literally took the same hit as one of em before half with no call. they just weren't throwing flags willy nilly on it. we did get lucky on that isaiah ford PI though but w/e they got a free offsides penalty in the first half that left me dumbfounded and got 15 yards out of fuente. it was just bad officiating. not directed either way
sounds like sore losers to me that being said edmunds does need to be a little careful flying in like that. we cannot afford to lose him
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I can agree on a couple of spots, like I think there was one where ND should have had a first down that they took a look at. I think a lot of it may have been perspective or camera angles (like when every punt that goes out of bounds gets walked back 15 yards from where it looked out on TV)
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
like I think there was one where ND should have had a first down that they took a look at.
My wife and I paid close attention to the replay on that one, and the refs were actually right. The ND player did catch the ball ahead of the yellow line, but changed directions on his own accord and ran backward. When he got tackled, he was behind the first down line. Now, they may not have spotted the ball exactly right, but either way, it wasn't a first down.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
ACC refs are poor; as we've seen all year; but there were bad calls on both sides.
Edmunds could have been called; or not; it was hardly a grievous oversight. There were two head to head shots by ND defenders, including a "launch", that weren't looked at...or mentioned on the broadcast.
Speaking of the broadcast, geez those guys are bad. I get the homer aspect. However, they need to read up a little on football and pay closer attention to the game.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I thought they weren't that bad. They definitely did their homework on Tech.
And I appreciate that Dan Hicks took a beat before his first attempt at Moto's name so he didn't have a Mack Brown or ESPNU-equse butchering of the name.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Re: the "late flag," replay showed the ref threw the flag immediately, and it got lost underneath the players. The ref basically laid the flag on the ground rather than sending it high. It was not late at all, you just couldn't see it fly. And of course, ND being "purists," they don't have a video board so people could see that after the fact.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Only time I noticed an egregious name error by the broadcasters made me chuckle....they said Bucky Rogers....I was left mentally assembling the terror a combination of Sam and Bucky would be so I couldn't be too upset. It wasn't like Jordan Evans as our QB being used over and over like the GT game.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Keep in mind NBC got rid of Mike Mayock because he was too football-smart. Seriously. They thought he talked over their average viewer's head. And they hired Flutie, who will never be accused of such.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Well, the 'targeting' calls that they 'missed' would not have made up for the blatant 5 holding calls that were missed on our DT's. Right out in the open, on big plays...
I can see being mad at a ref. Unless they blow a turnover call, penalties are just part of the game. I suggest they work on tackling and blocking a bit rather than worrying about whether or not someone touched their QB's golden helmet.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
ND had 2-3 plays where targeting could have been called too. In the end, all were borderline, though technically could have been called, given the way that the rule was written. Call 1 and you have to call them all (though we all know that's not close to how things happen). While you're mentioning holding, Ken was held on a regular basis. Some were overtly blatant and not called.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Noticed how the announcers crowed over the QB's hard nosed attitude because he ducked his head to lead with the crown of his helmet on every run? Looked a couple of times they could have called targetting on him. The rule sucks as written, ACC refs suck, and VT played better football for three out of four quarters.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Thanks, Navy. I just got onto a real computer after getting home and needing to do weekend chores late yesterday afternoon. The first quarter was concerning, as we barely had the ball at all, and when we did, we didn't do much with it. Even in the first half, it felt like we were behind in the most important stat that would define VT's season, but by the end of the game, we took control of the clock and emerged victorious.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Nice! This is what I was looking for! And by, 'looking for', I mean 'waiting for someone else to do'.
So by every point in red screaming "I'm" wrong, does every point in green scream "I'm" right? If it's 60%, then..."I'm" 60% right and 40% wrong! Wohoo! Looks like I have the TOP on this topic.
I showed this to a UNC grad and he said that if you discount all the points in the red areas, then TOP correlates perfectly with victory. Love those UNC folks.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
I'm not a fan of TOP = Win for all of the reasons that people have been pointing out this year, but I do think it's a meaningful statistic. A minute here or there doesn't mean much but when your defense has been on the field for 12:30 to your offenses 4:30 (due to TOs or 3-and-outs), you can only be so mad at your defense. Teams are going to get yards and points and eventually wear down your defense. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule and a million things go into every win and loss, but they can't score if their offense is kept off the field.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
He'll be unemployed soon and we can smile that we helped cause it. Maybe Narduzzi can hire him to compete with Louisville for the title of douchiest coaches at one school title.
