I think it was more than just the threat of HH runs. I think Hooker gets the ball to the back quicker; so the back gets to the hole before it closes. The timing on the running plays looked much better to me with Hooker than I have seen with Willis. However, we still can't run between the tackles when the other team is expecting it.
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I think Hooker is going to come along rather quickly as a passer. There were a couple drops in there and a couple of absolute dimes. Hazelton's catch was so nonchalant that the DB didn't even realize the ball was coming his way.
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I need to watch the play again, but watching it live I thought Hazelton could've planted a foot and tried for YAC instead since the defender was a step behind. Maybe his forward momentum towards the sideline was too much though.
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I think this is ticky tack. Full speed, need to make sure the ball is secure and the clock situation. I'm not going to second guess that on such a tough catch and throw. Great play by Hendon and Damon.
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Hendon Hooker on if he had a good passing day after going 10-for-20 for 184 yards and three TDs with no picks: "I didn't. I had a terrible day throwing the ball." I think #Hokies fans would disagree, but he said he missed some open passes.— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) October 6, 2019
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Compare and contrast that reaction with Ryan Willis throwing for 123 yards against Furman and saying how that would be the highest he'd ever graded out.
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I'm okay with this attitude if it presses him to get better. 10/20 184 aren't stellar, but 3/0 is. If there were open passes he felt he should have made and now he has a "game time" feel versus a "practice" feel...let's see if he steps up to get a better completion percentage.
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The biggest thing outside of mobility is that he didn't have any turnovers. Even if Willis has the same mobility as Hooker, he is turning it over 3 times. We won by one touchdown but had 5 extra possessions. That was the key.
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I mean, is it? Our best year offensively by far was with Jerrod taking snaps. We saw significant dropoff with JJ and Willis, and then an immediate shot in the arm with Hooker. I think it's absolutely fair to say this offense doesn't work without a QB who makes defenses respect their running threat, which is all OP is really saying.
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Uh yeah, its one game. Holy hot takes. Against a miami team which isnt really that good. Running helps, but let's see how teams adjust after one game. Especially when we all saw today that the arm strength and accuracy needs work
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I remember us having trouble with the powerhouses Furman, Old Dominion. and Duke. Guarantee Miami has way better talent then all of them, especially on defense.
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Miami has arguably the 2nd or 3rd best defense in the ACC. Yeah we didn't light up the scoreboard in terms of yardage, but we did put up 42pts. And capitalized a fair amount off turnovers, something we really have not excelled at as of late (i think)
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Yardage doesn't matter as much as efficiency stats showing if we maximized our yardage based on field position. Granted the 3rd quarter didn't help us, but the first half total yardage was small, but we maxed out the yardage due to the obvious great field position.
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Yardage is skewed cuz we tried killing clock the second half while they had to push the field and pass almost every play. So arguing yardage is kind of null and void.
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Miami was #13 in total defense this morning. Miami had allowed 239 rushing yards in their first 4 games. We ran for 153. We had almost 1 more yard per play than Miami allowed previously. Our offense played well against a good defense.
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The camera briefly cut to Hooker on the sideline about halfway through the game, and he was actually legitimately having a good time. Dude was smiling, shushing the crowd, saying "nope, there will be no comeback."
More than a dual threat QB, this game shows that our offense doesn't work without an absolute leader at QB, someone who doesn't just go through the motions doing his job then goes to the bench. We haven't had that from a QB since Michael Brewer and Jerod Evans. Intangibles. Command. Positivity. Confidence.
When you're under center, yes, you need to be able to execute a play, make the right read, go through your check downs, etc. But to do it well, you need the full trust of your team and the leadership that unifies the offense (ie no one puts the team on their shoulders, no lone wolves), and in one game I see that trait from Hooker. (Note to Fuente: seniority =/= leadership).
I hope Hooker is our starter for the next 2 seasons, lights it up, goes pro to give QP his season in a couple years, stirs a legacy for himself that inspires future Hokie QB's and helps rebuild the team's culture.
