It wasn't that long ago that Fancy Gap Frank was in the twilight years of his coaching career. We loved (and still do) Frank. He put VT football on the map, he took us right to the top and almost gave VT its first, and ever elusive, team National Championship.
We all know and have all chronicled in our own way what happened since that fateful night in New Orleans on January 4, 2000. We squandered a couple of opportunities with talent laden teams, we failed on the recruiting trail in those later years, and Frank Beamer was just too loyal to his staff (the offensive guys in particular). Many more narratives have been discussed, especially here on TKP, and they all carry some weight as to why VT Football hasn't ascended from it place in the CFB world as a really good program to being a great program.
Enter the 2015 season. Frank's final season (a sentimental one at that). We got ECU'd, then lost close games to Pitt, UM, Duke, and UNC. We needed to keep the streak going against LOLUVA in order to go bowling. I will confess, I was a bit nervous heading into that weekend. But I remember that last game. I was in Scott Stadium with hoards of other Hokies. The game was much closer than anyone would have wanted, but it was a perfect ending to the the legendary career of Frank Beamer. I still love that man!
On November 29th of the same season, Justin Fuente was named as the new Head Whistle in Blacksburg (following the 2015 season of course). A sexy hire? No. But a hire that seemed just right for the Virginia Tech community. The sentiment was mostly positive, if I remember correctly, but there were a few skeptics out there.
The entire off season was filled with angst as we looked at yet another down year in recruiting. Not Fuente's fault of course as his main job was to simply keep the guys who had committed and then land a couple of others. I thought he performed admirably, most notably by signing JUCO QB Jerod Evans.
2016 was a good year! The transition was about as seamless as it could be. But Foster was still in town. and despite the ugly start in Bristol, hope abounded! We finally had an offense in Blacksburg. On the days that the receivers couldn't break loose or the running game was sputtering, Jerod Evans put the offense on his shoulders, literally becoming a battering ram against opposing defenses. Justin Fuente took this Hokie team back to the ACC title game to face the eventual National Champion. The Hokies weren't quite there yet. But again, things are looking up for Fuente and this football program. Finding our way to the ACCCG was once again part of the expectation in Blacksburg.
Enter 2017. Jerod Evans surprisingly declared for the NFL draft, the offense loses two of its best weapons on the outside (Bucky Hodges & Isaiah Ford), and all of a sudden the team is young again. Not only is the team young again, but there was no depth behind those aforementioned playmakers. I think if we are looking at the 2017 season through the correct lenses, we would likely see that this is Fuente's true 1st season. He has his first real recruiting class under his belt (we see many positives there), and he's breaking in a young QB. Despite what our Orange and Maroon glasses may have lead us to see, in reality we couldn't really have expected the same success as the 2016 season.
Following that opening win against the Cousins, that hope that we had in 2016 is reignited. But that is short lived as we soon realize that we simply don't have the horses to keep up with talented teams like Clemson and Miami (and for the 2nd straight season, we can't seem to score against GT). The season ends with a loss to a pretty good Oklahoma State football team in a bowl game. We all mentally head to the recruiting season anxiously waiting to see if the new staff can continue to gain momentum on the recruiting trail. The class is good by VT standards, but maybe not great if you ask enough Hokie faithful.
And so here we find ourselves - 2018 football season. Almost 20 years removed from that magical season where Mike Vick and Co. grabbed the hearts of football fans everywhere. Where are we exactly? Well I think we are in year 2 of the Fuente rebuild. I really think that first season is a wash.
There are 19 Freshman and Sophomores in the 2 deep. We are seeing yet another starting QB. And this is the least experienced defense we've seen Bud Foster ever coach. I'm going to be honest, I thought a bowl bid should be the expectation this season, but I didn't see much more. I certainly didn't see a loss at ODU, but I didn't see a win against ND either.
The team looks bigger than its looked in quite some time. The team seems faster than it has been in some time. The "Wow" moments are popping up all over the place from various players. Fuente's players, young as they are, are getting on the job experience this season. This squad has some talent, serious talent in some places, but the youth and depth at certain positions (here's looking at you FS) cannot be overlooked. Most of the errors that we have seen in our two losses have been execution errors that older more experienced players typically don't make.
And so for some of the hand wringing about whether or not the program has stagnated, when was the last time we saw this much young talent on the field? When was the last time any of us remember having anything that remotely resembles a serviceable OL? When was the last time we could name 6 different WRs that could make a big play at any point in the game? At all of those positions, the guys are young
Who are we exactly? We are an extremely young team still looking for a QB and a game changing RB. And might I suggest, one of those might be on the roster right now. But even with that I think we are still a couple of years away from not seeing what we saw last night.