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
It was a beautiful comeback victory...I feel the turning point was when Fuente Narduzzi'ed the officials and they were scared shitless to call anything against us the rest of the game. The only difference between Fuente and Narduzzi was that Fuente was in the right and that false start call was complete BS. For the majority of the season Fuente has looked stoic on the sideline just chewing gum and letting the game play out...up until that moment of the game last night I had suspicions that he might have lost the locker room. Glad my suspicions were wrong.
Anyway its always good to show a little passion:
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Thousand mile round trip drive: check
Endure forty mile per hour winds during game: check
Wince as Hokies looked bad for the first quarter: sad check
Witness biggest comeback of this year: check
Beating Notre dame at our first ever football meeting and ruining their bowl dreams: priceless
Log in or register to post comments about the Virginia Tech Hokies
Comments
FAM!
FAM!
EDIT:
Dammit joe
FAM!
Needed more FAM's
FAM I GOT YOUR FAM's RIGHT HERE FAM
A song for our ND brethren . . .
That song is already taken by LOLUVA
Misery loves company!
"I could just die right now!"
Reminds me of a scene from the movie, Blast from the Past, with Brendan Frasier's character expressing his excitement over Perry Como.
Leg for ODB! Dirt dog in the house and ya know me!
That juke though!
Cam and jerod win the award for best and worst plays of the game. Jerod's fumble and cam's tip on one end and, the rest of their plays on the other.
FAM! Irish tears taste as sweet as Tarheel tears...just saying.
Just with more whisky
Maybe, but nothing compares to Hoo tears. Sure hoping for a round of those next week.
That, my fellow bretheren and sisteren, was a good game.
Why do we have to endure such sloppy play, just to squeeze out a win?. I want to see 4 qtrs of domination blyth on offense and defense.
Start watching Alabama games.
Alabama usually doesn't impress me at all in their victories. They aren't a spectacular or flashy team to watch. They can play a D+ game and still win because of depth. They literally just play a battle of attrition with every opponent; as soon as they get tired, they throw in a fresh pack of dogs. It's actually pathetic, but if that's what floats their fans' boats, so be it. It's like slowly being assimilated to the Borg when you play them.
I don't agree that this is what most of their games look like. They've looked absolutely stellar in most games during the Saban era. They do play games like that sometimes, but not as often as you're implying.
That title game against Texas was definitely not stellar. I think McElroy may have thrown 50 yards total the whole game. Bama to me strikes me as a "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" team. Just great talent and depth up front on both sides. Henry's long TD run against Clemson last year, I told my buddy he should give the Heisman to the OL. Anyone could house it with the holes they were opening up. Again, just my opinion, but I don't get overly thrilled watching Bama.
Whatever it takes. Outside of the LSU game, none of Bama's games have even been close. Wear the opponent down, bludgeon them with scoring, whatever. They're playing at an elite level. The fact that anyone expects to see VT "dominate" on both sides of the ball this year is just setting themselves up for disappointment. We're in a transition year, aspiring to one day be an elite team, of which there are precious few.
Not saying that VT should be dominant at all, just commenting on how I see Alabama. They don't do anything earth-shattering on either side of the ball and play a pretty vanilla NFL style 3-4 defense with elite recruiting and depth. Put them against the '01 Hurricanes or '04 USC and I think they lose handily. Just my opinion, just tired of hearing the media comments on how they would beat the Browns.
So they basically play hard nosed defense, punch them in the mouth, tire the opponent and then have a competent enough offense to win?
And you call that pathetic? Are you really a VT fan?
Sorry but if you can't appreciate how dominating Alabama are and aren't impressed by their wins then I don't know what team would ever impress you.
