Illinois Hokie's Recent Comments
Never a play caller at Florida though.
Man, the hangover endures into the workweek.
My question is, for a team that's gone 24-19 over the last 3.33 seasons, why do we still act like a loss completely derails us? It was one thing when we were winning 10 or 11 games a season and the losses were knocking us out of BCS championship contention, but I can't think of another 0.560 team whose fanbase still melts down like this after a loss.
Scot Loeffler seemed completely befuddled by the rainy conditions, abandoning his cerebral approach in favor of an asinine recurrence of QB power after QB power.
Has Lefty ever called a game in that kind of weather? I'm trying to think of another VT game since '12 that was played in that kind of slop. I didn't follow Auburn or Temple during his stints there, so I don't know the weather conditions he playcalled in. But consider this might have been a completely new experience for him. He might have actually been completely befuddled by the conditions. I mean, that does happen. As a young coordinator, he's still going to be having experiencing things for the first time. Don't dismiss that possibility.
Instead of mixing things up and keeping the defense on it's toes, Lefty stubbornly relied on inside zone reads, jet sweeps and flanker screens. It felt like 2013 all over again, causing me to worry that the man still hasn't really figured it out.
The offensive numbers were okay if not great. 429 yards and 28 points. We exceeded each of those numbers three times in all of 2013, under far better playing conditions that we played in at ECU. It might have felt like the 2013 playbook, but as is the theme this season, the offense is outperforming previous years.
All that said, the offense left a ton of points on the field Saturday. Dropped passes and the interception were killers. After stalling for too long in the second quarter, we didn't operate efficiently enough to mount a comeback in the second half.
Don't kid yourself, though. The loss is more on the defense. If we weren't forcing a turnover, the Pirates were scoring. And we only forced two turnovers.
The defense, not the offense, has been our primary liability this season.
Hmm. Trying to think how a bum number could be anything other than... a zero...
I noted the context of the quote.
You said it was a message he delivered to the team immediately after the loss. Do we actually have a transcript or recording of the full message Frank game the team? Because I still think that matters.
Was Frank saying that specifically in terms of the goal of winning the ACC, non-conference games are like preseason games? Because if that was the full context of the message, then that's true. If Frank was trying to tell his team to not get discouraged because as far as the ACC championship goes, we're 0-0, then that's a message I can support.
On the other hand, if Frank is literally saying he doesn't give a shit about non-conference games in general, I can't support that. I also find that idea hard to swallow, given all the anecdotes I've heard from other coaches about how competitive Frank is as a person.
Either way, it's a poison sound bite. But Frank has quite a talent at generating those. Ultimately I'd like to see/hear the full message, instead of just that one line.
Okay, refresh my memory here. Wasn't his 60 yard TD run between the tackles?
The two missed field goals are the difference between us being ranked 86th as we are in red zone scoring percentage, and being ranked 34th.
But I agree, I'm coming across too harsh on the kickers. It's early. Hopefully Slye won't miss any more attempts within 37. If he does maintain a 67% average in the red zone, though, that ain't good.
Branden Ore was a good attitude away from being a very good tailback for us. When he had his head on straight, his production rivaled Darren Evans. For some reason, the chip in his shoulder grew to be more than he could bear.
Now that I think about it, some strong parallels between Branden Ore and Joshua Stanford.
They'll bring Newsome in to fake the sweep. We've done it a few times each game. It's just not very noticeable because we tend to focus on the result of the play, not the fake or the pre-snap motion that preceded it.
A lot of the time it's not size. It's the coaches not trusting his vision or his ability to hold onto the ball.
You replied while I was editing. As I said above, I was wrong to put it all on his shoulders. Michael Santamaria also contributed to our red zone woes. But you need a kicker to be automatic from inside 40 yards.
Also, just for clarification, any attempt of 37 yards or closer is a red zone field goal attempt. Add ten yards for the depth of the end zone and seven yards for the snap and hold.
Don't get me started. Slye The kicking game is killing our red zone efficiency. He's had a terrible year so far, and there aren't any answers behind him.
EDIT: Okay, you got me started. Check this out.
We're currently tied for 86th in red zone scoring percentage. That's awful, right? But we're also 32nd in red zone touchdown percentage. That's really good.
Part of the difference there is the scoop and score against Purdue and then the fact that the game ended with us having the ball inside their 20. (I still hate that gets recorded as a failed red zone trip, but whatever.) The rest of that discrepancy, though, is the fact that we're 2 for 4 on field goals in the red zone.
