Recent Comments
Yeah, it's an awesome show. That last episode was crazy.
The biggest comment I have is that your comparisons between position groups don't really factor in who they're up against.
Lines: I think few would question your O-line is better than our o-line (though I believe ours to be rather underrated). But I think our d-line vs your o-line, compared to your d-line against our o-line probably makes it a push.
Receivers vs secondary: I like our top two receivers, and Bucky is a matchup nightmare, while you have to replace a talented corner. However, you guys have two solid safeties. So I think that matchup favors Tech rather well for shorter routes, but it would literally be a tossup for deep routes. Meanwhile, we have one of the best corner tandems in the country, but some questions at safety (though I believe Foster can scheme it to work out alright. Losing several playmakers hurts you guys, but at some point during the game, you'll likely get some big passes over the top, even if Cardale's military spec arm is on the sidelines. I think those matchups give slight favor to us, but i think a lot of that depends heavily on the play of the...
Quarterbacks: Brewer looked really good last year (3 INTs notwithstanding), and I think he's improved substantially, but I'll agree your guys seem to be more talented. If Brewer can stay upright and make reads, and hopefully learns that the middles of the field is not lava, I think he'll do alright against y'all. If we can pressure Barrett and force a mistake or two, I think we'll call that a success.
But I firmly believe where this game is won or lost will be the ground game. You have Elliott, who's a proven commodity, going up against our linebacking corps, where we have some questions (though I don't believe it's as big an issue as some seem to). If we can slow him down and hold him under 100 yds rushing, I think we'll be in a position where this game is close. At the same time, we need to establish the run early and often to take some pressure off Brewer. We have the backs to do it, we just need a consistency that has been absent at times over the last few years.
Takeaways:
1. These teams are tremendously well matched, and this should be a great game.
2. The scoreboard will likely not break. This should be a slugfest. I'd expect a 21-17 type scoreline.
3. It needs to be gameday soon so we can all stop hypothesizing and just watch some damn football.
@ Chachi - Thanks for the info on your receivers. I haven't had enough free time to get up to speed on that unit. The idiots who got themselves benched......smh. Prediction - with Jalyn Marshall & now Braxton Miller at H-back, and his suspension, Dontre Wilson is going to spend the entire season doing mop up duty. And yes, that sure as hell was a catch in the Sugar Bowl. I despise Michigan with every fiber of my body & would love to keep them irrelevant. Here's to meeting again in the playoffs!
I know this how it had been done for a while now, but I'm sure with some effort it can be done. It would be worth the extra work. Fcs games are just a waste.
I'll try to address the DE's and WR's.
I don't know much a whole lot about OSU's defensive line (other than you'll be without Bosa), but this VT defensive line is pretty stacked. The starting four are all All-Conference caliber players, and the depth we have at tackle is kind of absurd. We could go into the 3-deep there and still be competitive. I'm not overly concerned with Dadi's had right now, but depth at DE is definitely a concern. I would give the edge to VT there, with the caveat that our DE's are healthy.
WR's: The suspensions make this difficult to assess. It seems like Isaiah Ford has emerged as the consensus #1 guy for us, and he'll be tough to cover for any defense we face this year. I'm also high on Cam Phillips, but it starts to get pretty uncertain after that. I think having Michael Thomas, coupled with how well you recruit, gives the edge to OSU. However, the wild card in this discussion is tight ends. I think our tight end group is as good as any in the country, and I think this could help compensate our lack of depth at WR.
P.S. Fuck UVA. Fuck Michigan.
I like this guy. This guy can stay
Thanks for your take on the matchups BV, great to hear from an objective Buckeye.
Regarding the Defensive Lines, I think you have to give a slight edge to VT for 3 reasons:
1) Bosa is out.
2) VT has a load of depth at DT, and DE is solid in the 2-deep. (Dadi hurt his pinky, no worries there)
3) Experience. Every VT starter is a junior/senior with at least a year starting under the belt.