Pretty much this. It's easy as a fan to have unrealistic expectations. It's what we do. But this team isn't great. They're good but inconsistent. So we get the Tennessees, Syracuses, and Georgia Techs, but we also get the Miamis, Pitts, and Notre Dames. It's hard, and I'm still learning how, but best thing to do is forget the losses as quickly as possible, and relish the victories as long as you can. This team has an upward trajectory. As long as recruiting follows a similarly upward trajectory, Hokie Nation has a lot to look forward to. But we aren't Alabama-esque world beaters. At least not yet.
I did, and they were down 0-3 to Chattanooga at the beginning of the second.
But then they scored, and I started looking at other games.
You're fun. Just enjoy a great comeback.
Because this team just isn't that talented yet.
Umm, welcome to college football fandom, I guess?
3 months ago who would have guessed that we would beat UNC, Miami, Pitt, and ND? What a heck of a season (even with 3 games left).
*coughs* and lose to Syracuse and GT......BUT FUCK THAT BECAUSE WE LIT AF FAM
via GIPHY
Too bad we only won cause of the weather /s
FAM MOTHERFUCKER
In the immortal words of Vance Vice, of course
#21, you left your ankles
Oh yeah...hell yeah. Let's go
I'm going to assume that Bud Aztec sacrificed a walk-on at halftime to get his point across to the defense.
Just glad I bit my fingertips and let the game play out rather than unleash a plethora of bashing early on.
Did anyone else find it a little sweet/Karmic that it was Jalen Elliott who left his ankles at the ten yard line?
We might possibly have a 10 win season!
Hope it comes against Clemson.
According to ESPN Notre Dame's win probability was 91% when they went up 24-7.
Those exit polls will get after ya.
They must have been using ND math in that calculation.
Next week we need to come or in sync, not play catch up.
Good hard fought Winn, but you are wearing us out emotionally.
Dixie
Welcome to life as a Hokie football fan
Unbelievable second half adjustments by Bud. I think we forced 4 three and outs in the second half, and only one score on an assignment bust, not a schematic issue.
Yeah, I wasn't happy in the first half, but Bud proves time and time again that he's a football guru. The doubt from Hokie fans, myself included at times, is silly.
Meanwhile you've got people calling for Motley after 10 minutes. Evans was clutch near the end of this game.
People calling for Foster to be replaced ate paint chips as a kid. And are old enough to have been kids when lead paint was a thing. My point is they are as dumb as a sack of doorknobs.
I also wanna be clear that I never want Bud replaced. And have never said so.
I did, however, question his 1st half strategy. Although clearly it was a lot of execution problems.
I personally don't think we should question Bud's first half strategy. He said that ND came out doing some things they hadn't seen before/weren't expecting and they got beat. Bud made the adjustments at halftime and we see what happened. Sometimes you get beat, you can't be perfect 100% of the time.
Doesn't help that the O had a quick turnover, so Bud wouldn't have even had a chance to implement scheme changes, if he wanted to.
Exactly. The offense had 4 yards in the first quarter. At one point, the TOP was like 12:30 to 4:30. That's not much time for the defense to regroup and implement changes.
I'm in full agreement with all of you. I even said as much in the game thread.
What was that defensive line switch thing we kept doing right before the snap in the second half? I can't recall seeing that previously.
We've done it before. Can be used to confuse OLine keys and influences false starts. Clemson does that at home A LOT.
Our D-Line waits for the QB/Center to make their calls then shifts (sometimes with LB motion/feints as well). We've been doing this in every game this year (and last I believe) and I haven't counted up, but I'd wager a lot that we've shifted on greater than 2/3 of all defensive plays this year.
And every time I'm thinking "here comes the false start...yes...got 'em!"
This offense is like my drinking game difficulty getting one down or can't stop get it get it...
Cam Phillips seems to have found his identity as an ankle breaker. The announcers seemed to want to sell him as a possession receiver with their "vacuum" comments but I'm not sure I agree that's his game.
He has a helluva stiff arm too!
To be fair, I believe they said our coaches called him the "vacuum", so they were just going with that.
For obviously "homer" commentators -- they have a job because of the ND-NBC deal -- I thought they did a pretty good job. They gave us a lot of props throughout. Yes, Flutie complained a lot about the PI call near the end. But, all in all, I enjoyed the NBC pregame and in-game coverage.
