Interestingly, it was Ryan Williams who fumbled against UNC a few years back that was huge for UNC. This time, it was Ryan Willis leading the comeback after a UNC running back fumbled.
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I thought the moment the ball was fumbled, how it was probably good we didn't return it for a TD and had to drive the field to run the clock out and win! Sometimes things just work out.
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In the alternate universe that is VT football this year, I have more confidence in the offense putting together a drive then I do the defense stopping one.
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I dunno. I think our offense looked pretty adept at moving the ball in the 2nd half. Their defense was looking pretty gassed. In two of the three possessions prior to the game-winning drive, we were moving the ball well. One of those drives ended in an interception, unfortunately, but we had been marching down the field until that gaffe. As long as we could avoid a turnover, I had a great deal of confidence in our offense getting that TD against UNC.
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Fighting Gobbler Boat Club Alum| 7 years 8 months#^
The moment I saw the fumble all I could think was: stay in the end zone and get 20 yards, dummy!
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I was thinking "that is 99 yards of green grass with one QB in his way".
We had one sweet RPO where even the cameraman was fooled. One QP inspired drive, and then the final drive. I really felt we needed a 99 yard run for a defensive TD. Most of the rest of the drives were headshaking. Good thing their kicker kept us in it.
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Right and while normally that would be my thinking, I'm not confident in the defense keeping unc from driving the field on their next possession (after assumed fumble return) and winning with a touchdown.
Keep in mind only three plays before the fumble UNC completed a 3rd and 15 pass which nearly went the distance, which ironically was stopped by the defense. They also had at least two passes dropped which would have been walk-in TDs earlier in the game. Not to mention they would have had plenty of time on the clock and 3 timeouts.
I'm also not saying I knew we would drive the ball 98 yards for the win, but in my mind at that moment it would be the best scenario...and it happened!
All that being said we played an ugly game and still won.
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Yeah. But the older I get, I'd rather have a lead that slips away on a long drive, then try to figure out if we have multiple 4th down conversions in us. A TD in the hand is worth one in the future, or some other convoluted turn of phrase.
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Exactly... until our offense proves otherwise (which I haven't been convinced since 2011, or maybe in flashes in 2016) I'd much rather score on a long TD while leaving 2 minutes on the clock than try to drive the length of the field in that time. I feel like 9 times out of 10 we fail to score on that drive, but there's no way to know.
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Ho. Lee. Crap. Willis freakin showed out, he ran hard, made a few clutch throws; that was awesome. The best part was the slow, monotonous heartbreak that the heels had to suffer watching us march down the field; to cap it off with RAMBO IN THE DANG ENDZONE THEN THE SAME PLAY CONVERTED FOR TWO. MERICA! I LOVE YOU ALL 3-0 IN THE DANG ACC
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I want to see a side-by-side video of Notre Dames strip sack for 6 and the 4th and 7 play for the first down. If you run the clock, it probably lines up perfectly with the amount of time he was running, the way he ran back across the formation just two opposite outcomes.
Goes to show you the life of the QB. You can be the scapegoat one week and the hero the next and do the exact same thing.
One caveat: One was on 4th down and one was deep in our own zone in the second half. Just saying they were eerily similar plays.
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Willis needs to clean up a lot of stuff, but the play calling did him no favors tonight or last week, really. I think we need to start playing calls to his strengths
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The people's run in the red zone on the last drive and the people's screen on third down earlier both stand out as really stupid calls that should really be scrutinized. I'm sure there were more
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i'll admit to start i know jack shit about the dynamics that go in to good play calling, but how do we actually evaluate this? Ballsy play that works? INCREDIBLE PLAY CALL. Ballsy play that fails? FIRE HIM. Standard play call that makes sense and we don't execute? WHAT WAS HE THINKING? Sure i want to see this offense deliver what was promised but at the end of the day you've got to execute. Incredible play calling is absolute shit if you fuck it up. Truly not trying to argue or be offensive, but do want to see some analysis proving our offensive playcalling sucks. Anyways, we won, but I agree we looked terrifyingly bad tonight. I'm drunk but i'm subbing this week to TKP to read the French analysis of what the tits is going on. Lastly, this was a bit of a rant but not directed at you, moreso a legitmate question that your comment spurred. Upvote to you for driving conversation. Go Hokies.
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amen. with all the pre-snap and in-play options available to the QB, how can we make judgments on the play calling? I know that some tweets from frenchwasp during the game lamented some of the reads Willis was making. And ..... well ..... I don't argue with frenchwasp.
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I mean, haha and everything, but since the start of the Duke game, Willis has completed passes to 11 different receivers.
Haze does lead in catches (18) and targets - but he's also the best receiver on the team, followed closely by... Eric Kumah (12 rec) and then Savoy, who has come on strong of late with 10 - all in the last 2 games.
And big catches from Philly P. And Rambo. Think back - has there been a Tre Turner catch that wasn't a big play? (love me some Turner. He's a star in the making. Book it.)
Some surprising things: didn't think Peoples would be our leading receiver out of the backfield (with timely, successful results); Grimsley only has 6 catches since the QB change (but he's also been banged up); and why aren't we throwing to the tight end more? 4 completed passes to Keene & Cunningham combined.
The accuracy needs to improve on the intermediate throws. But Willis is distributing the ball🤷♂️
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I'd be interested to know how many of those are actual reads vs play design. Most, if not all, of the passes to Savoy were designed plays. The ones to Rambo were designed plays. Most of the People's targets are designed plays. Whenever it looks like there is a read to make, he seems to look at Hazelton first potentially at the expense of the open look. Of course there's no way to prove it, just my observation.
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Hats off to Willis for a clutch 4th down run and game-winning drive, but I'm going to have a dream tonight where Quillen picks up that fumble and runs it back 101 yards untouched.
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I was lamenting his accuracy all night. The miss on Cunningham that went for an INT was painful. Yet, if he puts it on a rope that's 6. He missed Hazelton on a few bad passes.
But when he needed it the most, his legs got first downs, and he let the TD and 2 pt develop. Need more of that.