VT football is on the move, despite how we all might feel after the apparent thumping from last night. I know I might sound like Fancy Gap Frank here, but a small hand full of plays really changed the game. Plays that VT should have made, and probably will as the season unfolds.
Lastly, for everyone in Twittersphere hating on the VT entrance, pre-game hype, etc., just remember, this is College Football, its part of the deal no matter how good or bad your team is. We all have some sort of buy in here. This is our team, and part of that is what we, as fans, bring to the stadium. Haters gonna hate, right? No one would be hating on our pre-game hype if the fans sucked. We don't suck FAM. We aren't LOLUVA, or any other ACC school not named Clemson or FSU. We are VT, and we should be damn proud of that regardless of the growing pains that we are seeing right now.
Go Hokies!
Comments
FSU is down right now, Notre Dame was down a few years back, PSU was down recently, Michigan was down, Miami had been down way longer than we have been and they actually get talent, UF has been down a lot, Georgia just lost to Ga Tech a few years ago...everybody has down years. We are getting experience and good players into the system, that's all that matters. The guys will continue to improve, get smarter and stronger, and at least our losses are not ACC losses. That being said I hope people realize we are not Miami or Clemson.
I'm optimistic we are on our way. No reason to be down after last night. Lots of teams struggle against top 10 teams.......they are top 10 for a reason.
I think we have a legit chance at the ACC with our remaining schedule and IF we win the games we are supposed to win will have another prime time opportunity against the Canes.
Also I wouldn't put Miami on the same level as Clemson. They haven't earned that yet.
Disappointed at the loss last night, but was just thinking about our record against some big name P5 opponents:
vs. Notre Dame: 1-1
vs. Ohio State: 1-1
vs. Nebraska(going back some years, I know): 2-0
vs. West Virginia: 1-0
vs. Tennessee: 1-1
I'm cherrypicking here, I know, but these numbers are not too shabby.
Texas aTm: 2-0
LSU: 1-1
UVA: 14-0
He did say "big name P5 opponents"....
Couldn't resist
Haters gunna hate, potatoes gunna potate
Y'all give the man his dang turkey legs.
Great perspective! The youthful mistakes were evident but watch out when these kids stop making those mistakes and mature in their execution! The future is looking good for the Hokies!
Only thing I'd argue about this is that in 2016, Fuente was a very 'sexy' hire imo. He was very highly sought after by all accounts, and I still believe that is for a good reason.
I stayed off of TKP last night during the game and all of today because I knew this would become a shitshow, and I think everyone needs to just chill out for a while. This is a VERY young team. We knew there would be ups and downs, learning experiences, great plays, and disappointing losses. Maybe we didn't expect the downs to be losing to ODU, but the highs so far have been showing out in a big way on the national stage in a pretty hostile stadium against an, albeit mediocre, FSU team and then following that up with a great game against an unbeaten and ranked Duke team.
Losing to ND is not as big of a deal as everyone is making it seem. Show me the last time that a fringe ranked team beat an undefeated #6 team that is looking like they will definitely be in the CFP after now winning four games against ranked opponents this year. No one expected us to win, but tech still held in there for 2.5 quarters. It wasn't a complete blowout the entire game.
We still have a chance to go 9-2, a shot at the ACCCG, and potentially more with bowl games. We are set to still have a very solid year with a young team, reportedly had a great turnout and reactions from recruits last night. You cant argue that we won't keep going up over the next few years, and if this is our floor, that's not too shabby.
We gonna be alright.
Well said, thank you for keeping things in perspective! Looking forward to the our guys gaining experience and growing before our eyes! Keep truckin!
The first half was vintage Lane Stadium and it was great being in the crowd doing my part to support the good guys!
Trade field goals for TDs and don't allow the fumble return for a TD and it's 28-10 at the end of the half. Let that sink in for a minute.
Notre Dame has a really good defense and we moved the ball on most drives.
Offensive penalties have killed drives all season and that was the case again last night.
I'm not really sure why fans are upset with the play calling. Other then the calls when we had first and goal, I thought the game plan was good.
Better days are right around the corner...to the fair weather fan, go ahead and get off the bus.
Lets not forget: When is the last time Fancy Gap Frank (or most D1 coaches in todays game) get the ball with 90 seconds left deep in their zone and try to push the ball down the field?
