Are you expecting a win, a cover, a loss, a blowout? Related, what result would leave you feeling optimistic about the Hokies for the remainder of the season, what would have concerned about the direction 2018 is headed?
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I expect more tomahawk chop than I have bourbon to deal with. Other than that, I have absolutely no clue what to expect for this game with our youth. I could see it going any possible way.
This game has me nervous. This game sets the tone for the season for me if we come out and get slaughtered I'll believe those 8 or less win predictions a lot more. If we come out and the defense hods their own and the offense shows some light I can see the 8+ predictions coming true.
I originally picked FSU at -7 lines now at FSU -7.5 makes the bet harder.
I'm expecting a touchdown loss and a push on my original pick. I'll be okay with anything better than a 14pt loss
I don't necessarily think a terrible loss ruins the season, case in point being the year we lost badly to LSU and were quite reasonable the rest of the year.
Yeah LSU blew us out...they were a 12-2 SEC team in 2007 and went to the NCG, FSU is by no means that caliber of team.
Even Herbie and co don't have any real answers...they mentioned it at the end of the Purdue/NW game and his answer was essentially "Well...there are a lot of questions, and it's...really interesting...nice to see Francois back in the game, and Foster always has a great D, also Taggert's debut and FSU has a totally new scheme...honestly no idea how it'll go."
I expect a young defense to play well at times, but miss assignments and be gashed. the O will be improved, but I don't expect a lot of sustained drives. a game to build on.
I expect to be well lubed and hate Tuesday morning.
Bingo. What he said.
I just want to not regret having very little sleep and a headache when I wake up early on Tuesday to go to work.
However I think if we can scrape this win, we can win the ACC.
That's why I took PTO on Tuesday. I know I won't regret that, but I would definitely regret trying to save my PTO when my alarm goes off on Tuesday morning.
I'm "working" from home Tuesday, bad case of diarrhea, no one questions diarrhea.
I agree that we will make the game, but I'm not so sure about beating Clemson, because whoever wins the ACC is likely in the playoff and if VT makes the playoff in a "rebuilding' year
Took the week off anyway. BabyEMC (4yo) is having hydrocele surgery at 11 on Tuesday...don't worry, he can't spell HIPAA yet. Maybe he'll be zonked enough for me to relax for a few days (far too much sea time the last year & a half).
I'm cautiously optimistic for two wins by the time I go back to work.
I had no idea what hydrocele was and had to look it up. From what I read it is not typically serious. However, I have been in the ER with my son on more than one occasion and know the feeling of helplessness and worry when I had no control or power to protect him. My best wishes to you and yours.
Thank you. Main concern is anesthesia. He's done that a couple other times but it's a little nerve wracking.
I have no damn idea. Neither a win nor a loss would surprise me. I will say that traditionally this is the kind of game we lose, but so was the WVU game last year.
I guess I'd say I'm expecting struggles from both defenses, and lots of sloppy play in general. Whichever team gels first wins.
I'm with the Beard. I foresee all the options as feasible.
I don't really know what to think about this game. I think the key is going to be the number of mistakes made between their new offense and our young defense. If we can play a cleaner game than them then we'll have a real shot.
I'm just happy football is back.
No one really expects anything amazing from us this season or against FSU, and neither do I. It's going to be great!
Agree. Nobody expects much so every positive is a bonus.
Too many variables on both sides to have any idea what this game is going to look like. I expect to watch some slop early and hope we can settle in relatively quickly. Obviously I want us to win but as long as we keep is close I'll be content.
Ugh I just cant shake the bad feeling I have about this game. I want to say we lose by 4, but then I could also see us losing by 14. At the same token I could see us winning by a field goal. No idea but thinking about it gives me indigestion
I expect our defense to play well, but give up some big plays. I expect our offense to put up some points and control the ball to keep our defense off the field.
If Josh Jackson does not take a noticeable stride in the game, then I think it is reasonable that the other QB's start to get a look at some point this season. I think the QB position is key to how many games we win this year.
JJ has one game!
{Of note, it's a pretty clear interpretation from the way the QB1 was announced that the coaching staff does not feel like JJ is particularly close to the other QB's and he certainly has more than 1 game grace period. I'm afraid the JJ doubters are going to have a rough year, not because I'm positive JJ will be great, but I'm positive that Fuente isn't going away from JJ anytime soon.}
I guess my view was that if JJ does not take a step forward this year against ACC teams and puts up similar stats to last year vs. ACC teams, expect the coaching staff to look at other QB's this year, especially with the new redshirt rule and allowing QP to get some in game experience while still being able to take a redshirt.
Bottom line, our defense is not in a position depth wise to have all of the pressure to win games like it has been in years past. I think offensively, it starts with solid QB play (with other factors of course).
JJ simply can not miss all those homeruns that he missed last year. Wide open TDs if he drops that ball in properly.
I expect the coaches to play the QB who gives us the best chance of winning each week, regardless of starting precedent, period. Barring
miraculoussubstantial growth by one of the other QBs during practice though, a bad game for JJ does not negate the fact that he is still the most likely QB to produce a win on any given week.Agree that the offense needs to lead this year.
Disagree that there is any way beyond some really dramatic performance issues or injury that we look at anyone besides JJ.
If JJ is struggling or has a bad game by GT expect the fans to start booing him (I am against booing our own guys) and chants of "We want Quincy" or some variation of that to start.
Nothing is dumber than booing college kids. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
I think VT wins by 7 (31-24) and surprises some people. Unlike Beamer-era early season games - the offense is equipped to put up points (hopefully early) and I have no doubt that Bud will have a young but talented D ready to compete. FSU and VT are evenly matched teams overall (both with questions and young talent), and it should be fun.