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I'm not even saying i'm right but i'm just the kind of person who is much happier with a qb who goes balls out and sometimes turns it over rather than someone who is super careful and throws it away/ takes the sack. Willis just strikes me as a guy who is trying to win it every play, even when he isn't playing well.
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Willis is ecstatic that he's [now at a program where he's] able to ball out, maybe cause a couple turnovers, and still WIN. (Needs to understand that turnovers aren't necessarily part of the equation though.)
I'm glad I don't see him excessively laying into his teammates when things don't go right. I don't know about the locker room, but aside from a few stern looks, he's kept it pretty cool for the cameras.
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All I want, is for us to be able to run the ball at will; then we'll be steamrolling everyone left on schedule. Willis has a big arm, I just don't want us to live or die by his ability to pass.
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Cornlofspring, that's the one...I was thinking loeffler was calling our game. In the end we won and I'm happy but Man we need a better run game. Finally we win in the end. I'm still having Donovan Mcnabb nightmare from 1998
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It's weird...I'm much more confident when Willis runs the ball than when JJ does it, but not so much when throwing. Despite today I'm still not completely trusting Willis just yet.
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Damn, Willis was brutal tonight. Until he wasn't. Gotta give him credit for that last drive, because if he hadn't pulled that out of his ass, he'd already be crispy from all the roasts coming his way.
I wonder how many TKPers had to clean off their TV screens after QP entered the game?
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Willis was so clutch after a rough game but the biggest thing was the playcalling on those last two touchdown drives. The screens to Savoy in particular were something we've been needing. Also the classic jump ball to Kumah. Let the skill position players use their skills. And once again kudos to Willis for that 4th down run and his other big plays in that last drive. Clutch.
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I'm not sold on Willis, that 2nd int was bad, his reads were off and his throws were silly at times. However, kid quietly accounted for 300+ total yards and 3 tds, and led that comeback. Very impressive
Awful play calling btw. I'm thoroughly shocked that the 2pt conversation worked. UNC should have spotted the motion right away.
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I'm thinking UNC was fooled by the change in personnel involved. TD I saw Cunningham and Keene in the area; conversion was Kumah and Hazelton. Most of these hadn't been targeted or were ineffective most of the night. It is odd that they were completely open both times, but understandable.
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Don't let this game distract you from the fact that cornelsen is a terrible OC who was carried by Jerod 's athleticism the first year and refuses to play at the team's strengths.
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The play calling repeatedly put us in positions to fail... I truly thought lefty or stiney was in the box... why the heck was every run up the middle... we finally started attacking the edges and had some success late... dude will not call an offense to our strengths... Willis missed some reads / throws tonight but he also made up for some dumb calls.... dude is a baller... also Hazleton had some drops tonight....I'm glad Willis finally started spreading the ball around.... maybe that last drive propels us for the rest of this season....glad we got the W..... I really hope we can win 2 more with at least 1 being uva
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So everyone freaks out when we don't line up and play power football in the ND game and then everyone freaks out when we run between the tackles against UNC? Ignore the fact that a lot of the runs "up the middle" were reads so it's entirely possible the wrong read was made. Also if there's one strategy VT fans have complained about for ages it's stretching the field by running east-west and using WR screens. Yet here we are with everyone complaining that we didn't do that enough.
The bitching about playcalling boils down to "offense played bad and it must be OC's fault." It's easy to complain in the heat of the moment when the offense isn't moving the ball. I'd recommend going back and watching each play (slow motion if possible) to see where the breakdown or issue was. I only finished the 1st half doing this but outside of the next to last drive before halftime, I didn't see any significant issues with the play calling. On the other hand, Willis made some poor reads, broke the pocket to run into pressure/sacks, locked on to receivers, and struggled with accuracy issues.
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Fuente and Cornelson both are both Lost in Play Calling. I have not been pleased in their style of a JJ offense . Willis is not even given a chance to use his talent under the watch of these two. H backs, TEs passes should always be in the playbook each week. #14 is a slacker, period, pulled off routes and never seems to care about going up and trying for a loose ball. But if our OC and Fuente calls the plays, guess Who has to play it... Willis.
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"I am not sure if you are aware of this but I am interested in the job you have posted on Craigslist and would like to know more about the position you have available for me to take a look at your resume and I look forward to hearing from you soon about the position and I look forward to hearing from you soon".
Alright phone... What have you been doing behind my back cuz I sure as shit haven't been emailing anybody about jobs?
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And it is the only one of them is a bit more to be able too much as a good roofer was the best at least I think the recent past two. Just got to go to bed early last year and a good idea to be the other day of Virginia and I feel like a lot about it was the only way I think it means.
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He's doing the thing where you let your phone choose the next word. See the comment he replied to. It's actually kind of fun.
"He's been a busy man for a couple of years now and I will definitely keep it for you all the time. I just got home from the beach weekend and I have a couple beers and I have a couple beers and I have a couple beers and I have a couple beers."
Well, apparently my phone thinks I'm playing the repeater game.
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I slept on it and GT and BC's ground games are going to dominate us unless Bud pulls something out of the hat. The offense will have to put up much more points than last night.
The Willis INT where he was targeting Cunningham was classic trying to throw off the back foot while going backwards. I was screaming NO the whole time.
On the positive, Fuente is now 86-0 vs the state of North Carolina.
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I'm not so sure. I'm thinking the ground games will be mostly in check, but at the expense of a few big plays down field (that will result in chase downs or touch downs). GT has been fairly effi...effe...I'll say 'potent' with the damaging pass vs. this team.
I'll grant more of a ND or FSU type game where the runners break a couple big ones later on.
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Not looking to open a huge can of worms, but "efficiency" is a fancy way of saying "success rate", and 25% (2/8 completions) is not efficient at all. However, 140 yards on 8 attempts is 17.5 ypa, which is very effective, especially when considering that this season's leader in the category is Bama at 13.62 ypa.
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Clearly Fedora watched the ODU game a lot, they tried attacking us like they did and got some PI calls (Watts had a bad night). Willis played horrible until the last drive then he balled out, put the team on his back and got the W.