Fuente could have taken a conservative approach and tried to just run the clock out, but didn't. The result was a momentum swinging (albeit short lived swing) TD. That was huge for both the score and the ability to feel like we could have with ND (in the face of all the self inflicted wounds).
I was going to make a post similar to this in response to the attitudes I saw last night essentially calling this "the end" of Hokie Football, as if losing to most elite opponents is (a) unique to VT, and (b) a recent phenomenon. But since I haven't had time and a lot of it overlaps with what you already said I'll just add it here.
To add some perspective to where we stand now vs. the history of VT football, I want you to put yourselves in 1993. The year before, we experienced a statistical anomaly of 2-8-1, where the bottom had fallen out of the program in Frank Beamer's 6th season at the helm. Beamer was given one more chance to turn it around, and he rewarded us all with a 9-3 season including a bowl win.
It may sound weird that 1993 would count as a statistical anomaly, but you have the benefit of hindsight, where we've averaged about 8-9 wins per season since then. Instead, consider that that was our 7th bowl game appearance ever, and only our second ever bowl win, with the first bowl coming 47 years earlier in 1946. That's an average of one bowl appearance every 7-8 seasons. Not a great showing. By the way, in those 47 seasons, we had 5 seasons with a final record better than the 9-3 from 1993, compared with 6 that were worse than 2-8-1. The very definition of inconsistent and mediocre. But now, 25 years later, that 9-3 season has become the norm, or the expectation, rather than an outlier. But even then, we haven't been an "elite" program. We've finished in the top 10 only 7 times in that span, but top 5 only once, and that took a once-in-a-generation talent at the helm. Fuente's 2 seasons so far have put us at our above the 9-win mark after 4 seasons in which we severely underachieved (and IMO found this program's floor to be 6-6), and there's no reason to believe that we won't reach 9 wins again this year, especially if we play a game the weekend after UVA.
I'm not saying we should be content being a consistent #15-25 program, but I'm saying we shouldn't lose our minds every time we get beat by an elite program. This isn't a new phenomenon, it's essentially the same story we've been seeing since the mid 90s, where we beat the vast majority of teams we should beat, lose to the vast majority of elite-level opponents, and lose the occasional head-scratcher. We are pretty much on the same level as a Wisconsin or Oregon, consistently-good programs who never quite reach elite status. This may change eventually, but not without a significant change in the size of the Hokie Club and a similar amount of luck with finding or maintaining the right coaching staff. We can become elite... but it's not going to happen overnight, and doesn't start with winning a big game. It has to start from within.
I believe for a while in the 50s or 60s (I want to say early to mid 50s) we were part of a conference that pretty much forbade participation in "post season play". So there's a few years where we could have played bowl games but didnt.
I'd have to go back and read Chris Colston's book for specifics, but I seem to remember that being in there when he talks about our bowl history
We left the SoCon after the 1964 season, and were independent until joining the Big East. That's only 17 out of the 47 years I looked at. Also, in 1946 we went 3-3-2 in the SoCon, 7th in the conference standings, and went to the Sun Bowl.
I agree with all you've said....but keep in mind, not going to bowls in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's was a common occurance for many teams. There are now over 40 bowls....about 20 of those did not exist before 1999. You got the Belk Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the Birmingham Bowl ....the list of additional new bowls is lengthy.
But still plenty of teams Bowl streaks are less than 10 years old. Including Miami, Auburn, Ohio State (5), USCw (6), Texas A&M, Stanford (9).
Even the top teams aren't that long: Clemson 13, Bama 14.
UGA and VT are only ones who break 20. * not counting FSU.
FSU remaining games:
BYE
Wake
Clemson
NC State
Notre Dame
BC
Florida
See 3 more wins in there? Hell, do you see 2 more wins in there? I think their longer streak may be coming to an end (though it officially already had). Welcome to the Taggart
ErrorEraI really wish they had lost that Louisville game, I'd feel a lot better.
granted. But I still see maybe two games they'll be competitive in (Wake and Florida, if only because they seemed to be able to get it up to give Miami a run for their money and UF is another in state rival). I'd still bet the ML on each of those opponents.
I see three probable losses: Clemson, ND and Florida. They need to win the other three to be bowl eligible. I think that is very doable for FSU, they have far superior athletes than those teams, though I expect NCSU to put up a heck of a fight.
To further drive this perspective home, consider this.
Of the entire starting lineup for Notre Dame, there is only one underclassman (RT, So). The entire starting lineup is Jr., Sr., or Grad students .
