With every day that passes without any major news events regarding COVID 19, we become one day closer to trying to take back the Commonwealth Cup. We are currently 18 days away. The news about Raheem Blackshear today made me even more excited. I finally worked up the courage to watch the game back on Black Friday in its entirety (I'm also bored in a virtual class and am trying to pass time).
So, here are some casual observations. This won't be a deep film dive or really say anything in-depth about how the game is going to go. It's more or less going to be viewing things in perspective a little over nine months later and how that might bode for September 18th.
First and foremost, the offense wasn't as conservative in the first half as I remember it. The offense did go after their DBs a little bit. The issue was that every once in awhile, a play that UVA definitely saw on film would result in a loss and get VT behind the chains, effectively killing a drive. The first half probably would have looked a lot better had Tre Turner not fumbled early in the second quarter.
Second, with the exception of four long runs in the first half (two that resulted in TDs), I don't view anything that Bryce Perkins did in that game as something Brennan Armstrong won't be able to do. Most notably in the second half, the secondary really struggled without Caleb Farley. Poor Armani Chatman got matched up with Hasees Dubois entirely too many times. Armstrong will be able to make these same plays, so there can't be lapses in the secondary. UVA losing Dubois and Joe Reed will hopefully help there.
Third, their offensive line really sucked. Even if they're a little better this year--as long as the defense doesn't give up a million big plays again-- it is going to be tough for them to score points.
Fourth, just like our DBs, theirs struggled too. If they are anything like last year, getting Blackshear, Turner, and Tayion Robinson in space in the second level shouldn't be too difficult. I would not try to get them into space around the line of scrimmage, though. Noah Taylor and Charles Snowden at linebacker look like two Tremaine Edmunds running around on the field. Their defensive line is also pretty solid. Getting the ball to the second level without having to deal with anyone in their front seven will be ideal most of the time.
Fifth, we should have blocked at least one of their field goals. The field goal block team was very underwhelming last season. Often times it looks like not a lot of effort was given to push the line back and get their hands up. That must change.
Sixth, hopefully Tayvion Robinson can make the punter miss this year on a big punt return. Twice in the first half he made several guys miss only to get tripped up or slowed down by the punter. Kudos to UVA's punter, though.
Does anyone have anything to add? My class is wrapping up, and I've got another one right after it.
Go Hokies!
Comments
I really can't bring myself to rewatch that game. I was there in person and that pain will suffice me for the rest of my life.
My now girlfriend watched that entire game with me. She is a Marshall diehard and was having a tough time making me feel better. She heard me say a lot of questionable things that day but still stuck with me!
I watched it at Scott Stadium with my girlfriend (a UVA grad), my best friend (a double UVA grad) and his sister (a UVA/Clemson grad). Obviously I was upset, but the guy behind us afterward saw my shirt and said "I didn't realize you we're a Tech fan, you weren't acting like an asshole." So at least I held my own.
That's a backhanded compliment if I ever saw one.
The correct response to "you weren't acting like an asshole" is "yeah, I didn't want to be mistaken for a uva fan"
I would change your name, move across the country, and start over. Your current life is too infested with Wahoos.
Think of it this way. If she was not your girlfriend then but she is now (and she stuck with you through what you went through/said watching the game) then it is probably a net plus for you all things considered. Others on here may disagree with me, but I say a good lady is worth more than a VT win over UVa.
You are correct. If one UVA win every 15 years is the price for a good girlfriend, so be it.
For sure, but it's close.
I've had a lot of fun with bad girlfriends....
"When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad, I'm better."
Mae West
I can't up-vote this enough! The problem with bad gf's is that the relationships last a little too long, and the batshit craziness starts to far outweigh the 'benefits'.
Hmmmm....
There is an estimated 3,750,000,000 females in the world. Yes, we had won 15 games in a row, but the universe needs more VT over UVA games.
Look, they beat us one freakin year and all hell breaks loose with a super virus killing 1000s all over the globe. For the sake of the world, just stay celibate and become a monk... we can't have this happen again.
Your comment kind of reminds me when I started dating an Indian woman in graduate school. A couple guys I knew from India (completely joking around and not serious) gave me the fake outrage/teasing:
What are you doing taking all of the Indian women! Do you see us taking all of the white women?
