Recent Comments

+1 props for Sullivan. He played well against the best defense in the nation. I think the general consensus is that Edmonds is #1 but we have great complements behind him in the running game. I'm sure when we reach the acc schedule we will have a more defined running philosophy than we had today. In the pressers Lefty talks about game planning which is foreign to me, but today was about getting some practice and confidence. I'm staying positive.

Highlights of the day. Note, as predicted, both the offense and defense were VERY vanilla today.

1) Terrific defensive back play, and a new defensive concept, a 46 defense with a nickel back. The Hokies essentially completely took away the strong side of the passing formation, and Kyle held down the fort on his island. It will be interesting to see how this approach works against better spread teams.

2) Young depth continues to develop in the defensive front seven. Those guys will be counted on as starters. Chase Williams will be counted on in a leadership role next season, and he looked terrific on defense and special teams.

3) Running back has gone from a position of weakness to a position of strength. Coleman, Mangus, and Caleb all were impressive. I loved Caleb's power. He looks much more natural at the position than I expected. I also thought Edmunds ran hard, but I didn't think he was seeing holes develop as well as he had against Alabama. He left some yards on the field, but man, he is tough on short yardage.

4) Special Teams coverage was excellent.

Room for Improvement
1) While the offensive line got push, I think they struggled to adjust to the smaller, quicker defensive front. It almost seems strange to say "quicker" but Alabama plays assignment football where the DL ties up blockers. Western Carolina shot the gaps and there were plays where the OL seemed a step slow. I also saw too many plays where the OL wasn't finishing blocks and disengaged to watch the end of the play. The injury to Miller is a challenge, because now if one more guy gets hurt, the Hokies will have to play someone who Grimes was not counting on to contribute this year. Mark Shuman (if healthy) will take over the utility guy role, but Brent Benedict playing tackle is a scary thought. (Guard fine, but he just isn't quick enough at tackle.)

2) As I noted above, while I was happy that the wide receivers improved, if DJ Coles isn't a factor, then Josh Stanford is the only legitimate ACC wide receiver on the roster. WCU's secondary is terrible, and was missing their best defender, yet the Hokies could not consistantly get behind it. Against good secondary play, the Hokies will have to execute perfectly and dink and dunk their way down the field, which is a style that isn't the best fit for Logan Thomas.

3) The defensive front was decent, but their tackling was shoddy early, and they were exposed against the read option. We will cover it more in the film review, but spread teams where the QB can effectively run the read option and get up field will be tough for the Hokies to cover. If they protect against the QB, seams open in the middle. The QB today had more opportunities to run and made poor reads. WCU potentially could have had much more time of posession.

4) Logan was better, but still needs to improve. Again, this receiver corps is not suited to his strengths. If Knowles can't get open deep, they don't have a vertical threat.

5) The punt return team was absolutely atrocious today. Jarrett made numerous poor decisions beyond the muffed punt (which he was interfered with.) If that is what they can muster, put Byrn there and fair catch everything.

More detail to come in the film review, which will highlight the "nickel 46", a review of the running backs, and commentary on the young defensive players who contributed to the win.

I'm sure you're right French. Looking forward to your and Mason's full analysis. Just wanted to put a positive spin on things. And glad to see Danny still open!

Yeah the ad space actually cuts into the main screen/in game view. That was kind of annoying. All in all, it was great. Sounded fantastic and looked wonderful. Feel bad for some of those students though...

Listen, I don't want to be a mood killer, but despite the fact that the receivers held onto the football, I didn't see guys getting quality seperation compared to the level of defenders that the Catamounts rolled out. Even though they held onto the football, there is a ton of work that still needs to be done. And, even if the receivers are executing perfectly, they will struggle against good defensive backs because they just are not particularly athletic.

Cam Phillips will start next year, and I would not be suprised if Knowles and Meyer are pushed to the side and Stanford, Phillips, and Harrison are the starters.

He played the entire game. He was in as the motion/pitch man on the triple option where Edmunds scored against Alabama.

I am not letting the Bama fans off the hook that easy down here. "Yeah our offense didn't look that great, not a big surprise, but did you know A.J. got sacked by a freshman."

He needs to learn how to play the position still in my opinion. He didn't really wait for his blocks or look for the hole, he just kinda decided where he wanted to go and went there one way or another. He has talent, just needs to be taught a little bit. In a year or two with some more muscle he could be very good. The running back situation is promising.

Too many damn ads. During a replay there are 7 ads on the screen at once (6 boxes, 3 on each side and 1 in the main view area). When they turn them off and show the game or something it's glorious.

Sound system is much better. Loud but not blaring/deafening.

Yep yep very very improved over the beginning of last year. He's no longer a weakness

^This. I don't think he's better than Jarrett or the Fuller bros but he is a darn good player.

Well you're probably happy to be wrong