In 2016 this same group went 5-7 (when these guys were underclassmen) and missed a bowl game. This 2016 group was what we now see taking the field for the 2018 VT Hokies. I think our 2018 group will end up with a better season than that 2016 ND group.
Good points. One small correction to your comment though, ND went 4-8 in 2016.
I did the math, it takes about 12 hours for sanity to return to The Key Play. Good post bud.
Hmm, coincedentally about the same amount of time for you to sober with a good nights sleep...
We basically lost a recruiting year when Frank retired. What was Fuente's first class rank? Was it even in the top 50? And that was with Evans as a 4* transfer.
We're missing that class, bad. I don't remember the ranking of Beamer's last class, but it too, probably wasn't that highly touted. Most of those players have either transferred, not developed, been kicked off the team, or have gone pro early. So, we're bottom heavy with underclassmen.
I don't understand why the loss, with all of this in mind, is such a shock. Going into the season, I thought we would do well to get to a bowl and I still think that.
These are growing pains. And, I also might add, that our head coach and OC are also young. They, too, are learning.
I'll say this, as a person who graduated from Tech in '99, who still lives in the area and who goes regularly to one or two games a year, Saturday's game day atmosphere was top-notch. Every ND fan I ran into said this was top-tier SEC quality atmosphere.
Sure, we lost, but saying "screw games until we start winning" is LOLUVA minded. Does Auburn or LSU quit their tailgating and team entrances when they have a down year? NO. Stop being a bunch of fair weather wimps and enjoy the fact that we have the envy of the collegiate world when it comes to game day atmosphere and scenery.
This thread is more along my way of thinking.
I see a future that's so bright that we'll be needing some shades.
This year on defense was always going to be "on the job training" for a lot of guys. We saw bright flashes and we also saw the glaring mistakes that come from inexperience. This defense will be nasty the next two years once the mental errors are coached out.
My favorite part of this weekend was talking to an ND fan during half time that said they were shocked they were up 1 because it felt like they were losing due to how we were moving the ball and then shutting down most of what they wanted to do in the first.
I think that anyone who watched the whole game would say that VT lost to VT, not to ND. And I am proud of that. Go Hokies!
I don't know, that was a pretty good team on the other sideline.
I think it's a little bit from Column A, a little bit from Column B.
ND had 25 yards in the second quarter. Bud was calling one hell of a game.
Saw this on another thread.. "the noise intimates our boys and not the opposing team". At first I thought they were an idiot, but I really thought about it and I think that man is a genius. What if it really does hurt us and intimates our guys and doesn't effect these big programs that are used to big games.... just my opinion though.
I don't buy "intimidates", but it could have an impact on communication for the D. From my perspective at the very top of the South EZ (the climb almost killed me), the D seemed to suffer from communication and knowing where to be from the time that they started to line up (a function of not knowing what the play call is?).
If that's an issue, it can and should be fixed.
Not the crowd noise, the communication.
I'd speculate that part of the communication issue may come from DD not being in the game. He was hurt for both ODU and ND. We gave up big yards and points in both games. Calling the right signals, based on reads is critical. Doing so quickly and decisively is important (not to mention, you have to have a voice that cuts through the noise).
Also I am tired of hearing "we are a few years away". I feel like that has been our main calling card for years now.
Honestly, it's the calling card of every team that loses a couple games each year consistently.
If we're talking about "years away from the playoffs", it's the calling card for every team that hasn't already been in the playoffs or a recent BCS game (an even Oregon can't really consider themselves any closer than we are).
Penn State is about as realistically close to the playoffs as we are right now, for example.
Well, how may years in a row was Miami "back" or years from being "back".
Well, it takes "a few years" for recruiting classes to have a big impact, unless you go from #48 to #8 like Ol Miss did under Nutt (and we now know how that change occurred) or how UNC jumped in recruiting under Davis. Even then, breaking the top 10, takes more than just a HC who's a good recruiter (and no, I don't mean cash to recruits).
We basically did what Boise tried to achieve, a few years ago with Moore as QB. We caught lightening in a bottle and had a magical season. We'll never be able to sneak up on any teams, ever again, so we'll always get their best or close to it.
Edit to add last paragraph
We keep looking to the '99 team to say "we did it before". You have to remember that Vick was lowly recruited (not even #1 QB in 757, by recruiting services). The D line was filled with players that the blue bloods wouldn't even look at. I don't have time to look at all positions, but I'd wager that there wasn't a 4* on the entire 2 deep (or if so, only 1) and the 3*'s were low to middle 3*.
