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I'm gonna disagree with this. Alabama consistently made big plays when they had to and Clemson made a lot of them but made less. They also didn't play well on defense and consistently gave up big plays. I do not think Clemson outplayed Alabama by any stretch. Deshaun Watson was incredible but half their offense was him buying time and scrambling when plays broke down. Alabama won the scheme battle. Clemson had more first downs, but thats looming as somewhat of a ghost stat given that they didn't always turn those into points.
Also comparing it to the 2012 Sugar Bowl is a little ridiculous because we held Michigan to like 188 yards and gave up a few really strange plays. Much different than giving up almost 500 yards. Plus the game really wasn't as close as the final score, Alabama put it away late and they scored late on prevent to drain clock. I know that "technically" they would have had a shot if they had the onside kick but the game ended with Alabama playing better in the 4th qtr.
Yeah, the big difference is that the Panthers have Cam who can recognize a defense and audible to the right play. Either Brewer could not do that or he was instructed not to, which is why he would look back at the sideline and then adjust the play. We will never know which it was though, but I feel that he was instructed not to because once we got into a 2 minute offense with him, he could make the right calls it seemed.
I disagree that Clemson outplayed Bama. I think they were very evenly matched and Clemson had a few critical busts. I think that's just the way that games turn when two similarly skilled teams play each other (that can be two equally good or two equally bad teams); the ones that make the fewest mistakes win.
Feeling gutted is one thing. Feeling confident that they'd win only to get the doors blown off would have been Clemsoning. That's what has always defined that term - getting beaten in an inexplicable manner and/or getting beaten by a clearly inferior opponent. This game checks neither box for me.
The Carolina Panthers run this almost every play, and I can assure you, its anything but noise. Cam gets the team to the line, motions and hard counts to force the defense to show its hand, and then adjusts to fit what he's given. I could see we were trying to do similar things, but we were doing it with players, for the most part this year, who didn't really understand what they were doing, leaving the adjustments to the coaches.
Syracuse might be one of those odd losses depending on how well they adopt Dino Babers offense, and truthfully I couldnt tell you what their QB depth or anything looks like, but just based on schemes that have given us problems, Syracuse could be one of those games.
Normally, I'd say that you can't really Clemson anything if this was the Natty Title game, but man... Clemson fans have to feel gutted today. They outplayed Alabama in almost every possible way and it still wasn't enough because of their inability to stop the big play (or cover the TE). Their offense could score at will, their defense played a decent game, but their Special Teams gave up 2 awful breakdowns, and that was the difference.
I mean, I definitely agree that Michigan State choked the biggest in the playoff (if you even consider that a choke, as you have to be present to choke), but I also think that Clemson did end up Clemsoning it a bit. I mean, they outplayed them, and yet crumbled at the worst times leading to the loss. Its like the 2012 Sugar Bowl for us that is so hard to get over because we knew we were the better team. Was it lose to Wake Forest bad, no... but they had to collapse pretty heavily the way they were playing and the way Bama was playing to lose, and that's exactly what happened.
1) the hurry-up to look to the sidelines at least keeps the defense on their toes and unable to substitute as freely as they'd like. We definitely weren't the only team to do that.
2) Even the motion that is just "noise" is still useful. It can help the QB identify coverages or blitzes and get a more favorable matchup the passing or running game. We probably won't see as much motion with Fuente, but we'll see some, and some of that will be "noise" and there's a reason for it.
I've enjoyed reading fernley's and Illinois' back and forth dialogue on this topic. It's been refreshing. What I get out of it relative to the current situation for football coaches salary is that Whit is not micro-managing Fuente's decisions for setting salaries for his coaches, but his business first structural approach is all over this. I feel that Whit has provided a structure and Fuente went and implemented it and this is the result. So, some of these changes are also on Whit as well as Fuente.
I'm not sure how Wiles and Gray will react to this over time (I was initially skeptical), but this business structured salary base model makes more sense than what VT probably had before (which Whit dealt with passively through the transition and Frank's retirement - which is now over). As has been stated, these are Virginia public employees subject to some of those structural constraints as well. Whit is applying an additional business based structure within that and making the entirety of it more accountable to the state financial needs, the university, and the fan base. Fuente must implement his bosses wishes.
This all makes more sense with these assumptions I am making. Hopefully it works out for VT in the long run (Whit's approach has always shown the tendency to address the long run). If my reading the tea leaves is correct (I'm not sure), then this is another instance where Whit's style shows through and that VT sports is in good hands.
Noise has a purpose though. Sometimes it is to throw off defenses, sometimes it is to reveal alignments and assignments. Can an offense work without noise? Absolutely, but some coaches believe that it helps them. Loeffler used them to see where he could find tendencies and try to expose them, but by doing so, he made the playbook too large and didn't perfect any real bread and butter plays.
They don't have onion straws anymore, although I wish they did
He started some last year and was a full time starter this year. If he can't pick it up by next fall, I'm not sure there's much hope.
He seems very hesitant to make a read and then is shy at the point of contact. I think the mental part can improve, but until he can take on blockers in the hole or stuff a back at the line he is going to struggle. UT will have a field day against him if he doesn't put it together.
This is why I love this sight. Very talented and innovative people that are too funny. Thanks!!