The way VT was prepared to play and fight against WVU last year is a great look into Fuente's leadership/preparation and upside for the program - this year will be no different.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I think you hit it right on! i don't believe this is an orange and maroon glasses view either. for all accounts FSU scares us more because of their name and their history against us than anything else. they were a 7-6 football team last year and they were MORE talented last year at most positions. Running a new offense and new defense against 2 coaches that are better than the 2 coaches that FSU has. FU has proven he can beat more talented taggert teams. 3-0 vs taggert at mephis and USF respectively. and bud and FU are 2-0 against a Michigan state like D in pitt from the teacher not the student of that D.
Now I feel like there is no way we can lose.
FSU has more young talent than us. We don't match up with them in that regard. Now how we match up in terms of developed talent hopefully is in our favor.
Talent is relative. They have higher ranked recruits than VT, but look at the historic accuracy of recruiting rankings to know that means nothing. Miami and FSU were down for 6-7 years each starting around 2006 prior to more recent runs while still sending plenty of guys to the NFL (individual over team talent).
Provide sources for recruiting rankings not mattering. Because I strongly disagree.
VT Case Study from 2004 - 2015:
Overrated by recruiting services:
-Dwayne Lawson (4-star)
- Holland Fisher (4-star)
- Joel Caleb (4-star)
- Nick Dew (4-star)
- Zack McCray (4-star)
- Ike Whitaker (4-star)
- Todd Nolen (4-star)
- Kris Harley (4-star)
- Drew Harris (4-star)
- Raymon Minor (4-star)
Underrated by recruiting services:
- Brandon Flowers (3 star to NFL)
- Josh Morgan (3 star to NFL)
- Cody Grimm - (0 stars to NFL)
- Kam Chancellor (3 stars to NFL)
- Jarrett Boykin (3 stars to NFL)
- Kyle Fuller (3 stars to NFL)
- Chuck Clark (3 stars to NFL)
- Terrell Edmunds (3 stars to NFL)
- Tremaine Edmunds (3 stars to NFL)
Lists pretty even? Even more I could have added to underrated bucket (Stroman, Ford, and others) who I didn't because time will tell.
Recruiting rankings ebb and flow in predictability. Some years are spot-on, others are way off. Given that dynamic, I have no idea whether FSU is loaded with talent or not (same with VT). Look at the roster of the FSU team that VT beat in the ACC ship in 2010 (it is loaded with NFL talent). Why did VT whoop them?
This comparison is anecdotal at best. You took a twelve year time frame of recruiting classes and have listed less than one example per year from the two categories. This is picking and choosing data and conformational bias.
Your case study is fallacious without including the players that were properly rated, ie highly rated kids that lived up to the expectations like Kendall Fuller and lower-rated kids that met the expectations of being lower-rated. Once you include all of them, you will see the aggregate pretty much skews towards the highly-rated players out performing the lower rated players. Look at the overall ranking of each class and how all of the players in each class met, failed to meet, or exceeded expectations and then make an informed conclusion.
Also keep in mind that recruiting services in 2004 were not even close to what they are now in terms of player evaluation. So you should expect to see more recent evaluations skewing closer to appropriately rating players.
I'm not writing a thesis. I listed a few people because I don't need to prove anything to make an observation. Yes, the hit rate of predicting 5-star kids success is fairly high (20-30 kids in that rank per year) - the point is that 4, 3, 2, stars etc. is a total toss-up.
Team recruiting rankings also don't have consistency to EOY rankings. The 2015 top 10 rankings for team recruiting included LSU, FSU, Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Florida. If you look 2-years out (once that class may be contributing) only LSU was ranked end of season and they were 18th. That's a 50% - 60% correlation of team recruiting rankings to success which is a failing grade.
Wisconsin, UCF, and TCU all finished in the top 10 in the same year, and none had a top-25 recruiting class in the same year.
My point is that it is unpredictable and in turn not reliable, not trying to say they mean nothing.
No, you don't, but if you want imply that it is a true observation, then, yeah, you probably should provide data to back it up.
As far as team recruiting rankings vs EOY rankings, my guess is that if you look at that over a multi-decade time period, you're going to see some rough correlation. Picking one year to make your point only brings up my favorite quote again:
The average 4* player is better than the average 3* player, who in turn is better than the average 2* player. Same way that in the NFL draft, the average 1st-round draftee is better than the average 2nd-round draftee, and so on. Obviously there are numerous examples of college recruiting busts, where a 4* or even a 5* player didn't pan out at all, as well as 2* and 3* players that became extremely successful and went on to have long NFL careers, but in general having higher-rated players will often lead to more success.
Yeah this means nkthing in the grand scheme. I never said recruiting is THE sole predictor of success, but it is certsinly what pushes teams into elite status and keeps them there.
Listing off individual people is anectodal evidence.
Go look at the top 10 teams each year and you will see that one of the common facotrs is recruiting success.
Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal. More at 11!
Which brings me to one of my favorite quotes:
Don't know where it comes from, originally, but I'm not alone in that: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/12/27/plural/
I expect to be drunker than I want to be and late for work on Tuesday.
That being said, this game makes me nervous. I want to believe we will get over the hump and punch above our weight for once. I know that we have a lot of young talent, and I hope they can gel and not have too many mistakes that will cost us. Cam Akers scares the shit out of me. We need conistant pressure and gap assignments from our d line and the linebackers and secondary need to live up to their potential.