Regarding the Receivers, if you include the Tight Ends, which you really have to with VT, then I would favor VT as well at present. Isaiah Ford is going to explode this year most likely, and Cam Phillips will benefit from the attention that Ford attracts. Hodges, Malleck and Kline are an insane load of riches in TE's. All can catch, run well and Malleck at least is a strong blocker, while Hodges and Kline already play with a year's worth of starting experience and 2 years in the program. I know OSU has loads of 4-star talent at WR/TE, but with 3 experienced players benched, you have to wonder about the communications between the QB(s) and the new receivers.
Great to have visiting sir, no matter the outcome 9/7, hope we meet again in the Natty Championship. That would be too much fodder for all of us Hokie and Buckeye homers to chew on. Go Hokies!
PS: Please curb-stomp scUM and make them irrelevant for another year. It was a catch.
VT definitely plays the bear than anyone we've encountered. Hopefully a year of watching your film will help us.
right where we want them... now we unleash the manbearpig defense. suckers
Ha! That's good. Pronounced "Ta-biddle".
Thanks for the post and I hope you are treated well during your time here. UM actually lost to Auburn in back to back seasons in 2006-2007 and Alabama in 2009-2010. There are two other points I'll address.
First, OSU's fans have been brainwashed into thinking they've solved the bear defense because that's what the players and media (11w included) have sold them. However, this assumption ignores the fact that, even if the alignments looked the same, how Foster's defense played after the snap was unique from how other teams did. VT's defense is also unique in their familiarity to the scheme outside of a single game compared to other teams adopting it on the fly. Not to mention VT's defense has proven to consistently be one of the best in the country.
Secondly, I'm not convinced Braxton Miller is much other than a decoy at this point. Maybe he's a marginally better runner than Samuel and can contribute in that way or on trick plays, but the footage of him at receiver and returning punts leads me to believe he has a long way to go before his skills will be useful at those positions. OSU has plenty of talent on offense so in a game where a muff or tipped pass leading to a turnover could make a huge difference, I'd probably consider the "wild card" factor of Miller more of a potential positive than negative for VT.
Whenever I read the abbreviation for your band, this is all I hear in my head:
I'm ok with this post. Have a leg, guy.
I know we can at least all agree on that very last line.
@ Deegooch - I understood where you were coming from by following your comments after your original post. No problems here.
P.S. Btw, Bosa is doing hard time in Meyers doghouse now, breaking rocks with his dick.
Should have left that sentence out, as I didn't want to go down that rabbit-hole on this thread. Long story short, I just think there were some losses that shouldn't have happened based on the talent that we did have (see: Wake Forest) but I didn't mean to trash any of the teams from the past few years.
I know Bud does not have a track record at playing freshmen at Rover, but I really, really want to see what Adonis Alexander can do there. I'm very high on that kid.
Easy...
Settle....
Calm down...
Wait, Winston isn't dominating playing for a team that doesn't have a ridiculous talent advantage against just about every team he plays? Nooooooo. /s
The fact that Exum was the first pick of the first pick just tickles me. Well done, Tone.
"Fullwood looks pretty solid"
I see what you did there
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10 years 11 months
# | "Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler seeks more balance in his life" If we're winning games without us wondering how in the hell we're winning games, I'll consider that successful.
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10 years 11 months
# | "Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler seeks more balance in his life" This and a buck-fifty gets you a cup of coffee, but...
Throw out total offense rankings. I don't care how many yards we get, and we'll get a lot of short fields thanks to our D.
Scoring offense will suffer because Frank likes to shorten games when we have a lead. Not running up the score means a lower scoring offense ranking.
To me, the yardstick to measure this O will be third down conversions and red zone TD%. Those will be where my eye lingers all season. Stay on the field and don't leave points on it, and we'll have an O that is contributing to the success of the program. Those are the marks of a consistent offense, and will tell us way more about if Lefty's scheme is working way better than over-generalized stats of total or scoring O.
Look at it this way, IF your O-Line/QBs survive this defense you can sleep easy that they can take on the rest of your schedule.
Agreed that I didn't address the matchup directly and that I expect a real slug-fest. I'm not confident enough in my analysis to really feel accurate in my assessments that way. I forgot to post my prediction. I predicted OSU by 27 - 22 over VT (at 11W). Can't wait for the football to start. Please turn on the game Sept 3rd game of Utah - Michigan and root for Utah.