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Hooker did two VERY important things other than run. He threw it away when there was nothing and he checked down. Both of those things matter in a game, but are probably hard to evaluate in practice. How does one evaluate the "non-positive" outcome? Willis probably did better hitting the "big plays" in practice and that likely won him the starting job.
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That throw it into the ground was impressive play for a sophomore to make since you see 3 year starters not do that. He had a couple of plays where it looked like he thought, "hey, don't screw this up and punt, it will be fine"
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I'm seriously scratching my head about Willis being the starter. However, there are still some very serious problems with our run game. The offensive line was a mixed bag that showed some spots of real aggression along with moments of total meltdown. There is still almost nothing going on in the run game outside of Hooker making some people miss.
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Hooker is better for the offense than Willis. They respect his ability to run which opens up other options.
If he can protect the ball like tonight, we have a slightly better chance.
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Side note, I wish ESPN would start giving extra audio feeds for more games. The normal crew is fine for the average neutral fan, but also give me the option to listen to a homer crew for either team. Even just syncing up the team radio broadcast would be an awesome improvement.
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I have had the same sentiment after watching the offense change after going from Evans to JJ and then to Willis. The running game is predicated on the QB being a serious threat. I think it really opens up a lot of the offensive playbook even if his passing isn't as polished.
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I wasn't a fan pre-2012, but this reminds me of most Beamer teams. The offense is basically just the QB running around trying to make things happen by improvisation, which can open up the run game. Hooker does that well, Willis does not.
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Overly simplistic comparison from my own personal perspective, not claiming a 1 to 1 match:
This reminds me of the offense with a young Tyrod when I was in school. A mobile QB who is a big play threat running but not an elite passer (yet). Really need King to develop as a running back over the next few years.
Quite "Frankly" - if we can win at the Beamer level with a similar approach to the 2007-2011 years, I'll be happy.
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Phenomenal game from Hooker. The passing game wasn't great, but he made all the right throws and made a few impressive ones. Most impressive was his smarts. He managed the game and got it done without making any critical errors. He has much better pocket presence than Willis. Just feels it, can naturally move it and slide it while keeping his eyes downfield. Glad we got Keene involved this game. That was critical and had been missing in the first four games.
Miami was selling out on the run quite a bit because and were hoping Hooker wouldn't be able to make the throws or that he would make a mistake.
There will be games where Hooker has to do more passing if we want to win, but clearly this team and offense can have an identity with Hooker on the field. With Willis we never moved the pocket off the snap which is critical when you have a young OL that is going to get abused for stretches.
This was a good first step for Fuente making changes. It took a lot for him to finally make this change. Glad he has. Team came ready to play and they got the win. Let's hope they can continue to improve. Excited for the potential!
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Tayvion Robinson has been more productive it seems in his role. Now that Hazelton is back, Grimsley is set back to playing the slot and fighting for time against Robinson. I agree though, I think we would should play him outside some while awaiting Tre's return.
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There was a time in the game yesterday when the camera panned to Hooker on the sideline, and I thought that he looked exactly like Ike Whitaker. Same skill set, same height and weight, they look a lot alike in the face, they were both heavily favored to the guy starting in front of them, etc.
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Had a great game for sure. Everything hinges on his ability to tighten up some of those passes and make a couple of deep throws each game though. I think he showed enough to justify optimism, but if he becomes 1-D in the other direction and relying on his feet more, that's not playing to our strength. I think the reason Willis was the starter is because our strongest unit is our receivers. You want to be able to take advantage of that.
No doubt Hooker adds a lot and I'm excited to see more of him. Definitely gotta ride the guy with the hot hand, but I don't think its so cut an dry that Willis is totally out of the convo for QB1 for the duration of the season.
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Agree. But HH just also seems to have really good instinct and pocket presence. He played a very smart game and executed the game plan well.