Offensively we have weapons and we need to use them. I have to believe that Josh Jackson has progressed as a passer and leader and will be improved. With a good line and all backs with more experience, I'm hopeful we can get something threatening going in the run game. I don't want this to turn into a shootout, but we need to be able to crack 28 points.
I'll take Hokies to cover. I want them to win, but with Mihota limited and so many youngsters on defense I'm nervous. I think we learn a lot in the first two series. I'm gonna believe and have no voice with a hangover Tuesday. Bud Foster work your magic and CornFu go off to the races.
LETS GO!!!!!
Cam Akers is my biggest fear.
I always like our chances when you give Bud all summer to prep for one team. Talent-wise, USC should have blown us away in 2004, but you give Coach months to prepare for one scheme and he'll have the D ready. Its going to be the shorter weeks when the young guys only have a few days to learn the gameplan that will challenge our inexperience. Whether or not our offense shows up will determine this one.
Yes!
I'm not feeling very confident in a victory, but I'm really excited to watch regardless. Everyone is pointing to inexperience at position groups on both sides of the ball, and that is concerning for this game but exciting from a program perspective to me. A lot of the inexperienced and young players stepping into starting roles were highly-rated and highly-sought after recruits that I am just plain excited to see play. We know that these coaches can scheme to talent, and I think we have that talent, we just haven't seen it yet. Even though a lot of players are gone from last year's defense, seeing a guy like Reggie Floyd step up at the end of the Pitt game was huge for me. We don't lack for leaders, they just aren't the same guys as last year.
Having said all that, I'm expecting a lot more points than most people. A busted coverage, missed gap, or missed tackle means there will be more long plays than we want when we're on defense, but our offense should be able to put points on the board too. However, the lack of DL depth is concerning and I think it really becomes evident as the game gets into the 4th quarter.
This game has such a wide range of possible outcomes that I don't think any of them would really surprise me. A Hokie blowout because FSU has major issues adjusting to new schemes on both sides of the ball? FSU running all over a thin and young Hokie front seven? A close nail-biter where special teams is a yuge factor? It could be anything.
38-0, bro.
I think we are going to have a good old fashioned shootout. Both teams have high powered offenses. Both defenses are going through growing pains.
I tend to lean towards FSU winning this, and its from a pure they have better all around athletes thought process.
That being said we will be competitive.
Here's hoping that Fuente can buck the FSU trend.
Other than Akers, FSU does not scare me too much this year. I think the Hokies at least cover, and win if they can reasonably contain Akers & co. on the ground.
If Jackson shows improvement and ability to make the "easy plays" and hit open receivers, I'll feel good about the year, almost regardless of the score. If he looks like the same guy he was at the end of last year, I will take out a loan for more bourbon and craft beer.
Its going to go one of two ways....
1. FSU gets up early and starts running the ball and dictating pace. We are forced out of our offensive gameplan in an effort to close the gap and it gets ugly.
2. Our offense comes out and does what theyre capable of doing. We go back and forth with FSU and its a high scoring affair. Coinflip as to who wins.
As much as I'd love to say we win convincingly, I dont think its going to happen - I dont see our defense being there yet. If we win, its going to be because we held the ball last and kept it close enough all night.
Dude. Ditto. Well said.
If we come out and are running QB draws on every 3rd down again in the first half, I will not be happy.
If #2 can happen consistently through all 4 quarters, maybe FSU gets stuck with #1.
I'm really struggling to think of an opener that I have ever been this confused/unsure about. We have enormous question marks on defense given how much we are replacing and (potentially) being down 2 DL starters as well (Mihota limited, Trevon Hill and the curious case of the most wtf will he/won't he play with absolutely no info leaking about what is going on). Then you double down on the unknown factor that FSU will be implementing a brand new offense, a new defense, a new head coach whose offensive philosophies couldn't be farther from the long established FSU brand further entrenched by Jimbo. Then you sprinkle on them starting a QB who after a great finish to 2016 was a dark horse Heisman talk guy heading into 2017, who hasn't played in a football game in a year just adds even more to the confusion and uncertainty.
I have absolutely no idea how this will play out beyond a few reasonably expected issues:
- Our defense will suffer from a few "experience errors" misalignments, coverage confusion, incorrect gap fits, etc.
- FSU's brand new offense will have some growing pains as well from the transition.
Still not sure about how either of those will play out or what role they will play in a single game sample.
I'm not confident, and I'm not dreading it. I genuinely just don't know, and I don't usually feel that way about college football games, especially when I am well acquainted with one or both teams involved.
I'd be ok with subbing out Emma and putting in Jemma. Intelligence (even if fake) is sexy
I mean, she only went to Brown University
Did you just insult Emma's intelligence?
I feel like Tech has the upper hand in terms of scheme/coaching because of 80% of this team having been in the system for 3 years and a majority of the starter having been recruited for this system whereas FSU is going to have to fit some square pegs into round holes and limit what they can do. I think FSU has the talent advantage and should be able to win some matchups with athleticism. JJ and the offense have to finally live up to the expectation that was create when FuCorn were hired. If they do we win the shootout, otherwise the thin DL is going to have to be at their best for the entire game to limit the damage.
I'll say one thing, I haven't talked to a FSU fan who feels good about this game. Last year scarred their psyche badly, and if things don't go well for them immediately, Doak could sound like a morgue quickly.
So we've gotta come out early like...
....and I tend to think Fuente will have his crew ready to go from the start, Battle of Bristol style.
I'm not sure we have the horses to hold off FSU, but if we can flip Doak, it could be beneficial.
We're deep on offense. If we can jump on them early, we could build enough of a buffer to withstand any storm they throw our way towards the end.