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We have very young cornerbacks...I hope as the season goes on these on the job training moments will let Watts and Farley develop into the DB's DBU expects.
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Those were really good looking breakups, but he still feels too me like an athlete playing corner. But he is young and looked better this week, but still a lot of room to work and grow.
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edited the beginning to be less confrontational, but this is my problem with "Cornspring:" You don't constrict the field, shrink it down, give the defense less ground to cover. You spread them out, make them cover every inch of ground you can, find the strained part and hammer at it. Don't just run something straight into the box where all they have to do is collapse it. The RBs on this team won't win those point of attack battles often.
I get that maybe the coaches don't have faith in our personnel to be more aggressive and successful. But at least recognize what their strengths are and play to them. And really I just want to see more jump. balls. We have the bodies for going up and getting them. Do it till it stops working.
On a positive side, big props to Willis for having a short memory and not letting past mistakes affect future play. That was an awesome end to a forgettable game.
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Lets take a breath from hating the plays. Begging for jump balls is the opposite of innovative offense. There were many many mistakes tonight that disrupted the flow. The offense needs flow. Willis needs to complete the easy throws and make right reads.
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I don't care if it's innovative, and I don't even care what it is, to be honest. I just want it to work, whether it's jump balls or something else. They could run a fumblerooskie every time they got inside the 3 and if it worked every time, I'd like it. I just picked jump balls because that's what, in my eyes, gives us the best chance of putting points on the board each time out. At least this season.
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So... you're basically saying you don't know/care what they are calling or why but if it's not working, play call = bad and if it does work, play call = good? Because that's a ridiculous perspective to take.
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Yeah I realized how that sounded after I posted it. I'm not exactly a paragon of mental health, in case you haven't noticed. Hokie football is my drug of choice, and it's hard for me to be unemotional about it. Delusional takes are often where it gets me, and I should've just kept this one to myself. My bad y'all.
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I don't know if I'd be that hard on myself, Beard. I have to agree that if a play works, it was good and if a play doesn't work, it's bad. What's wrong with that logic? Repeat the plays often enough to establish a trend, and you have a strategy. What's wrong with that logic? I know a good call can be a bad play by that metric, but again, if you call this great call and repeatedly have a bad result, well, now I'm getting all emotional about it myself.
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A clutch game winning drive by Willis, which was necessary due to a game full of bad reads and ill advised passes by Willis.
Wasn't on the game thread live, but I can tell you in retrospect, every time TKP was criticising Corn's play calls, I was lamenting Willis's inconsistency in making the right read. He's leaving a lot of yards on the field. But he was clutch when we needed him to be, and that goes a long way.
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Either way, we haven't had appreciable dropoff going to QB2, but he's going to make some mistakes that put our defense in some tight spots. He'll (hopefully) balance that out with some drives like that masterpiece to take the lead.
My concern is they those miraculous drives are going to prevent him from learning from all his mistakes.
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I've become a big fan of Willis and if he continues to play like this he will likely be the starter next season barring HH or QP just taking a massive strides in spring and summer and beating him out in camp. Just to be clear I want a competition but JJ basically was guaranteed the spot I believe by Fuente barring an amazing camp by someone. But unlike other positions I think QB is the hardest position to assess in practice, it really comes down to who has the confidence to ball out and I think many times coaches settle on a guy that is safe and won't make mistakes rather than their best chance to win. Us, Notre Dame are good examples and you see the elite schools like Bama and Clemson not afraid to play the guys in game to see who can really do it early on and not dictated by bad play potentially costing them a loss or two before they make a change.
He still needs to improve but he's thrown 300 yds every game he's started against decent competition and with Willis at QB it always feels like we have a shot at makin a play, and his speed and quickness on the ground and in the pocket and confidence in throwing the ball are head and shoulders above Jackson. I know people talking about Hooker transfering because of QP playing, but I don't read much into that given what Fuente said. But I'm not sure if anyone else has said it, but I believe JJ is more likely to transfer with Willis playing like this. He'll never start again in his career here especially with HH and QP both being Freshmen. I'd love him to stay but it's his 3rd year at tech so depending on how he's done academically he could graduate and grad transfer with 2 years left of eligibility.
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you see the elite schools like Bama and Clemson not afraid to play the guys in game to see who can really do it early on and not dictated by bad play potentially costing them a loss or two before they make a change.
...When did Bama and Clemson lose one or two games because they played a backup QB? Did I slip into a coma and miss a football season? Last I recall Bama didn't play the QB who very likely was better for almost certainly that exact reason until they finally made the switch in the 2nd half of the national title game.
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Willis, between the Notre Dame and UNC games, has made some horrible decisions with the ball that have led to turnovers, near turnovers or ended drives. And we know how much Coach Fu values taking care of the ball.
I don't question his heart in the least, but on the flip side he's a redshirt junior. Second year in the system or not, he's been around college football four years now. There's a reason he wasn't named the starter and he's showing it on the field. In fact, if I were a betting man (I'm not), I would wager that if J.J. is ready in a couple of weeks (6-8 weeks for a broken leg) he'll be back on the field as the starter because he does a better job taking care of the ball.
They both need to develop a clock in their head for getting rid of the ball, though. That's an absolutely valid criticism of both of them.
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I think this thread is blinded by the win. Willis played like garbage for about 95% of the game. Were we even watching the same game? I'll give him credit on the last drive, but I was demanding Hendon Hooker about mid-way through second and was pleased to see QP in there as well. Was hoping it would've been for the rest of the game though.
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Pretty much this. Went to TSL to read about last night's TTL and saw this comment (not behind paywall):
Saying really good things about Willis is tantamount to saying "You know, I chose the wrong dang QB to start the ODU game, and would have done the same for the Duke game." Coach Fu isn't going to say that, and I understand that. However, he has a pass – JJ got hurt, so he can say a few things good about Willis. Dang – Willis makes a nice play and Fu credits Andy Dalton? Seriously? Maybe he is afraid it will go to Ryan's head. I don't think he likes Ryan's personality, which I can understand. But, it seems a shame.
Maybe it's just me but that comes across as a "Willis can do no wrong/JJ can do nothing right" type of post.
