Oh how we love this game. Paul Johnson? great guy, right? not an arrogant D Bag at all..no. Yes VT fans, we are in the DIVISION of the only P5 team that runs the triple option, of course. Looooveee it. You have to.
At any rate. Bud/Beamer did about as well as anybody against CPJ, going 6-2, including 4 straight wins- rare against that option offense. Bud clearly knows how to defend them/has some tricks up his sleeve. Fuente is 0-1 looking to turn that tide. He admitted they pressed on offense last year thinking they needed to score every time in the shortened game.. again LOVE the triple option being in our division- LOVE. So what do we think? GT ran for 1 million yards on Tennessee and Pitt early in the year.
Their QB is small, but gets hit 40 times a game and bounces right up. I'm thinking that the Walker/Settle combo is great for 11 games a year, but this scheme is not ideal for them. That spells trouble- again unless Bud has a Kyle Fuller type trick up his sleeve. Can the VT offense score early and force GT to throw broken play jump balls up to Juene- oops I mean "pass the ball"? The jackets looked 100% inept at that when they were forced to pass against UVA as pass blocking from a 4 point OL stance is problematic, and since they throw 6 times a game, CPJ doesn't want to tip his hand with pass block sets. Always a close/excruciating game for VT fans.
Comments
Maybe but if they can use their strength to plug the B-back dive without help and chip the chop blockers long enough to help keep the LB's clean then it could could be a tough day for the Garden Gnome's offense. In the past we have had smaller DT's (and DE's too for that matter) that didn't have the size, strength, and physicality to do both.
If Settle can beat the cut, GT is in for a long day- he can play over the center and blow up the B back, which is what their entire offense thrives on. CPJ said UVA tripled the B Back and shot the weakside backer to play the QB keeper and they couldn't block him. Granted GT scored 36 points and still had a bunch of yards.
I will be severely disappointed regardless of game outcome if we lose a starting (or any string) D lineman to a knee injury.
I don't even mind the Triple Option outside of the fact that their offense can cost a player's career on any given play.
Agree..but know this. They cut block the Center and Guards on 100% of running plays. That is a fact of life, that is their scheme, that's why they used wide OL splits and high school 4 point stances- they fire right down to your knees on every play- knock down the DL, block the LB- boom 75 yard TD on a simple fullback handoff. If you can get off or avoid cut blocks (Clemson, Miami, VT, UGA typically) you can beat them. CPJs record against those 4 teams is less than stellar IIRC
I wonder if we will try what we did in 2008 again to take away the dive, we had at least one of our DT's practically diving through the A gap on every play. Settle could clearly clog up a lot of space doing something similar. Perhaps we will need Mook to really shine in a Kyle Fuller type role. I am somewhat worried about the defense, but I a more concerned about our offense and their slow starts.
Since CPJ got to GT I am 99% sure we have the best record against him out of any team that plays them every year (including Clemson) but we always play them in a very high risk manner. We have given ourselves a paper thin margin in most games and really, really relied on our defense to make stop after stop after stop. Last year we saw what happens when our offense can't keep up and forces the defense constantly back onto the field. I hope we can reverse this trend because we have been very inept against a lot of bad GT defenses over the years.
Agree- Last year was the first time CPJ broke 30 points against us- 7 of that was on the short field kickoff fumble we gave them to open the game. We do tend to make average GT defenses look very good, you are correct there. Fu seemed to be very perturbed post game last year with the pressing on offense. I think he has a better plan this year.
Counting the opponents that GT has played every year since 2008.
Miami - 8-2
VT - 6-3 (have not yet played this year)
UGA - 6-3 (have not yet played this year)
Clemson - 6-5 (extra game from 2009 ACCCG)
UVA - 4-6
UNC - 4-6
Duke 2-7 (have not yet played this year)
I totally forgot about UGA, I was only thinking about ACC teams for some reason.
Thanks, can't believe they have played Clemson that close. What about Miami?
Just edited them in. The GT rivalries with VT, UGA, and Clemson have dedicated pages on wikipedia, so it was easier to find. Then I remembered mcubed.net, which has all sorts of NCAA stats.
I'm surprised to see Miami at the top of that list.
So it seems to me that the triple option is not really that different than any other offense in terms of trends. VT, Miami, UGA, Clemson are the typically the most athletic/best defenses they face and those teams do better. But those teams probably do better against most teams? the VT/Pitt series notwithstanding. Also the whole extra week to prepare etc is probably not a factor. GT moves the ball and beats lesser athletic/explosive defenses overall.