I'll bet. Could you imagine having a long bowl streak on the line, and having to win the last game of the season against an inferior team in order to reach bowl eligibility?
Good thing they didn't have a long bowl streak on the line.
I was trying to figure out how to put an asterisk on that, but then it would've broken the comparisons to 2014/2015 for us.
Does anyone think that since we finally have the horses at WR AND JJ having a year under his belt, we will be able to operate offensively as fast as we did with Evans at the helm?
I really think that is going to be the key to victory.
Yes and no. We may be able to but we may not to help keep our defense off the field.
I'd rather have an 1-play, 80 yard touchdown drive than a 7-play, 61-yard FG drive even if it means the defense comes back on the field in 6 minutes instead of 11.
Are those really mutually exclusive options?
You literally can't have one drive be both things, so yes.
You can if you kick the FG and then recover the ensuing kick off. Next play - boom! TD!
That sure sounds like two drives to me.
That's one thing I'll be looking at closely last year. Even operating in a no-huddle, we were SLOW last year, and I think we struggled because of it. The amount of experience for all involved should allow us to pick up the pace considerably, and I think that does wonders for our production. I hope the concern over tiring out the defense isn't too much, because we are simply not built to be a ball-control team.
Bud showed a couple years ago, when the offense is clicking and firing on all cylinders, he's more willing to roll the dice a bit on defense with bringing pressure and potentially leaving our corners on an island because he has confidence the offense can bail out a defensive mistake. If our offense can regain that form, it should help resolve a lot of the defensive ills we saw last year.
I'm worried, but I worry about damn near every game. To be honest, I'm not sure what to expect. They've got a new coach, running a new system, and a qb back from sitting a year out from injury...you would think that would make me feel somewhat confident, but it's FSU...and FSU recruits really well, so they may have the talent to make up for their short-comings. I think I can see this game looking something like 28-31 in favor of Florida State.
I expect that those recruits that we missed on show us why we hoped to get them on our side.
My HOPE is that by the end of the game they wish they were on our side too.
My gut tells me that both teams come out looking like young teams in their first game of the season and that VT fails to put up enough TDs to stay close, with FSU pulling away late.
28-17
For all the defense's domination last year, we gave up more big plays than almost any team in the country (and the most in the conference). Now we are replacing most of that top-level talent with freshmen and sophmores who've never started a game. We're going to give up some massive plays, and I've accepted that. I say Florida State scores at least 30, which means we're going to have to make this into a shootout if we want a chance. My bar is that the offense can go onto the field and I don't lose confidence in a win. If we lose a shootout, I'll feel pretty good about the year. If the offense struggles to score and struggles to control tempo, it's going to be a year of watching for freshmen developing, not wins.
On a side-note though, it is thoroughly impressive how well-informed and level-headed people are here with their expectations. Granted, I expect that to be thrown the hell out the window by half-way through the first quarter, but still.
I think that Bud knows how to attack an offense that is in the infancy stage, especially one that is run-centric with low quarterback scrambleability. I expect the pressure to come early and often, stopping their running game before it gets going.
Like many, I eagerly await the offensive juggernaut that CornFu implies. I will believe it when I see it, but man is it going to be a welcome site. If the defense forces them into plan B and our offense finds rhythm early this game will be a blowout.
.
self appointed conductor to my own hype train.
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No idea what to expect. The only thing that would surprise me is if we absolutely destroy FSU. I could see us winning or losing a close one. But I have this feeling of dread that this game could look like 2007 LSU all over again.
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I'm expecting to win and to be completely honest I'm getting tired of the inferiority complex among our fanbase. In the last 15 years, we have played early season games against Texas A&M, USC, LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, Boise State, WVU, Tennessee, Nebraska, and GT. And our fan base as a whole was fairly confident, even if we didn't necessarily expect to win, before all of those games.
But for the past couple months I keep seeing this attitude (a lot on Twitter, a lot on r/cfb, and some on TKP) that we're just happy to share the field with a program like Florida State. We just want to go down there and compete and lose by single digits.
Fuck that. In terms of difficulty, I would rank this game somewhere around WVU/Tennessee/Nebraska. We've played better teams in tougher environments and didn't back down.
We're going down there to win the game. I'm not saying we will, but anything less than a W is a disappointment. The season won't be lost by any means, and there will be positives to take from it, but we're going to Tallahassee to play a conference game against a 7-6 team with a brand new coaching staff who also went 7-6 at Oregon last year. No disrespect to FSU or Willie Taggart and his staff, but I'm not happy with giving them our best shot. I think we have a more finished product at this point in time and I expect it to show on Monday night.
With all that being said we'll probably lose by 50. Seriously though, I say we win a close one 31-27.
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Champion mentality. Expect to win every time. 100% agree
You can't have a Serious Long term Trend of losing Bigtime games and keep expecting to win. GT/WVU is different as a ACC rivalry but after the other games, besides being at BMS the UT game wasn't to hype for me.
You wanna get hype show something. That Alabama Game of 2009. That was HYPED! The roster was packed the team seemed like it was ready. Then the 2 Top 10 team rankings that actually felt valid. These last few years are the opposite of that and that is showing up, here on twitter, other places
What?
You can't have a Serious Long term Trend of losing Bigtime games and keep expecting the fans to keep being hype for a win when there's not been a lot of changes to show
We're all fans and want a win but
VT has had a hell of an offseason and lots of the news on VT so far isnt making 2018 look like a hype year
Like all of us, I have no clue but if I had to guess, I think it will be sloppy on the first couple of drives for both teams to work out the kinks. I think FSU eventually prevails with the talent.
