Recent Comments
They start the season at with Texas and have USCw, Stanford, GT, and Clemson in an otherwise light schedule.
FTFY
I'm not sure I would say linebackers. I have confidence in both of our outside linebackers. However Mike LB has me a little worried.
Yea, this is why recruiting doesn't guarantee Championships just helps. It is why I think so many people are aggravated at the OC and lack of an identity or production
Well, a lot of Ohio State fans have an inflated ego right now. They saw VT struggle down the stretch and then they saw Ohio State smack down the #1 and #2 teams in college football in consecutive weeks to win the playoff. Right now these fans feel invincible. Some of this ego is merited, Ohio State has more talent top to bottom than anyone in the country. Ohio State fans look at our starting lineup and notice that there are 12 starters who will be taken in the NFL draft this year. However, these same fans completely overlook VT's talent and scheme. I think a lot of these fans still underestimate Bud Foster as well. They also have no idea what Ohio State is walking into with Lane stadium. I think a lot of fans assume that they are walking into something like Purdue and not a nightmare like Penn State. Oh well, every fan base has some ignorant fans. The majority of football savvy Ohio State fans I know expect a slugfest. Many I know actually believe VT will probably win.
I struggled with the wording on that sentence. You faced a few lines that have had very high talent levels (MSU, Penn State and Alabama come to mind), but there's the Bud Foster Effect at play here, too (hence the "schematically similar" qualifier). I think the VT DL presents one of the most challenging match ups your OL will face this year.
Just gonna throw this out here... Don't expect to see Kendall on Thomas all night. I have no idea what the hell Foster is going to unleash on y'all, but one thing I'd feel comfortable wagering on is there will be all kinds of disguised coverages all night long.
It's the pancake breakfast, Ron. We do it every month.
(meant to reply to the pancake breakfast comment...pancakes just get me all out of sorts)
Agree on that. I love Elliott and the running game but Ohio State needs to win the 1 on 1's with the wr's and hbacks to back the Hokies off. Michael Thomas vs Fuller should be magnificent.
Nick Vannett at tight end will also have to make some plays. Seems like your guys biggest question mark is linebackers this year, or am I off base?
Bud has been known to put more of a premium on speed than size, but to be fair, we are a bit more undersized than usual.
DE Dadi Lhomme Nicholas at 227 lbs. is undersized, even for VT standards, but is a very good DE. Corey Marshall at 268, similarly is an undersized, but very quick / disruptive DT. DE Ken Ekanam at 249 and DT Luther Maddy at 285 are probably more typically sized VT D-lineman. It is not uncommon for our DT's to go about 300.
The ends combined for about 20 sacks last season, and were a more productive duo than we have had in a number of years.
Bud's strategy is always stopping the run first to make a team one dimensional, so it will be very interesting to see what strategy he uses this game and how it plays out. Probably the most important factor in the game.
I was thinking more of this place
We shouldn't lose more than 1. We'll most likely drop 2, and it pains me to type that.
If it's not below 15,000 or close to 14,000 by the end of the week, I'd be slightly surprised. If it dips below 14,000, that might be a little worrisome.
4. Bud Foster. No real point here. Just noting he will be the best coach on the field and 100% of the reason why VT has an excellent shot at beating OSU. Mad respect.
This guy gets it
You guys spread the field to run the ball downhill. It is a different power running style than the traditional power running teams. You are still pulling OL, sending in lead blockers, etc but you are doing it from spread formations to get number advantages inside. That is one of the reasons we had a lot of success stopping it last year, we were able to match up and win the 1v1 battles with the WRs and stack the box and beat you in the numbers game at the point of attack. I think the biggest key to this year's game is our ability to cover the 3rd WR from you guys. If we can shut him down (I believe our corners can win 1v1 against anyone with Fuller and Facyson) then we can control the running game a lot better.
The "like" percentage for non-students at loluva is 76%??????
Which would be nice.... if she left me enough money to buy a beer....
I am now on my 8th fall in Blacksburg out of the last 9. Had 4 for undergrad, moved away for a year to get my first job, and found a job in C-burg a year later (company has since moved to the CRC) and have spent 3+ years here since. And both of my brothers start undergrad at Tech today (one as a transfer), but neither of them are on TKP.
In my experience, World Market tends to locate in or very near strip malls, where there is almost always a sports bar...
A couple points:
1. There is at least some validity to the "Ohio State's O-line is prepared this year" argument. It is fact that 4 of Ohio State's offensive starting offensive linemen were making their 2nd (Price, Baldwin, Boren) or 3rd (Elfein) career start against VT. That much inexperience was a significant factor. A factor that won't matter this year since 4 of the starting 5 now have at least 15 games of experience.
2. VT has more experience and depth on their D-line. Ohio State's offensive line may have dramatically improved, but who is to say VT's D-line didn't improve even more since last year. We won't really know who improved most until gameday.
3. If VT loads the box again it doesn't matter how much better our O-line is. Our lineman may win a majority of their battles, but it doesn't matter if VT brings 8 and we can only block 6. I'm still not convinced that Foster isn't going to roll out the Bear a good bit. Why wouldn't he if he still feel confident that he can play man to man in the secondary and completely blanket our receivers. Our receivers couldn't get any separation last year and what has really changed since then? We actually have less talent at WR because of the suspensions.
4. Bud Foster. No real point here. Just noting he will be the best coach on the field and 100% of the reason why VT has an excellent shot at beating OSU. Mad respect.
Marketplace had a piece on that a couple of weeks ago. Beijing had just announced one of the largest stock buys in the nation's history. The Chinese economy is so incestuous it might as well be in ruled by the Lannisters.
I just added a fellow Hokie to my soccer team, just felt great, good omen,
I mean how often do you see a wild turkey?
A lot less often than you see stickers for the team whose Facebook followers are 87% non-alumni. :)
This was a fun read where that stat came from.
10 wins if the team stays healthy.
8 if the team has an average number of injuries
6 again if the injuries pile up like last year.
Thank you. Every time the inexperienced O-line is brought up, all I want to do is scream "so they're more experienced, does that mean they can pancake a rusher and block another? Because that's what it will take when we send the house." Say you guys have 5 OL and a TE and Foster sends 8. A lot of blocking schemes allow for an unblocked defender so long as he's on the off-play side, but what happens when we bring 2? Your RB has to pick up a guy on the play side and hope you can get the ball away before our speedy end/linebacker/corner/Safety/Coach Foster makes it in from the off-play side. And what happens if one of our rushers requires a double team?
Not saying we are going to dominate you, just that Foster can scheme some pretty big advantages with the personnel he's loaded the team with, even if the 1 vs 1s aren't obvious wins for us.