Since this game was on NBC, does that mean no highlights except on NBC (which isn't even working)? ESPN has no highlights. Fox Sports no highlights. What kinda bullshit is this?
Also, was I the only one not aware of how bad NBC is on Notre Dames dick? The damn post game article might as well have been written by a Notre Dame fan site.
It's literally the only college football they broadcast.
I think that's when NBC schedules their weekly business meeting/party. Just turn over the entire operation to ND, "here's the keys, see you in about 4 hours."
Are you the only one not aware that they have an exclusive contract to broadcast only Notre Dame college football games so they, by definition, will be on their dick?
Welp, I guess so.
Well..... Yeah.....
That's kind of the point of the TV contract they have. NBC is the national media home of ND football and has been for a long time.
Wasn't aware. I only follow Tech football. Too busy hunting in the fall to care about anything else. Thanks though.
Side note, do you think this contract had something to do with zero snaps during the game from the VT Football account? I only saw pregame and postgame snaps. Don't they usually show some stuff during the game?
If ND had won you can bet your bippy there'd be highlights aplenty.
Not to be a Debbie downer but why would the other channels want to run our highlights. Neither team ranked, Golden Domes not going bowling, not a shred of drama other than ND bowl eligibility riding on this game. Important to us but nationally it's kind of a dud of a game. We essentially end up on the "other scores" screen for the ACC.
All true, but what annoys is knowing that if ND had won it would have made the headlines.
Well of course it would have. They would have upset a better team in a game saving the head coaches job. Nationally that would have had more relevance than yet another ACC program beating the Domers on the season at home.
I'm just used to seeing brief highlight videos for every game on espn after the game. The box score> little link at the top for videos. This is the first time I've not seen any.
NBC sports website had a nice video compilation.
I couldn't get it to work yesterday. I'll check again today.
If you can wait a day or so check YouTube - usually The Virginia Tech Athletics page and the ACC Digital Networks page will have highlights. "Hokie Tapes" may post the entire game as well. I usually spend my work day watching, rewatching, and re-rewatching the highlights. Production level will be low this week.
I sure hope so. This is one of the first times in a while that the game wasn't carried by Raycom or The Mouse, so I wonder.
They're up on YouTube! @HokieTapes has the game, and Virginia Tech Athletics has highlights and post-game interviews (@HokieVision) from ND as well as B-Ball vs. VMI.
VT has won 100% of games against ND all time
I'm still very concerned about the running game. I don't know why McMillan isn't getting carries. The coaches must know something we don't. I don't exactly agree with using Evans as a battering ram similar to the days of Logan Thomas, as he is our quarterback.
Nonetheless, we got the win. We enter the UVA game with some momentum, which is important. It will be their bowl game, their players will be ready to end the streak, and Mendenhall is one of the most competent coaches they have had in a long time. I'm sure he has been thinking about this game way in advance. Nothing would endear him more to their fans than beating us for the first time since 2003. Our guys better be ready.
I don't expect for the running game to be consistently better until we either 1) change our blocking scheme to a power one with the personnel we have 2) embrace and field OL who can execute the blocking schemes they want. 3) get better OL talent overall. None of these are immediate fixes, but I think 1) is our best option for this season.
I really really liked the Peoples Juice rotation. McMillan appears to be very tentative this year. I know we weren't picking up chunk yardage on the runs, but I really liked the hard nose running Peoples and Juice were giving us today.
I agree. When your running game is struggling and the offensive line isn't exactly blowing away the other team, it's always nice to have running backs that can get that extra 2 yards after contact. Despite McMillian being the most talented running back, Juice and Peoples are much more suited for where our running game is at right now.
To further your point is this:
I know it is old, but the Dragon just isn't getting it done this year between the tackles.
Tight splits and poor interior blocking hs contributed heavily to this. Dragon has been good and explosive when he has a crease to blow through. Unfortunately, we haven't had a lot of push or solid holes to run through.
Our running game will be bad as long as our OL is bad. It's not a coaching decision, it's an execution issue.
FAM feels sooooooo good. We lit af.
Holy shit did anyone else listen to South Bend ND post game radio show?
"Refs should be investigated, ND shouldn't let the the ACC assign refs to its home games, ND QB was targeted twice and nothing was done about it"
.
