Willis seemed to be much more patient today. He definitely had a few full pucker moments, but it felt like he was taking more time to try and actually make a play that would work instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall.
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They need to keep running drag/crossing routes and throw beneath the LBs/zone. They have guys who can RAC if they just get them the ball, and Robinson executed this well.
For any QB - consistent 3-4 yard throws that turn into 10+ gains builds confidence and efficiency. Enough of the lazy verticals all day and nothing in the deep middle (that Willis can't see). Drags/crosses all day, but please no sprint outs.
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The D Line appeared to be better at generating somewhat of a pass rush. I saw quite a few times where a 3 man rush generated a decent amount of pressure which is confidence inspiring.
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The rush and pressure was good most of the game but they couldn't wrap up the QB! I can't count how many times we got hands on the QB and yet only had 6 sacks. We also had our typical issue of letting the QB run.
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Willis had time in the pocket.
DLine was generating pressure on 3 man rushes.
Ashby continues to be relentless as a tackler.
Heze looked good and was a spark on the field.
Both King and McClease showed flashes.
Limited ODU to 17. Really helps when you only need to score a couple of TDs to win.
Farley and Waller looked pretty decent and had some wonky calls against them.
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He seems to be coming along. He has tackled better, not perfectly, and I think he's being smarter. The early PI where he hugged the WR was him preventing a big gainer. He was beat, knew it, and gave up 15 instead of a TD. The second PI I maintain was a terrible call and he didn't turn him with the back hand.
Hoping the growth continues.
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I'm also going to expand on defense:
Ashby had 10 tackles, 5 solo.
Dax, while looking a little lost, still managed 8 tackles.
Conner was all over the place with a sack, two TFL, and two QB hurries.
As a squad, 5 sacks was great. It hurts when you only record one like last week.
And last thought, while unable to finish, the kick return from Wheatly looked great. Special teams is such a shot in the arm.
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Dax needs to play much better to avoid getting bumped by Tisdale and his athelticism. Both have talent, but Dax isn't fast enough to play Backer to it's full potential and he gets washed/engulfed a lot for a guy with strength.
Ashby is like a cannonball with clubs for arms - love it.
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Defense played better for longer stretches. No interceptions from Willis. Got some pressure in 3 down lineman situations. The offense marched down the field with ease at multiple points in the game.
Not an improvement, per se, but Hooker showed some serious wiggle in a non-designed run. I am hopeful for him cause the dude can scoot.
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- Overall, we tackled well. When we had a man on a man, we brought him to the ground. By and large, we wrapped up well and prevented yards after contact.
- However, I noticed at least two specific instances where we had a defender try to plug a gap and missed the hole, in both cases just barely. But in both cases, ODU was able to break a significant play and I was left disappointed that we had a guy that was right there but missed.
- I like our wide receivers.
- I thought King and McClease looked good. Not spectacular, but good.
- Would have liked to have hit that long field goal to end the half.
The rest of the game I generally missed
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I don't think we tackled well at all. There were numerous times that we could have a TFL and it turned into a 3-5 yard gain. Reggie Floyd missed the QB on a 3rd or 4th and long and the QB got the first down. I think our tackling needs to get a lot better.
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This is specifically one of the exceptions I mentioned - I remember Floyd attacking the line and being outmaneuvered. I didn't chalk this up to missing a tackle, I chalked this up to attacking the wrong gap. I *think* on that play we had a defensive lineman who was also in nearly the same spot, and Floyd went to his left and the QB went to the right.
Maybe this is just a bad choice in terminology on my part, but I didn't consider this a tackling problem. I suppose I should say that when I say I think that we tackled well, I really meant that when one of our defenders had one of ODU's ballcarriers in their grasp, the ballcarrier didn't escape.
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Agreed on the Floyd "miss"
Seemed like he was just juked. Reggie has done that a few times and I like him flying in, but he has to be smarter maintaining outside leverage with help inside.
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Floyd has done this 3 times so far this season, just that I've seen as a "casual" viewer. He's attacking straight on instead of taking the right angle.
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Exactly. We blew multiple TFL opportunities when the first guy missed. Even Burnop and Laaser were talking about it. The tackling will improve during September so I'm not too concerned. I'm more happy that the defense is in the right place and has the opportunity to make plays.
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I'm with you on that, Eddie. Not to turn this into a vent thread, but better tackling and this game isn't close. I know they probably don't practice live tackling like we did in the day, but these lackluster arm tackle attempts are bad news. Think we have a guy for a 5-yard loss, and three arm tackles later, the dude gains 10 yards for a first down. I don't recall Bud's old defenses missing this many tackles, so not sure what the problem is. Might be nice to work on fixing that before we get into the meat of the schedule.
