Recent Comments
Can I go ahead and pick my sleeper for the recruiting class?
My favorite position in football are the "new" hybrid TE/WR players (Tony Gonzalez, Aaron Hernandez), and this kid fits that description. He's tall at 6-5, but he can definitely move. He's got good body position awareness too, looks good coming out of his cuts and puts himself in a good spot to box out the defender. Put some meat on his bones, and he could probably be a decent blocker against a LB or Safety.
Loeffler likes to show a five-wide formation, then motion into a power formation (like the I) if he doesn't like the match-ups. Having a versatile TE like Cline could be a real problem for defenses matching up. Do you bring in a LB to stop the run, or a nickelback to defend the pass?
If Cline pans out, he could be a real asset in Loeffler's scheme.
Another recruit, another "Virginia Tech University." It has to stop
We could definitely use a tall tight end with ups and good hands!
Welcome to Hokie Nation!
Yeah, I'll be making my 15 minute drive straight from the office, leaving about 30 minutes early to get there for the first pitch.
It was so great moving back to the NRV.
I believe he was talking about the original Legend of Zelda for the NES, where there was very little direction for anything and it was quite difficult to pick up. Now personally, I hate Zelda II much more, but that might just be me. Something about having a side-scrolling Zelda just doesn't jive well with me.
And come on, the threat of danger is what made those Mario games fun! Though finding Toad 7 times before finally reaching the princess would really piss me off... but that's what they made the warp pipes for.
Calvin Klein.
Well. He's already a brand name.
As others have said, this is excellent work & I'm glad to see more outstanding football analysis on the site. One other thing I want to applaud you for, and it's the quote below:
"...once it became obvious that most of the article would be about Kiehl Frazier's shortcomings, I decided to change my approach. College athletes are amateurs, usually barely adults, so I'm going to avoid criticizing them too harshly."
I wish more people took this approach when it comes to how we talk about college athletes. Yeah, we get wrapped up in the game & want our team to do well, but there's a line that doesn't need to be crossed. Nothing gets my blood boiling more than having our own fans boo our players... why would an 18-year old kid want to play for fans like that? Now when it comes to professional athletes, go ahead and boo. They're paid millions to perform at a high level... college kids, not so much.
Don't mean to derail the quality discussion, but I wanted to note that I appreciate the positive tone of your writing. Carry on!
Rumor now is Cornwell may not be able to make it this weekend
Everyone who is making their way down to Blacksburg, I hope you enjoy yourselves! Unfortunately the combination of work and the 400 mile drive is not allowing me to be their in person but I will definitely be watching our boys!
I'll be there! I'm curious to see how many fans make the trip. This could be our largest Tech baseball crowd since the Yankees game in 2008. I'm excited that it coincides with QB David Cornwell's visit!
Don't forget about Stefon Diggs. Would have been nice to have him at WR this year.
Quick Google search confirms Ted Roof is changing the 3-4 to 4-3 scheme. Additionally, I think Roof comes with a reputation of having a very aggressive, blitzing scheme that helped Penn State last season (I'm running this info off a random reading memory of mine), and it will be interesting to see how well the Bumble Bees makes the transition.
And yes, Achoo is going to play DE, from what I read.
The only Legend of Zelda I ever played was on Game Boy. I have found Super Mario Bros to be the worst game because nothing was more frustrating than to miss a jump, fall down, and die. Touch a turtle and he dies. He is the worst plumber there ever was!
I share your confidence in Thomas. I do believe that with Loeffler tutoring him, he may recapture or exceed the 2011 form. I know some bitter Hokies haters want to point out Thomas had Boykin and Coale who helped out, which are true to an extent, and having Wilson in the backfield certainly didn't hurt. However, Thomas showed he has a gun on his arm and can fit the ball into a tight window. It is a matter of doing it consistently.
As French noted, the Pistol package O'Cain and Stiney installed last spring completely screwed up Thomas' footwork, and he did not recover from it.
One other aspect that haters forget - Thomas can run. He is compared favorably to Rothelisberger for his arm strength and mobility. Thomas does have a long way to go, but I feel he can make it as a top 10 quarterback in the next Draft.
Any team that can master the nuisances of triangle passing are difficult to beat. From the first day of soccer practice, that was one thing my coach emphasis to us, and when I coached my daughter's soccer team one spring, I brought that concept to them.
And Spain is one hell of a team to beat.
Worst games of all time:
1) Friday the 13th- NES
2) Gradius- NES
3) Ghosts and Goblins (impossible to beat)- NES
4) Legend of Zelda- Huge waste of time.
5) RBI Baseball. Nothing but split fingers in the dirt. No hitting.- NES
My sleeper for the good list? Blades of Steel.
Derrick Hopkins is and shall always be MANBEARPIG
Hand is a must get, or suddenly the cynicism from the fanbase about claims to be a "true national power" runs amok again.
We'll be fine at DL .. For perception though, Hand is a can't miss
Fwiw, jay was no longer interested in playing TE .. Burke is a great find and will be the best TE recruit that we've pulled in a long time, unless we can izzo out of NJ, who was just offered by USC-w and FSU. We can still get hand, nnadi, and walker. Added to mihota, still a STUD DL class. We are still in it for kentavius street out of nc, jesse a in maryland .. Not to mention a few stud DL in 15 that we are in early on...tyler powell is a good prospect too
Why is Steven Morris listed as a running back?
I know I'll be working the games tomorrow. Might go to the game on Saturday as well. Hope they win this regional. Go hokies.
I sincerely hope that Loeffler also reinforced what George Whitfield taught Thomas last spring; I'm still amazed that O'Cain scapegoated that QB-camp last year. Pretty much every elite QB in recent years has done well because of Whitfield's enhanced coaching. I agree that LT3 needs a good refresher in the fundamentals from Lefty (which we're seeing right now), but he also needs the elite teachings of a proven QB coach to reach his potential.
Once they dumped algroh, their defense played well enough for them to represent the Coastal in the ACC Championship and then beat USC in the Sun Bowl (LOL @ lanekiffen!).
Well that's actually a very good question, and the answers a little complicated... in fact I could probably write another article on that... but for now here's a couple of things to keep in mind.
1. Loeffler likes to go five wide with his base personnel. We've seen this in the spring game, he'll have a RB and a TE (or two) lined up wide. This means that the Defense can't bring in a nickel package unless they want to risk facing Loeffler's bread and butter play (the zone stretch) undermanned. Going five wide with TE's and RB's instead of receivers means Loeffler is sacrificing speed, but in return he's insuring he'll get LB's in coverage.
2. Theoretically, the triangle will work every time regardless of personnel if the secondary is respecting the deep pass.
The OLB and MLB don't really matter (they could both be CB's), they're both occupied with their underneath receivers. The reason the "x" receiver is open is because the CB in the deep third has to respect deep pass. He's taught to give the X receiver plenty of space, and only break on routes in front of him once the ball is in the air. This delay, caused by his deep third responsibilities, prevents him from getting to the WR in time to make a play on the ball. With a good throw and a good route, the play should be a completion 100 percent of the time.
(Here's an example)
WITH THAT SAID, we all know that football isn't played on a chalkboard... and in practice some CB's hate giving up curl after curl after curl. Eventually, despite what their coaches tell them, they'll get antsy and start jumping that curl route. The second they see the WR break down, they'll sprint to where they think the ball is heading. Once that happens, the OC has to see he has an aggressive CB on his hands. A double move (like a stop and go) against a deep-third CB can go for a TD if the CB is too aggressive on short routes in front of him.
(Double move FTW!)
Hopefully this answered your great question!