For all the criticism that has been directed towards the offense this year, and I've dished out quite a bit, they've been very good in a few critical metrics. 3rd down conversions are at 50% (12th in country). That is going to help win ball games if we can continue to do that. And the other is red zone conversions. Here are the last four seasons:
Where the red-zone offense failed us this year was in the Duke game. If we could've converted some TD's on the early drives in the Duke game while the defense was playing lights out, then maybe the team stays mentally in it. Either way, I hope the red-zone success from the Miami game continues.
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Comments
I think it was more than just the threat of HH runs. I think Hooker gets the ball to the back quicker; so the back gets to the hole before it closes. The timing on the running plays looked much better to me with Hooker than I have seen with Willis. However, we still can't run between the tackles when the other team is expecting it.
+1. I have been calling for Hooker since week 1. Just having a mobile QB makes it hard on opposing defenses.
I think we can run the full offensive playbook with Hooker and they have to account for every player on the field.
Also how awesome do you think Hooker feels after that game. The dude was going to transfer, and balled out!
Long live Captain Hook!
I think Hooker is going to come along rather quickly as a passer. There were a couple drops in there and a couple of absolute dimes. Hazelton's catch was so nonchalant that the DB didn't even realize the ball was coming his way.
and he had one overthrow to Hazelton that would have been a long TD...his confidence will certainly grow from this game.
The Hooker to Hazleton nonchalant over the shoulder catch made me wet... and that's impressive considering I'm a dude...
I need to watch the play again, but watching it live I thought Hazelton could've planted a foot and tried for YAC instead since the defender was a step behind. Maybe his forward momentum towards the sideline was too much though.
na go out if bounds. That's the best play is stip the clock.
I think this is ticky tack. Full speed, need to make sure the ball is secure and the clock situation. I'm not going to second guess that on such a tough catch and throw. Great play by Hendon and Damon.
It just looked different from body language from everyone. They believe in him. You could tell Willis had lost faith of his teammates after BC.
Looking forward to many good passing days if this is what a bad one looks like.
Compare and contrast that reaction with Ryan Willis throwing for 123 yards against Furman and saying how that would be the highest he'd ever graded out.
That miss to Hazelton over the top was the only one I'd really want back. But hitting Mitchell and Haze later made up
I'm okay with this attitude if it presses him to get better. 10/20 184 aren't stellar, but 3/0 is. If there were open passes he felt he should have made and now he has a "game time" feel versus a "practice" feel...let's see if he steps up to get a better completion percentage.
The biggest thing outside of mobility is that he didn't have any turnovers. Even if Willis has the same mobility as Hooker, he is turning it over 3 times. We won by one touchdown but had 5 extra possessions. That was the key.
Way to early to say this. Gonna see defenses playing more spy or ends way off the line. Plus forcing Hooker to throw deep.
The running helps cover up some of the issues on offense, but it doesnt fix it
I mean, is it? Our best year offensively by far was with Jerrod taking snaps. We saw significant dropoff with JJ and Willis, and then an immediate shot in the arm with Hooker. I think it's absolutely fair to say this offense doesn't work without a QB who makes defenses respect their running threat, which is all OP is really saying.
Uh yeah, its one game. Holy hot takes. Against a miami team which isnt really that good. Running helps, but let's see how teams adjust after one game. Especially when we all saw today that the arm strength and accuracy needs work
I remember us having trouble with the powerhouses Furman, Old Dominion. and Duke. Guarantee Miami has way better talent then all of them, especially on defense.
Miami had a top 15 defense going in to the game with some serious NFL prospects. Quarterman will play on Sundays.
Hold on... This is a very good Miami D
#18 Defense per FEI
#21 Defense per S&P
It is only one game; and we didn't exactly "blow up" statistically. But that is a very good defense.