When it comes to the FSU -7.5... I think I would take the Hokies +7.5 line as I think they will have some garbage time to keep it close.
I HOPE I AM WRONG.... LETS GO HOKIES!!!
You make a great point - sloppy is coaching. If we can NOT be sloppy on O and D, we could have an advantage. If we're both sloppy that will play to their advantage. Sloppy = poor coaching IMO. And I don't feel we were sloppy last year vs. WVU.
These big first games scare me, always. I think we start out better with Fuente. Bristol and last year vs WVU give me a little confidence that we are doing a better job than what I saw at end of Beamer era openers. We ended up getting thumped at Bristol, but I felt we could have easily crushed UT (one game I will never hear the end of). Jackson has been through some battles. That experience will be huge going into Tallahassee.
Still, I think we find a way to lose. FSU is very fast on defense. I read somewhere that these are the lightest LBs FSU has had in a long while. I want to say since Boulware, but cannot find source as I am limited what I can view right now. This is a big time start for Hoyt at center. I hope he is up to the task.
Hokies keep it close, but come up short.
I saw that the "star" linebacker for FSU is a freshman making his first start. And after reading how to attack this defense on TKP, I feel more confident. Should be a good game of cat an mouse from both teams.
I'm expecting Bud to scheme to take Akers out of the game. Francois will be put into a similar situation as Barrett in 2014 and Jones in 2015. It comes down to whether their QB/WR make enough plays against our secondary. While our corners are young, I like our Safeties and Deablo proved last year he has legit range and cover skills over the top. I like our chances for the offense to do enough to win. 31-27 Hokies
Obligatory... 1-0
Is "posting a BINGO! .gif every time there's a bingo reference" a square on the bingo card?
/s
Close loss. VTs offense actually puts some pressure on a opponent in a "big/prime time game"- which is nice for once.. but FSU breaks a couple big plays on the Hokies defense late to win by 4-7 points
Here are my expectations:
1. Defense: I expect some significant breakdowns up front that lead to a barrage of long runs. At the same time, I expect to see some great stuff from some of the young guys.
2. I expect to be drinking Basil Hayden's early.
3. I expect the offense to look good in spots, but I expect that JJ will struggle with the deep ball along with not being able to challenge the FSU D in the zone read (not a strong enough runner). I do think we will see a bright moment or two from the young skill guys, and that will help us all remain hopeful for growth.
4. I expect to be drinking Balvenie 14 later.
5. I love my Hokies, but I am expecting an FSU win. Mistakes by FSU keep it close until late, at which point they pull away and win 35-20
Solid whiskey game plan.
The AssPocket approves.
You had me at Balvenie.
Hokies win by 11.
I expect this game to be similar to that battle at bristol with FSU assuming the role that we played in that game. They will look explosive, but be hampered by the pains of learning a new system on both sides of the ball. I expect our defense to be tenacious, but make rookie mistakes at costly times. I expect our offense to be much improved over last year hopefully take FSU out of position enough times to make up for our young defenses mistakes. The x factor is the talent gap. Can we execute well enough to overcome it?
I don't expect this game to tell me much about the rest of the season outside of how we might do against ND and Miami. Based on our talent and coaching staff we *should* win the rest of the games on the schedule but will probably drop at least one because it seems like we always give one away to somebody that doesn't deserve it.
My head: No clue... Would only be surprised by 3td win or loss, anything in between seems reasonable.
My heart: We wear all white. JJ takes large strides from last year. We pick apart FSU get up big early and spend the 2nd half running it all over a gassed FSU D- line. DBU gets 3+ ints and Cam Akers averages 0.5 ypc in the first of 15 consecutive shutouts for Buds boys. Recruiting implications are huge as Ford flips remembering how much he loved how he looked in those unis...
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So exactly what is she doing with that award? Practicing for her shake weight training class?
Check. Now for the rest.
Aside from one carry from Akers and ridiculous recruiting and shutout predictions this held up pretty well.
I expect to have a hell of a headache on my flight to Ottawa Tuesday morning.
Stay with me here...I'm hoping all the jinxes/bad luck/letdowns/curses my Caps shook off will translate to all the other teams I follow. Most of all the HOKIES! Here's to a big win and 14 more after that!
Lotsa shenanigans and annoying chop songs, gonna be watching this on mute methinks...
I want to see a big win.
I have one expectation: Our players put in a full 60 minutes of effort.
To me there's a huge difference between going down and going down swinging.
The attitude our team needs to go into this game with was expressed by Notorious B.I.G:
They are not super human. To have a chance in this game our players need to avoid being defeated psychologically. That is one thing I think has improved greatly since Fuente took over. In Beamer's latter years it was possible to "break" VT teams. I think vs. Arkansas in 2016 and Pitt in 2017, VT has shown a type of resilience we haven't seen since the early 00's.
That rally in South Bend in 2016 was a thing of beauty too. We were down 17-0.
YES! Leg for picking up the slack! That was a great comeback.
OT: I have family near Charlotte (Lake Norman) and we have considered relocating but don't have a good feel for the technology services industry. Do you have an idea of how good it is?
It's growing. Being a finalist for HQ2 would have helped out a LOT and sped things up, but it's growing...slowly but surely..
I want a blow out, I expect a pretty close game, but my butt is puckered for a drubbing.
via GIPHY
You mean like dis?
This really should have more legs.
This will be reminiscent of the win at OSU. JJ has a gutty performance, Bud keeps their run game in check aside from a few big plays.
