I know it's not the smartest thing to put a lot of faith in the folks over at ESPN.com but I think they might have gotten this one right with Facyson being on this list.
Link is here: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9825824/marcus-mariota-mi...
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With us being 1/2 way through the year, how will Exum's return affect us on Defense? The kids out there are playing EXTREMELY well together- Does the addition of Exum mess up their swagger?
**response is in regards to how well Facyson is playing***
I don't think it will hurt on-field chemistry too much if Exum splits time with Facyson, but if they do this, I can't see Facyson continuing to put up the numbers/stats to be a true All-American (no where near counting him out for being on the All-American Freshmen team)
Yes, this is true. Plus with how Bud Foster has been dialing up different players to play whip or special assignments, Exum adds a bit of flexibility to defensive schemes.
I know we're all incredibly biased towards the Hokies here, but I'm trying to look past that and I'm still beyond surprised no one else from our D made the list.
Yeah, I'm surprised too. Kyle for instance.
I thought if anybody Kyle would have made it. Facyson was a nice surprise but if I had to guess one player they would have picked I thought it would have been Kyle. Not that Facyson isn't deserving too.
Typical ESPN picking the guy with the flashy interception number (who doubtless has been exceptionally good) versus the guy who most here would agree is having the best year among our secondary (Kyle).
That said, what other school can make a comment like this about their secondary?
The better ESPN article would have been the one that said they're going to simplify the process and just name the Hokies' starting D the mid-season All-American team.
Regarding Facyson and his interceptions, was anybody else disappointed that we didn't have any INTs against Pitt? Street and Boyd are great receivers, but I was really hoping we would pull one in.
Savage never got the chance to throw at a receiver, we sacked him practically every time he dropped back. Damn it Dadi... /sarcastica/
I will take more sacks, but I just hoped that all that pressure would force a bad decision. I guess the bad decision Savage made was to hold onto the ball and continue to get whipped by Dadi.
Savage was crushed before he could heave the ball into traffic. Blame the d-line.
Facyson almost had one when he jumped a route.
I thought he was going to take it to the house if he held on to it.
The only other player on our D that I think might have done enough nationally would be J.R. Collins but he doesn't have the *Wow* factor, even though he leads the team in sacks, tackles for loss, fumbles forced, is 4th in tackles, and if he could have had a little more body control he probably would have had two more sacks against Pitt. Quiet but deadly benefiting from the focus on James Gayle
Jack Tyler, Kyle Fuller, D. Hopkins, J.R. Collins, J. Gayle, and Kysheon Jarret will also be on someone's All American list when it's all said and done. They may not be on the same one (i.e. ESPN) or on the same All America team (1, 2, 3rd) but these guys are NFL bound.
Football players may be Americans,
some may be all Americans,
but only a chosen few are Hokies, All Maroon, All Everything.
Not enough Hokies, I'll be on my way.
Why doesn't Exum get a medical redshirt and come back and play Safety next year? These two DB's are playing as good or better than Exum did when 100% healthy last year. Bringing Exum in now would be Uncle Frank outsmarting himself. Don't mess with success.
Exum is not able to receive a medical redshirt. You have to lose 2 years due to injury to qualify.
Pretty sure Case Keenum from Houston got a medical redshirt during his fifth year. He was actually hurt in the third or fourth game, and the NCAA gave him a full extra season.
The difference there was that Keenum was redshirted for his first year because of a separated shoulder from high school. The ACL injury later in his career led to a second lost season. Exum's redshirt was not due to injury, so he's not eligible for a second year of redshirt, unless the coaches cook up a story, which I expect will not happen at Virginia Tech.
Would love it if they actually played an AA game so Sankey could run behind Yankey!
We need all the boys playing when we CRUSH a certain Florida team....
I agree that Facyson has been great this year, but I don't know if he has even been our best corner. I'd take Kyle over him still. I think the only reason he's on that list is because of his interception numbers.
Remember, espn is all about "flash" plays, i.e. interceptions. That's what matters to them
I think secespn forgot about our DL and Fullers..not to mention A.J.
I doubt we'll see too many defenders on All-American lists this year. We'll get a few, but the problem is that everyone is playing so well that no one stands out above the pack. All four starting D-Linemen, both Fullers, Faycson, Jarrett and Tyler could be worth All-American status, but none of them are the undisputed star of the defense the way guys that show up on that list are. Everyone just goes to work on Saturday, does their job and terrorizes opposing offenses. I bet what happens is we get one guy on every All-American list, but it's someone different each time.
It feels good to get the pat on the back, but you're right. No one player is going to have astronomical numbers, but if and when a player gets an award at the end of the season they will be excepting it one handed. Because they will have a lunch pail full of Hokies in the other.
Agreed 100%. On a lesser defense, someone like Tyler would rack up astronomical tackle numbers and show up all over the awards. I'm guessing he ends up with less tackles this year vs. last due to his teammates stepping up more. That doesn't mean that he isn't one of the best linebackers in the country, though.
I love how they listed that DE from Missouri who has 6 total sacks and all of them came against Vanderbilt and Arkansas State. Bravo