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Can't we just take a minute and appreciate that we have so much depth at WR that our backup can come in and favor an entirely new set of targets without any appreciable drop in production?
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I don't even recall hearing Grimsley's name all night. I was starting to worry that he might be injured or in the doghouse.
Although I don't think it's fair to say that he's much less involved since Willis took over. In the 2-3/4 games with JJ under center, Hezzy caught 9 passes. In the 3-1/4 games with RW, he's caught 7. That's a dropoff, but it's not that drastic. Clearly, RW is much more comfortable throwing to Hazelton, but other than the UNC game, it's not like he (or CornFu) is ignoring Hezzy altogether. He was pretty productive in the Duke and ND games.
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Willis feels like Brewer 2.0. More athletic, more fire. Stock up on Tums, Pepto, and whatever else you need. This game is probably foretelling what's in store for the coastal.
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Agree and I don't recall Brewer not having 'fire'. He didn't have a lot of things, but fire and heart weren't among them. But then again my memory isn't what it used to be...
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Not hating on Brewer. He is the toughest dude I have seen put on a Hokie jersey. The loluva game where he kept getting smacked is firmly cemented in my mind.
I just see some broad similarities. Shaky plays and close wins, with some bad losses thrown in. Hopefully, this team grows up and can turn some close games to wins instead of heart wrenching losses.
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This is his third game as a starter here. With a bye week to concentrate (and hopefully the team has learned how not to treat a bye well after ODU), I'm hopeful we'll see improved fundamentals vs. GT which will lend itself towards improved on-field results.
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I'm glad we got the win, but I feel lucky that we were able to come away with the win. UNC had plenty of chances to beat us with as many times as their receivers got behind our DBs and if their quarterback was accurate enough to make those throws, it is a different ballgame.
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First and last drive passer rating (NCAA formula):
163.9
Passer rating for all other drives:
85.0
Game passer rating:
112.7
Based on the NFL formula, those correlate as:
126.1 on first and last drives only (max is 158.3)
37.2 all other drives (min is 0.0)
92.5 for the entire game
Edit: Corrected because I credited Ryan's rushing TD as a passing TD
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holy crap. Thanks for the perspective. I felt like he tried to force a lot of throws DH's way, but I didn't realize that he had more incompletions to Hazelton than to everyone else combined (9 to 7).
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I think if JJ and Willis each played 10 games against the same opponents, they would probably come out with pretty similar records. Neither is the whole package, but both have attributes and styles that can lead to success. That being said, fortune favours the bold, and in a season like this where expectations should be modest, I don't mind having the gunslinger. It certainly provides for an extra level of excitement to every game.
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Comments
I hate Brett Favre with a fiery passion (skol) but that was a clutch finish in a game where our offense was ass and a half.
Interestingly, it was Ryan Williams who fumbled against UNC a few years back that was huge for UNC. This time, it was Ryan Willis leading the comeback after a UNC running back fumbled.
I thought the moment the ball was fumbled, how it was probably good we didn't return it for a TD and had to drive the field to run the clock out and win! Sometimes things just work out.
I call BS. No way you thought our O had looked good enough to make you think we could drive the field vs a DB juking out a QB and going the distance
Good enough? Yes.
Consistent enough to do it? Ermmmmm, maybe?
Call bs all you want...
In the alternate universe that is VT football this year, I have more confidence in the offense putting together a drive then I do the defense stopping one.
I dunno. I think our offense looked pretty adept at moving the ball in the 2nd half. Their defense was looking pretty gassed. In two of the three possessions prior to the game-winning drive, we were moving the ball well. One of those drives ended in an interception, unfortunately, but we had been marching down the field until that gaffe. As long as we could avoid a turnover, I had a great deal of confidence in our offense getting that TD against UNC.
The moment I saw the fumble all I could think was: stay in the end zone and get 20 yards, dummy!
Accept if he gets by the QB, he's got 6 the other way. But yeah, that was a tough place to start a game winning drive.
That is my opposite feeling entirely.
I was thinking "that is 99 yards of green grass with one QB in his way".
We had one sweet RPO where even the cameraman was fooled. One QP inspired drive, and then the final drive. I really felt we needed a 99 yard run for a defensive TD. Most of the rest of the drives were headshaking. Good thing their kicker kept us in it.
Right and while normally that would be my thinking, I'm not confident in the defense keeping unc from driving the field on their next possession (after assumed fumble return) and winning with a touchdown.
Keep in mind only three plays before the fumble UNC completed a 3rd and 15 pass which nearly went the distance, which ironically was stopped by the defense. They also had at least two passes dropped which would have been walk-in TDs earlier in the game. Not to mention they would have had plenty of time on the clock and 3 timeouts.
I'm also not saying I knew we would drive the ball 98 yards for the win, but in my mind at that moment it would be the best scenario...and it happened!
All that being said we played an ugly game and still won.
Yeah. But the older I get, I'd rather have a lead that slips away on a long drive, then try to figure out if we have multiple 4th down conversions in us. A TD in the hand is worth one in the future, or some other convoluted turn of phrase.
Exactly... until our offense proves otherwise (which I haven't been convinced since 2011, or maybe in flashes in 2016) I'd much rather score on a long TD while leaving 2 minutes on the clock than try to drive the length of the field in that time. I feel like 9 times out of 10 we fail to score on that drive, but there's no way to know.
Their kicker, and Dazz Newsome kept us in it.
Ho. Lee. Crap. Willis freakin showed out, he ran hard, made a few clutch throws; that was awesome. The best part was the slow, monotonous heartbreak that the heels had to suffer watching us march down the field; to cap it off with RAMBO IN THE DANG ENDZONE THEN THE SAME PLAY CONVERTED FOR TWO. MERICA! I LOVE YOU ALL 3-0 IN THE DANG ACC
I want to see a side-by-side video of Notre Dames strip sack for 6 and the 4th and 7 play for the first down. If you run the clock, it probably lines up perfectly with the amount of time he was running, the way he ran back across the formation just two opposite outcomes.
