Recent Comments

Joe the Editor found it meet to use the term "redacted" instead of "edited."

This linguist approves.

I have been hearing that he had a chance to play against UNC, but they chose to hold him out. I don't follow the wahoo beat, so I have no idea how accurate it is.

I do know that Urban is a very good player. Their DL has not been the same since he went down.

I think the praise for Loeffler and the Offensive line coach has been effusive.

One big difference I saw last night, Thomas was mindful of the weather and his touch on the passes were softer accordingly.
Edit: Early on, I saw him throw one away and immediately knew he had his thinking helmet on.

With that pigskin so slick from the rain, it would have been easy to throw passes that were uncatchable due to the velocity but otherwise on target.
That did not happen except possibly for that one pass that went high and a bit right on the crossing route. I think he knew the window was small and it had to be there right now. The defense on the play made a catch impossible.

Here are the critical issues with using the timeout and going with Thomas at that point:
1) Thomas had an equipment problem, not an injury.
2) Leal was coming in cold without an opportunity to warm up or take snaps. Even if Thomas had to miss the next play, Beamer would have needed to use a timeout.
3) The 3rd and 12 was a critical play in what was still a close game, and that is a real tough spot to put any backup in to.

By the way, if Loeffler and Shane listened to anybody this week, it was Mason. The offense we saw, with powers, zone stretches (both often from the pistol) was much more indicative of how the Hokies WILL play next year. There was less reliance on the inverted veer, and that forced Miami to defend the entire field. Add that to the fact that the passing structure design continues to be excellent, and it was executed properly with more aggressive playcalling, and we have success.

The most frustrating part is that if this offense was used and executed properly against Duke and BC, I think we beat both teams comfortably. Miami is a more talented front than Duke, and had a better secondary than BC, and most of the game they looked silly.

I was proud of the way Thomas handled adversity and confidently lead his football team. His demeanor and body language was so much stronger than Morris right from the opening kickoff. He was checking down properly, but he was making sure that those deeper passes that have been getting open got a look before the check down. His accuracy on most passes were excellent, and while the rain usually aides receivers getting open, Thomas was hitting receivers on deeper crosses and deep ins. Those are not easy throws.

There were a couple of nice plays where he threw completions that moved the sticks, but he still had throws that were not particularly accurate (the roll out to Byrn on a 3rd and 8 in the 4th Q and a play action throw off a fake jet sweep to Coleman... both throws were behind the receivers and they had to make subtle yet tough adjustments to make the catch.) The other criticism, which should have been addressed by the staff in the game was clock management. In the 4th quarter, Wang was often snapping the ball with 12-15 seconds left on the play clock. When there was four minutes left in the game, there probably should have been about a minute and a half. It didn't burn them this week, but in a close game, nursing a lead, that can become a major mistake.

You could always root for Duke against Miami and then UNC when Duke goes there to end the season.

I don't love those odds, actually. Worry the ACC Coastal showdown was actually a couple weeks ago and we didn't realize it.

Yeah, that's the conclusion I came to as well. It was nice to see both of our RBs running very well.

I didn't know Urban would be back.
From the little I know about Md, they're tough to pin down from game to game.

In any case, I think that's the key. We've proved we can rule LOS on Offense. IIHO, if we do it again for the next 2 games, very doable, we pad stats.

Only scoring 3 points against Syracuse on your home field isn't not very good at all. That FSU loss was just devastating for them.

Saying Thomas's play has been the same level all season is akin to Norma Desmond saying the pictures are what got small.

Vs. Duke: 21-38, 214 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT
Vs. BC: 24-41, 391 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Vs. Miami: 25-31, 366 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT

You're certainly allowed to argue that Thomas's play has been static this year but the stats and the play on the field would disagree. I'm not sure anyone believes that either, or else no one would be rushing to say how well Logan played and call out the haters from last week. After all, if we're to believe that Thomas's problems last week were due to Loeffler not protecting him enough, shouldn't people be silent about Thomas's play this week and instead praise Loeffler? By the numbers and the eyeballs this was Thomas's best game of the season.

I think they wanted to give Edmunds a break and really see what JC could do as the sole back.

Second big special teams play by DiNardo! Also had blocked punt touchdown against Marshall!