Correct. Ronald Curry was even more ridiculous, but he followed in Iverson's footsteps and choose a basketball school.
A few years ago we were a few years away until guys like Tremaine and Terrelle Edmunds, Tim Settle, Adonis Alexander, Mook Reynolds, Isiah Ford, Bucky Hodges, Jerod Evans, and Trevon Hill would be really solid starters and help us make a run. The problem is, unless you recruit really well every year, you maybe get to capitalize on the talented players once every 3 years, then you are two years away again. Imagine if all of the players above took a redshirt and then played 4 years (or two years in the Evans case). HOLY SHIT would we be good the past couple of seasons.
Just imagine if Adonis Alexander, Mook Reynolds, and Tim Settle had all been around this season. I think things would be VERY different right now.
Eh, we would have beaten ODU. Our scout team- no hyperbole- should have beaten ODU too, so there's that. I don't think Settle, Mook- who struggled quite a bit last year- and Adonis would have turned the ND result around by themselves. ND's coaches adjusted/figured out our zone defense in the second half. and they were the better team by more than a little bit.
I don't think this a unique problem. College sports has those narrow windows with core guys. Imagine what this team would look like with
1) Healthy Josh Jackson (I know injuries are part of all sports, but bear with me)
2) Tim Settle, Mook Reynolds, Jeremy Webb and Adonis Alexander
Forget the Edmunds boys going in the first round. Those other guys could have been HUGE had they stayed on the field (or in Settle's case, gone a year later).
That team still probably doesn't beat ND with the way we played, but we do not lose to ODU and have a serious DB advantage with leadership and experience.
EDIT: looks like I got ahead of myself and the same thing was just said above. We have those type of guys, just missed having the continuity with that talent. So yeah, a few years away.
I love you noob-noob
I actually thought our offense played great, compared to past games against top ten teams. Granted we had problems when we approach their 35 year lines, but we were able to move the ball exceptionally well. We used to end a lot of our drives in 3-and-outs, but I can't remember any during this game.
We went 10/21 on 3rd downs, that's a pretty decent sample size and amazing conversion rates. I think the offense went beyond my expectations with the exceptions of a few key mistakes, i.e. the fumble and inability to punch it in at 1 yard line.
The offense just needs to eliminate the mental mistakes and penalties that took points off the board. I've got to believe that's fixable.
They'll be alright.
I think that's the biggest thing to say about the offense this year. In wins and losses, there's still been a lot of those little mistakes that have killed drives and/or taken points off the board. It is correctable, but difficult to say what the timeline for that correction is. You'd think it wouldn't take long, but sometimes it does.
but I have to say that this version of "fix execution issues" is vastly better than the version when Stiney was OC (regardless of whether he was calling plays or O'Cain was).
There were 3 possessions that were 3 plays. 1st possession of the game and the last 2 possessions of the game (int and EOG).
The young secondary makes me think back a few years to when Greg Stroman was a sophomore, and fans were all over him for missing some assignments and blowing some coverages. By his senior year, all that was long forgotten, and he was a very solid corner for us, as well as a big playmaker on defense. Now we just have a roster full of that. They have shown flashes and proven to be good athletes. If they all make similar strides over the next couple years, I think we'll all be very happy with where we're at.
I tried to complain about this season to my brother in law. He cut me off to remind me that he's a UT fan...
boom, perspective.
Texas or the Lolunteers?
UT-Knoxville
So happy to see this attitude this morning. Up to now the attitude here had been ... discouraging. Hope it goes plaid.
I don't know if this offers perspective, but since the BCS started in 1998 (including current CFB Playoffs), there have been a total of 40 Championship Game participants.
36 of the possible 40 game slots have been played by 11 teams which are your traditional national powers:
(FSU, Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Florida, Auburn, Miami, Texas, USC, *Oregon - outlier*)
There are only 4 teams that have ever made it once, one of which (you guessed it) would not be considered a traditional national power. (Tennessee, Nebraska, Notre Dame, VT)
Just to have ever played for a National Title appears to be a feat. It also appears that the chances of a non-traditional power making it to a title game is 5%-7.5%.
Only 2 (maybe 3 if you count UGA) non-traditional powerhouse teams in the past 20 years have ever played for a National Title - Oregon, VT, and UGA last year.
-- Apologies, I didn't mean to classify all 4 of the teams that have only played in one BCS/CFP Championship as a non-traditional power in my first edit, it should read right now.
Yea you need to move Nebraska and Notre Dame off that lower tier. Tennessee was a power when they went and still has name and money.
My bad, made a typo, it should read right now.