My response was something along the line of:
Gosh, there's only about 450 million more where she came from. (Although she was actually born in the US).
Of course, my wife is 50% Indian too, but she was born in Canada.
So you got a type I see
Oh yeah definitely Asian! My ex-fiance was from China (thank God that did not work out, but that's another story).
Armstrong will be a totally different quarterback. I don't really know a lot about him.
Perkins wasn't the best arm out there, but his strength was making a busted play into something, and he was pretty good at that. Perkins didn't give up on plays, even when they were way over, and his improvisation was good for a lot of yards, and sometimes game-winning plays. I won't be missing Perkins one bit. When his back was against the wall and he was desperate, he was at his best. He won games for them they should have lost.
From what I could tell, his big throws in the second half weren't off broken plays. However, who knows what plays where he threw the ball away after escaping pressure would have resulted in a sack or turnover for other quarterbacks. It'll be interesting to see.
I haven't watched that game in a while, but I sort of thought his runs might have been ad-libs. He was able to extend drives by himself.
His elusiveness was strong, and he had a head for the game.
I never got the sense the UVa staff were awesome at calling plays - seemed to me it was more about him being able to adjust to no options in the middle of a play, and make something out of it himself to extend drives or to score.
His big runs, at least the ones on third and longs, looked like QB draws. One of the long touchdowns definitely looked like a broken play though.
He was surprisingly elusive.
Not only that, but his receivers never gave up on the play. Always working to give him that last second target because he was never out of it until he was out of bounds or down. I'm so glad he's gone.
UVA's defensive game plan was solid.
They got a ton of negative plays.
I was talking about the offense.
I agree with you on their defensive plan. It was solid, and they had decent players on defense.
Armstrong is considered by the LOLUVA staff as being very similar to BYU's Taysom Hill, now with the New Orleans Saints. He's has decent size, and can be a run threat. No clue on how well he throws.
Good thing there is a preview coming to discuss that very question...
Yes.
Yes, this is exactly what we need.
French on the ball as usual.
Parcels would kill for a 250 pound version of Noah Taylor.
He is 6'5" 225 lbs according to UVA's official roster. An NFL weight room might turn him into a monster.
let's not go there....2020 already crazy
I could have called a better offensive game using an NFL Blitz video game playbook than Corny did. Their secondary was so weak. When UVA fans are asking why we don't throw down the field more on them, then we've got a serious issue at OC.
You know you could just make that your signature and call it a day
The play that stuck out to me, and I think French mentioned it in the film review, Hazelton didn't hold his block on Tre's jet sweep. Otherwise, he walks in for a TD. 4 points there.
Edit: the other was Hookers INT. It's like it was destiny at that point for UVA.
Hazelton had one or two more plays that I noticed where he didn't really do a small thing correctly and it hurt us. Hazelton was a weapon and will be missed in certain scenarios, don't get me wrong. I think not having the stuff he didn't do as well that we simply didn't notice will be a net wash at the least, though. Things like finishing blocks, catching balls in traffic across the middle (something Turner must improve at as well), and giving effort even on plays don't designed for him. Best of luck to him at Missouri.
COUGH loses his block on the goalline on the opening drive, then Grant crushes Turner at the 2 COUGH. The sad thing is he could do it (he had a killer block to spring big YAC in the 3rd Q) but the effort was so inconsistent.
So you're going to conveniently exclude 20% of his carriers for the game, nearly 50% of his first half carries (BTW - his 19 carries include sacks), and one run that alone accounted for over a third of his rushing yards? Not very objective lol.
Writing that felt weird, I'll admit. However, I think when I looked back on this game, it was those runs that stuck out in my mind as killers when, at the end of the day, it was just four plays in the first half when we still had time to recover. The second half, Perkins made throw after throw to Dubois, Kemp, and Reed and that just felt more and more like backbreakers as the game went along, and they were plays that Armstrong will be able to make. For the record, I think his arm is better than Perkins.
You don't think the concern to prevent more long runs like those four led to coverage busts that allowed those completions?
I don't know. Like I said, it wasn't a deep film dive or anything. It could be very possible as a lot of those throws were to the outside of the field, and a lot of Perkins damage on the ground in the first half came from running up the middle. I will say, that the TD throw to Kemp and the long throw to Jana were not a result of trying to stop Perkins from running. The Dubois ones I could see, however it was really only Chatman getting beat on it. Maybe Chatman struggled with the dual responsibility of defending the pass and the run.