The missed tackles and o-line standing around, looking lost on running plays were my biggest beefs. Other than that, everything else seemed to be an improvement over the BC game.
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Man we were consistently in the backfield and over pursued and got lost back there, distinctly remember Dax and others whiff tackles and leave their feet and miss. Defense wasn't very disciplined sometimes and it's going to get us burnt this season
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Jermaine Waller - future star. Did not panic in coverage or tackling in space.
Pass pro - much better.
Robinson - continues to evolve and be utilized in space well. Great call on the drop as he gets at least 20 yards maybe more - he won't let that happen often.
Eli Adams - showed the ability to get in the backfield at timeS.
Receivers - hard to tell without real film, but continue to create space and make catches in traffic (minus a couple of drops)
Ashby - plays his ass off. Missed a couple of opportunities today, but overall a tackling machine.
Griffin - showed some promise at DE -
Combines great size with some speed.
Nester - did not look lost on pass pro and he basically has no experience from HS as they ran ball every play.
That's a few.
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I like the 50 percent less venom and hate and negativity on here this week.
Sorry....i just spent the past year beating stage 4 cancer and ill just take the win. #myperspectiveisjustbepositivebecauseyouralivetorootforyourhokies
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For the limited time King was in, I saw that "vision" and "waggle" that we desperately need in our running game. Seeing King's ability to make that first defender or two miss makes me optimistic.
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I like how the team kept themselves in the game, didn't let the one possession moment get to them. I don't think last year's team, maybe even last week's team, keeps their heads in the game.
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Had a kickoff beyond 20 yard line. Team looked to have a bit of spunk at times, maybe even a little swagger. Playmakers everywhere. This didnt feel like we couldn't hit the 28 point spread as much as we just kept goofing up the plan for a 28 point game. Also a lot of people played today. We didnt get as much qb rotation as I wanted but roster as a whole went deep.
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From listening to the broadcast, it sounded like Wilder was intentionally playing keep away with his offense to keep this thing from being a 28-point game. That was especially the case in the third quarter. I equate it to our Basketball offense under James Johnson, taking the air out of the ball to try and keep games close because you know you are overmatched.
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I feel like the game got an odd start with the two quick reviews / had a weird vibe/pace of play.
Willis looked reasonable, nice passes, minimal mistakes, and that fumble I'm willing to forgive due to its "you're down, but not down cuz you're on someone's leg" nature.
Defensive was mostly good minus some frustrating missed tackles in the back field.
Felt like we should've won by an easy 21+, but had a moment where we could've had it tied in the 4th, so I'm not sure how I feel about that vs a team ODUs caliber.
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No, me and my wife were yelling about it in the stadium. It was very clear on the review that it was targetting. The defender left his feet and hit helmet-to-helmet. The refs today were biased as hell today.
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Based on their first few calls, I felt like they were actually biased towards us. I'm sure the ACC didn't want the embarrassment of back to back losses to ODU.
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I thought the refs weren't terrible, but they did us no favors in the 3rd. There was the PI that was not called, there was what looked like a massive hold in the middle opening up a big run for ODU, but other than that I wouldn't say they were that bad.
I only vaguely recall the shot on Willis when he fumbled, so I can't speak to that without re-watching it.
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Defense looked better except for some missed tackles, and worlds better than 2018.
A little perspective here - way too early in the season to judge but..
BC blasted Richmond. Not exactly elite competition but an impressive win for BC nonetheless. It's possible BC is better than people thought this year, and we lost by 7 with 5 turnovers. And, as has been said many times before, Willis has 0 4-turnover games in 10 starts last year so unlikely we'll see too many of those this year.
ODU came into this game 1-0, they came into last years game 0-3. Their win this year wasn't exactly against Alabama, but still seem to improved from last year especially on defense.
I don't know how good or bad we are yet, likely won't know until after the duke and Miami games. At times, D looks good and O looks explosive. At other times, we look sluggish and turnover prone.
I guess this is a rambling way of saying i don't have any idea how good or bad we are yet, it's too early in the season to draw too many conclusions about this team.
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I think that was well-stated and the truth where this team is and has performed to date. I'm anxious to see us improve and come together on the O line over the season.
