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The part about "one team that shouldn't stand a chance rises up and denies a better team a chance at a bowl, or a championship" reminded me of Wake beating Florida St. 4 out of the past 7 years.
Eventually at Kick/Punt Returner?
I graduated from Tech in 2000. I'm 36 years old and I just want these damn kids to get off my lawn. My ideal Nike ProCombat Special Edition Uniform is none. I want us in maroon. Dark maroon, maroon that's the color of the bruises that we deal out because we hit you so damned hard that you piss #allmaroon for a week after the game. The best looking unis we had were in the late 90s. Go back to that. We can stand out by not trying to stand out. We can stand out by scaring the piss out of punters on 4th down. We can stand out by mauling an opposing quarterback on 3rd and long and converting a fumble for a touchdown.
The one exception I would make is for the helmets. We can get cutesy with the helmets. Provided they are either all white or all maroon with either the Square Root of One or Inset VT logos on them. The matte helmets were awesome. I'll allow that. But I can't reiterate enough how much I want these god damned kids to get off my lawn.
If both teams agree (and approved by the home teams conference), they can both wear the coloured Jersey as long as they are of contrasting colours
The white/coloured jersey rule is a remnant of black & white TVs so viewers at home would be able to differentiate the teams. With colour (and HDTV) now, it's not nearly as much of an issue.
Obviously, if each team's home colour is similar, then one will have to where road whites.
more: http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2009/8/25/991593/new-rules-for-coll...
when they finally announced Loefller's hire, they touched on the contract payments. I dont have the link, sorry. I think SL will be making like $600k/year. When Auburn's commitment runs out, VT pays the full amount - and I'm pretty sure that's a couple years from now. So if Loefller is worth keeping, VT pays him around $600k, and if he's not, then they let him go.
Pretty off topic, but why/how were Clemson and Auburn both in their home jerseys during that game?
Win!
The thing to remember with Frazier is that he was recruited to run the hurry-up style spread offense, which is vastly different from what Loeffler runs. That doesn't mean he's bad, he was asked to run a system that doesn't fit his style. I think it is fair to say that Logan is better equipped to succeed in Loeffler's system than Frazier (that doesn't mean he will).
Loeffler will have to find a way to mask the deficiencies along the Oline and that worries me more than LT, as does the development & health of the WRs. A lot of things have to come together for the offense to be consistent this year (I won't use the word successful as I really don't know yet one will define "success" for this offense). It will be interesting to watch
VB06Hokie - Love the stone concept. Would look better if the stone took over the whole helmet (Camo helmet esq).
don't worry too much about the contract. Why should VT pay him more now if that money is essentially just going to Auburn (Loeffler would make the same amount, but Auburn's subsidy responsibilities would decrease)? To do so would be silly / incompetent. Wait and see what happens when the subsidy runs out.
I really don't think Frazier's terrible performance last year is on Loeffler. As you pointed out, Loeffler had about as much time with him as with LT... which is to say, not much. And while Frazier is a great athlete, he really is just a terrible quarterback. LT is much more in the mold of what Loeffler would like to have in a QB. Frazier didn't give him much to work with.
I'm not sure about the more talent comment either. We clearly have more talent at QB, but other than that I'm not sure. Auburn did not have a good OL last year, so maybe you should be worried about Grimes. Not that I really am at this point. Auburn's OL was very young, so I'm not sure if talent or experience was more to blame. But why were they so young? There must have been some key recruiting misses. Hopefully we don't repeat that.
Like many, I think that we already have a standing rivalry with UVA, but our connection with Miami from the Big East, and the rivalry that was there, has come to the ACC with us.
I don't think there is any team out there that I hate more than Miami. They are opposites of what we are. They have that showy swagger, while we have the lunchpail mentality. We are humble, while they are braggarts. The list could go on and on.
With the UVA game starting to fall to the wayside, the game I think of is Miami. I know many people here hate UVA, but to me, they are still our Virginian brothers, and though they are a rival, I don't dispise their existance. I absolutely hate Miami.
