Recent Comments

In my view, every game is a test. Not a test of skill, but of will, of toughness, and of teamwork. Football is a game where every single positions have to function properly to excel, otherwise, it will be a hiccup.

From reading the beat writers' reports, it is clear Beamer has a tunnel vision, and the players are in lock-step with him.

While Maryland may be reeling, they are like a wounded animal, and that makes them dangerous. Like the quote I love to use, it is not the size of the dog in a fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, we will see how much fight Maryland have in them. The first few series on offense and defense will set the tone for the game, I believe.

If Virginia Tech can maintain the level of intensity they played against Miami, if Logan can continue to operate in the box, the offensive line continuing to put on their hard hats, the receivers continuing to step up their game, and the running backs hitting the holes with authority, then Maryland may be in for a long, emotional-draining, back breaking day.

I really think that the players are itching to cleanse Lane Stadium of the flith from losing to Duke with the tears of the turtles. Also, it will be senior day, and there is no doubt the players will be amped for the game.

The offense has the advantage over defense. They know what the play will be and the snap count. They have the initiative and know what part of the field the play will occur.

A talented and properly prepped offense should always win, all other things being equal. I don't mean each snap, I mean Vegas type win, the odds are stacked in their favor.

The point is to keep them from winning too much and from winning more often and bigger than your offense.

We can see what Leal can do next season. This is LT3's time. Deal with it. And I am not sure how you can even
make this statement after the Miami game. Seriously.

Thanks.
I look at the 2011 OB-Stanford DESTROYED us!
That was just embarrassing for our D and a SOPHOMORE QB (named Luck, though) picked us apart, aided by a massive running game. It seemed that our defense was always out of place.
Not to mention freakin' Harbaugh playing with pre-snap motions and pissing off Foster.

But emotions aside, that game stands out in my mind of how a talented, disciplined team will schematically exploit us EVERYTIME.....and wondering if that's just the deal, and could that be fixed with a talent upgrade. (Which we seem to be getting?)

Off topic: TKP never stops impressing me with the amount of time, effort, and attention to detail they put into these game reviews/previews, and film study. On top of all that, you provide this to our fan base free of charge. Very much appreciated guys! Thanks! GO HOKIES

I'm not so sure it's a good comparison of Loeffler to Kelly. Kelly inherited a top-10 offense when he moved from New Hampshire to Oregon for the 2007 season, whereas SL inherited a dumpster fire, one year after he inherited a dumpster fire soaked with gasoline.

A look at Oregon's "Total offense" rankings (I know not the best method, but still a decent enough look) from 2005 to 2011:

05: 18
06: 9
07: 10
08: 7
09: 33
10: 1
11: 4

Great effort all around, and a great win over Da U. Crawford was very much a capable HB, and we shut their run down! They had a huge and intimidating O-Line, but that couldn't stop us. Having the pigskin for 20-mins longer really paid dividends.

HA! I don't know what's better: the gif itself or the Larry King reference.

Well done.

What liked about the offense was the early-game play-calling. First rushes were Logan Thomas. Miami defense pays attention to Logan only and says here we go same old stale Hokies offense. Then the misdirections, which toasted Miami. Finally, the read options sweeps and then a few intermingled screen passes. The net result: the Miami D got much less aggressive, more tentative, more cautious. You could see it in their play -- fear, not knowing where the play was going. This progression of play calling was masterful and set the tone for the game.

I think at the beginning of the year most of us expected to be around 7-3 at this point but not in the way we got here. I mean who though we lose to Duke and BC before the year? Not much people thought we would go 4-0 against Pitt, UNC, GT, and Miami either. Also most people probably didn't expect us to absolutely house Miami in their own house.

The more talent a team has, the more likely the high pressure scheme will pay off. You can't just blitz your way too a victory against top competition. Although good teams have been able to burn foster in the past, in my mind it's still the best strategy, particularly if you have an offense that needs help to score points.

Top competition probably has a good defense as well. If fosters scheme gets burned a few times, it could still be worth the risk if the defense also sets up the offense with a few turnovers.

I think the biggest thing I enjoyed watching was just how much more effort our guys put out there than Miami did. Breaking tackles, trailing plays to fall on fumbles, forcing fumbles on long returns. To me, those plays are less about skill, and more about effort. VT may not always be the more skillful team, but I always want to see them be the team with more effort come Saturdays.