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Just read on the 24/7 (free article) that we played 11 true freshman today. Wow. And for several of them it was their second game. I'm stoked about Robinson, King and several other young bucks for the future. Willis played pretty well in the first quarter. Our WRs has a fair amount of YAC. And only two drives I can think of off the top of my head did ODU March down the field. I wanted a 7,000 point victory too but Rome wasn't built in a day I guess.
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that we played 11 true freshman today. Wow. And for several of them it was their second game.
wouldn't this be the second game for all of the true freshman...?
In all seriousness i think this is an understated fact for this team. It seems a little repetitive after saying it all last season but this is still a young team.
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You ain't kidding buddy. I saw a week before the season started that we were in the top ten for youngest teams with fewest seniors on the roster. We have all of six seniors....How did we repeat last season for this season????
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The amount of youth in key positions is still massive for a VT team. For much of the game, Willis and McClease were the ONLY players older than sophomore. There were points on defense when Floyd and Deablo were in the same position on defense. Both the young O line and D line players acquitted themselves nicely. The young skill players are looking very promising. I love the potential on this team. I just hope we can get into a recruiting rhythm where we don't consistently have to play 11 true freshmen.
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Yes we're young. Yes they are going to get better. But my hope is that behind that youth we will continue to recruit well. I'm worried we're setting ourselves up for another 2017 where we lose all our talent in one year and we're back to square one.
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I think Kendricks and Pollard are looking like two really solid DT evals. Both have had plays in both games where they impressed either against the run, shooting gaps, or collapsing the pocket. Pollard had a few nice plays and was close to several huge ones. Crawford looks solid as well. The DL is not where it needs to be, but a noticeable upgrade from last season at the point of attack.
I liked some of the young OL guys, and the willingness to move guys, plug guys in to different spots to see what will work moving forward. I still don't like our style of blocking which led to an inconsistent running game.
Tayvion Robinson looks like a real weapon and I like how we're getting him the ball. The WR's as a group have been mostly impressive.
Overall, not a bad day from the defense outside the last TD drive. We will have to bend don't break this season, and we seem more capable of that compared to last season. We still gave up some 2018 flashback busts, but they feel less common. 17 points and like 260ish yards before their garbage time long run ain't bad.
I still feel like we could have and should have put this game away earlier, but I'm okay with getting back in the win column.
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From my untrained eye, he's a gamer. He seems to be in the backfield a lot and helping to force the play. Seems like a really good addition to our team.
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In general the defense looked more aggressive and used lots of different sets, which often put our guys in a position to make a big negative play. While we didn't always make the play, it indicated to me that Bud is getting comfortable with this defense,
Hopefully they get into mid season form pretty quickly and start making the plays when they're in position to
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In general I think the defense was able to dial in some blitzes and get a good bit more pressure on the QB yesterday. But it is very troubling that we have to send corners and safeties on blitzes to get much of a pass rush. Our front 4 are really struggling. Also Dax had one of his worst days. We are still going to struggle defensively but I think we made some decent adjustments yesterday at least. Had a couple of absolute backbreaker drives where we let them march down the field. That won't fly later in the season.
Robinson looked very good yesterday. We have got to get the TEs more involved in the offense. Mitchell looked great on that one screen early and then vanished. Willis overall played better but he got really lucky on a few passes. He's a liability to turn the ball over at least a time or two each game. Unfortunately I think that's who he is at this point and we just have to roll with it. We have got to figure out how to fix the run game and fast. It's only going to get harder in conference play, so we need to have a serious epiphany here or I'm worried we are going to live and die by Willis' arm again this year. Overall, we just have a lack of difference makers right now on both sides and an offensive scheme that isn't compensating for it.
Just happened to remember that since we play two FCS teams this year, we will have to get 7 wins for bowl eligibility, which means we can only lose 4 more. This could be a very bumpy ride if we don't make better progress.
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I thought he front 4, especially the YOUNG second line, played pretty well in general. They did not get a lot of pressure, but they were capable. Dax has been a noticeable problem, but the good news is the full array of LBs seemed pretty capable. Capable is the operative word here. They will be decent this season, but not great. If we could have gotten off the field a few times on 3rd down, the defensive stat lines would have looked very good indeed. But we didn't.
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1) we won
2) I finally saw a pancake for the good guys on Willis' TD run(although admittedly I did not watch the BC very close)
3) We did enough on ODU's opening drive to finally clamp-down and have the drive sputter-out
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I'll just put this here cause it doesn't deserve a thread and I've been thinking about it. How good would a Trevor Lawrence or a Tua do in our offense with our run game? I mean they can definitely run the read better but is our 1 on 1 blocking good enough to be a legitimate run threat?
