Let's start by getting all the pleasantries out of the way. We won. A tick on the left side of the column is all that matters. Boykin and Coale had another stellar game. We're going to reminisce about this duo at tailgates for a long time to come. Anytime we recruit another little known two-star receiver you better believe people are going to say, "kid could be another Coale."
After every game I realize how important Cris Hill is to this team. I give a lot of well deserved credit to Kyle Fuller for being able to step in and play Whip/Nickel, but without Hill filling in for him strongly at corner that'd never be possible. He had another 6 tackles and held his ground all afternoon in coverage.
If that game itself was the trick, then David Wilson was the treat. YEAH BAD HALLOWEEN PUNS FOR EVERYONE. Believe me there are runs when I'm screaming for him just to take the couple of yards that are there, instead of shooting for the moon. But afterwords when I take a look at his entire body of work I appreciate his aggressive and ambitious running style and the numbers and points he puts up. Also, credit to Josh O for doing work and putting up six in relief of Wilson. That was a tremendous cutback on his 31-yard run.
I thought the offensive line played well enough. They only allowed one sack and a few hurries. They didn't dominate the line of scrimmage, but they were on their men most of the time. Becton is still a year away. I'm at wits' end watching him try to gain experience and level up during crunch time. Lanier has out played him all year long and deserves to be in any game within 35 points.
Now that the pleasantries are behind us, here's the truth: we will not win another game this year if we play like that. As a team we looked lackadaisical, executed poorly and played undisciplined in each phase of the game. Nine penalties for 94 yards is absolutely inexcusable for a team in maroon and orange. I think most of you will be quick to knock O'cain and Stinespring for the lack of points. I'm not going to do that, in fact I think we had a diverse and well called game plan. Keep in mind we put up 433 yards of offense. We were moving the ball, but we didn't finish drives.
We had 13 possessions, two ended in scores, two ended in Logan Thomas interceptions, one was LT3's hot-potato-fumble in the two-minute drill, another (77-yard drive) ended in a missed chip-shot field goal and our final possession was all victory formation. Only six drives ended in punts. Two of them started on our side of the field, went over 30 yards and ended in Duke territory. I'm still not going to put the remaining 4 drives on just the coaches.
An example of how bad execution kills good bad play calls from one of the remaining four drives.
1st and 10 at VT 4 — Logan Thomas rush for 9 yards to the VT 13.
It's a play-action pass. That's a call completely against our tendencies on first down, especially when you consider our field position. Duke only rushes 5, so 6 defenders are back in coverage. Logan doesn't have time to let the receivers get open because he's playing out of the end zone. He bypasses an open Wilson in the flats...
...for a nice nine yard scramble.
2nd and 1 at VT 13 — David Wilson rush for a loss of 3 yards to the VT 10.
It's 2nd and 1. We're holding a slight lead. Running the ball for the first to keep the clock moving is the right call. The play is what we called "G" back in high school, an off tackle run with the front-side guard (Brooks) pulling to lead the way.
Brooks is pulling around out front. It appears Wilson will pickup the first down easily.
Tight end Eric Martin can't make the block on his man...
And the defneder blows up what should be an easy 7+ yards in the backfield.
A great play call poorly executed.
3rd and 4 at VT 10 — Logan Thomas pass incomplete to Chris Drager, broken up by Matt Daniels.
In this situation I wouldn't have minded seeing a zone read option to ensure the clock keeps moving, but it's nothing I'm riled up over.
Logan targets Drager behind the sticks.
Even if he catches it he's not getting the first down.
4th and 4 at VT 10 — Michael Branthover punts for 36 yards.
PUNTS, PUNTS, PUNTS, EVERYBODY!
My point is this. This offense isn't the same one that we all choked down and couldn't digest the last seven seasons. We're doing the things everyone, including myself (especially myself), have bitched, moaned and groaned for us to do. We're spreading the field, running the option (and a whole mess of new plays off of it) with the big athletic quarterback and speedy running back, we're rolling the quarterback outside of the pocket, calling screens and throwing over the middle more. Most of all, we're adapting. We are not lining up in the I, or Ace all afternoon and just banging our head against the wall running the ball until we're bloody and lying on the floor. When players don't execute, no offense is going to look good.