Miami has arguably the 2nd or 3rd best defense in the ACC. Yeah we didn't light up the scoreboard in terms of yardage, but we did put up 42pts. And capitalized a fair amount off turnovers, something we really have not excelled at as of late (i think)
Yardage doesn't matter as much as efficiency stats showing if we maximized our yardage based on field position. Granted the 3rd quarter didn't help us, but the first half total yardage was small, but we maxed out the yardage due to the obvious great field position.
Yardage is skewed cuz we tried killing clock the second half while they had to push the field and pass almost every play. So arguing yardage is kind of null and void.
Agreed
Miami was #13 in total defense this morning. Miami had allowed 239 rushing yards in their first 4 games. We ran for 153. We had almost 1 more yard per play than Miami allowed previously. Our offense played well against a good defense.
Agree....and all because we actually had a run game with a QB who is a running threat!!! How novel of an idea 💡
You forgot to mention that probably JJ's best game was the one where he ran roughshod all over WVU.
The camera briefly cut to Hooker on the sideline about halfway through the game, and he was actually legitimately having a good time. Dude was smiling, shushing the crowd, saying "nope, there will be no comeback."
More than a dual threat QB, this game shows that our offense doesn't work without an absolute leader at QB, someone who doesn't just go through the motions doing his job then goes to the bench. We haven't had that from a QB since Michael Brewer and Jerod Evans. Intangibles. Command. Positivity. Confidence.
When you're under center, yes, you need to be able to execute a play, make the right read, go through your check downs, etc. But to do it well, you need the full trust of your team and the leadership that unifies the offense (ie no one puts the team on their shoulders, no lone wolves), and in one game I see that trait from Hooker. (Note to Fuente: seniority =/= leadership).
I hope Hooker is our starter for the next 2 seasons, lights it up, goes pro to give QP his season in a couple years, stirs a legacy for himself that inspires future Hokie QB's and helps rebuild the team's culture.
FTFY. ;^)
Hooker did two VERY important things other than run. He threw it away when there was nothing and he checked down. Both of those things matter in a game, but are probably hard to evaluate in practice. How does one evaluate the "non-positive" outcome? Willis probably did better hitting the "big plays" in practice and that likely won him the starting job.
That throw it into the ground was impressive play for a sophomore to make since you see 3 year starters not do that. He had a couple of plays where it looked like he thought, "hey, don't screw this up and punt, it will be fine"
Agree. And in those situations, that is where Willis forces a throw and tries to be a hero.
I'm seriously scratching my head about Willis being the starter. However, there are still some very serious problems with our run game. The offensive line was a mixed bag that showed some spots of real aggression along with moments of total meltdown. There is still almost nothing going on in the run game outside of Hooker making some people miss.
McClease had some bright spots tonight
I definitely agree. He is really running hard. Unfortunately its terribly spotty (not all his fault).
We're also playing two true freshman on the line. Talented, but pretty well explains the comment above.
True, and not to digress into an entirely different conversation, but this is one of Fuente's biggest problems - roster management.
I was most impressed by how he caused all those turnovers. Dude is a disruptor.
Hooker is better for the offense than Willis. They respect his ability to run which opens up other options.
If he can protect the ball like tonight, we have a slightly better chance.
Does anyone know why Miami didn't have to use their timeout or have a 10 second runoff with the injury with 40 seconds left in the game?
My guess at the time was that it was because the clock was stopped to move the chains.
My guess is because the ESPN broadcasters had no idea what planet football is played on
Speaking of those guys. What was up with them giving each other 5 when Miami hit on the Hail Mary? Aren't they supposed to be nonpartisan?
Yes.
Side note, I wish ESPN would start giving extra audio feeds for more games. The normal crew is fine for the average neutral fan, but also give me the option to listen to a homer crew for either team. Even just syncing up the team radio broadcast would be an awesome improvement.
This is what I was thinking too. If that's the rule, there's a few situations where it could be abused.
If there is ANY reason to stop the clock, the 10 second runoff does not apply.