We have better coaches, more intelligent & dedicated players, and pull out the win, Hokies 34, Free Shoes U. 30
Look at the big spender here, calling for FSU to go 14-1 and win the natty.
There seems to be some common themes on what we will do with our O and D, and logically I don't think they are far off. Yet there is a part of me that keeps circling back to the idea that Fu-Corn might surprise us with some things they do on offense. I think that could include a yanking of Jackson if he doesn't hit on those open receivers downfield. Missing them is not protecting the ball imo, and there are some capable hungry, talented guys behind him. We are not going to play scared and use our size advantage to directly challenge the FSU secondary. When/if FSU plays in a one-back set, somebody will have the job of putting a hurting on him too, no matter what he does, is what I hope to see. We need to play physical. The subs are going to have to play hard to make that happen.
The only way I see this happening is if the balls miss our open receivers and fly into the hands of FSU defenders.
I'm taking this entire season with no expectations.
I say this every season, best of luck it never works.
Expectation? - We're gonna win!
I have no earthly idea what to expect, other than that my new dog will think I'm insane by the middle of the second quarter, and that I will be very tired when the alarm clock goes off on Tuesday morning.
Expectation:
According to my playthrough with the updated rosters on NCAA 14 last night: We are going to come out in the first half completely outmatched on both defense and offense with JJ throwing two terrible INTs. However, even in that first half, the defense is able to force 2 field goals out of FSU's 3 red zone trips giving a score of 0 to 13 at the half.
In the second half, some adjustments are made by the Hokies and both defense and offense improve. On two separate drives, JJ is able to find Phil Patterson and Drake Deiuliis for touchdowns in opposite corners of the endzone. FSU is unable to sustain a drive the entire second half and Francois is sacked 4 times in a row to end the game.
Hokies Win: 14 to 13. They play 5 minute quarters in college right?
See, when I played with updated rosters last night, Tech was up 28-0 at halftime. FSU was able to close the gap after some adjustments, a muffed punt, and a bad INT from JJ, but the Hokies still won 34-17.
My problem with manually updating the rosters is that it is impossible for a QB I create to have less than 99 speed.
I download roster updates every year. I sometimes go in and tweak things a little, but for the most part they seem to be pretty solid, imo. I think this years has JJ at a 90 OVR rating.
Roster Update
I downloaded the same roster. I was surprised they made our team several points better than FSU in every category. I felt our team's player rankings were actually pretty fair this year aside from 90 might be a little too high for JJ.
JJ as an 87 feels about right for me
Am I the only one who plays full length quarters and games?
via GIPHY
Wins my players the heisman every year. Most years I have top three to four vote getters.
I used to expect blowouts on the national stage vs ranked teams, especially early in the year, because they happened so often.
After WVA and the bowl comeback, I've decided Fuente is different in these situations, and I expect a close game even if we lose.
I'm expecting a 10 point loss, but also expecting that we don't embarrass ourselves in the process. We should show some promise when it comes to the rest of the season.
I expect to walk into work Tuesday morning with my head held high knowing VT beat FSU and UVA lost to Richmond.
Cal tops UNC
Louisville tops Bama
Meteors strike Bank of America Stadium and Notre Dame Stadium
LSU wrecks da U and steals the turnover chain
A lot of expectations on this game reflect how they feel VT will do this season, but there is no good reason to believe FSU will be good this year.
Taggart has a rather mediocre record and hasn't shown consistency to put together solid seasons (11 wins @USF in 2016; next best is 8 wins; had 7 wins @Oregon last year). Many thought he was a reach for Oregon, but for some reason many now think he'll flourish with FSU talent. I really think there is a real likelihood for FSU to return to mediocrity (reminiscent of VT's early ACC years).
Fuente was a better hire and I think an overall better coach and his Memphis track record is better (9 and 10 win seasons). He is also 2-0 against Taggart.
FSU has better talent for sure. That talent won 7 games last year, albeit they lost their QB and Fisher was one foot out the door. Even considering those excuses, I don't see how FSU rebounds to top-25 status.
Based on Fuente and Bud, I believe VT will have a better season than FSU, but that first game will sure be a crapshoot. There is good reason to believe, however, that VT will hand FSU one of its several losses this year.
Last years FSU was heart broken, and other verb expletives by Alabama,
Then week 3 and 4 and it was over the coach was on to the money.
Between Last years FSU not caring and VT offseason there's no way to know on paper what to expect
So if you subscribe to that, you REALLY have to worry about the caliber of team that FSU has if one loss can completely collapse a season like that. It wouldn't be the first time a team with fancy shiny recruits can't put it together as a team down in the Sunshine state.
It's not one loss.
The offense only scored once
That game injury to the QB
and a complete loss on special teams. Bad kickoff returns blocked kicks
Then week 2 the game is canceled. All that time on ESPN has been showing fsu lose to Bama now. Week 3 is a big in conference division loss. You recover in week 4 with a bad win over wake forest.
You're 4 weeks into the season and You've lost any shot at the national championship, a good shot at the conference championship is gone. Then it's a big rivalry game, a last redemption that you lose in week 5.
So yea all of that
Add to that the pressure cooker that is college football on a head coach and I'm beating that's when Jimbo knew he was done.
That adds a little more to the losses and the Morale. So yea the stats of fsu and the expectations of fsu last year and this year are gonna be tough to get a feel for
I think the point is that the talent advantage should have produced a better result. Essentially FSU had nearly the same year as VT in 2015 with the exact same thing happening. Of course by my own argument FSU in 2018 could look like VT in 2016 with a new coach having lost a starting QB the previous season in the first game.
re: "a real likelihood for FSU to return to mediocrity (reminiscent of VT's early ACC years)>"
Not sure what you mean by the implication that VT was mediocre in its early ACC years. From 2004 (our first year in the ACC) until 2011, our guys won at least 10 games a year, won the Atlantic Division six times, and the ACC conference title four times. The bowl record was disappointing (3 wins, 5 losses) but otherwise I would not describe that as a period of mediocrity.