Discloser: This is a legit question not a dig at anything going on or defending any of our inability.
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IMO the improvement in a vacuum for the run game would be marginal. As you said they could run the read option better but we are still being whipped at the point of attack and we have been unable to block the second level defenders. I think this run scheme puts a lower ceiling on how good we can be. The "make the unblocked hat miss" problem is frustrating when you watch teams with a good run game who don't run into the unblocked hat until they are 5 yards down the field. We are having to make the unblocked hat miss at or before the line of scrimmage on 50% of our run plays. King really had some great 4 yard runs where there was absolutely nothing and he wiggled ahead for a decent gain. Those runs were exciting and depressing all at once.
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i also noticed some easy throws into the middle of the field (usually a short crossing route) to slot WR. I think tayvion (pls) had one go for a pretty good gain. nice to see that being a viable option against after french's film preview coming into the season
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1. I like the enthusiasm of the team - it showed
2. Getting all those different defensive players pt will pay dividends in the long run (the drop off isn't that huge cause the starters aren't incredible)
3. Willis (while still making dangerous throws occasionally) has guts and threw some beautiful passes. He looked faster in general with his reads and dropbacks.
4. Pass pro was solid.
The team clearly has its weaknesses that will be revealed especially by the bigger teams we play but the nucleus is solid for the future. I'd put down the pitchfork and watch this thing progress.
Go homies (Hokies)
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Love the positive post. we are without a doubt a work in progress and i definitely believe that we're a team that will improve as the season progresses. we gon be fine
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Comments
Willis seemed to be much more patient today. He definitely had a few full pucker moments, but it felt like he was taking more time to try and actually make a play that would work instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall.
I don't know. Winning was good. Fewer turnovers. Saw some signs of life in the running game.
Pass protection was better. Robinson was utilized well.
They need to keep running drag/crossing routes and throw beneath the LBs/zone. They have guys who can RAC if they just get them the ball, and Robinson executed this well.
For any QB - consistent 3-4 yard throws that turn into 10+ gains builds confidence and efficiency. Enough of the lazy verticals all day and nothing in the deep middle (that Willis can't see). Drags/crosses all day, but please no sprint outs.
This 💯. Get Our best playmakers the ball in space. Please
The D Line appeared to be better at generating somewhat of a pass rush. I saw quite a few times where a 3 man rush generated a decent amount of pressure which is confidence inspiring.
The rush and pressure was good most of the game but they couldn't wrap up the QB! I can't count how many times we got hands on the QB and yet only had 6 sacks. We also had our typical issue of letting the QB run.
Less injuries and turnovers, I guess? No big busts on defense either
Willis had time in the pocket.
DLine was generating pressure on 3 man rushes.
Ashby continues to be relentless as a tackler.
Heze looked good and was a spark on the field.
Both King and McClease showed flashes.
Limited ODU to 17. Really helps when you only need to score a couple of TDs to win.
Farley and Waller looked pretty decent and had some wonky calls against them.
Granted, I haven't been able to watch a full game yet, but Farley's tackling so far seems to be much improved over last year.
Hope I didn't jinx him.
He seems to be coming along. He has tackled better, not perfectly, and I think he's being smarter. The early PI where he hugged the WR was him preventing a big gainer. He was beat, knew it, and gave up 15 instead of a TD. The second PI I maintain was a terrible call and he didn't turn him with the back hand.
Hoping the growth continues.
Couldn't see the right hand so dont know but didnt look bad, however the non call on ODU was way worse than what Farley did.
Totally agree on both. Don't see how the no call on Kaleb wasn't incredibly obvious.
I'm also going to expand on defense:
Ashby had 10 tackles, 5 solo.
Dax, while looking a little lost, still managed 8 tackles.
Conner was all over the place with a sack, two TFL, and two QB hurries.
As a squad, 5 sacks was great. It hurts when you only record one like last week.
And last thought, while unable to finish, the kick return from Wheatly looked great. Special teams is such a shot in the arm.
Great blocking on that return. Huge alley.
Dax needs to play much better to avoid getting bumped by Tisdale and his athelticism. Both have talent, but Dax isn't fast enough to play Backer to it's full potential and he gets washed/engulfed a lot for a guy with strength.
Ashby is like a cannonball with clubs for arms - love it.
Defense played better for longer stretches. No interceptions from Willis. Got some pressure in 3 down lineman situations. The offense marched down the field with ease at multiple points in the game.