Plus, there are a couple overly cocky and braggadocios Clemson fans in my circle of friends, so seeing them gutted on Facebook last night was more than enjoyable after some of the shit they've said about VT lately.
I live in upstate SC and this is so true. I don't think the Clemson sympathizers on here would feel the same way if they had seen the outlandish 20+ point win predictions and complete lack of respect they give any other program (including Bama.) They look down their nose at us like they have been better than us for the last 20 years. I felt somewhat bad for a few close friends of mine who aren't ridiculous, but dammit that fanbase is awful to deal with.
sudo uptempo
Just tried this and my GPU overclocked and I somehow unlocked an advanced hyperthreading mode on my quad-core CPU. Unreal. But now I don't know how to undo it.
sudo wrscreen
That did it.
Computer geeks will get the joke. Apologies to everyone else.
I would too. And I think we can achieve that this year because our schedule is a joke. Outside of UT and ND we don't really play any scary teams. Miami has been a thorn in our side lately and they're going to get better under Richt, I'm just not sure how quickly. UNC could be another tough out but they're obviously beatable. We almost beat them this year. Other than that we have Liberty, ECU (with a new coach, because #reasons), GT, Duke, Pitt, Cuse, BC, and LOLUVA. Every one of those teams is flawed and we should be able to beat them with the talent we currently have on the roster.
I just don't think we can expect an offensive explosion next season. I'd be super ecstatic if it happens but realistically I just don't see it panning out that way. We're going to have a brand new QB1 and the whole offense will be operating in a new system with a new coaching staff. That is not a recipe for immediate success. Our defense has some holes to fill in the front 4 and there are big ?s across the LB corps. I'm sure that our young, inexperienced secondary will be okay (#trustinGray). Ultimately, I think this team will struggle on both sides of the ball early in the year but improve as the season wears on. That has been the MO for our defense under Bud (a testament to his coaching ability) and I believe the new offense will follow a very similar trajectory on Fuente's watch.
I would love to see this team light up the score-board like we've never seen before but I don't think that will happen until late in the 2016 season or early in 2017 at best. I'd love to be wrong.
Off the top of my head I know Brandon Flowers left as a RS-Junior and I think Worilds did too.
I feel bad for Motu... I think his struggles this year are a direct result of not having a proper starter in place going into this season, and being forced to start someone who is very talented but raw. As we saw against GT, when he's in position to make the play, more times than not he makes the play and he does it well, which was a game where GT really does too much too quickly to react, so the players just have to purely play their positions. He shut that offense down, because he was told where to be, and made the play when it was up to him. Unfortunately, against teams like Duke and Tulsa, where it was up to him to make the read and take the assignment based on that, the game is just too fast for him right now, and he was exposed.
Once the game slows down for him, I have every confidence in the world in him that he'll be a star player for us. Unfortunately, I just don't think it will be next year.
I agree with this, but Lydon and Edmunds are actually an example of moving in the right direction at that position. If I'm not mistaken those were two solid linebacker recruits.
side note: Tremaine and Trey both have a somewhat irregular/awkard running/movement style. Terrell looks much more fluid moving around. That said, he has a much different frame than his brothers.
I have read that. What I meant to say was more pertaining to the sudo uptempo where we hurry to the line and we all stand up and look to the sideline for the next play as the play clock runs down. Some think that SL offense motion was effective but in the circles with my coaching buddies, most of it was just noise. IMO.
I agree with all points, I think it all boils down to me just not really like ESPN anymore other then them having the contract for ACC and seeing Tech everything.
Recruiting dead on, hard to keep someone in state that has Alabama knocking at your door. If you go there right now you're mostly going to win a NC.
I just really hate Saban...
As a gifless guy on a hugely giffed up website, I upvote you for using actual words to express yourself.
How is that any different than what would have happened if Clemson had won? They would have talked about Clemson for today and tomorrow, and then would have spent the offseason talking about how Alabama played awful, blew it, and what they can do to get over the hump next year.
All in all, I'm happy Bama won, as sick as that sounds. For starters, it keeps the status quo in the Commonwealth and surrounding states in terms of recruiting. Bama was already getting our talent, Clemson was always doing well but overshadowed. This doesn't really change that. Had Clemson won, you would have seen them funnel all talent from the region for a year or two and that would have hurt us, so in the end, this isn't a really bad thing. They'll take a step back when Watson goes pro, at which time we very well could be ready to make our move to fill the void. Plus, there are a couple overly cocky and braggadocios Clemson fans in my circle of friends, so seeing them gutted on Facebook last night was more than enjoyable after some of the shit they've said about VT lately.
just because he's big and runs about as fast as your average football skill position player does not make him our most explosive athlete. Travon is more explosive. I would argue that Ford is more explosive than Hodges as well. Hodges is a gifted athlete and he could definitely be a weapon I would love to have and use offensively but he's not the most explosive.
I think the Tulsa game was a good example of being able to outscore our opponent, but really not being able to lock down the game. Yes, we won, but at the end I wasn't confident we'd actually pull it off. That must be what Big 12 teams feel like.
I think they had it set up to have him force the defense's hand, where Loeffler could see what they did, relay the audible to our sideline, who would in turn, relay the change to the team. So where with the Panthers its on Cam to make the adjustment (and took him 5 years to get to the point where he can) with Loeffler and Stiney it was up to the coaches. Clearly, the Panthers do it just a little better than we did.