I think he was saying FSU was mediocre in our early ACC years
Ok, I can see that reading of the text now. Perhaps I should have known that everyone on this site would well versed on our history, I just read it differently than that.
I predict 60% of afternoon thunderstorms making way for partial clearing in the evening, and temps settling into the mid 70's by kickoff.
Oh wait...
Honestly, the only thing that would surprise me in this game is a 24+ point win for either team. Anything between there seems like a reasonable outcome to me, given all the uncertainty we've dealt with this offseason and the uncertainty of how well Taggart will have organized his players for game 1. Talent-wise, the line feels about right, if not a little low, but I feel like we have a fairly significant coaching advantage.
The only certainty is hearing about 2 hours worth of the damn chop through the TV.
Honestly, I think we win. By somewhere around 6 points. JJ needs to have a smart night and our defense needs to play not stupid. Akers can be contained if people play to their responsibility..
Either way, I think we win and I think I'll have an anxiety attack before over.
We get the ball first and score on a 7 minute drive. 3 and out for F$U and we score again. Crowd is out. Offense plays lights out. F$U's season is derailed before it begins. The good guys win this game 31-17.
I also fear that if both teams play sloppy, talent gives FSU the advantage.
But if good coaching and a lunch pail mentality weren't worth much, then there would be no such thing as Hokie football. I say we wear 'em down, 31 to 24!
I'm expecting this...
Unfortunately, I'm expecting we'll be on the wrong end of it.
That's a boat race.
Willie Taggart is Captain Obvious. 👨✈️
Willie Taggart posts in the wrong thread.
After hearing so many complaints about having to go to work Tuesday morning, I guess I'm just glad I live on the west coast. 5:00 pm kickoff!
VPI&SU win by 12 , old timer at church asked what I thought . gut feeling the good guys win
I did an emotional hedge by taking FSU at -6.5 earlier this summer at one of our fine, newly legal east coast sports books.
Would be happy to lose my money as it means we either played it respectably close or won. I'm not heading to the game expecting us to win though. I think we lose in that 7-13 point range.
We are going to get smoked like a doobie in a freshman dorm.
There, I finally said it!
Win or lose, I expect to hear this in my sleep.
I think our defense will get gashed a lot. Those 3 running backs are all monsters, and our defense is young. Last year's defense would've had trouble containing those three. The question is - can the offense score enough to keep us in the game? I think FSU wins 41-31. I think we see a lot of promise on both sides of the ball, but not enough to win us this game.
First off, I'm drinking, my brother turns 40, can't make it to the party so I'm drinking for him...
Second, these damn kids better be in bed on time for the first day of school. Last time they screwed up bedtime during a game, we lost to Miami.
As far as the game, I expect a blowout, just not sure which team will be on the good end. Herbstreit said it tonight at the end of the NW game, there's just so many unknowns on both teams.
Well it's a Monday, so we are going to go down there, scare the shit out of them, and beat their ass. I have included a simulation of what is going to happen below.
CALLED. THAT. SHIT.
Not sure if this has been posted, but Jonathan Vilma yesterday on CFB Live and Desmond Howard this morning have picked our game as upset of the week. Granted Vilma doesn't think it'll be much of an upset based on rankings but they both talked about how young we were and the talent that Taggert inherited. So in that sense it would be. Take from it what you want as I know some folks on here aren't fans of ESPN, but I think it never hurts the program to be discussed on the national football stage/ESPN and recognize that we are building a good squad that can contend in the ACC.
Desmond loves us. When we are on the picks for the week he almost always picks us. I would have to agree.
As with several others on here, I see it as a bit of a toss-up. We could win close or lose close, I just hope we show some positives to build on in the next few games and throughout the season.
I have no idea how the game itself will go.
I do know that the TKP game thread will be an apocalypse of emotions. I love going to the game threads after a win and seeing the violent, almost schizophrenic mood swings.
Yeah I'll be steering clear of TKP game thread and if we lose tbh i won't logon for about 4-5 days. Sometimes TKP isn't the healthiest thing to do after a tech loss.
I find that hard to believe, you come across as a masochist.
This is nothing...I love reading the 247 boards when Motu would make a good play..they would still be ripping him...lol
Hokies win in a shootout, 48-34.
Pregame through the first quarter: Blanton's single barrel.
It starts ugly. Mistakes on both sides of the ball for us. FSU capitalizes and the crowd does us no favors.
3 and outs. Turnovers. Questionable play calls. Anything that promises shouts of anger at the screen, it will happen.
We will be down 21-3 midway through the second quarter.
Announcers will begin their "I know it's early but" Francois Heisman talk.
I will turn off my phone from all the "sky is falling" texts my buddies are sending.
Switching to Michter's small batch.
Game will feel so far out of reach, the young guys start playing loose. With the help of a successful desperation/trickeration play like below:
we'll swing momentum & chip away... down 24-10 by the half.
Cracking open the Wyoming Whiskey Private Stock at this point.
We'll make adjustments, come out hot. FSU fails to answer and we expose them for who they are this early in the season. Offense explodes with fast pace & quick scoring. Special teams tacks on a TD as well on a punt return. Announcers reference Beamer Ball over a dozen times for the remainder of the game. Tied up 31-31 by the end of the third.
