Hey fam its been a while since I've been on the ole TKP but I guess there's nothing that brings a family closer together than a real tragedy, eh? Gut wrenching loss no doubt about it and I don't know about anybody else but I'm looking forward to the bois getting back out there in an attempt of showing us that this past Saturday isn't all they've got.
So anyway, I'm always an optimist heading into a season when it comes to injuries so for backups (especially at a key position like QB) I always assume their playing time will be at the end of cupcake games like William and Mary and ODU. Needless to say my knowledge of Ryan Willis is limited, I mean I've read his stat sheets and seen his highlight videos from Kansas but what else should I know about this guy? How does Fuente plan on using him exactly? Also I've heard faint rumors of off the field issues? (#sauces)
Basically what can I expect with this guy at the helm for what appears the majority if not the remainder of the season?
Comments
If it wasn't gonna be me I figured it would be you when I clicked this thread.
The fastest hands
In the weston the site.He's deceptively fast.
As a middle linebacker in HS my coach constantly referred to me as deceptively slow.....
He's a good athlete. His dad was a kicker at Kansas State. His mom ran track at Iowa State. Both of his sisters played college basketball, one at OU and one at Saint Louis.
Much better arm talent than JJ. Probably worse decision making or he would have been starting. But....we are at the "take a risk" part of this choose your own adventure story.
Some background from his time at Kansas:
I'm sure he's pretty good given what I saw at the spring game. I just went to the well one too many times with the white football player cliche jokes.
He's a real gym rat, a real hard worker.
Well played.
It's like a CYOA where the last person to read it blacked out the good choices so that the only ones left are the risky ones.
I first read CYOA as a modification of CYA, so my brain thought you were saying "cover your own ass" and the rest of the sentence didn't make sense.
But we also have to take into account that he played against an 0-3 ODU defense.
Whoa now, 1-3. They've got a quality win under their belt.
I know. I was talking about BEFORE the end of the game.
So did JJ. Willis QBR is higher for the game and he played when they knew that we were going to have to pass on 90% of plays.
TBH im not worried there's not much lower you can get than losing to ODU. Any form of quarterback play would be better than what was put forth on saturday
I'm not so sure the QB play was particularly bad on Saturday. One under-thrown ball for an Int by JJ and a couple of missed opportunities. But some good decisions in the read option game and a lot of nice completions.
But I will say that the OL play was incredibly inconsistent. On any given play the DL was on their heels or a nice pocket was maintained but on another, severe penetration or a jail break pass rush.... It really was all over the place.
The offense wasn't brilliant, but it was enough to win a game if you could stop the other team from scoring instead of extending their drives with penalties.
Both QB's completing 50% I'd say is a bad outing.
This isn't my impression. JJ looked tentative at times. He looked down his primary receiver on virtually every play and he didn't check down to wide open WR's when the primary was covered. I would call that bad play for a 2nd year starter.
I'm with you for the most part, and I certainly wasn't saying it was great. But I think the main concern for me was the O-line. Improvement there will make a change in starting QB much less worrisome.
Thank You for Telling the Facts ! JJ was a starter because Fuente wanted Him. Bench full of better passers and runners But Fuente wanted his boy.. Thank You..
So he wanted to start the one QB on the roster he didn't recruit? Makes total sense.
Yeah, I'm not sure that this is what I said or even implied. We have zero proof that there's a "Bench full of better passers and runners". I'd wager that overall, JJ did a better job in practice of not turning over the ball (ball security is Coach Fuente's #1 priority), of making good reads on passes and making good decisions, when there are decisions to be made (e.g., read option, RPO) in the run game. I'd wager that this is a matter of Willis not showing enough to beat out the incumbent, in practice.
We have no idea how anyone but JJ will perform in live game situations against a non-FCS opponent with the notable exception of the 4th quarter of last week and by then the entire team was in meltdown mode, so that's not a test of Willis that you can do much with (not to mention that he didn't get snaps with the 1's all week in preparation).