Not an improvement, per se, but Hooker showed some serious wiggle in a non-designed run. I am hopeful for him cause the dude can scoot.
I know it was only ODU but getting pressure with a 3 man rush is heartening.
A few things I noticed today:
- Overall, we tackled well. When we had a man on a man, we brought him to the ground. By and large, we wrapped up well and prevented yards after contact.
- However, I noticed at least two specific instances where we had a defender try to plug a gap and missed the hole, in both cases just barely. But in both cases, ODU was able to break a significant play and I was left disappointed that we had a guy that was right there but missed.
- I like our wide receivers.
- I thought King and McClease looked good. Not spectacular, but good.
- Would have liked to have hit that long field goal to end the half.
The rest of the game I generally missed
I don't think we tackled well at all. There were numerous times that we could have a TFL and it turned into a 3-5 yard gain. Reggie Floyd missed the QB on a 3rd or 4th and long and the QB got the first down. I think our tackling needs to get a lot better.
This is specifically one of the exceptions I mentioned - I remember Floyd attacking the line and being outmaneuvered. I didn't chalk this up to missing a tackle, I chalked this up to attacking the wrong gap. I *think* on that play we had a defensive lineman who was also in nearly the same spot, and Floyd went to his left and the QB went to the right.
Maybe this is just a bad choice in terminology on my part, but I didn't consider this a tackling problem. I suppose I should say that when I say I think that we tackled well, I really meant that when one of our defenders had one of ODU's ballcarriers in their grasp, the ballcarrier didn't escape.
Agreed on the Floyd "miss"
Seemed like he was just juked. Reggie has done that a few times and I like him flying in, but he has to be smarter maintaining outside leverage with help inside.
Floyd has done this 3 times so far this season, just that I've seen as a "casual" viewer. He's attacking straight on instead of taking the right angle.
Exactly. We blew multiple TFL opportunities when the first guy missed. Even Burnop and Laaser were talking about it. The tackling will improve during September so I'm not too concerned. I'm more happy that the defense is in the right place and has the opportunity to make plays.
I'm with you on that, Eddie. Not to turn this into a vent thread, but better tackling and this game isn't close. I know they probably don't practice live tackling like we did in the day, but these lackluster arm tackle attempts are bad news. Think we have a guy for a 5-yard loss, and three arm tackles later, the dude gains 10 yards for a first down. I don't recall Bud's old defenses missing this many tackles, so not sure what the problem is. Might be nice to work on fixing that before we get into the meat of the schedule.
The missed tackles and o-line standing around, looking lost on running plays were my biggest beefs. Other than that, everything else seemed to be an improvement over the BC game.
Bud said something about the tackles in the post game. Can't fins the exact quote, "offenses today create more of these kinds of missed tackles"
Damn, why aren't we creating missed tackles then?
Agreed. I thought tackling was terrible. We had some decent open field tackles - Ashby specifically - but overall we had a lot of misses.
Man we were consistently in the backfield and over pursued and got lost back there, distinctly remember Dax and others whiff tackles and leave their feet and miss. Defense wasn't very disciplined sometimes and it's going to get us burnt this season
Yeah I saw a few times where we got into the backfield but seemed to overpursue and the QB dodged the defender. I was frustrated by that too.
Can I get a second? SECOND!!
Except for what should have been a pick-6, I thought Willis made better decisions in the passing game.
I liked the OL changes.
Wilis protected the ball minus getting his clock rung and fumbling.
After the replays on the Willis fumble I thought it was targeting. It was a hard helmet to helmet hit. I guess I don't fully understand the rules.
I think he's "considered a runner" in that case *shrugs*
Jermaine Waller - future star. Did not panic in coverage or tackling in space.
Pass pro - much better.
Robinson - continues to evolve and be utilized in space well. Great call on the drop as he gets at least 20 yards maybe more - he won't let that happen often.
Eli Adams - showed the ability to get in the backfield at timeS.
Receivers - hard to tell without real film, but continue to create space and make catches in traffic (minus a couple of drops)
Ashby - plays his ass off. Missed a couple of opportunities today, but overall a tackling machine.
Griffin - showed some promise at DE -
Combines great size with some speed.
Nester - did not look lost on pass pro and he basically has no experience from HS as they ran ball every play.
That's a few.
McClease seemed to run harder and I'm hoping that Vice sticks with this Oline and build some cohesiveness...
Pass protection looked better but hard to tell as ODU didnt appear to stunt as much as BC.