Goes to show you the life of the QB. You can be the scapegoat one week and the hero the next and do the exact same thing.
One caveat: One was on 4th down and one was deep in our own zone in the second half. Just saying they were eerily similar plays.
He was like, you think I'm afraid of losing! I went 0-10 mother fuckers!!!!
As far as Favre thing, it's cute and that works if we win a natty.....soooo....no
Perfect use of this.
Thanks. Was sweating that someone was going to beat me to it while I was making it.
Ice cold describes most of his game. He was on fire that last drive
Reminded me of Michael Brewer.
Is that racist?
Danny Coale?
Why would it be racist to compare two Big 12 transfer quarterbacks making gutsy plays for the Hokies?
Both real gritty players. Sneaky athleticism. First in, last out kinda guy. You know what I mean?
D E C E P T I V E
S P E E D
Real Scrappy Gym rats
First one in, last one out kinda kid from what I've heard
/r/nfl is leaking
Why would you even bring that up????????
Very smart player. Spends a lot of time in the film room, so heady.
High football IQ, very cerebral kid, coach's son.
Kirk and calling white college football players cerebral name a better duo i dare you
Frank and something getting after ya?
Tommy Tuberville and thinking running TDs are better than passing TDs?
That's awfully complementary of Brett Favre's wheels.
Willis needs to clean up a lot of stuff, but the play calling did him no favors tonight or last week, really. I think we need to start playing calls to his strengths
We need to start playing calls to ANYBODY's strength. Cornelson is leaving a lot to be desired.
The people's run in the red zone on the last drive and the people's screen on third down earlier both stand out as really stupid calls that should really be scrutinized. I'm sure there were more
i'll admit to start i know jack shit about the dynamics that go in to good play calling, but how do we actually evaluate this? Ballsy play that works? INCREDIBLE PLAY CALL. Ballsy play that fails? FIRE HIM. Standard play call that makes sense and we don't execute? WHAT WAS HE THINKING? Sure i want to see this offense deliver what was promised but at the end of the day you've got to execute. Incredible play calling is absolute shit if you fuck it up. Truly not trying to argue or be offensive, but do want to see some analysis proving our offensive playcalling sucks. Anyways, we won, but I agree we looked terrifyingly bad tonight. I'm drunk but i'm subbing this week to TKP to read the French analysis of what the tits is going on. Lastly, this was a bit of a rant but not directed at you, moreso a legitmate question that your comment spurred. Upvote to you for driving conversation. Go Hokies.
get out of here with your LOGIC and REASON
amen. with all the pre-snap and in-play options available to the QB, how can we make judgments on the play calling? I know that some tweets from frenchwasp during the game lamented some of the reads Willis was making. And ..... well ..... I don't argue with frenchwasp.
You saying you are not a fan of a RB swing pass on 3rd down?
Willis has a little bit of gunslinger in him, AKA Michael Brewer. Also, this season is taking away years of my life AKA the Michael Brewer years.
I kept getting flashbacks to the Brewer years tonight. My ticker can't take it
Anyone know if the Hokie Club covers copays on blood pressure medication and / or anxiety meds? Asking for a friend....that "friend" is actually me
Nope tonight solidified it
Ryan Mother. Fucking. Willis
That 4th down run alone earned the nickname
Throughout the course of the game, I had plenty of nicknames for him; all permutations of yours.
Ryan "Where is Hazelton" Willis
More like "where are the receivers not named Hazelton", since #14 is the only one he saw most of the game.
Ryan "There are other receivers?" Willis
I mean, haha and everything, but since the start of the Duke game, Willis has completed passes to 11 different receivers.
Haze does lead in catches (18) and targets - but he's also the best receiver on the team, followed closely by... Eric Kumah (12 rec) and then Savoy, who has come on strong of late with 10 - all in the last 2 games.
And big catches from Philly P. And Rambo. Think back - has there been a Tre Turner catch that wasn't a big play? (love me some Turner. He's a star in the making. Book it.)
Some surprising things: didn't think Peoples would be our leading receiver out of the backfield (with timely, successful results); Grimsley only has 6 catches since the QB change (but he's also been banged up); and why aren't we throwing to the tight end more? 4 completed passes to Keene & Cunningham combined.
The accuracy needs to improve on the intermediate throws. But Willis is distributing the ball🤷♂️
I'd be interested to know how many of those are actual reads vs play design. Most, if not all, of the passes to Savoy were designed plays. The ones to Rambo were designed plays. Most of the People's targets are designed plays. Whenever it looks like there is a read to make, he seems to look at Hazelton first potentially at the expense of the open look. Of course there's no way to prove it, just my observation.
Hats off to Willis for a clutch 4th down run and game-winning drive, but I'm going to have a dream tonight where Quillen picks up that fumble and runs it back 101 yards untouched.
He wasnt even excited after recovering it. He knew he fucked up by dropping it. Glad it didnt cost us.
He didn't fall down, he was trying to hide under the field.
Jovonn Quillen had an awful night by any available metric. That play was our DB room distilled in a single play.
So we have an entire game thread that basically says, "F&@K Ryan Willis" and now a thread talking about his steel balls.
It must be game day on The Key Play!
Must go plaid.
Yet, because this is college football, both sentiments have some merit.
He drives me crazy. So inconsistent. He has capability to make absolutely great plays while sharting on the easy ones.
The prototypical Hokie, then
Can I get a False Start? Amen!
I was lamenting his accuracy all night. The miss on Cunningham that went for an INT was painful. Yet, if he puts it on a rope that's 6. He missed Hazelton on a few bad passes.
But when he needed it the most, his legs got first downs, and he let the TD and 2 pt develop. Need more of that.
Hazelton didn't do Willis's confidence any favors though. Few bobbles/drops.
I still think Cunningham could have made a play on that throw
I'm not even saying i'm right but i'm just the kind of person who is much happier with a qb who goes balls out and sometimes turns it over rather than someone who is super careful and throws it away/ takes the sack. Willis just strikes me as a guy who is trying to win it every play, even when he isn't playing well.