This week we'll see if everyone who's clamoring for Willis are correct. I'm guessing that we'll see a lot of the same that we saw with JJ, but I'd love to be wrong and have Willis come out and be the new Will Grier.
Help me understand why you capitalized 'Telling' and 'Facts'.
I was more focused on the capitalization of 'Him'. Was JJ deified at some point and I wasn't aware of it? Or did Fuente really prefer Jesus behind center?
Don't judge me. I don't have PS at work so I have to use Paint. =^/
What do you think both Js stand for in JJ? That's right, Jesus Jesus.
The multiple Jesuses have put this in my head, so I'll share the experience.
the plural is jeseese
Exactly! Just like Motu am I right Jack Crow? And that's the Truth (with a capital T so you know I'm being serious)!
Speak That Dam Truth!
Is this the new "Ima speak the damned truth"?
IDK about that. As much as losing to ODU sucks, going on a losing streak would be so much worse.
*whispering 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0.*
I love how everyone likes to blame the QBs for the 49 points ODU scored
It seems like Willis came in and was displayed some poise in the pocket, especially on the 4th down TD pass.
Don't kill me TKP, just making this GIF as a joke
unacceptable....how can anyone make a Gif against the best coach ever? hehehehehe...just kidding!!!!! I thought she would knock the other girl first....
Need to add Bradburn in the background. ;^)
The man is one hell of a kicker too, made a 53 yarder' on this Instagram profile.
New trick play
Kick the field goal on 1st down when inside their 30. They'll never see it coming
The way it's been going, I was fully expecting to open this post and find news that Willis had been hit by a car.
thanks for jinxing him
Those Aussie's do drive on the left side of the road.
That's a sneakily funny comment. Have a leg!
That would be good news for Hooker fans.
Posted in the JJ injury thread but I'll essentially repost my story here if that's acceptable. I've been rooting for Willis all along, if nothing else because I sat by him in a class in spring 2017 (when he transferred & enrolled in the spring). Pretty normal dude from my limited interactions with him. I saw him studying plays during class leading up to the spring game that year lol.
I was a long snapper in high school.
Someone's dad has diabetes
Are you implying that I'm bragging about sitting next to Ryan Willis in class......? Just never expected him to actually be our starting QB lol. And also, he seemed nice enough to me so just throwing that out there with what's been said.
refer to: my dad has diabetes
I feel lile this is kinda a dickish thing to have standardized on here lol. "Cool story bro" is pretty demeaning.
Yea I prefer, "turns out I've never even been to Mt. Vesuvius"
My expectations are tepid for Willis. I know many were excited with how he moved the team after he came in. While it won't be part of the film review (I thought it would be fair for Willis to get a full week with the first team and work out timing issues before making an assessment.) However, he missed some reads, had a couple of late throws, and made a couple of really poor decisions that he didn't have to pay for. Against good ACC teams, those bad decisions will become turnovers.
I hope I am wrong.
Hope he balls out but in case he doesn't hope Hooker is an absolute baller in game situations and shows the coaches something they hadn't seen before.
I've made my opinions on this team quite well known as a columnist for sbnation and I can't say I didn't see all of this coming. Here's to hoping my more tepid preseason predictions of a 13 win season (scoffed at by the fifth fuller) are still well intact.
The fade to Savoy was a bad and late decision.
The out to Kumah was a terrible route by Kumah.
Wheel route to Savoy, not a fade. But yes, he threw into bracketed coverage, with Hazelton one on one on the opposite side.
Kumah's route was terrible and Willis had zero smoke on it. It took next level incompetence by the ODU corner not to pick that off.
Yep, Willis back-footed that out to Kumah. It's pretty poor to back-foot an out, no matter how bad the route is. And that route was bad.
From my viewing of the game, all of these statements are true of JJ's performance. I've been a JJ supporter, but he didn't have a good game and had a couple passes of his own that should have been picks. JJ was the starter for a reason. I'm in definite wait and see mode for Willis.