I like the 50 percent less venom and hate and negativity on here this week.
Sorry....i just spent the past year beating stage 4 cancer and ill just take the win. #myperspectiveisjustbepositivebecauseyouralivetorootforyourhokies
Fam!
Hell yes, FAM!
Hokietopher... my god man. After all you've been through, it is a freaking pleasure to have you here.
Hokietopher - great stuff!!! Fam! Appreciate you sharing
Im still here....and me and my wife and my daughter will never go quietly into the night.
Edit....also my wife ordered me an awesome custom FUCK CANCER t shirt in hokie colors. Will post pics when i get it next week.
Second edit...this is the t shirt proof...
I need one of those for my husband.
That's pretty sweet, Topher. Good on you, fam!
You win the thread my man! Have all the legs!
Winning a football game is nice, but you've got a real reason to be happy. Glad to hear you're well, FAM.
Best Perspective FAM!
FAM
FAM!!! #perspective
Thanks for all the love FAM. Y'all mean a lot to me and my wife and my daughter.
Like a bawse fam! *cheers* To your health!
FAM!! Level 1,000,000 perspective! Happy for y'all!!!!!
My SIL lost her fight a few days ago. We buried her today.
Reading your comment makes my heart happy. All the best to you and yours.
Im so sorry....My family sends our deepest condolences on your loss.
I'm so sorry for your loss, PG.
FAM
Hell yes sir! Congrats! Sorry you are going through that
Hell yes, FAM!!!!
Stick it in for FAM!! Lots of legs for you fine sir.
Hokies winning on the field
hokietopher winning off the field
That's awesome my dude... post of
the yearTKP!Welcome to the club!
Hope you kept more of your hair than I did!
Thanks man...i was lucky to not lose any hair. Immunotherapy followed by surgery. No chemo or radiation.
Glad to hear it - hope you get nothing but more good news at your future check ups!
I liked that we used the middle of the field in the passing game.
I noticed this too. Me likey
I thought Willis threw the fade routes pretty well today. The ball down the sideline to Turner was his best throw IMO.
Willis threw a lot of great balls today.
For the limited time King was in, I saw that "vision" and "waggle" that we desperately need in our running game. Seeing King's ability to make that first defender or two miss makes me optimistic.
Offense: these wide receivers are sex.
Defense: Rayshard Ashby. Give him the #1 jersey.
I like how the team kept themselves in the game, didn't let the one possession moment get to them. I don't think last year's team, maybe even last week's team, keeps their heads in the game.
Ashby is dawg! Kid is fun to watch.
Prediction: Ashby gets the #1 jersey next season!!!!
The offense was SICK on third down today. It was almost automatic.
3rd and way long usually too.
Ha that is true. Reminds me of Nicholson in a few good men though, I don't question the manner in which these kids provide it!
Had a kickoff beyond 20 yard line. Team looked to have a bit of spunk at times, maybe even a little swagger. Playmakers everywhere. This didnt feel like we couldn't hit the 28 point spread as much as we just kept goofing up the plan for a 28 point game. Also a lot of people played today. We didnt get as much qb rotation as I wanted but roster as a whole went deep.
From listening to the broadcast, it sounded like Wilder was intentionally playing keep away with his offense to keep this thing from being a 28-point game. That was especially the case in the third quarter. I equate it to our Basketball offense under James Johnson, taking the air out of the ball to try and keep games close because you know you are overmatched.
I feel like the game got an odd start with the two quick reviews / had a weird vibe/pace of play.
Willis looked reasonable, nice passes, minimal mistakes, and that fumble I'm willing to forgive due to its "you're down, but not down cuz you're on someone's leg" nature.
Defensive was mostly good minus some frustrating missed tackles in the back field.
Felt like we should've won by an easy 21+, but had a moment where we could've had it tied in the 4th, so I'm not sure how I feel about that vs a team ODUs caliber.
Was I the only one to see the helmet to helmet hit on the fumble by Willis? It's as if everyone was mesmerized by the fumble.
No, me and my wife were yelling about it in the stadium. It was very clear on the review that it was targetting. The defender left his feet and hit helmet-to-helmet. The refs today were biased as hell today.
Based on their first few calls, I felt like they were actually biased towards us. I'm sure the ACC didn't want the embarrassment of back to back losses to ODU.
Agreed, we expected the ball to go to them and that player also get ejected.
I thought the refs weren't terrible, but they did us no favors in the 3rd. There was the PI that was not called, there was what looked like a massive hold in the middle opening up a big run for ODU, but other than that I wouldn't say they were that bad.