This excerpt from onefootdown.com:
I haven't watched the game yet, but DAMN. You're gonna get hypertension with that amount of salt.
Refs were garbage.....but for both sides. Definitely no bad intentions on the "targeting" plays but another crew might have called it.
The radio guys said Keizer looked hurt also, but neither one of them mentioned that the coaches or medical staff should have yanked him out of the game then.
Evans literally took the same hit as one of em before half with no call. they just weren't throwing flags willy nilly on it. we did get lucky on that isaiah ford PI though but w/e they got a free offsides penalty in the first half that left me dumbfounded and got 15 yards out of fuente. it was just bad officiating. not directed either way
sounds like sore losers to me that being said edmunds does need to be a little careful flying in like that. we cannot afford to lose him
I can agree on a couple of spots, like I think there was one where ND should have had a first down that they took a look at. I think a lot of it may have been perspective or camera angles (like when every punt that goes out of bounds gets walked back 15 yards from where it looked out on TV)
My wife and I paid close attention to the replay on that one, and the refs were actually right. The ND player did catch the ball ahead of the yellow line, but changed directions on his own accord and ran backward. When he got tackled, he was behind the first down line. Now, they may not have spotted the ball exactly right, but either way, it wasn't a first down.
Agree 100%
The announcers were in agreement with this too.
ACC refs are poor; as we've seen all year; but there were bad calls on both sides.
Edmunds could have been called; or not; it was hardly a grievous oversight. There were two head to head shots by ND defenders, including a "launch", that weren't looked at...or mentioned on the broadcast.
Speaking of the broadcast, geez those guys are bad. I get the homer aspect. However, they need to read up a little on football and pay closer attention to the game.
I thought they weren't that bad. They definitely did their homework on Tech.
And I appreciate that Dan Hicks took a beat before his first attempt at Moto's name so he didn't have a Mack Brown or ESPNU-equse butchering of the name.
good point. they did indeed do their homework on Tech. and the tone was respectful while they were out front.
but i thought they got quite whiney about the calls..."that's targeting!"; "he should be down right there!"; "that's a reeeally late flag!".
Re: the "late flag," replay showed the ref threw the flag immediately, and it got lost underneath the players. The ref basically laid the flag on the ground rather than sending it high. It was not late at all, you just couldn't see it fly. And of course, ND being "purists," they don't have a video board so people could see that after the fact.
The PI flag? It actually bounced off Ford's leg and landed short of where it needed to. I thought that was quite humorous.
i saw it in real time when it was thrown. made me wonder if the announcers had a spotter
edit: there was PI at the chuck at the 15 with the ball in the air (freeze the frame)...though we'll probably never know what the ref called.
Only time I noticed an egregious name error by the broadcasters made me chuckle....they said Bucky Rogers....I was left mentally assembling the terror a combination of Sam and Bucky would be so I couldn't be too upset. It wasn't like Jordan Evans as our QB being used over and over like the GT game.
Yeah they almost said it once and the announcer caught himself. Later he just rolled on through.
The field announcer was calling jerod Jones not Evans.
No, they have a DL named Jarron Jones. I thought the same thing but the timing wasn't making sense.
Why don't they just call everyone Kevin?
Keep in mind NBC got rid of Mike Mayock because he was too football-smart. Seriously. They thought he talked over their average viewer's head. And they hired Flutie, who will never be accused of such.
Well, the 'targeting' calls that they 'missed' would not have made up for the blatant 5 holding calls that were missed on our DT's. Right out in the open, on big plays...
I can see being mad at a ref. Unless they blow a turnover call, penalties are just part of the game. I suggest they work on tackling and blocking a bit rather than worrying about whether or not someone touched their QB's golden helmet.
ND had 2-3 plays where targeting could have been called too. In the end, all were borderline, though technically could have been called, given the way that the rule was written. Call 1 and you have to call them all (though we all know that's not close to how things happen). While you're mentioning holding, Ken was held on a regular basis. Some were overtly blatant and not called.
Ekanem was being repeatedly horse-collared in fact. I think he only got one of those called.
Fixed that for . . . someone.
