Recent Comments
Still can't figure that shit out. Run game vastly improved while he was in.
I thought we were in the "get on top of them and stomp harder" mode!
Something, something....hey, did anybody catch that Wyatt Teller guy??
2 words: Wyatt Teller
Without even talking to French or reading his in-game tweets, I can tell you this: there was a noticeable, even glaring, difference in the run game when Teller was in for Pettit.
Respect the heck out of the ref on that one. He looked like he was ready to physically throw #40 out of the stadium himself right then and there.
That's 4.3 yds per carry against a pretty weak FCS team (translation: What would that look like against an App State defense?). It needs to be better to be ready for P5 competition. Lots of our inside runs got stuffed at the LOS. We need more OL push. We have to be able to get 3-4 yds in the trenches to go with the speed runs outside. Our run game was a bit one dimensional yesterday. I'm sure it'll be a high priority this week.
I'm happy with 458 total offensive yards. I'ts great the team didn't look past yesterday. I think we can win next Saturday, but there is work to do to be ready for UT.
To follow up on this, if you consider average time of possession / average number of plays, you get:
2016: 23 sec/play
2015: 26
2014: 25
2013: 28
2012: 25
2011: 29
It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. 2016 is only one data point, so not much can be said about it, but it is somewhat different from past years.
Anyone else at the game notice these two things: at halftime the entire team meet up before going into the locker room and at the end of the game the entire team and coaches went to the marching band and sang along with them.
Let's not forget we ran a victory formation in field goal range at the end. So it's not like Fuente was really trying to run up the score or anything
I posted some of my thoughts on the open thread, but after sleeping on it, came up with others. No procedure or holding penalties for the offense. Nice to see us not shoot ourselves in the foot. And we weren't Oregon fast, but I saw us getting back to the LOS very quickly. Yes, there were the checks to the sideline, but even the audibles by Evans & Motley took place quickly. Wow, 89 plays. And I agree, 200 yds on the ground was a sneaky stat.
I think most of us expected a score like yesterday's OSU game, then had flashbacks of JMU only to see order restored and a Hokie win. It could have been better had we capitalized on all of the takeaways and one of LU's scores we basically gift-wrapped for them. I think Bitter predicted a score of 40-10, so it wasn't far off.
This was fun to watch, and should things improve incrementally, we should see a solid 1st season for the good guys and CJF. Glad we got through the game without injuries so let's get set for Bristol!!
Pretty positive McMillan was in 2nd series.
RUN 3MC
I think we were pretty vanilla but that we wanted to try to execute some of the things that would be the bread and butter of our offense this year.
I don't buy into the whole shadow games notion that Fuente was necessarily hiding guys on the bench in preparation for Bristol, but it would make sense in this case to keep your stars healthy. There is no need to beat up McMillian and McKenzie against an FCS school. Let the team's offensive/spirit leader Sam Rogers take a bunch of snaps. Let McClease get some time because he redshirted last year. Give McMillian and McKenzie some snaps to make sure they shake the rust off and are healthy and ready to go next week. I want a full complement of offensive weapons ready to go for the big match up.
The offense felt fast to me. We actually had 89 plays, per hokiesports.com. I was curious to see how this compared to past seasons, so here is a breakdown of plays per game from 2011-2015 (to include the last "good" year + the decline + the Loeffler tenure). I separated the FCS game each year to compare performance more fairly.
2015: 72 plays per game (72, Furman)
2014: 74 ppg (73, W&M)
2013: 71 ppg (69, W. Carolina)
2012: 73 ppg (64, Austin Peay)
2011: 71 ppg (62, App St)
So, based on one data point, we're going much faster. Averaging over those five seasons, you get 72.2 ppg, and 89 is a 23% increase over that number overall, and a 31% increase over ppg in FCS match ups.
Also, Teller was obviously upset during his spell on the bench yesterday. Several other linemen tried to give him encouragement etc but you could tell he was pissed and wanted to go pancake some dudes. Given that the entire fan base believes he is our best OL, and that our run game suffered with him out of the game, how long do you think Fuente can keep him in the dog house?
TM did not look sharp to me. Did anyone else think he looked a little slower than last year. Lingering groin injury maybe?
So it looks like so far the results are:
Houston
UGA
Alabama
Auburn
How much of what we saw was just trying to stay vanilla and avoid giving UTenn film to review? Do we really think Sam is going to be RB1 for the duration?
OT: I know it's supposed to be "UT" etc. But after hearing all my Nashville colleagues call us VaTech and VTech, I try to bastardize their name as much as possible.
Hoof Hearted? Sounds delicious
What's nice is, there is more than just a QB to work with. Third time this week I've said it, but Fuente knew what he was doing going after Evans. He's not a finished product by any means. Nor is this team. There is work to do and they know it. Big, bad Tennessee is up next so we can all hope it gels sooner rather than later, but experience dictates that we fans will need to wear a heavy suit of patience this year.
I mentioned to a friend during the game that I don't like Sam at RB all that much. He protects the ball but otherwise I'd agree with you, I'd rather have another guy running.
I actually like CJ Carroll returning punts.
Glad to see Clemson pull it out.
Funny to see USCw generate all those tears from Alabama. Latest reports from Arlington TX are that the tears were generated from laughing.
Dammit UNC! I thought the replay near the end was not so much to see if it was caught but to check the spot of the ball...but then they overturned the catch entirely. I thought that was some bullsh!t. But that Eason kid on UGA is a giant. Looks like Grayson will be riding the bench by year's end.
Lots of sideways yards though. Do those count for anything?