I'm seeing a number of comments about Fromm taking over at UGA. Eason won the starting job and suffered an injury. From all that I read (and I live in Atlanta so there was a lot to read on it), Fromm took more of the good things that he did in practice, to the game. Eason on the other hand, was significantly better in practice, than in games and he wasn't bad in games, he just wasn't as good a Fromm. If we see something similar from Willis, this will be good for VT, but we have a view into Willis as a starter, when he was at Kansas. What you read of it, isn't great. Every great play was paired with a head scratching turn over. He seemed to have the Favre gunslinger mindset, without the Favre talent.
He seemed to have the Favre gunslinger mindset, without the Favre talent
so Michael brewer?
We'll see. Given what we have for intel, I'd say Brewer was somewhere between Willis and Favre, on the talent scale. Then again, Brewer was a Jr with VT and I'm comparing him to tFr showing for Willis.
I would be thrilled to have a 6'4" Brewer at this point.
Willis is a rJR
played at Kansas his FR and SO seasons, sat out last year after transferring.
Yes, but he started at KU as a Frosh. That's the last real experience that we have to go on. Hence my comment that we're comparing Jr Brewer to Fr Willis.
woops, missed that. My bad
Hey French, with the missed reads you mentioned, were those misses when it comes to reading the defense and knowing what his primary look should be, or something else?
I totally get the tepidness, especially getting your first start against Duke, who you know will be tough, well coached, and has those stud LB's you've called out.
I'm gonna just be real ignorant here, but I'm not sure anyone can get me excited about a guy that couldn't start at Kansas....
Sorry for the wet blanket.
I feel you.
But from what I've read about him trying to find more of his backstory, apparently he couldn't fit into Kansas' air raid offense.
Wait...Kansas has an "air raid offense?" Do they know about this?
Never said it was a working offense...
But is it effective?
Idk, but it is offensive
This made me laugh, thank you
The Kansas version is dubbed "Air Fade"
Sorry for another wet blanket, but Kansas has a 2 game winning streak and both their wins are against FCS opponents if memory serves
Kansas was on a 2-game winning streak before losing 26-7 to Baylor, and they were both FBS opponents (they lost their opener to an FCS team), but they were both very bad FBS teams (Central Michigan and Rutgers).
I've heard he's Vanilla Vick...no wait...that was Michael Brewer. My bad!
If he can be Michael Brewer and give this team that kind of energy - I'll take it!
6'4 Michael Brewer?! Yes please!
guess i should have read a little further, honestly didn't expect anyone else to make the brewer comparison. but i guess great minds think alike, or battered, beaten, highly irrational minds that have been through the ringer with head scratching QBs for years.
I like Willis. Thought he looked much better in the Spring Game. Also believe he's a better runner than JJ. His over the shoulder pass to Hazelton in the W&M game was butter!
Hope to see Hooker in some capacity too.
His ability to contribute in the run game is a big unknown. He hasn't shown anything that exceeded what Jackson has done and his rushing stats at Kansas were not good. Expect defenses to continue to not account for the QB in the run game until he really shows something.
It was also a throw into tight coverage when another receiver (Savoy I think) was wide open. That game made me feel better about JJ starting. Note I said better, not good.
Willis does appear talented though, and Fuente seems to get a lot from talented guys that aren't great decision makers, like Evans.
When our receivers look (at times) like they couldn't catch the flu at an anti-vaxx daycare, it doesn't matter very much who is throwing the ball.
Your signature quote fits well on this one.
I can't stop laughing at this. Thanks for making my night.
I laughed so hard it hurts. Or maybe it hurts because it's true, and I laughed anyway.
Yeah, I had to leg it just for that.
One thing that occurred to me today is how much better a position we are in with Willis taking over QB1 duties as compared to when Brewer went down in the OSU game and Motley had to step in. I liked Motley, and I think he played hard, but he didn't seem to have the passing upside that Willis has.
Consider that Willis did all right in a game where his physical/ mental prep was as a backup. This week he's full-on 1st teamer knowing he'll be the guy. Can say 'yeah he should have been ready' but its nothing like knowing you'll be the starter. I'd expect him to play at a different level this week.