I only vaguely recall the shot on Willis when he fumbled, so I can't speak to that without re-watching it.
The helmet to helmet looked blatant to me on the first look.
Positive. We won. Negative. I cut my knee pretty bad today at the blue ridge rock festival so im doubtful for day 2 tomorrow 😢
Apologies for OT AF question but how was Godsmack and STP?!?!!!?!!?!??!
My blood pressure crashed pretty bad yesterday so i didn't make it to them
We had more points than the other team.
We won...lol I'll take it.
Defense looked better except for some missed tackles, and worlds better than 2018.
A little perspective here - way too early in the season to judge but..
BC blasted Richmond. Not exactly elite competition but an impressive win for BC nonetheless. It's possible BC is better than people thought this year, and we lost by 7 with 5 turnovers. And, as has been said many times before, Willis has 0 4-turnover games in 10 starts last year so unlikely we'll see too many of those this year.
ODU came into this game 1-0, they came into last years game 0-3. Their win this year wasn't exactly against Alabama, but still seem to improved from last year especially on defense.
I don't know how good or bad we are yet, likely won't know until after the duke and Miami games. At times, D looks good and O looks explosive. At other times, we look sluggish and turnover prone.
I guess this is a rambling way of saying i don't have any idea how good or bad we are yet, it's too early in the season to draw too many conclusions about this team.
Wow, one of the few reasonable people on here today. You're like a unicorn!
via Gfycat
I think that was well-stated and the truth where this team is and has performed to date. I'm anxious to see us improve and come together on the O line over the season.
Just read on the 24/7 (free article) that we played 11 true freshman today. Wow. And for several of them it was their second game. I'm stoked about Robinson, King and several other young bucks for the future. Willis played pretty well in the first quarter. Our WRs has a fair amount of YAC. And only two drives I can think of off the top of my head did ODU March down the field. I wanted a 7,000 point victory too but Rome wasn't built in a day I guess.
wouldn't this be the second game for all of the true freshman...?
In all seriousness i think this is an understated fact for this team. It seems a little repetitive after saying it all last season but this is still a young team.
You ain't kidding buddy. I saw a week before the season started that we were in the top ten for youngest teams with fewest seniors on the roster. We have all of six seniors....How did we repeat last season for this season????
Let me tell you about this little thing called The Transfer Portal
Fingers crossed we don't have to keep saying this every year.
The amount of youth in key positions is still massive for a VT team. For much of the game, Willis and McClease were the ONLY players older than sophomore. There were points on defense when Floyd and Deablo were in the same position on defense. Both the young O line and D line players acquitted themselves nicely. The young skill players are looking very promising. I love the potential on this team. I just hope we can get into a recruiting rhythm where we don't consistently have to play 11 true freshmen.
Yes we're young. Yes they are going to get better. But my hope is that behind that youth we will continue to recruit well. I'm worried we're setting ourselves up for another 2017 where we lose all our talent in one year and we're back to square one.
Mistakes are correctable and not from lack of effort!
Running game set up the play action. Even when the runs up the middle didn't get much, the LBs attacked and the slants were there.
For the most part, Willis did a better job with the short to intermediate passes.
I loved JHam's reaction after the 4th down stop. Bud seems to be disconnected, though.
Last week I watched the game on a really small tv in my kitchen while ripping up a floor.
This week I was holding down Section 10 with my squad and a straight gangster bourbonbuzz.
Huge improvement there.
I think Kendricks and Pollard are looking like two really solid DT evals. Both have had plays in both games where they impressed either against the run, shooting gaps, or collapsing the pocket. Pollard had a few nice plays and was close to several huge ones. Crawford looks solid as well. The DL is not where it needs to be, but a noticeable upgrade from last season at the point of attack.
I liked some of the young OL guys, and the willingness to move guys, plug guys in to different spots to see what will work moving forward. I still don't like our style of blocking which led to an inconsistent running game.
Tayvion Robinson looks like a real weapon and I like how we're getting him the ball. The WR's as a group have been mostly impressive.
Overall, not a bad day from the defense outside the last TD drive. We will have to bend don't break this season, and we seem more capable of that compared to last season. We still gave up some 2018 flashback busts, but they feel less common. 17 points and like 260ish yards before their garbage time long run ain't bad.
I still feel like we could have and should have put this game away earlier, but I'm okay with getting back in the win column.
From my untrained eye, he's a gamer. He seems to be in the backfield a lot and helping to force the play. Seems like a really good addition to our team.