Logan didn't have a spectacular game. Obviously. He had some terrible lapses in the passing game as well as some misreads on the option. But he always looks so damn calm in the pocket, which makes me relax and believe he's going to make a throw. I love watching him stand like a statue in the pocket and just huzz the rock down the field. That Tebow-ish jump pass for his lone touchdown requires a lot more skill than what looks to be necessary.
The defense gave up 326 yards, but took advantage of four turnovers and limited Duke to ten points; bend, but don't break (and thank the football Gods for missed field goals). The injuries to Gayle and Hosley really concern me. Gayle said after the game his ankle was 80%, he has two Thursdays to nurse it back to full strength. The backup defensive ends don't hold their gaps well at all and were getting pushed out of position all afternoon. Jayron wasn't All-American Jayron today. Like most of you, I have to believe his hammy is still bothering him. He did fine covering the underneath routes, the passes in front of him. However, he couldn't catch up to the receivers and play the deep balls behind him. Eddie Whitley couldn't get it going today either. He was out position in coverage, missed a couple of wide open tackles and had an insanely stupid personal foul. He's a better player than that. I'm ecstatic Barquell locked up the game. I only saw him struggle a couple of times, most notably trying to move laterally to cover the back coming of the backfield.
This season's special teams are the worst that I can remember them being in a long while. Someone else might have to get near the Frankinator's kickers because right now the coaching is absent.
Why are most of us either pissed, depressed or aggravated about today's game? Personally, I'm worried that we'll play this bad of a game against Georgia Tech, or Carolina, or God help us Virginia. It's like I'm pretending we do that, then reacting to it accordingly. Realistically, we're not going to come out flat against those teams. They're not Duke. I have to believe we'll get rested up, stew over over this abyssal performance and look to atone against the Bees.
It's Georgia Tech week(s), act accordingly.
Comments
Agree 100%
Couldn't have written it any better myself. You summed up my feelings exactly. Eventually, if we continue to come out flat it is going to come back to bite us. This is unacceptable football against a mediocre opponent like Dook. We have to be better in all aspects of the game.
I haven't
seen the game, for obvious reasons, but I will keep all this in mind while watching a replay of it. A win's a win, and that's really all that matters at this point. For whatever reason, the dookies play us tough. Further commentary in the future.
Marcus Davis
Anyone else frustrated watching #7 miss blocks and underperform all day?
Thursday night in Atlanta is gonna be rough if both teams play like they did this week.
Things will be REAL rough
If both teams play like they did this week... We'll get shut out and give up 50 points...
MD7
It's obvious why he doesn't see the field. The kid has all the talent in the world but doesn't do the little things necessary to be a great receiver. His routes aren't sharp and his blocking always looks so effortless, in a lazy, not in a come easy way. We need him to step up next year, I hope he does.
YES.
After the second missed block, my dad and I were screaming for Beamer to pull him and put DJ Coles in.
Was anyone else completely terrified when Danny Coale came off the field holding his hand? Short of Duke's last offensive drive, it was the scariest moment of the day in my opinion.
Overall, it was probably the most frustrating game of the year for me. It was poorly executed and lacked effort in every area.
But I am glad they got it out of their system against Duke.
Terrified
I panicked when he was held out of the next couple of series fearing it might have been a broken hand or wrist, something that'd keep him out for the year. Losing Coale would be devastating. I have to think he's grown to be one of the leaders on the team, slow starts, inconsistent performances might be a function of very few seasoned senior leaders in starting roles. I'm glad we didn't lose one of our best.