Noticed how the announcers crowed over the QB's hard nosed attitude because he ducked his head to lead with the crown of his helmet on every run? Looked a couple of times they could have called targetting on him. The rule sucks as written, ACC refs suck, and VT played better football for three out of four quarters.
Boom! It's in the books...
#thepeoplesjuice is this a thing now, its a thing NOW
And the most important stat that will define VT's season...I'll let HOAT do the honors.
HoaT has a nice filly over right now. Didn't you see the horseshoe over the stable door? There's a reason they're considered "lucky".
Although, I'm thinking we should hire RichRod.
huh, 25 minute delay. His phone must have been on the charger.
Kids bed time.
Luckily, my kid's bedtime routine is determined mostly by how fast you can speed through Llama Llama Red Pajama
4 kids and tonight it was bath night.
Just hose 'em down
via GIPHY
Bwahahaha. Future secret service agent there.
Thanks, Navy. I just got onto a real computer after getting home and needing to do weekend chores late yesterday afternoon. The first quarter was concerning, as we barely had the ball at all, and when we did, we didn't do much with it. Even in the first half, it felt like we were behind in the most important stat that would define VT's season, but by the end of the game, we took control of the clock and emerged victorious.
every point in red screams that you're wrong.
only about 60% the time does winning TOP mean winning the game. So I guess this is you:
Nice! This is what I was looking for! And by, 'looking for', I mean 'waiting for someone else to do'.
So by every point in red screaming "I'm" wrong, does every point in green scream "I'm" right? If it's 60%, then..."I'm" 60% right and 40% wrong! Wohoo! Looks like I have the TOP on this topic.
I showed this to a UNC grad and he said that if you discount all the points in the red areas, then TOP correlates perfectly with victory. Love those UNC folks.
HOAT, I love you.
Love you too, Reb.
I laughed. I upvoted. I said goodbye to the little part of my joy that dies every time you double down on this argument...
I'm glad we laugh about this because I know that I laugh every time I try to find a way to make an absurd argument to support it.
I'm not a fan of TOP = Win for all of the reasons that people have been pointing out this year, but I do think it's a meaningful statistic. A minute here or there doesn't mean much but when your defense has been on the field for 12:30 to your offenses 4:30 (due to TOs or 3-and-outs), you can only be so mad at your defense. Teams are going to get yards and points and eventually wear down your defense. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule and a million things go into every win and loss, but they can't score if their offense is kept off the field.
I watched the Kelley post game press conference and Kelley gave no credit to VT. He is a more articulate Fuck-duzzi.
He'll be unemployed soon and we can smile that we helped cause it. Maybe Narduzzi can hire him to compete with Louisville for the title of douchiest coaches at one school title.
It was a beautiful comeback victory...I feel the turning point was when Fuente Narduzzi'ed the officials and they were scared shitless to call anything against us the rest of the game. The only difference between Fuente and Narduzzi was that Fuente was in the right and that false start call was complete BS. For the majority of the season Fuente has looked stoic on the sideline just chewing gum and letting the game play out...up until that moment of the game last night I had suspicions that he might have lost the locker room. Glad my suspicions were wrong.
Anyway its always good to show a little passion:
Edit: moved to the correct thread.
Yeah, I realized that after posting it. I'm not exactly sure how I managed to do that.
It happens.
That is fine on this thread! Ties in nicely.
Most impressive thing to me was they were moving the ball at will and
it would've been easy for us to give up or not keep playing hard.
They've got top talent and after that 1st Q things weren't looking good.
It was nice to have the offense (and defense) start clicking again.
One observation about this team is that it's one that can make adjustments.
Thousand mile round trip drive: check
Endure forty mile per hour winds during game: check
Wince as Hokies looked bad for the first quarter: sad check
Witness biggest comeback of this year: check
Beating Notre dame at our first ever football meeting and ruining their bowl dreams: priceless
Ok game over. Game over and fuck their elitist's bullshit and ESPN
What did ESPN do this time?
Better question is what didnt they do?
They didn't broadcast our game this week.
Obligatory- Rudy was offside
so some drunk hokie fan sitting behind me at the game would yell this about every five minutes.
This must go plaid!
Irish Tears, fam