In general the defense looked more aggressive and used lots of different sets, which often put our guys in a position to make a big negative play. While we didn't always make the play, it indicated to me that Bud is getting comfortable with this defense,
Hopefully they get into mid season form pretty quickly and start making the plays when they're in position to
I liked seeing Griffin go in and make some plays. Glad he's not buried at LB.
Anybody have video of the Wheatley return?
Played against a weaker defense, weaker offense, and at home. That certainly helped...
In general I think the defense was able to dial in some blitzes and get a good bit more pressure on the QB yesterday. But it is very troubling that we have to send corners and safeties on blitzes to get much of a pass rush. Our front 4 are really struggling. Also Dax had one of his worst days. We are still going to struggle defensively but I think we made some decent adjustments yesterday at least. Had a couple of absolute backbreaker drives where we let them march down the field. That won't fly later in the season.
Robinson looked very good yesterday. We have got to get the TEs more involved in the offense. Mitchell looked great on that one screen early and then vanished. Willis overall played better but he got really lucky on a few passes. He's a liability to turn the ball over at least a time or two each game. Unfortunately I think that's who he is at this point and we just have to roll with it. We have got to figure out how to fix the run game and fast. It's only going to get harder in conference play, so we need to have a serious epiphany here or I'm worried we are going to live and die by Willis' arm again this year. Overall, we just have a lack of difference makers right now on both sides and an offensive scheme that isn't compensating for it.
Just happened to remember that since we play two FCS teams this year, we will have to get 7 wins for bowl eligibility, which means we can only lose 4 more. This could be a very bumpy ride if we don't make better progress.
I thought he front 4, especially the YOUNG second line, played pretty well in general. They did not get a lot of pressure, but they were capable. Dax has been a noticeable problem, but the good news is the full array of LBs seemed pretty capable. Capable is the operative word here. They will be decent this season, but not great. If we could have gotten off the field a few times on 3rd down, the defensive stat lines would have looked very good indeed. But we didn't.
Also, Willis has thrown for ~600yds while Damon Hazleton HASNT EVEN PLAYED A SNAP YET! So that's kinda cool.
This is a damn good point. Hazelton is a beast. Do we know what his timeframe is?
No idea. Hammies can be tricky.
however long it takes to get out the doghouse. Meanwhile, Kaleb Smith looks pretty good.
1) we won
2) I finally saw a pancake for the good guys on Willis' TD run(although admittedly I did not watch the BC very close)
3) We did enough on ODU's opening drive to finally clamp-down and have the drive sputter-out
Nester had a pancake in the 3rd Q too. I believe the opening series.
He may have missed a block or two the whole game, but I did not see it. I thought he was tremendous.
I'll just put this here cause it doesn't deserve a thread and I've been thinking about it. How good would a Trevor Lawrence or a Tua do in our offense with our run game? I mean they can definitely run the read better but is our 1 on 1 blocking good enough to be a legitimate run threat?
Discloser: This is a legit question not a dig at anything going on or defending any of our inability.
Good question.
IMO the improvement in a vacuum for the run game would be marginal. As you said they could run the read option better but we are still being whipped at the point of attack and we have been unable to block the second level defenders. I think this run scheme puts a lower ceiling on how good we can be. The "make the unblocked hat miss" problem is frustrating when you watch teams with a good run game who don't run into the unblocked hat until they are 5 yards down the field. We are having to make the unblocked hat miss at or before the line of scrimmage on 50% of our run plays. King really had some great 4 yard runs where there was absolutely nothing and he wiggled ahead for a decent gain. Those runs were exciting and depressing all at once.
i also noticed some easy throws into the middle of the field (usually a short crossing route) to slot WR. I think tayvion (pls) had one go for a pretty good gain. nice to see that being a viable option against after french's film preview coming into the season
Final Score was Key for me
1. I like the enthusiasm of the team - it showed
2. Getting all those different defensive players pt will pay dividends in the long run (the drop off isn't that huge cause the starters aren't incredible)
3. Willis (while still making dangerous throws occasionally) has guts and threw some beautiful passes. He looked faster in general with his reads and dropbacks.
4. Pass pro was solid.
The team clearly has its weaknesses that will be revealed especially by the bigger teams we play but the nucleus is solid for the future. I'd put down the pitchfork and watch this thing progress.
Go homies (Hokies)
Love the positive post. we are without a doubt a work in progress and i definitely believe that we're a team that will improve as the season progresses. we gon be fine