Willis is ecstatic that he's [now at a program where he's] able to ball out, maybe cause a couple turnovers, and still WIN. (Needs to understand that turnovers aren't necessarily part of the equation though.)
I'm glad I don't see him excessively laying into his teammates when things don't go right. I don't know about the locker room, but aside from a few stern looks, he's kept it pretty cool for the cameras.
Peoples, ND
All I want, is for us to be able to run the ball at will; then we'll be steamrolling everyone left on schedule. Willis has a big arm, I just don't want us to live or die by his ability to pass.
Well, we have to actually run the ball in order to do that. Which apparently CornFu doesn't like doing.
I'm calling him CornSpring until further notice
*laughcries*
He does. Just sucks when a four man rush can stop your run game. Oline needs to step up
He called a ton of runs, they just didn't work.
This has me ready to run through a wall haha
Cornlofspring, that's the one...I was thinking loeffler was calling our game. In the end we won and I'm happy but Man we need a better run game. Finally we win in the end. I'm still having Donovan Mcnabb nightmare from 1998
I yelled "Matt Ryan" at the TV with 12 seconds left...MrsEMC was perplexed.
...although she also didn't get why they were still playing after time had expired (laterals).
RmfW!!! Best Kansas qb product since Todd Reesing
Wait... No
Willis to Fuente... probably
Criminally underrated movie...leg
And may I leg you for such an accurate and truthful comment. Oscar-snubbed in many categories, in my opinion...
I completely agree. It's a classic!
My boy Willis knew he had to score to save us from a MacGruber reaction thread.
I'm still waiting for a vent thread
Lol
And we thank Willis for his service.
"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life to prevent TKP vent threads." - Willis 15:13
Willis 22:19 FTFY
And don't forget
"Have faith and I will carry you to the promised land" Willis 5:48.
Guys, appreciate all the love, but really we just gotta be on to next week. 1-0.
BEAT BYE!!!
It's weird...I'm much more confident when Willis runs the ball than when JJ does it, but not so much when throwing. Despite today I'm still not completely trusting Willis just yet.
The one run Willis had down the sideline he was out running a couple defenders and looked much faster than Jackson.
Damn, Willis was brutal tonight. Until he wasn't. Gotta give him credit for that last drive, because if he hadn't pulled that out of his ass, he'd already be crispy from all the roasts coming his way.
I wonder how many TKPers had to clean off their TV screens after QP entered the game?
Can I leave this here? I'm gonna leave this here.
Delete this nephew
I know. It's a meme.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/delete-this-nephew
Willis was so clutch after a rough game but the biggest thing was the playcalling on those last two touchdown drives. The screens to Savoy in particular were something we've been needing. Also the classic jump ball to Kumah. Let the skill position players use their skills. And once again kudos to Willis for that 4th down run and his other big plays in that last drive. Clutch.
I'm not sold on Willis, that 2nd int was bad, his reads were off and his throws were silly at times. However, kid quietly accounted for 300+ total yards and 3 tds, and led that comeback. Very impressive
Awful play calling btw. I'm thoroughly shocked that the 2pt conversation worked. UNC should have spotted the motion right away.
I'm thinking UNC was fooled by the change in personnel involved. TD I saw Cunningham and Keene in the area; conversion was Kumah and Hazelton. Most of these hadn't been targeted or were ineffective most of the night. It is odd that they were completely open both times, but understandable.
Don't let this game distract you from the fact that cornelsen is a terrible OC who was carried by Jerod 's athleticism the first year and refuses to play at the team's strengths.
Don't let this comment distract you from the fact that LOLUVA lost to the overall 16 seed UMBC by 20 points in the first round of the playoffs.
The play calling repeatedly put us in positions to fail... I truly thought lefty or stiney was in the box... why the heck was every run up the middle... we finally started attacking the edges and had some success late... dude will not call an offense to our strengths... Willis missed some reads / throws tonight but he also made up for some dumb calls.... dude is a baller... also Hazleton had some drops tonight....I'm glad Willis finally started spreading the ball around.... maybe that last drive propels us for the rest of this season....glad we got the W..... I really hope we can win 2 more with at least 1 being uva
So everyone freaks out when we don't line up and play power football in the ND game and then everyone freaks out when we run between the tackles against UNC? Ignore the fact that a lot of the runs "up the middle" were reads so it's entirely possible the wrong read was made. Also if there's one strategy VT fans have complained about for ages it's stretching the field by running east-west and using WR screens. Yet here we are with everyone complaining that we didn't do that enough.
The bitching about playcalling boils down to "offense played bad and it must be OC's fault." It's easy to complain in the heat of the moment when the offense isn't moving the ball. I'd recommend going back and watching each play (slow motion if possible) to see where the breakdown or issue was. I only finished the 1st half doing this but outside of the next to last drive before halftime, I didn't see any significant issues with the play calling. On the other hand, Willis made some poor reads, broke the pocket to run into pressure/sacks, locked on to receivers, and struggled with accuracy issues.
Fuente and Cornelson both are both Lost in Play Calling. I have not been pleased in their style of a JJ offense . Willis is not even given a chance to use his talent under the watch of these two. H backs, TEs passes should always be in the playbook each week. #14 is a slacker, period, pulled off routes and never seems to care about going up and trying for a loose ball. But if our OC and Fuente calls the plays, guess Who has to play it... Willis.
Jack Crow's new personal hatin' on is.... Damon Hazelton?
Sure he is just 44th in the nation with 515 yards and 5 TD'S this being the first game he didn't score a TD.
You're a trip man. You get your boy at QB and when he has a (mostly) bad game it's not his fault in the slightest?
Did you write this by doing the thing where you just use the next word your phone suggests?
You should try it. It would make more sense than this comment
"I am not sure if you are aware of this but I am interested in the job you have posted on Craigslist and would like to know more about the position you have available for me to take a look at your resume and I look forward to hearing from you soon about the position and I look forward to hearing from you soon".
Alright phone... What have you been doing behind my back cuz I sure as shit haven't been emailing anybody about jobs?
Wait is that really what your phone shot out? lol
leg bud
And it is the only one of them is a bit more to be able too much as a good roofer was the best at least I think the recent past two. Just got to go to bed early last year and a good idea to be the other day of Virginia and I feel like a lot about it was the only way I think it means.
