Recent Comments
We sure did :(
VT seems about right - give or take. UNC and maybe Louisville are a little too high. Maybe Pitt and maybe GT are a little low.
He remembers me of a gentle version of Bill Burr
Also, to everyone who has never been to the area, if you don't go to Pal's for breakfast and buy cheddar rounds while you're in town, you're doing everything wrong.
Well, it is a compound problem. Foster used to beat power offenses with numbers. Fit gaps to drive the RB to the free hitter and then make the play. Play risky coverage, but take away the high percentage throws for the QB. That theme required hybrid players to sometimes play coverage.
Now, the spread puts WR's out that the hybrid guys couldn't cover. Coach Gray would likely be a whip or a backer now versus his rover play back in his day. Foster has tried to use similar concepts while at the same time incorporating safeties that cover like corners? The downside? Those safeties (minus Jarrett) really have not been strong one on one tacklers in the alley. That, and the downsizing of the front seven to emphasize speed, hurt up front.
Tulsa, UNC, ECU, and Duke all added an additional element. They eliminated the numbers advantage. Now, either VT didn't have alley support because of the need to have extra help in coverage, or the offense would use specific formations and plays to attack areas where it was impossible to scheme a free hitter. That left VT with the challenge of having individual players win almost every physical battle in order to avoid multiple big plays, and VT has never had such a talent advantage that they could rely on physical dominance up front to win games. The scheme had, for a long time, mitigated that talent advantage, and when Foster got a talented guy that bought in, they usually looked even more spectacular than their talent level (see Derrick Hopkins.) Now EVERYBODY is struggling against those looks. Clemson just dropped 40 and could have had a ton more (red zone efficiency!) against one of the best defensive fronts in college football over the last 10 years.
The scheme itself is sound. Mitigating big plays because of execution errors (see play 1) is a must. Upgrading the talent will help.
Yeah, its not exact for sure, but I figured, two games against an elite spread could be evened out by the rest of the spread teams not elite, ex. William and Mary, Western Carolina.
But its pretty clear our worst defensive games are against Spread offenses:
'14 Ohio State - 45.1
'15 ECU - 58.3
'15 Tulsa - 53.8
'13 UCLA - 61.8
The Pro team weve struggled with the most is Miami:
'13 Miami - 73.4
'14 Miami - 60.1
'15 Miami - 69.8
It might not be as insignificant as I thought: its based off 479 total drives, thats more than I thought as I was running through it.
I think just practicing 1v1 against a spread team will help the D against it more than a schematic adjustment. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the power run shut down teams we used to have - is it a gradual change in the personnel we have moved to, and going more speed over power, or is schematic?
More data would improve this, I only went back three years:
But, Surprise, our defense doesnt fair as well against spread offenses.
Three Year Simplified Rating:
| Scheme | Rating |
|---|---|
| Multiple | 86.1 |
| Option | 82.8 |
| Pro | 82.4 |
| Spread | 76.4 |
| Total | 81.0 |
Also noteworthy, I ran teams with rushing QBs vs without and got about the same as above. Not really surprising. So, is it a case of rushing QB's give us the most problems? Is it the spread formation? Is it a little of both? I dont know.
As a reference, this is ESPN's Defensive Efficiency Rating for VT over the same three year periods:
ESPN Def. Eff -
2015 - 63.8
2014 - 82.0
2013 - 82.1
*Simplified rating just looked at sum of(punts,offensive TD,turnovers,kickAttempts) as total drives and used the reciprocal of drives ending in opponent offensive scores. Its extremely simplified but without going through each drive, multiplying by team ranking factors, its probably pretty close.
Well how fast are you driving? Does your penny look different than the other ones? Do you get to place your penny? Why would you drive between Los Angeles and Chicago? Can I stop to pee? Does stopping to pee count as my random stop?
SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!!
(I'm also joking...kind of)
good lord, all the feels
They are part of the ACC in all sports except football. They just have an agreement to play ACC teams.
I have seen some pictures from folks who saw him in Shreveport and Hokiesports snapchats. He looked lighter.
So the Lou is back?
Have you considered that two of those games against the Spread were against OSU? I think that's a huge outlier in a very small sample set. Would be interesting to see the results when we only analyze the middle two quartiles, or just dropping the two extreme values.
TEEMING WITH INTEL
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10 years 6 months
# | Jon Laaser Interviews Bud Foster (Seth Dooley will miss spring practice) Excited to see these young guys, especially Trevon Hill, hope he's actually ready to go.
Why isn't Notre Dame included? Aren't they part of the ACC?
/s
No, this is Patrick
Laaser looks like that one dude from the early 90210 show. You all know who i'm talking about.
I'm just happy Jon Laaser got rid of that heinous shirt from the last round of interviews.
I would disagree with the surprise second half riser. I don't know if you meant Donlon as a joke, but Shane Henry should be under serious consideration. Over the past few games he's seen more playing time and playing time in significant minutes, including big-time game-deciding defensive stops against NC State and UVA. Donlon is a true walk-on, he won't play anything but garbage time, whereas Beyer was used to supplement a depleted roster.
I don't think your analysis of Robinson is over the top. I think you may even be underestimating his potential for his college career. Here's over the top: I think he can be a Marcus Paige/Fred VanVleet/Frank Mason type of player by his senior year, meaning that he is in the drivers seat every game, he makes things happen, he's a gamechanger, he's dependable, and he makes everyone better. Every great college basketball team over the past 15 years or so has had a great point guard leading them, he may not be their best player, but he's their leader. Tyus Jones, Shabazz Napier, Peyton Siva, Nolan Smith, Kemba Walker. That's who I think he can be.
Does removing the ACC from the bottom of Isaiah's cleats really count as surgery?
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10 years 6 months
# | BUZZKETBALL CENTRAL: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-5, 1-2) at Virginia Tech Hokies (10-6, 2-1) 9 PM RSN/ESPN3 My body is ready for some Buzzketball
Here is one of my favorite "matter of perspective" examples I use to use when doing financial health/best practice sessions for nonprofit employees regarding playing the lottery.
Imagine laying a line of pennies out from Los Angeles to Chicago. One of those is "your" penny.
Now imagine getting in your car at one end and driving towards the other end. You stop your car randomly and get out and pick up a penny. The odds of you getting "your" penny are better than hitting the Powerball
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10 years 6 months
# | What returning offensive ball handlers have the most to gain and most to lose under Fuente? I don't think it is a guarantee Marshawn will even play again next year
Didn't think Williams was all that great tbh