I knew all day in my gut we would go flat and get beat today. Why are we soo inconsistent? How do we dominate Miami on the road and loose to a terrible Maryland at home? I'm baffled. We've seen this stuff for 2 seasons now and I don't know what the fix is. It's absolutely outrageous. If Beamer doesn't have the stones to motivate these kids each week then give the reins to Bud and let the Foster era begin.
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I honestly don't think motivation was the problem. Everything we read all week was about how the guys knew what was at stake, they wouldn't look past anyone, all the coaches were demanding the players' best effort. We just got out-gamed by a team that had more fight in them. The Terps had plenty to play for today, and they came out playing like a wounded animal (less of a metaphor than the actual truth).
I'm really fed up with people who have never posted anything on the site before calling for heads after a loss. Beamer does not need to go. He's shown more fire this season than he has in recent years. I haven't seen him get so angry over a call as he has in the last few games, in this one about the overturned fumble we should have had for a TD.
It's not Beamer's lack of fire. It's lack of execution, notably on the offensive line in this game. Also, Bud Foster is not completely exempt from criticism. He didn't put a spy on CJ Brown until he had already scored two TDs. Even before the TDs, he had broken several 15+ yard runs.
Our entire fanbase implodes after every loss. Its like we never expect to lose. I'm pretty happy with how we've looked this year. We knew it was going to be a rebuilding year from the beginning.
I agree with you that the fanbase loses their shi* after a loss...but I think who we're losing to affects the implosion. I don't remember the fan base getting all up in arms after losing to Bama. It's losing to Duke, BC and MD...teams that we're expected to beat that hurts so much...and the way we lose is frustrating for all fans. I"m really pissed right now and I think that was a game we could have and should have won. I'm trying not to lose my mind over it though. I'm not any kind of football guru so I'll wait to see film reviews to see what went wrong.
I think the biggest problem with fans here is that too many of them seem to think they know a lot more about football than they actually know
I don't mind fans being upset after losses, but the fans who clearly never post on this site except after wins, and every post is "THIS TEAM IS TERRIBLE THEY NEED TO FIRE FRANK AND BUD AND EVERYONE ON THE ENTIRE COACHING STAFF" can get annoying fast.
Agreed too many game day "trolls" who only post after wins and spread negativity after losses. It annoys me even more so because my brother is always saying CFB is to old and is losing it when they actually have no idea what they are talking about.
I do have to admit, one thing that does make me feel better after a game is the vast majority of the people here on TKP who, while still very much caring for the Hokies and wanting them to win in every way, can be both disappointed yet civil, open-minded, and thoughtful in trying to analyze and interpret each loss (or win).
Thanks you guys, the vast majority help make it easier after a loss like this (at least for me)! I appreciate it.
I'm just sad. I'm not angry. Who would have even thought we'd be at 7-4 right now? We were expected to come in just above "giant pile of crap" in the ACC standings, and the fact that we were in contention for a divisional title on the second-to-last weekend of our season was pretty crazy. Or maybe parity in the ACC rules all. Either way, it makes for intrigue and hope, and we have to deal with the fact that our team doesn't always win. Last year, we were sitting at 5-6 at this point, just hoping to get to a bowl.
If we close out the regular season at 8-4 with a win over UVA, I will be very happy with the turnaround. My hopes lie further in the future, a couple of years down the road after some time for proper coaching, development, and recruiting.
We're all fans...which is short for fanatic. Of course we expect to win every game. We expect to win the NC every year. If we stopped caring and let the losses bounce off us...we'd be UVA.
Besides, this forum is just that...an open forum. It's not like Beamer and Weaver read them and make decisions based on what we say. It's a bunch or guys and gals looking for a safe place (the nest in the tree...old school anyone?). At the end of the day we all love our Hokies and want success for everyone involved (except UVA).
Here Here I wholeheartedly with everything you stated.
Yeah Beamer has done great things for this program but you can't deny he's lost it. There has been a baffling mismanagement of timeouts the past couple of years, as well as a steady decline in Beamerball none more evident than the 3rd return for TD we've given up this year which ended up being the difference in regulation.
Or you could say the missed FG was the difference. We go up 10-0. Md is in no position to run as much as they do.
Of course, that brings my question....what BCS school only has 1 KICKER...and no backup? Seriously no one else could kick FG?
I'm not Buddy Ryan but you read my mind. I was screaming, "WHERE IS THE SPY" all day. Offense line did not impress me that much either. They left a little too be desired today.
Maybe because we look like we are doing the Hokie Pokie on offense!
I just don't get us. I can't say what it is that makes us so inconsistent because it doesn't appear the players aren't playing hard. Everyone looks like they are trying their hardest so it's just difficult to take in these losses.
As for today though, I thought the play calling was poor. It just never felt like Loeffler got a sense for the game's situation. He had Miami almost perfect which is why the offense had such a rhythmic flow to it. For instance, I still don't understand why we run stretch plays or any runs to the outside when we need less than 3 yards. I also don't get why J.C. is in if we actually do run up the middle on those short plays. And why does Loeffler never go for a strike after a turnover? It's somewhat of a rule that after a turnover and momentum swing, you go deep or do something to catch the defense off guard. I realize you can't do it every time, but most coordinators apply that 50 to 75 percent (total guess just based on my gut feeling over the course of all the football games I've seen) of their play calling after a turnover. It wasn't so much that the plays weren't good, but that the timing of them was off and that they didn't fit the situation we were in.
And Bud didn't have his best game either. Thought it was a combination of no quarterback spy, too much man coverage, and too much blitzing. I think a quarterback spy with man coverage would have worked. I think zone coverage with only pressure from the line or one person blitzing would have worked.
Not having Kyle is really hurting us. He really makes the defense elite.