No worries, my comment was just food for thought. Also keep in mind the front seven tends to play differently after being gashed by a mobile qb, usually leading to more time to throw. It may or may not have been the case that day.
This game was on my birthday. I went along for the shopping as a dutiful son-in-law to carry things and ducked out to grab lunch and see the game at the Roanoke Mall Carrabba's bar since everywhere else was packed. I met up with the womenfolk in time to head back to the house.
The food was sub-par, the game was terrible and when I got back to the in-laws place, I'm pretty sure I was running a fever and slept for the next 12 hours.
I'm not sure I am physically capable of watching this game again.
Plus, why would you want to?
All I remember about that game was waking up the next day next to an empty bottle of Bulleit that I opened at kickoff.
Four long runs is three too many
By the definition of long run (at least 20 yards), only two were long. Unfortunately they both went for touchdowns.
Two were directly because of bad defensive schemes for the play called combined with the LB/R inability to beat a tailback's block.
One was Javenon Becton freelancing instead of slanting inside on a whip blitz, leaving a gigantic hole.
Not to sound inconsiderate, but it's time to stop dwelling on the past and move on....
They won, it's going to happen here and there. No one likes it, no one likes them, but let them have their moment, it's time to focus on the next match up.
Eh I get it, we get the opportunity to bring the cup to its rightful place first game of a season that might not even go the distance. The fans are hungry.
I was more or less viewing last year's game through this year's lens. What from one last year will not be here this year, what will, etc.
I want our cup back!
I want our cup back!
I WANT OUR CUP BACK!
I WANT OUR CUP BACK!
I WANT OUR CUP BACK!
If I find some time today I will give this a rewatch. In my mind there were a few critical things that stuck out in my mind and I'd like to see how well they held up.
1) I hated our offensive gameplan, and I don't think we attacked their weakened secondary down the field nearly enough. We often played into the strength of their front seven instead.
2) Perkins was really good, but only in bursts. He had long stretches of being shut down/inconsistent and we failed to make them pay for it. He had four "big" runs, and each one was crippling either as a long 3rd down conversion or a long TD run.
3) There was a critical stretch after their first two TD's where we forced 6-7 consecutive stops. The offense failed to produce anything until the end of this stretch where we could have been building a lead.
4) The defense in this game was a microcosm of the season. Early on struggles with consistency (games 1-4), followed by a stretch of dominance (games 5-11), followed by a return to our struggles with consistency (12-13).
But we still scored 30 on each of our last 2 opponents. Giving up more than 30 points to your (last two and in general) opponents is rarely a formula for success.
Yes and no, right?
We are in a new era of CFB where scoring 30 points isn't really considered amazing. It's good, but not amazing.
Scoring 30 when you can score 50 is a letdown, IMO, especially considering the fact that we had two turnovers while driving (I don't count the Hail Mary at the end of the first half). It's critical that we don't turn the ball over to them this year which means staying the hell away from Snowden and Taylor as often as possible.
I anticipate a whole lot of downhill running in this game in order to stay away from the two OLBs and to burn time off the clock.
Relative to each defense, scoring 30 on Kentucky (34th SP+ defense) was more impressive. In relative terms of raw points scored, we scored more against them than any other team all season. It's worth noting that last season Kentucky avoided the best offenses in the SEC outside of maybe Florida, who scored 29 before they made the (ultimately better for the offense) switch at QB
UVA's 52nd ranked defense gave up 30+ 4 other times last season.
I was actually happy with almost everything the offense did against Kentucky. That was a GOOD defense. I wish Fuente had chosen to go for it up three in the fourth quarter rather than take the field goal, but that game made me feel a lot better about Cornelsen and the general direction of the offense.
I think you'll notice that the offense went down the field a little more in the first half than you remember. At least that's how it went for me. Unfortunately, the gameplan also mixed a lot of plays that we had run all year that UVA had three weeks to prepare for, effectively putting us behind the chains and creating unfavorable situations for the offense. A lot of these plays were abandoned for the most part in the second half.
You are correct about Perkins. And he was really only good when our defense would have a complete breakdown with the exception of the long throw to Reed and a beautiful back shoulder throw to Dubois. Armstrong's 40 time is three tenths of a second slower than Perkins, so I don't think he will be killing us with his legs. If our secondary has breakdowns, though, I am more confident in his arm than Perkins.