Road ahead
Since Clemson did not beat GT we can not back in to the ACCCG with a loss to them. If we do lose Duke would have to beat GT and I don't see that happening even though you never know what GT team will show up. Same with us. Hopefully the layoff will allow us to get healthier and plan for that triple option. Hokies do not normally play well in Atlanta plus it is a night game. I don't know about this one. Hopeful for a win though.
record in atlanta
Since joining the ACC we are 2-1 (0.667) in Atlanta (including a 27-3 decimation of them in '07) and have only ever played night games there.
Not saying it's going to be easy, just pointing out that historically we've done alright.
Unfortunately, I expect this game to go more like '09 then '07.
nice observation
I agree with everything you wrote. They played great we played lackadasical and uninterested all day. I saw missed tackles, blocks and assignments all day long. We cannot keep playing like this and expect to come out with win. We should have lost this game by double digits. David Wilson, Josh Oglesby, Kyle Fuller and our O-line are the only players who get a grade higher than a D when I grade this one out. I would single out the players on the O-line but LT3 had all day to throw the ball yesterday, run blocking could have been better but they still pass as a group. This is another 1 of those Hokie teams that we are used to seeing over the years where you just dont know what team is going to show up on saturday. I
2nd and short failures
I just don't understand the decision to continue lining David Wilson up deep in the back field when we only need one yard. We've gotten stuffed way too many times for a loss because it seems everybody knows he's getting the ball and sell out on the run keying on David. Seems like Stiney philosophy at it's best. And yes I know O'Cain is supposedly calling the plays.
With one or two yards to go...
In any situation where we need a couple of of yards we should be running LT3. It's pretty much an automatic conversion. I haven't re-watched the game yet, but I only remember us being in a couple 2nd or 3rd and <= 2 situations. I know LT3 picked up one of those on the ground, Wilson another, but I do remember a couple of times he got stuffed. In any other year I'd agree with you, and this is coming from someone who lost his sanity every time we'd run out of the gun in short distances.
This season though I think we execute our running game out of the shotgun pretty well. The threat of LT3 running on the option, or otherwise, really does a great job of holding the linebackers in place which gives the ball carrier extra time to find the hole, and opens up more creases to run through. The offensive line is not dominant in the run game, but with wide splits, and a defense playing with their feet in the mud, they don't need to be. All they have to do is occupy a man for a second and Wilson or Thomas should be able to do the rest. As Wilson develops better field vision he'll do a better job of seeing where the one to two yards in short situations and stop just taking everything to the corner.
With all that said, welcome to the site!
One point of contention here. I am having trouble picturing the series, but late in the 4th quarter, the Hokies lined up in the shotgun on a 3rd and relatively short yardage. EVERYONE in the stadium knew that Logan Thomas was going to keep on a zone read play, and sure enough he got stuffed at the point of attack. For me, the more frustrating part was that it wasn't a true "zone read", it was a keeper all the way. If it had been a true zone read, the right play would have been the handoff, as the DE crashed on the play.
They must be able to execute based on down and distance. Part of the problem has been inconsistency up front, but too often, it has been poor vision and decision-making by David Wilson. He must understand that on a 3rd and 2, he has to get up the field. I can't imagine he isn't getting that message chirped to him, but he isn't getting the message, and I worry that they are treating him with kid gloves. It would be consistent with the pattern of coaches working to appease him, with the biggest example being handing him the starting job and then telling Ryan Williams and Darren Evans that Wilson would be the starter if they returned.
Regarding Wilson's vision, TKP does a great job of showing that in his pictures of the 2nd and one. Yes, Eric Martin gets blown up on the play, and the chances of Wilson getting positive yardage are slim. That being said, Martin's man is on his outside shoulder, yet Wilson still bounces to the outside, right into where the Duke player is going. Cutting inside of Martin would have at least got him back to the line of scrimmage, if not a very short gain. That is the selfless team play. The bounce was higher risk/reward. If he gets past the Duke DE, Brooks is ahead of the play and it looks like he should get the corner, but his cut wasn't sharp and he got buried.