?
He's doing the thing where you let your phone choose the next word. See the comment he replied to. It's actually kind of fun.
"He's been a busy man for a couple of years now and I will definitely keep it for you all the time. I just got home from the beach weekend and I have a couple beers and I have a couple beers and I have a couple beers and I have a couple beers."
Well, apparently my phone thinks I'm playing the repeater game.
I see now, thanks.
Or your phone thinks you like beer.
Your phone would like to have a beer with you.
That 3rd down screen call at the end of the game made me want to throw my remote at the TV. Absolute wrong call at the wrong time.
did not watch or listen. is the team even behind this guy?
I slept on it and GT and BC's ground games are going to dominate us unless Bud pulls something out of the hat. The offense will have to put up much more points than last night.
The Willis INT where he was targeting Cunningham was classic trying to throw off the back foot while going backwards. I was screaming NO the whole time.
On the positive, Fuente is now 86-0 vs the state of North Carolina.
How are you getting 86-0? Fuente hasn't been a head coach for 86 total games yet, even including the Memphis years.
I mean I'm probably just missing the obvious joke...
I'm not so sure. I'm thinking the ground games will be mostly in check, but at the expense of a few big plays down field (that will result in chase downs or touch downs). GT has been fairly effi...effe...I'll say 'potent' with the damaging pass vs. this team.
I'll grant more of a ND or FSU type game where the runners break a couple big ones later on.
Not looking to open a huge can of worms, but "efficiency" is a fancy way of saying "success rate", and 25% (2/8 completions) is not efficient at all. However, 140 yards on 8 attempts is 17.5 ypa, which is very effective, especially when considering that this season's leader in the category is Bama at 13.62 ypa.
Clearly Fedora watched the ODU game a lot, they tried attacking us like they did and got some PI calls (Watts had a bad night). Willis played horrible until the last drive then he balled out, put the team on his back and got the W.
We have very young cornerbacks...I hope as the season goes on these on the job training moments will let Watts and Farley develop into the DB's DBU expects.
Farley had two highlight reel pass breakups in the end zone. Lots of room to grow, but tons of promise.
Those were really good looking breakups, but he still feels too me like an athlete playing corner. But he is young and looked better this week, but still a lot of room to work and grow.
edited the beginning to be less confrontational, but this is my problem with "Cornspring:" You don't constrict the field, shrink it down, give the defense less ground to cover. You spread them out, make them cover every inch of ground you can, find the strained part and hammer at it. Don't just run something straight into the box where all they have to do is collapse it. The RBs on this team won't win those point of attack battles often.
I get that maybe the coaches don't have faith in our personnel to be more aggressive and successful. But at least recognize what their strengths are and play to them. And really I just want to see more jump. balls. We have the bodies for going up and getting them. Do it till it stops working.
On a positive side, big props to Willis for having a short memory and not letting past mistakes affect future play. That was an awesome end to a forgettable game.
Lets take a breath from hating the plays. Begging for jump balls is the opposite of innovative offense. There were many many mistakes tonight that disrupted the flow. The offense needs flow. Willis needs to complete the easy throws and make right reads.
I don't care if it's innovative, and I don't even care what it is, to be honest. I just want it to work, whether it's jump balls or something else. They could run a fumblerooskie every time they got inside the 3 and if it worked every time, I'd like it. I just picked jump balls because that's what, in my eyes, gives us the best chance of putting points on the board each time out. At least this season.
So... you're basically saying you don't know/care what they are calling or why but if it's not working, play call = bad and if it does work, play call = good? Because that's a ridiculous perspective to take.
Yeah I realized how that sounded after I posted it. I'm not exactly a paragon of mental health, in case you haven't noticed. Hokie football is my drug of choice, and it's hard for me to be unemotional about it. Delusional takes are often where it gets me, and I should've just kept this one to myself. My bad y'all.
I don't know if I'd be that hard on myself, Beard. I have to agree that if a play works, it was good and if a play doesn't work, it's bad. What's wrong with that logic? Repeat the plays often enough to establish a trend, and you have a strategy. What's wrong with that logic? I know a good call can be a bad play by that metric, but again, if you call this great call and repeatedly have a bad result, well, now I'm getting all emotional about it myself.
Leg this man for standing up during his meeting for confessional, dammit!
Ryan Willis... leading rusher last night against UNC and now 3rd leading rusher for the season.
Who here thought at the beginning of the season that Ryan Willis was headed for Logan Thomas status?
Logan Thomas was built to be a runner and ran a read option with a first round running back.
Helps when nobody covers him.
QUINCCAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A clutch game winning drive by Willis, which was necessary due to a game full of bad reads and ill advised passes by Willis.
Wasn't on the game thread live, but I can tell you in retrospect, every time TKP was criticising Corn's play calls, I was lamenting Willis's inconsistency in making the right read. He's leaving a lot of yards on the field. But he was clutch when we needed him to be, and that goes a long way.
I like his abilities in clutch situations, but I suppose the goal needs to be not letting it get there.
There were a lot of throws into double and triple coverage while trying to get the ball to his roommate.
I thought Hazelton was going to finish the game with 3 receptions on 20 targets.
Willis is a JJ who is overconfident.
Or JJ is a Willis who is too timid.
Either way, we haven't had appreciable dropoff going to QB2, but he's going to make some mistakes that put our defense in some tight spots. He'll (hopefully) balance that out with some drives like that masterpiece to take the lead.
My concern is they those miraculous drives are going to prevent him from learning from all his mistakes.
I've become a big fan of Willis and if he continues to play like this he will likely be the starter next season barring HH or QP just taking a massive strides in spring and summer and beating him out in camp. Just to be clear I want a competition but JJ basically was guaranteed the spot I believe by Fuente barring an amazing camp by someone. But unlike other positions I think QB is the hardest position to assess in practice, it really comes down to who has the confidence to ball out and I think many times coaches settle on a guy that is safe and won't make mistakes rather than their best chance to win. Us, Notre Dame are good examples and you see the elite schools like Bama and Clemson not afraid to play the guys in game to see who can really do it early on and not dictated by bad play potentially costing them a loss or two before they make a change.