Tom Osborne is spinning in his near grave right now. How is Nebraska not traditional.
And the WW2 Veterans who root for ND would like to remind you of the glory days.
Maybe Tee Martin is happy to hear you say that UT was an outlier.
My bad, made a typo, it should read right now.
I think if we are being honest, one look at the depth chart to start this season would tell you exactly "where" the program is right now. All (good teams anyway) lose players to the NFL draft. All team have injuries, all teams have attrition. Right now VT is very thin at some key positions in terms of competing with the Clemson's, Miami's, not to mention a Bama, PSU, OSU, ND, etc. You can't come into a season with one proven, starter-level DT and expect to go undefeated. You can't come into a season with our RB depth chart and expect to beat Clemson. You can't come into a season with zero proven CBs and hope to knock of top 10 ND. If you do win any of those games, you had superior coaching, or turnovers by the other team or both. For a long while- too long- our OT depth was "behind/out of sync/thin" - whatever you want to call it. We have fixed that in terms of numbers. When Fuente got here there was a grand total of 2 decent true WRs on the team. We have fixed that in terms of talent and numbers. Now Fuente must address the depth on defense that same way. We need to sign 3-4 DTs in this class or get JUCOs- enough sugar coating it. Next year we have Hewitt coming back- that's it- in terms of guys playing major/key minutes. Love Xavier Burke, but if he is your clear #2 DT, you need to get better there. DE is not much clearer- although there are more bodies there that have spent time with Hilgart and Wiles can "coach 2-3 of them up" and we will be OK. DT? not so much. It's not rocket science in my opinion. The program "is" where the roster says it "is". No CB depth or proven guys, razor thin in the DT room, no explosive, productive, consistent RB- no star RB like we had for many years. Next year will look alot like this year if we don't address those needs properly. I am perfectly happy with Fuente and what he has done. I also realize that quality depth and "not getting behind" in recruiting as Coach Beamer used to say is what sets us apart from Clemson, Miami, etc. The offense is better- better in the red zone, better at manufacturing yards, better at explosive plays than the post Tyrod Beamer teams, and that is a lot of what Fuente was brought in here to do. Now his other main charter according to Whit- "fix recruiting, especially in Va." needs to be addressed. A 2019 class of skill players void of quality DT's will be a huge concern of mine in terms of the program improving. RB a close second.
Well stated DCWilson - agreed. There is work to be done and we've got the right leaders in place to keep moving the team in the right direction.
Wow DC, that basically summarized my thoughts exactly (you complete me.) haha
We've got two DTs committed now and a third DL who may project there as well. Also we've got King in the boat already at RB and #sauces have hinted at another soon.
DC, I posted something very similar to this in another thread, but you've stated a more well rounded team approach to our current shortcomings. I focused more on the offense, and I can't harp on it enough, we won't take the next step until we have a consistent running game. And NO that doesn't mean a Evans/QB type running game, it means a back who can get between creases in the line, and make people miss at the second level one on one. A home run threat every carry type. I don't think it takes a 5 start RB recruit (see BC's RB), I think it simply takes a good evaluation of a RB's weaknesses that can be ironed out at the next level. A 3 star diamond in the rough approach that will show RB's around the nation what VT can do with a talented back. I'm hoping we get that this cycle, and really take off from here.
A theme everyone seems to notice is lack of depth or star power. Sadly, if you look at the list of players that could have been in the 2-deep, our team has just had some seriously bad attrition.
-Josh Jackson, Trevon Hill, Mook Reyonlds, Cam Goode, Adonis Alexander, Jeremy Webb, Tim Settle, Terrell Edmunds, & Tremaine Edmunds.
That's a crazy amount of talent that just isn't here that is really difficult to plan around. Yes, I know that some of them is for good reason. But it's still really hard to predict and keep scholarship numbers in check at every position when you aren't a blue blood with that level of attrition luck.
WADR, Goode was going to be nowhere near the 2-deep this season. That's why he is no longer here.
By most accounts he was projected to be in the two-deep before he did not take his conditioning seriously.
But if he was suspended instead of released, yes he probably wouldn't have been on the 2-deep until that was in check. Still a talent loss imo, but for good reason.
yes, we are certainly missing the 3 snaps he could have played per game...
Man, you guys sure do love to pick some nits. He's a very small part of the attrition, and again for very good reason (NFL picks leave for good reason also). But it all adds up to what you're seeing now. It's tough to build and maintain depth with this level of attrition at our tier of recruiting capability (non-blue chip tier).