Recent Comments
I had a programming exam that started exactly when the game did. Dropped the class and took it during the summer.
Given that we are sliding away from National games with our Saturday schedule, break out alternates on a National stage on Thursday night. Guaranteed exposure, and it can become a thing. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new uni a week way we are going...so this is a happy compromise.
Also, imagine the challenge for UNC's defensive coordinator. They now have film on the Hokies running:
1) the inverted veer series
2) the veer pistol
3) pistol trap series
4) zone stretch and inside zone series
5) bootleg and play action pass pro
6) pass pro-spread
7) pistol/shotgun play action
And, while the VT passing game isn't lighting the world on fire, six receivers have more than five catches. Every passing down has the potential of multiple receivers catching the ball, with no clear indicators (with the exception of DJ Coles on a deep in from play action out of the pistol) based on formation as to who will be targeted. Screens and draws are also possibilities.
I always have preferred to pick something and be great at it. But, as long as the Hokies can execute up front, the Loeffler potpourri approach has to be a nightmare for DC's to prepare for.
GT was selling out on the QB keeper late in the game. The hand off on the sweep keeps the defense honest.
My professors didn't always cancel classes, but never had a graded assignment due on gameday. My ME Lab II TA let us reschedule our lab from Thursday afternoon to Wednesday evening.
Either way, the football schedule is released before classes are signed up for... not hard for teachers to accommodate.
Regarding number 3, against Marshall there were options and Logan was reading the linebacker on inverted veer and the end on veer. If the tight end is pulling from the pistol, it is pretty much a give all the way from what I have seen. Against GT, we saw almost no veer or the tight end trap. It was all inverted veer, and to be honest it didn't seem like Thomas was reading much of anything. I was actually unhappy that Mangus was underutilized, and one or two effective gives on the inverted veer would have opened up things even more for Thomas in the middle. I am still unsure if that is a by product of the injuries to the running backs, if GT presented some kind of weakness to the inverted veer, or if this is now the offense that Loeffler wants to run. But, given past comments, I think the Hokies came in short handed, and planned to use the passing game to move the football with Thomas as the compliment to the passing game.
East Carolina barely runs the ball, but racked up 220+ yards rushing against North Carolina. If there was ever a week for the Hokies to line up with a tight end and the I formation, it is this week. UNC's defensive line will quit if the Hokies OL is tenacious and keeps their leg drive going after initial contact. I don't think that Logan Thomas can sustain the physical beating he took this week. They have to compliment him with their core of backs.
Question about the Inverted Veer-based running game. If I were a D-Coordinator (and from reading this site, I think I could be), I would have my run defense keyed on taking away the hand off and forcing LT to keep. Much like what we have done against an option team in Gah Tech the last few years. LT3 gets moderate yards-per-touch early, but takes a pounding and starts making bad decisions later.
How would you combat this type of strategy?
I actually feel sorry for the young Cyrus, Spears, Hilton, Olsons, Lohans and so many others. They are just young people "Soiling their Oats." It is just that they are "soiling" theirs in public. I was no better then them. It has to be harder for them than the averager young person, because they are so seperated from the average person. They are trying to figure everything out too, and who is guiding them, their managers?
Look at Solomon, the richest man to have ever lived, and he said "Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless, like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere." If this man was alive today in his latter years, he would be on anti-depressants. A man who literally had everything...Yet had nothing. We all need something more substantial than materials. I believe our Quarterback and CFB would be the first to agree too.
Ok, we've seemed to cover the fact that HD is not going to win an award for sports reporting....and if you don't like the product, the logical move to make is to not consume said product. This begs the question....
Where do you go for objective, fair reporting on college football? Where do you find thoughtful writing, in-depth analysis, and breaking news?
I really, really, really like this idea.
You put HD, AA and sEc$PN together you get 2 girls + 1 cup
You had me until you brought up those black unis.
I hear bells ringing.
Agree on #3... There was one option/sweep play in the GT game that was wide open, if he gives it to JC-- it would have been a big gainer... It does seem like LT was just told to keep and head up the middle on most of his plays. it seems that would keep the D a little more honest...
