Illinois Hokie's Recent Comments
Our increased passing occurred simultaneously with the bottom falling out of our running game. We have passed more because we had to pass more, because it was our only hope of moving the ball. We were one dimensional, and this easier to stop.
There is reason to believe (or at least hope) that the running game will improve in 2015. If it does, look for the passing game to improve with it. It opens up play action and in general will create opportunities in the passing game, lest opponents simply concede the run.
Perhaps the most appropriate use of this gif thus far.
The earliest preseason rankings/predictions for the 2015 season are out. Those are what I was referring to.
Excellent counterpoint. Are donations up? That coupled with the lack of seat selection would be a good indication that season ticket sales are also up.
Do not discount the possibility that Ohio State fans have snatched up season tickets.
Hate the pants. Now, make them match the orange of the jersey trim, and maybe. Our current orange pants are way too loud and look oversaturated on TV.
And I want those lids as our standard.
We are not underrated, at least not if the discussion of "underrated" means "underranked." We have been a mediocre football team for three seasons now. We haven't earned any national respect to expect to be highly regarded.
But if you know how to guage a football team, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to expect significant improvement from this program in the upcoming season.
- There is significant improvement on the OL. We have a starting guard who could legitimately be in the All American picture.
- We have two sophomore phenom receivers and three legitimate multipurpose tight ends to target in the passing game.
- The QB throwing passes dramatically improved his turnover rate over the course of last season without adversely affecting his efficiency rating. He's now had a full year to learn the system as opposed to having to pick it up on the fly.
- Even with the injury/legal concerns with Williams and McKinzie, we have a deep backfield.
- Our defense is run by Bud Foster.
That doesn't mean we're guaranteed success, but it means that the pieces are there for us to have the potential for success. For those who know that previous performance isn't always the best predictor for future performance in college football, the expectation for dramatic improvement is warranted.
That's awesome, but don't people look at you kind of funny when you drink in the waiting room?
Meanwhile, in Chicago...
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11 years 1 month
# | Bitter blog - Got an in-depth or research-intensive question about the Hokies? Also, 2010 was a flukey year with our OL recruits. Gibson was solid, Caleb Farris was a hard worker with a low to medium ceiling, Mark Shuman should have been great but was lost to injury, and Arkema was a career backup. We followed that up with only Jake Goins in 2011, who never saw the field. Basically two linemen in two years. That catches up to you.
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11 years 1 month
# | Hokies' Staff Getting an Early Start on 2017 Recruiting Class, Both Up North and Close to Home Consider it a cautionary tale.
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11 years 1 month
# | Hokies' Staff Getting an Early Start on 2017 Recruiting Class, Both Up North and Close to Home I've read that. It's exceptional.
If you want something that rips your goddam heart out, here you go.
Probably because that was right when we started scraping the bottom of Stinespring's barrel as OC. Forgettable years from an offensive standpoint, absolutely inexcusable when you consider the talent we had on roster.
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11 years 1 month
# | Hokies' Staff Getting an Early Start on 2017 Recruiting Class, Both Up North and Close to Home Some great Calvin & Hobbes graffiti:
Treading lightly here to not violate the community guidelines on self promotion.
If you were to click the amazon link on the sidebar so that Joe gets credit for the sale, and then search "The Reclaiming S. Matthew McNally," you'd find it. The individual parts are available free through Kindle Unlimited, or you can get the whole book cheaper if you're purchasing.
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11 years 1 month
# | Bitter blog - A look back at the talent on the field in the 2001 VT-Miami game This would have been a more accurate assessment in 2001.
Look at CreateSpace. It's what I use. Zero startup cost and distribution through Amazon, with the ability for anyone to special order the title from any bookstore. If you have any questions, drop me an email at author@smatthewmcnally.com and I can walk you through the process.
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11 years 1 month
# | Dadi Lhomme Nicolas and Ken Ekanem Recognized as College Football's Top Pass-Rushing Duo I don't know which Buckeye QB will start against us, but odds are good it won't be the same one who finishes against us.
Do you have a paperback edition available? Call and talk to University Bookstore and Volume Two about carrying it. They give love to alums. If you're in the area they might allow you to do a book signing.
That is awesome. Can't wait to read it. So awesome to find another author on here.
Has he contacted the editor of Virginia Tech magazine? They will list books by alumni for free, just have to provide them title, genre, author name, class and major. They did it for me when y first book came out and it's an easy way to get your name out there a little.
And honestly, there are situations where taking the three points is the smartest play, even inside the red zone. But in general, even if you settle for three with the ball at the ten and it's the right call situationally, the offense failed on some level just by getting you in that situation.
I'll always take a field goal over a punt, every time. But what we had for years was a system that was consistently forcing us to settle for three when we should have been able to get seven. The first three quarters of the 2012 Sugar Bowl comes to mind. Everyone fixates on the replay screwjob, but honestly we should had been up 21-17 going into the 4th. We owned that game but came up short on every scoring drive. It was infuriating to watch. Put an offense that can finish on the field and the review of Coale's catch would have just mattered to over/under bettors.
I would like that design for maroon pants. The tapered orange stripe down the side should be a bit longer IMO, coming down to the knee. The jersey is worthless, completely plain. But I do like the orange jersey/maroon sleeve combo.
Seeing our own unis in other colors makes me realize how generic our design is.
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11 years 2 months
# | Hokies' Staff Getting an Early Start on 2017 Recruiting Class, Both Up North and Close to Home 
And it wasn't even that we were passing because we were losing. We couldn't bleed clock with the ground game to protect a lead and shorten games. It was our only option to move the ball. If we could have grinded out some first downs on the ground, we would have won the BC game at the least.