Only stats I can get for the extra time is VT, since hokiesports is so easy to use.
All three of our losses (2009, 2014, 2016) plus one win (2008) came when we only had a normal week prior to the GT game.
We had extra time in 2010-2012, and 2015. (2012 was the season opener, the other years were Thursday nights with a bye the week before.)
We had a short week in 2013 and won (Thursday night after playing previous Saturday).
I would be fine with that, if Mook can put aside his need to bring the thunder in every hit for this game and just wrap up and take down the ball carrier.
I've been waiting to make the Mook/Kyle comparison for this game all year. I can already picture Mook jumping over the line of scrimmage at the snap to strip the qb before he can even hand it off just like Kyle. He is a freakin heat seeking missile that should be able to thrive in that disruptive role. I don't know what exactly Kyles responsibilities were in that game but it seemd like Bud just told him to chase the football and break shit up. If Mook doesn't have to worry as much about gap responsibility and can just go after the ball he will be in the backfield all night. Very excited to see how Bud uses him in this game.
Man can you use paragraphs?
Seconded. Better to have too many breaks than one giant word blob. Whew!
fixed
Boss
Walker and Settle have to have great games blowing up plays. Motu, Tremaine, Mook, and Floyd all have play very well also.
The way we tackled the other night is concerning. It will be a long night if the first guy can't tackle. Add a dynamic ball carrier in their QB and it is a scary thought.
I think Mook could end up in that Kendall role from a few years back. Stroman, Adonis, and Facyson will not get much help so they must shut down their WRs.
I hope Adonis can play. His injury looked pretty bad. And I agree with you on tackling. If you avoid the "chunk" play, you can beat GT. Bud has said this was always a focus.
That spells trouble- again unless Bud has a Kyle Fuller type trick up his sleeve.
I mentioned last week that this seems like the perfect role for Mook. However, after the way he tackled against Miami, I'm not so sure.
I wouldn't single Mook out on that one. Seemed like it was the whole damn defense that couldn't tackle last week.
I just noted that Mook didn't tackle well, didn't say the rest of the team did a great job wrapping up.
Pretty sure Bud always schemes to take the dive away. If I remember correctly, again a high risk play, is that everyone has their man to take which leaves an unblocked defender for the ball carrier. I'm pretty sure Bud's focus is to always force the QB to keep the ball. That's obviously the over simplistic plan.
Their QB is a dangerous runner but it seemed like UVA kept them from getting outside a ton and won the game. I don't care if we win by one point as long as we win. Obviously I'd like us to have a bit more comfortable lead though. They'll pop a play here and their though. And not sure if it's just me but against UVA it seemed like GT was passing more. However those passes were ugly and I don't know if they can survive like that against our DBs.
I think our defensive strategy should be "the offense needs to score on every possession and the special teams needs to force a fumble one of our kickoffs to get an extra possession."
That's my second favorite defense against GT. My favorite is when Kyle Fuller just decides that they aren't allowed to keep the ball, ever.
Anybody else want to see the defensive line bunny hop when the GT OLine lunges at their knees and the run over their backs to the QB?
If you have guys (Clemson) that can do that- it's ideal. The triple option is largely extinct for a reason. Teams that can get off blocks can blow it up, and they can not pass effectively. Paul Johnson is a great offensive mind which is why it works in the ACC. A team so one dimensional should not have the success they do in a P5 league, honestly.
Settle - Walker Get the Fullback. Mook takes the QB and Motu takes the Running back...Edmunds clean up...
I think Walker could fit well at FB, not sure about Settle. Mook at QB is interesting. Motu doesn't have the vision to play RB IMO.
The other thing... their Oline looks to false start on every play.
Yep..annoys the heck out me.. CPJ says it's not a false start because the QB actually has the ball for a split second before the other people move..but I call BS
Our defense's kryptonite for whatever reason always seems to be big QBs running between the tackles. I've always thought Bud's defenses have done a great job defending CPJ's option attack because his quarterbacks typically aren't power runners between the tackles. Then, last year, enter Matthew Jordan. I'm confident Taquon Marshall won't hurt us as bad as people think, though, because he's a more east-west guy, and won't run anyone over (hopefully).
Just looking at Ricky Walker's apologetic tweet after the UM debacle almost made me cry. I predict Ricky is going to WILL our D to a dominant performance on Saturday. I hate yellow jackets and I hate the Yellow Jackets.