Also, Mangus missed a big gainer by not taking it up field on one of his edge runs. It was wide open but he just strung it out all the way to the sideline... I'm ready to se some TBs start making big plays that have been missing the last three weeks...
Mason -- Excellent as always.
IMO, this O (from the GT game) is more Clemson-esque regarding pre-snap motions, reads, and mismatches.
You've got a good dual-threat QB who's going to read what the defense gives him and make those throws to get the yards. While we don't have a Sammy Watkins or anyone else that's that explosive for a home-run threat just yet, but b doing this we SHOULD get 5 yards a pop each time we touch the ball -- run the mismatch all day so the D has to cover our RB or our QB in the running game all day, and when we get the mis-match or sneaking-up DB's, get the explosive play!
...Shameless plug -- this is how I run my O in NCAA14 haha.
EDIT: Sorry! Credit to wrong person!
I don't think Pep would be doing dramatically better. You have to realize that the previous staff did more to hurt these kids than help them. They have to relearn to walk before they can run. This is going to be a long process and it will take time. It's unfair for us to expect Clemson like results in less than a year in a new system. Before Chad Morris, Clemson had more talent and better fundamentals than we had with ocainspringsome. I believe Loeffler is doing the best he can with the mess that was left behind for him.
He will field an effective offense in a few years once he brings in the right players. Right now he's working with a slew of TEs and RBs converted to other positions.
There is a "Loeffler Sucks" camp? After 5 games and 4-1? How many tents?
Not thinking too much is paying off....maybe I don't suffer from low testosterone after all....my guy-ness is ok!
This UNC game will be brutal, it will go down to the last possession.
I had Statics and Autocad tests from 3-5 back to back before the Thursday night game two years ago. Both professors refused to move it. And yes I was drinking during both and that was the best i did on any statics exams that year.
Mason -- Thanks for helping us laymen understand what's going on.
A couple of counterpoints posed as questions:
1. Is our OL struggling to execute because of skill or because of confusion? Is the plan to "use a wide array of formations to create favorable blocking angles" working?
2. Remember LT's deep ball? It was a thing of beauty. Instead, our offense is predicated on him throwing crossing routes, shallow crossing routes with less margin for error, which he seems to throw 75% of them behind the receiver. Is this passing attack best suited for LT's strengths?
3. Are we really running "options" on the veer? It seems like either LT isn't comfortable making those decisions or we have taken the decision out of his hand and it is simply a playfake for a QB draw. That's not unusual, we heard ESPN say that PJ tells VadLee what "option" to select on any given play. But it would make our life a lot easier as fans if we understood that giving it to JCC on the sweep isn't an "option" for LT, he's told to fake that sweep and crash into the middle, no matter if 4 Marshall players are standing there or not.
4. Wasn't there a lot of opposition on this board to the Pistol when OCainSpring ran it? Wasn't it deemed not well suited for LT's strengths as a runner?
At this point, I'm concerned. I see a bunch of hullabaloo and us depending on LT to ram it down their throats. I see an OL that looks like they are pretty talented not performing as a unit. I see VT not bloody'ing our opponents noses, on offense at least (cue Vad Lee looking for his mouthpiece).
What Would Pep Hamilton Do?
I am guessing they didn't watch the whole thing...
Obviously, they suffer from WADS....Wahoo Attention Deficit Syndrome. This is also why many LOLUVA fans leave games early.
Agreed, this was Foster's All-Star Team for defending PJ's offense. He was playing 6+ players who have always played their best games against GT. He was playing guys who are GT specialists.
And Vad Lee is not good (yet).
Really? You comment on this and not the Giraffe love innuendo above? Nothing in that joke is to be taken seriously. I'm not John Stewart on the Daily show. I don't actually care if reporters report on UVA or Mike London. Your taking that way too seriously.
Sometimes it's not feasible to reschedule a class. The lab I TA'd had two sections, both at the same time: either M/W or Tu/Th. Fortunately we never had to deal with this issue, but I'm sure that we wouldn't have offered a rescheduled time for class.