Now, I was wrong to originally put it all on Slye in this comment. Michael Santamaria was 0 for 1 in the red zone against Furman. Slye has been 2 for 3. Being 2 for 4 overall on red zone field goals is just a stone cold killer in general, though. If you can't put seven on the board, 3 has to be automatic from inside the 20. That's the sort of thing that can sink an otherwise good team.
Let's just see if it holds into conference play. That's when the offense started to tank last season. The narrative at the time was injuries. If we see a similar decline as last season with a squad that so far is holding up, then we'll have to reassess.
Needless to say, I'm eager for conference play to begin, if only from a statisticians' perspective.
I just can't get on board with this sentiment. Yes, the running backs basically sucked yesterday with the exception of McMillian. That's the first time they've looked terrible this season. Why did they look bad? I honestly don't know. I'm waiting for Mason's review.
Looking at the distribution chart above, we have three tailbacks sharing the load more or less evenly, all of whom until yesterday were averaging 4+ YPC. Would two be better than three? Maybe. Based on JCC's performance yesterday, he might have gotten demoted. But coming into that game, all three tailbacks in the steady rotation were posting good bum numbers.
After the three main backs. We have Shai getting garbage time carries and a fullback who carries it a couple of times a game. Add in a running quarterback and some received receiver jet sweeps and there were are. I still only see a potential problem with having a three back rotation instead of two.
All that said, we're still doing well running the ball. Our running backs are averaging 5.0 YPC, which is actually half a yard MORE than when you average in quarterback and wide receiver carries. We're 42nd nationally and 7th in the ACC in rushing. (For perspective, 11.25 yards per game is what separates us at 7th from North Carolina at 4th.)
The rushing game and the running backs are fine. Let's wait for Mason's review to figure out why the run game stalled against the Pirates, and then see if it gets back on track against Pitt before we panic.
We have more than enough to worry about with the defense. For the most part, the offense (including the run game) has exceeded expectations.
Nationally, 39th in total O and 37th in scoring O. Compare to after four games last season: 76th in total O and 78th in scoring O.
In the ACC, we're currently 4th in total O, behind UNC, NC State and Miami. We're 6th in scoring O, behind NC State, Georgia Tech, Miami, UNC and Clemson. Perhaps worth noting, we're separated from 5th place Clemson by 0.4 points per game and from 4th place UNC by 2.5 ppg.
I can't find week by week conference rankings for last season to compare where we were in the conference after 4 games last year, but you can kind of surmise if we were a little below middle of the pack nationally, we were probably about the same in conference.
So yes, markedly better, and nationally relevant in offense, albeit far from setting the world on fire.
Frickin Bizarro world, ain't it?
I wish Ron Cherry had worked the game instead yesterday, and that tells you all you need to know about the officiating.
The ref crew is decided by the specifics of the agreement for the non-conference game. It can happen either way, but a lot of the time the away team's conference provided the crew.
After yesterday's game, I wanted to send those refs to a clinic. Or the emergency room. Whichever.
I thought it was because of whatever happened to Kemp's throwing hand.
Good lord that's nothing short of amazing. Until yesterday, Summers had played five snaps total in one game for ECU this season. The fact Bud anticipated it proves how damn good he is at scheming. Summers caught me completely off guard.
Some of those catches were ridiculous. Stroman didn't have a good day, but there were some catches against him that he had good position.
You have to understand, though, the defense carries a weeks' worth of impetus into a game based on what they practiced against the scout team offense. I guarantee you Bud had then running nickel in practice all week, because that's what we needed to play against the Air Raid. A sudden switch to the defense we played against OSU is jarring. Sure, the defense should know the packages, but this isn't pro ball. We have a lot of underclassmen on D and they had trouble flipping the switch from nickel to run stop. ECU found a wrinkle they could exploit and caught us flatfooted.
This might be the best comment I have ever read on TKP.
I just assume it was AAC because I've never seen any of those refs before. If they're ACC, they should still be fired.
I say this without any hint of sarcasm. We should get fucking lawyers involved in this and get out of this series no matter the cost. Whit needs to see that ECU and the AAC also-ran officiating crews are now negatively impacting our conference play.
Oh yeah, I remember Miami fans bitching about playing in the rain after that. Coupled with VTGM's suggestion of Marshall above, it's pretty clear Lefty's only ever called QB power in the rain, so the ECU playcalling makes sense. He'd been there before and fared well relying on that strategy. Kudos to him for going back to the well instead of sticking with a game plan that was clearly not working in the first half.