And consider at Kansas, he played a boat load (think I saw 5 mentioned) games vs. top 15 teams behind an atrocious OL.
I would like to see some creativity at this point. I know Fuente isn't a gambler and I am not high on Hooker from what I have seen on him so far. Having said that, I don't feel like other teams are afraid of Hooker passing and I think that presents opportunities. We should start working Hooker into games into games in the "wild turkey" while Willis is still on the field. I know this presents risks from an injury perspective but I think we could do so many things to keep defenses guessing. Hooker comes in with Willis split wide. Run the "wild turkey". Later on Hooker comes in with Willis split wide and he passes. Switch it around and do the same thing with Willis under center and Hooker out wide. Later in the season work Patterson into it.
I usually don't mind the conservative approach but at this point we may need to do things that will really cause opposing DC's to have to account for the kitchen sink and then some. I feel like only the most elite defenses will be able to defend that higher level of unpredictability.
I love JJ. I wish him a speedy recovery. I'm 100% behind all our QB's. This is going to be a challenge and I want to see them step up and meet the challenge. I also want to see the coaches get creative to give them every advantage possible and to spark interest and excitement in the fan base. It's one thing to go down quietly and boringly it's another thing to go down swinging. At this point I think we need to start swinging.
"...and I am not high on Hooker from what I have seen on him so far.
You do know that Hooker is averaging 69 yards and 1.0 TDs a carry, right?? /s
Yes.
This is something I have felt in many of the losses under Fuente with the definite exception of the ACCC against Clemson. It felt like we left everything on the field in that loss. Possible exception of bowl game against OK St. We faked a punt, sent AJ Bush out for a few plays, if my memory serves, to try and get a spark.
Clemson and Miami last year, and ODU this year especially, I'm not sure we did everything we could to win those games. I'm not sure we took every chance.
https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/acc/clemson-university/article21...
Can we mobilize a bag man to the Upstate stat!
Currently watching his 2015 game against then #3 Baylor, he played really well on the opening drive. Here's the link if anyone's interested. 2015 Baylor vs Kansas
Just watched the first quarter.
1. If our offense could be like that Baylor offense, I think we would all be happy.
2. Willis seemed to make really quick reads, probably designed plays, but quick nonetheless.
3. He seemed to be able to make it through his progressions. At least making it to his checkdowns.
4. He did try to thread the needle a few times, sometimes when he shouldn't have.
5. Insert cliche about being deceptively fast, but i think he will be a better runner then we think.
Just my uneducated thoughts.
I just finished the game, only watching Kansas on offense. I thought he looked pretty good, he tried to force the ball a couple times like you noticed. His receivers were not very good, cost him probably 60 yards off of dropped balls. The thing that really stood out was his ability to extend plays, he definitely seems to have a good pocket presence/ability to avoid pressure.
I'm sure Fuente has been working on getting him to play it safer.
The play at the 35:30 mark- yes
https://youtu.be/kcW-FG_F23Q?t=2127
Wow, that's a heads-up play by both him and the receiver. Threw it back shoulder where only his man could get to it, and the receiver looked back at the right time and made the adjustment.
This is the blocking he got on essentially the last play of the TCU game.
On a three-man rush. That left tackle should sue the DE for physical and emotional abuse.
Good God. I thought our O-line was bad for the last 15 years.
This gives you context for his freshman year. They had rotated through 9 different starters on the offensive line. They did not help him out by establishing a run game. They were averaging 2.3 yards per carry against conference opponents. Since this game Ryan Willis has been working with coaches and practicing with P5 teams since 2015.
It seems like if The offensive line can block like they did during the first two games, and we can establish a running game. (Peoples and Mclease have looked good at times). Then Willis and the offense should be just fine.
I expect that the defense will play well this week because they have been solid ALMOST every game for the past 20 plus years. We have an excellent opportunity to go 1-0 this week.