Seems like it should have since it saved them multiple seconds as the clock starts once the box gets to the spot - but it was the correct call.
we got a long way to go
I have had the same sentiment after watching the offense change after going from Evans to JJ and then to Willis. The running game is predicated on the QB being a serious threat. I think it really opens up a lot of the offensive playbook even if his passing isn't as polished.
I wasn't a fan pre-2012, but this reminds me of most Beamer teams. The offense is basically just the QB running around trying to make things happen by improvisation, which can open up the run game. Hooker does that well, Willis does not.
Overly simplistic comparison from my own personal perspective, not claiming a 1 to 1 match:
This reminds me of the offense with a young Tyrod when I was in school. A mobile QB who is a big play threat running but not an elite passer (yet). Really need King to develop as a running back over the next few years.
Quite "Frankly" - if we can win at the Beamer level with a similar approach to the 2007-2011 years, I'll be happy.
Phenomenal game from Hooker. The passing game wasn't great, but he made all the right throws and made a few impressive ones. Most impressive was his smarts. He managed the game and got it done without making any critical errors. He has much better pocket presence than Willis. Just feels it, can naturally move it and slide it while keeping his eyes downfield. Glad we got Keene involved this game. That was critical and had been missing in the first four games.
Miami was selling out on the run quite a bit because and were hoping Hooker wouldn't be able to make the throws or that he would make a mistake.
There will be games where Hooker has to do more passing if we want to win, but clearly this team and offense can have an identity with Hooker on the field. With Willis we never moved the pocket off the snap which is critical when you have a young OL that is going to get abused for stretches.
This was a good first step for Fuente making changes. It took a lot for him to finally make this change. Glad he has. Team came ready to play and they got the win. Let's hope they can continue to improve. Excited for the potential!
Where has Grimsley been? Was looking great early in season, but his snaps seem very limited. We need to get him on the field more.
Tayvion Robinson has been more productive it seems in his role. Now that Hazelton is back, Grimsley is set back to playing the slot and fighting for time against Robinson. I agree though, I think we would should play him outside some while awaiting Tre's return.
There was a time in the game yesterday when the camera panned to Hooker on the sideline, and I thought that he looked exactly like Ike Whitaker. Same skill set, same height and weight, they look a lot alike in the face, they were both heavily favored to the guy starting in front of them, etc.
Had a great game for sure. Everything hinges on his ability to tighten up some of those passes and make a couple of deep throws each game though. I think he showed enough to justify optimism, but if he becomes 1-D in the other direction and relying on his feet more, that's not playing to our strength. I think the reason Willis was the starter is because our strongest unit is our receivers. You want to be able to take advantage of that.
No doubt Hooker adds a lot and I'm excited to see more of him. Definitely gotta ride the guy with the hot hand, but I don't think its so cut an dry that Willis is totally out of the convo for QB1 for the duration of the season.
Not sure a dual threat QB makes as big of a difference as a QB that does not turnover the ball.
We can run the full offense with a dual threat and they have to respect him as an option to keep the ball unlike Willis or even Josh Jackson.
I agree with the title. Just seems to give the team a little extra way to
get yards and move the sticks.
Agree. But HH just also seems to have really good instinct and pocket presence. He played a very smart game and executed the game plan well.
For all the criticism that has been directed towards the offense this year, and I've dished out quite a bit, they've been very good in a few critical metrics. 3rd down conversions are at 50% (12th in country). That is going to help win ball games if we can continue to do that. And the other is red zone conversions. Here are the last four seasons:
Score % (nat'l rank), TD% (nat'l rank)
2016: 88% (27th), 62% (63rd)
2017: 77% (103rd), 51% (119th)
2018: 90% (12th), 69% (26th)
2019: 95% (13th), 79% (13th)
Where the red-zone offense failed us this year was in the Duke game. If we could've converted some TD's on the early drives in the Duke game while the defense was playing lights out, then maybe the team stays mentally in it. Either way, I hope the red-zone success from the Miami game continues.