Fourth Quarter? Larceny.. because at this stage of the night, it's all the same.
We hit our stride. Defense puts on a clinic and shuts them out the rest of the way sans one field goal.
Final nail in the coffin is an interception returned for a TD by Caleb Farley with 2:34 left on the clock.
Announcers focus on how FSU is still a contender this year and blames sloppy play & learning the system to understand how this could happen. Hokie fans rejoice. Bud Foster is a genius.
I turn my phone back on.
Monday night can't come soon enough.
(Bourbon plotting my evening... inspired by Living4Fall's post above)
VT 38 - FSU 24
I'm calling a win for the good guys.
The score will make it look closer than it really is.
I think the oline is able to keep the ground game consistent and JJ uses the success to air it out on 1st and 2nd down.
Buds D looks bad early, but gets some TO's that start the avalanche.
Late game the sheer volume of amazing FSU recruits pull out some points that brings the game level, but by then it's too late.
Having watched a ton of Oregon last year, this offense is something that needs an incredibly sharp QB. Francois is not that. Add in the fact that FSU has some serious ego issues. Their running game will be turned to early and the air will get shut down by speedy D that hits hard.
Looking forward to this one.
Let's Go!
HOKIES!
Eh. Cover, not necessarily victory.
The only thing that I know for sure is that I will be hoarse and exhausted on Tuesday morning (taking a bus trip from Orlando to the game, arriving back at 5am). Thankfully I'm off on Tuesday. As for the game, I go back to 2014 at The Shoe and 2016 against Clemson. Both teams had more talent than us (both won national titles) and we beat one (on the road) and damn near beat the other one with only a week to prepare. Until proven otherwise, In Bud and Fuente I trust! VT-34 FSU-30.
LET'S GO!!!!
My expectation is that HokieEnginerd and I will watch the game (and maybe terrify the dog) and enjoy some smoked meat. Then Tuesday will be a long day in Kindergarten because I stayed up too late.
What VPIhokieME wants to happen: VT offense goes ham and Bud's downhill attacking defense works like magic against a team designed to feast on read and react defenses. VT cruises to a 66-24 win.
What VPIhokieME expects to happen: Both teams struggle offensively in the first quarter. FSU leads by a FG at half and runs away with it in the second half on the heels of the crowd and more talent. FSU 34-24
What VPIhokieME thinks could happen: FSU starts fast and takes a two score lead into half. VT storms back with a 3 score 3rd quarter and makes the game close. Special teams makes the difference for the winning team. VT 45-42
I also expect this drive to suck balls.
I expect the D to play well overall but get gashed on a few backbreaking runs by their insanely talented RBs in the 2nd half to allow FSU to pull away and not make it very close. Something like 38-21. But I'm usually the pessimist in the room.
My son asked me on the way to church who I thought would win. I went on for a bit about how hard it is to predict (all the stuff we've all heard, read and thought the past couple weeks).
I then found myself saying that I think the offense will put up enough points to win and it will really come down to whether the defense plays with a maturity beyond its collective starting experience. It was weird to say. I'm so used to watching our defense do enough and our offense struggle by comparison.
With all that said, I am picking the Hokies (with far more zeal than confidence)!
A couple weeks ago on Tech Talk Live, Fuente was just so positive about the team. I was really struck by his tone and optimism. I'm ready to watch some Hokie Football!!
Fuente's optimism shouldn't be taken likely. He may not have open open practices or reveal much injury information but he is a straight shooter on how he feels. He wasn't very optimistic last year.
I'm with you on finding it compelling.
GO HOKIES!
Thank you guys for that. You've helped me find a bit more confidence to go with my zeal. Usually, I'm all hyped and in the front seat of the train, but this year I'm just, well, tentative about what we have for all the obvious reasons. Your assessment of Fuente's optimism is encouraging.
Only 8 hours until the Hokes face F**k Stick University!
Let's GO!
Expectations: looking better than Miami
Someone help me be a better viewer tonight:
What should I be looking for in pre-snap alignments, pre-snap motion, and immediately after the snap?
Last night I tried to watch the O-line when Miami played LSU instead of following the ball. It was hard to train my eye, but interesting to see things develop a bit more clearly.
I'd love some keys to keep my eyes on tonight.
Go Hokies!!!!
I'm getting real nervous guys......
But I'm wearing a VT hawaiian shirt to a labor day bbq I'm going to so i think it will all work out.
I'll be a homer with the hot take. We handle them easily and win by 14. We keep Akers silent all night: Francois has more rust than he can shake off and his receivers aren't as good as last time he was at the helm. Our defense let's up 2 busted plays but plays surprisingly well otherwise. Our running game plays all of our backs and Mclease is the best but still not great. Under 100 yards rushing. JJ has progressed and Hazelton emerges as the dude. 3 tds from JJ.
I can see just about anything happening right now, including this. Trying to be optimistic, I keep thinking about the 2014 OSU game. If Bud can disrupt their OL and keep the QB uncomfortable with some unique looks and blitzes, and our offense can be efficient, move the chains, and avoid turnovers, I think we can pull this off. We managed to confuse OSU's OL back in '14 and keep Barrett rattled all night, also keeping Elliott pretty quiet. We are more inexperienced on defense for this game, but far more experienced and talented on O in comparison.
I'll leave it to bud but I hope we blitz early and often with our younger guys to get pressure on Francois and leave as much experience out in coverage as possible
Not to far off with this prediction.....well done
🤗
Whoever had 'Jump out early then enter a defensive struggle before finally pulling away late' may claim the pot.