If we could have gone into halftime tied or even up on those guys, we might have run away with it. I remember when they got that interception up seven at halftime, they celebrated as if they had just won the game. It's no secret that they knew it was their best shot to beat us in years.
The defense was infuriating in the final two games. After back to back shutouts, they let Perkins and Bowden run wild on them when we all knew that was what they were trying to do.
That game was closer than it looked, so a handful of defensive mishaps is the game.
You've been consistent in trying to say it's all on the offense, but I don't see it that way.I re-read your comment, and though I put this game more on the defense, you've basically acknowledged the deficiencies on both sides of the ball.
It was a game of inches, and they were all around us. If either the offense or defense had made fewer mental mistakes, that game is ours.
In any close game there are always things you can point to on either side of the ball that could have swung the game a different way. This game really was a difference in a few individual plays/moments that went UVA's way. We were bound to lose one eventually, but it was still annoying that we played such an uneven game. It seemed like the defense and offense could never get on the same page, or get on a good roll at the same time.
Perkins playing flag football with our defense in the first quarter running untouched was all of the harbinger I needed. I knew we weren't winning. He WAS their offense, and it tooks us a quarter and a half to notice he was on the field.
The long runs are incredibly frustrating, but going back and watching that game, we lit up Perkins essentially any time he dropped back to pass in the first half and because of that, he had a horrible half throwing the ball and in the second quarter was much less of a running threat after getting banged up. For some reason, in the second half, our blitzes and pass rush quit getting to him and thats when Reed and Dubois were really able to take advantage of Farley being out. I feel like we altered our pass rush gameplan to take some of those designed QB runs away and that hurt us the most in the end.
With that said, I also think the lose of Dubois and Reed is just as damaging for that offense. To me, it's the equivalent of losing Danny and Jarrett after the 2011 season.
You can't let their only P5 skill position player on offense burn you for huge untouched runs. Can't do it and win. If it was blown assignments, that is prep during the week. Kentucky had one D1 level skill player too, and he beat our ass singlehandlely. Inexcusable.
Come on now. Dubois and Reed were P5 skill position players. They both played extremely well against Clemson and Florida.
Besides that i agree. My point was, late in the 1st quarter and in the 2nd quarter, I think we adjusted well to the designed runs when decided we were just going to blitz the tar out of him to take away running lanes and not give him time. In doing so we got a lot of hits on him and he was noticeably less comfortable running the rest of the game. For some reason in the second half, we quit doing that. He barely ran in the second half, but instead his receivers had all the time in the world to work on our DBs.
LOL- yes, I was taking an unnecessary shot at UVA there, true. Those guys are pretty good. LOL.
We're on the same page then haha 2020 has me so messed up, I'm defending dudes on UVAs roster. I give up.
Both teams also had extended time to game plan against a high risk/reward defense Bud had band aided together.
Fair point, Bud was dealing with some injuries.
yeah, let's give him a pass
I just remember going into the game having little fear of Perkins ability to throw it down the field. I recall his passer rating for throws 20+ yards was abysmal. He hit us hard with the long runs early in the game, but he won that game doing the one thing I didn't think he would be able to do, throwing the ball down the field. He had his best passing day of the season when it comes to intermediate and long passes. And when you compare it to the rest of his season, it is quite improbable that he would've had such success given his track record. Kudos to him and I am glad he is gone.
Objective Review
We lost. Don't talk trash until the cup is back home. The end.
Thank you for that objectivity. We lost that game. Perkins and company played their butts off and frankly deserved the win. I hate 'em more than most, but you have to give credit when it's due. I'll be on pins and needles if we get to play this game, though, because I can't stomach the thought of that poor cup being abused by Zima swiggin' stuck up pricks and prickettes for any longer than necessary.
I agree most of the time. But, there must be a trash talking exception for rivalries or else they would be pretty damn boring.
I don't see a lot of trash talking in this thread, at least.
Looks like a lot of people being fairly objective about our team's play last year.
lol
I didn't say I was reviewing the OP or any comments.
Couldn't figure where else to put this:
Breaking:
Rams cut Bryce Perkins
He could still wind up on their practice squad.