Pretty cool article about the top returning secondaries in the 2017 season. Bleacher report has our secondary behind only FSU and Alabama for the upcoming year, without even mentioning Devon Hunter. This could be a fun year for Bud Foster's secondary unit shutting down opposing QB's and WR's.
DBU keeps going strong in 2017!
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I'll take it, but I prefer VT to do well in the post-season rankings.
Agreed, we've been on the wrong end of this before...
Athalon: College Football's Top 35 Defensive Lines for 2015
Nice that VT keeps getting some preseason accolades.
Its nice in most of them they keep saying things like:
We know this is true, but I think this helps us sneak up on teams. I think our offense will be good (not great) and we'll surprise other teams and the pundits. Words like this in the media help us for the early part of the season.
I agree. It's nice to have people fear our defense (as they should) and underestimate our defense due to multiple ?'s and allow us to move up and down the field on them.
Offense*
Hahaha reading back over my comment I'm not sure what was going on there. Thanks for the edit lol
This article is a joke! Not only is Miami's backness not recognized, but the U is not even mentioned. The Hokies are actually talked about in the second sentence of the article as possibly being a better secondary than FSU. Their only saving grace is that they did mention that a hurricane took place during UNC's game against us and they docked us 32 points for it.
Carlos Boozer can vouch for this stuff
FSU's pass defense was very mediocre last year, and trying to argue that one player lost in the second week was the cause is a huge stretch. Every secondary usually experiences an injury or two during the season, that's why having solid depth is so critical to maintaining statistical excellence. The stats just don't support this prediction, it smells like a big dose of bias.
Clemson likely lost the natty 2 years ago because they lost a defensive back
Strongly disagree, they never really even attacked Alexander or his replacement. Alexander was ultra aggressive and probably would have fallen for the genius fake bubble screen TD. The other long TD was on the opposite side of the field which put Tankersley in an impossible situation to defend against two players (Richard Sherman/Revis/etc couldn't have stopped that TD)
I know nothing about FSU's secondary, but I maintain that we're a 10+ win team, and possibly top 5-10 defense, in 2013 if Kyle Fuller is healthy all season. One player, if it's the right player, can make that type of difference.
My comment merely makes reference to the statistical results of the FSU secondary. When your best metric is 27th, and your average is in the mid 40's, your secondary is not elite in my book. Understanding that the front 7, the coaching scheme, opponents' passing games and other factors all affect the final secondary stats, I just find the author's conclusions far fetched. And I agree with you that losing Kyle was a huge loss that year, but our offense was somewhat ineffective as well if memory serves.
This is why Will Grier doesn't scare me.
and our starting DL and LBs
This is going to be a fun season. I hope Teller wins every major lineman award! I am cautiously optimistic that we win the Coastal. I really just want to crush GT and Miami.
I want to crush all opponents this year.
I do too! I want to score 62 on PItt
I want 75 on LOLUVA
Do I hear 93 on WVU?
I want to win the ACC n have VT in the end of season conversation. To not deny our pussy touchdiwns...
I think a lot of will be satisfied if he stays out of the doghouse and doesn't get called for as many illegal block penalties.
I wouldnt expect Pitt D to be that bad again this year. This will be the Duze 3rd year and he was actually a top 5 D coordinator in the country before taking over at Pitt
Time for the proverbial:
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Fuck Nardouche!
I tried to set you up but alas...too slow
You know what they about Douchey???
Yeah but offense will be down. Without Canada and without James Conner, what does Pitt even have going for it?
I haven't really looked at their offense, but thanks for reminding me that James Conner has moved on to the NFL. That makes me very happy.
As a Steelers and VT fan, I couldn't be happier with his decision.
They have former acc rookie of year at RB. They have an All American Athlete returning at WR. Maybe the most explosive WR in the acc in Weah. And a pretty good transfer QB.
yeah I'm not sleeping on Pitt this year. Although, if we can get our crap together on offense and notch TDs instead of FGs this year, I think we can outpace them.
Agreed, Narduzzi is a super legit defensive mind. At Michigan State he was the second best defensive coordinator in the country, IMO.
Behind Bud.
I'll take all the accolades in the preseason, but I'd rather sneak up on them all the way to a play-off-birth. Yes I want my cake and eat it too.
Is having the #3 secondary equivalent to having the number #6 primary? Or is it equivalent to having the #1 senary? Either way, I'll take it!
leg for you.....NERD
You rang?
Can confirm that Blacksburg is home of #1 scenery!
Nice to see our defense getting some love on a national stage again. How do you think Hunter will factor into that mix early in the year?
I think we won't really know until the Fall camp, but I could see him winning out the battle for Rover, or at least earning some PT there this year. If he doesn't win a starting position right away he may later in the season. I think he will be a ST stud. Don't see any chance of him having a RS this year.
yes...yes...yes....We will Beat West Virginia
Just calling it out because I think it's worth discussing -
Our starters are money. Our backups are completely unproven. If we can make it through the season injury free and a particular corner I won't name doesn't get too many PI calls like he did in the spring game ... we are going to be elite in the secondary. Just worry about what happens if one guy goes down.
I have to think that this is in the back of all of our minds.
We have to develop those backups, and we need the starters to be as good as we think they are.
You're right about those PI calls. Need to get those under control.
but he won't be going up against Caleb Farley, so I expect him to do much better.
Isn't this like, almost always the case in college ball? Very rarely have I ever felt like we could dominate if a key starter gets injured. Usually I'm more pleasantly surprised when the backup comes in and holds his own right away.
I think that has been a real advantage for teams like Alabama and Ohio State. Very high quality backups, waiting their turn.
I'd throw Clemson in there too. I noticed in the ACCCG last year they had a rock solid two deep that was capable of giving the starters some much needed rest as the game went on.
This is what I feel like sometimes gets lost in the "our starters are elite" conversation. Even elite football players can get beat by inferior competition if they get tired.
That is true about Safety/Rover, but at CB we're locked and loaded with 3 starter-quality players all with multiple seasons of playing time.
This is what I think of these rankings...
Stroman is #3 and VT is #1!!!
And UVA is too high at 15 in the ACC
I love this gif so much. It's like a microcosm of the LOLUVa/VT football rivalry. LOLUVa is on a course for complete irrelevance, but still decides to do something arrogant. Then we punch them in the mouth and throw them off the playing field. Over and over and over.
It wouldn't be as fun if they weren't trying.
And then they cry about it
And Matt John's weird frolicking/prancing/dainty running style.
you're absolutely right. Is he snapping with his right hand while he's running?
yaassss
I feel like this one is just as good a representation
I can watch this all day.
Lest us not forget what the QBs will be seeing when their receivers are struggling to get open on our #3 secondary
sometimes I can't get over how big Timmy Settle is. I remember walking past him his freshmen year when the team was helping with move in and I was in awe. Shots like this just remind me.
Without knowing his number, you can still easily spot him on the sideline within a few seconds. That man is just so wide.
Before my first game at Lane in over a decade, anOSU. I ran into Timmy directing his mom parking along the drill field. It was a site watching this man child standing in the street blocking traffic so his mom could parallel park her car.
I really hope Timmy has a monster of a season. He's such a hard worker and one of the nicest guys I've seen in Maroon and Orange.
Honestly, its probably only a matter of time before he's single handedly dominating games up front.
via GIPHY
And additionally by then taking the ensuing punts to the house...
The eyes! The QB is just mesmerized....