Then, on perhaps the biggest need to convert in the game, O'Cain has Martin in the game as a 2nd tight end, in the shotgun? My only thoughts were similar to Rob Schneider in "Neccessary Roughness." "I'm not sure now is the right time to make sure everybody has played." Thomas never even seemed to look anywhere besides Drager, and it looked like Martin and Coale were right on top of eachother in the pattern.
Good Thoughts
I remember this exact play. I looked at MRSTKP and asked her why LT3 kept it with the end coming up the field. She just looked back at me like I had three heads. I didn't pickup it was a designed run all the way, probably the same play we ran to ice Miami then.
That's a very good point that I overlooked. However, I don't think DW4 hits the outside for the big play for self-glory. Like we've all said this season, his field vision is lacking and his natural response is to try to out run defenders to the corner.
It's too early to tell, but while Shane-o-mac is a huge upgrade on the recruiting trail, does anyone else think the backs are progressing slower without Hite's years of experience coaching them?
Vision
You can only coach so much when it comes to vision. Some comes from experience (learning) and some comes from sensing what is going on around you (sensing/intuition/pattern recognition). I believe it is all learned behavior but some are better/quicker at developing it than others.
2nd down play there are others that missed blocks. A. Miller doesn't get to the backer allowing him to pursue. No one to block Daniels, also allowing him to get to DW in the backfield. Even if DW doesn't get slowed down by DE penetration Daniels still comes up to make the hit at the line of scrimmage.
3rd down. There are three receivers bunched together and Drager on the same side in the flat. Either not well designed or not executed or well read by the D.
Riddick Bowe
Wow! the Hokie offense is reminding me of the ex- Heavy weight Champ Riddick Bowe, you just don't know which team is going to show up.When Riddick Bowes head was in the fight, he was unstoppable and that's how I feel about our offense. We have veteran receivers with a ton of experience, we have a talented tight end in Chris Drager, who dose'nt get many touches although he did see a couple of catches this game and 1 or 2 in the last game against Boston. We should use our tight ends more cutting across the middle. We should use all of our weapons all the time in every game.We will than put points on the board consistantly. We have the some time we will and some time we won't syndrome.Many have said Steinbring, is calling the plays, we run the same plays over and over again and everyone in the stadium knows what play is next. Please can someone get these coaches to see what we the fans are seeing. The defense, as someone mention earlier T. Wilson is getting swallowed up by the big O.Line players, what is the problem with getting Z.Mcray and D.Perez-Means in a series of plays, mark my word we are coming down to the wire and these guys need to get the reps now because with J.Gayle not 100% and with N.C, G.T and V.A next, the defense is going to need these two to make plays.We cannot afford to burn out the starters on the D-line or O-line, watch those guys on the field and you can see them huffing and puffing, this is a sure way of getting injured. Rotate the players coaches for your sake,for the sake of the players and for Hokie Nation....What offensive team will show up next?
We got the W
It was scary there for a bit but I think our team did what was needed to get it done as the clock struck 0. Analyzing the footage as a basis to predict our next stretch is silly. Again we saw LT as fallable. Games like these allow us to remind ourselves that it's his first year. When he is in his rhythm he is a force to be reckoned with. Yesterday wasn't that. It was sloppy, dull, poorly executed, etc but as we see with these Hokies year in and out we play up and down depending on how ready the team is. We have enough time to prepare. We show up in ATL and further play the ACC roller coaster.
Glad we won
First away game I've ever seen and that was a 50/50 crowd at best. And we were louder.
The Double Beamer Huh?
I thought this picture most accurately described how this game went...
The elusive "Double 'Who Farted?' Look" spotted in the wild.
Nice.
Pathetic
I think that sums up the whole season so far. We could be 9-0 and should be, but we continue to play down to competition and come out flat against oppenents. Its getting old fast and we cant expect to win a title playing like this. 14-10 against Duke? I mean come on.
Sometimes
the best thing that happens in a game is that you score more points than the other guy, get on the bus, and go home. That was Saturday.