He still needs to improve but he's thrown 300 yds every game he's started against decent competition and with Willis at QB it always feels like we have a shot at makin a play, and his speed and quickness on the ground and in the pocket and confidence in throwing the ball are head and shoulders above Jackson. I know people talking about Hooker transfering because of QP playing, but I don't read much into that given what Fuente said. But I'm not sure if anyone else has said it, but I believe JJ is more likely to transfer with Willis playing like this. He'll never start again in his career here especially with HH and QP both being Freshmen. I'd love him to stay but it's his 3rd year at tech so depending on how he's done academically he could graduate and grad transfer with 2 years left of eligibility.
...When did Bama and Clemson lose one or two games because they played a backup QB? Did I slip into a coma and miss a football season? Last I recall Bama didn't play the QB who very likely was better for almost certainly that exact reason until they finally made the switch in the 2nd half of the national title game.
I disagree wholeheartedly.
Willis, between the Notre Dame and UNC games, has made some horrible decisions with the ball that have led to turnovers, near turnovers or ended drives. And we know how much Coach Fu values taking care of the ball.
I don't question his heart in the least, but on the flip side he's a redshirt junior. Second year in the system or not, he's been around college football four years now. There's a reason he wasn't named the starter and he's showing it on the field. In fact, if I were a betting man (I'm not), I would wager that if J.J. is ready in a couple of weeks (6-8 weeks for a broken leg) he'll be back on the field as the starter because he does a better job taking care of the ball.
They both need to develop a clock in their head for getting rid of the ball, though. That's an absolutely valid criticism of both of them.
And there you have it.
I think this thread is blinded by the win. Willis played like garbage for about 95% of the game. Were we even watching the same game? I'll give him credit on the last drive, but I was demanding Hendon Hooker about mid-way through second and was pleased to see QP in there as well. Was hoping it would've been for the rest of the game though.
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
He almost threw two interceptions on this very drive. He's one DB with hands away from a Willis vent thread instead.
He's one DB with hands away from a
Willisfire Cornelson vent thread instead.Pretty much this. Went to TSL to read about last night's TTL and saw this comment (not behind paywall):
Maybe it's just me but that comes across as a "Willis can do no wrong/JJ can do nothing right" type of post.
Seen the same thing to a lesser extent here. Don't need to name names.
Anyone else notice that Grimsley has been much less involved since Willis took over?
Savoy has been playing a lot more, too. It was Kumah, Savoy, Hazelton for much of the night.
Can't we just take a minute and appreciate that we have so much depth at WR that our backup can come in and favor an entirely new set of targets without any appreciable drop in production?
I don't even recall hearing Grimsley's name all night. I was starting to worry that he might be injured or in the doghouse.
Although I don't think it's fair to say that he's much less involved since Willis took over. In the 2-3/4 games with JJ under center, Hezzy caught 9 passes. In the 3-1/4 games with RW, he's caught 7. That's a dropoff, but it's not that drastic. Clearly, RW is much more comfortable throwing to Hazelton, but other than the UNC game, it's not like he (or CornFu) is ignoring Hezzy altogether. He was pretty productive in the Duke and ND games.
I didn't see Grimsley in the game at all.
edit: Hokiesports has updated stats and he was listed as playing in only 5 games, didn't play at NC.
Didn't he limp off vs ND?
Willis feels like Brewer 2.0. More athletic, more fire. Stock up on Tums, Pepto, and whatever else you need. This game is probably foretelling what's in store for the coastal.
IDK. I feel like Brewer could make multiple reads. Willis definitely locks in on one guy (mostly Hazelton) right away and forces to that receiver.
Agree and I don't recall Brewer not having 'fire'. He didn't have a lot of things, but fire and heart weren't among them. But then again my memory isn't what it used to be...
Not hating on Brewer. He is the toughest dude I have seen put on a Hokie jersey. The loluva game where he kept getting smacked is firmly cemented in my mind.
I just see some broad similarities. Shaky plays and close wins, with some bad losses thrown in. Hopefully, this team grows up and can turn some close games to wins instead of heart wrenching losses.
This is his third game as a starter here. With a bye week to concentrate (and hopefully the team has learned how not to treat a bye well after ODU), I'm hopeful we'll see improved fundamentals vs. GT which will lend itself towards improved on-field results.
I'm glad we got the win, but I feel lucky that we were able to come away with the win. UNC had plenty of chances to beat us with as many times as their receivers got behind our DBs and if their quarterback was accurate enough to make those throws, it is a different ballgame.
A tale of two quarterbacks:
His first and last drive combined:
11/13 1 TD 1 Rush TD
All drives in between:
9/23 1 TD 2 INTs
First and last drive passer rating (NCAA formula):
163.9
Passer rating for all other drives:
85.0
Game passer rating:
112.7
Based on the NFL formula, those correlate as:
126.1 on first and last drives only (max is 158.3)
37.2 all other drives (min is 0.0)
92.5 for the entire game
Edit: Corrected because I credited Ryan's rushing TD as a passing TD
So basically what Aaron Rodgers does 😂
And here's the evidence he was relying too much on Hazelton during the game:
Passes to Hazelton
2/11, 36 Yds, 1 INT
* NCAA rating: -47.2
* NFL rating: 0.0 (-7.0 but floored at 0)
Passes to everyone else:
18/25, 185 Yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
* NCAA rating: 150.2
* NFL rating: 102.9
Hazelton was targeted just over 30% of the time.
holy crap. Thanks for the perspective. I felt like he tried to force a lot of throws DH's way, but I didn't realize that he had more incompletions to Hazelton than to everyone else combined (9 to 7).
I think if JJ and Willis each played 10 games against the same opponents, they would probably come out with pretty similar records. Neither is the whole package, but both have attributes and styles that can lead to success. That being said, fortune favours the bold, and in a season like this where expectations should be modest, I don't mind having the gunslinger. It certainly provides for an extra level of excitement to every game.
FTFY