I also agree that you can't just assign a rival. I thought both of those articles of assigning a rival to Syracuse and Pitt were dumb, and as if the ACC bloggers had nothing else better to do. In fact, I think they mentioned VT as options for both. I feel that Miami has definitely become something, and it continues to fester.
Couldn't agree more, oh wise and all-seeing French. Loeffler needs to select the right QB to start out of the possible bodies at that position and then develop him to execute the offense that Loeffler runs. Logan is a "one and done" project, but the next 2 QB's will determine Loeffler's ability to train and deploy the best man to lead the VT offense that Loeffler is installing.
This article helps to quell the lump that formed in my throat following the shitfest known as the spring game. Excellent analysis. Let's hope LT3's issues last year remain just that and prevent any further comparison to Kiehl Frazier.
PS: I'm officially nominating "Loeffler's Joes weren't good enough to beat the other teams' Jimmys," to win the 2013 TKP award for Inadvertent Hilarious Line of the Year. Kudos, sir.
Loeffler will be measured by "the guy" after Thomas
If he's around that long. Two things: Obviously if he succeeds, he will have a chance to jump back to the SEC or maybe even to the NFL. Secondly, there was something wonky about his contract like Auburn is paying him $200K+ the next few years and VT only paid like $250K. Well, when that Auburn subsidy runs out, will we pay him to stay? Will we have the cash for two $500K+ coordinators? If Loeffler doesn't succeed wildly but just exists, will we invest the $500K in him? His contract basically set him up for a trial run at VT.
I don't think rivalries can necessarily be appointed. Rivalries are developed over time through competition, geography, recruiting, culture and - well - stereotypes (looking at you, brie-eating, Zima-drinking, bowtie-wearing pansies to the north).
Could Pitt be a rival? Sure. Will they be? We won't know the answer to that question until some time down the road. As of right now, I'd personally consider our rivals to be LOLUVA and Miami, with GT potentially in the running.
This doesn't impress me as a competition....more like a complementary addition. Like having a great wide receiver AND a great running back. Welcome, and thanks for the analysis, Mason!
I think true rivalries are not contrived or created, but are naturally occurring, historically rooted, pain-induced and pain-inducing back-and-forth contests over time. We all inherently know the examples....VT vs. UVA, Ohio St. vs. Mich., USC vs UCLA, USC vs. ND, Alabama vs. Auburn....etc, etc. True rivalries are strengthened when one team that shouldn't stand a chance rises up and denies a better team a chance at a bowl, or a championship. They are the original reality TV. I don't think you can define or initiate a true rivalry. This being said, I think that there are two or three possible rivalries that could develop for us within the ACC (beyond the game with UVA), but only time will tell. I think our contests with Miami has the possibility of developing into a rivalry. I think Pitt holds that possibility because of our past history together. But I think our only true rivalry at this point is LOLUVA. This has been diminished somewhat, with the level of play from the hoos. I miss our suspended rivalry with the cousins. There were some real knock-down-drag-outs with the boys from Morgantown.
Honestly, nowhere yet. He is a very vanilla runner. Great speed if the hole is there, but he is not elusive. He spent most of the scrimmage being buried in the backfield.
I agree. Our best games year in and year out are against Miami. The 38-35 Sandman game is the best football game I've seen in the past few years. I can't argue with the UVA rivalry, as it is the best rival we have, but it will take them winning a game before I really buy back into it.
I guess I also consider Miami our rival because of the ol' Big East days. Back when I was an undergrad my friends at other schools would always say, "Yeah, you guys are ok, but who have you played?"
"Miami," I'd respond.
"Oh yeah." Silence.
I appreciate Miami simply because of that. We even played them tough when they were good. Really good. But I also think Miami's big rival will always be FSU. So it looks to me like VT/Miami will always be both schools' close second.
Miami will always be our rival. But that's just my own opinion and hatred
Looks like French has some competition. Well in, Mason.
Great work and welcome to the team!
Here is a very basic take on Loeffler. As I said when the hire was made, the numbers at Auburn were deceiving. Auburn had a very effective running game consistantly throughout the season. Both tailbacks averaged over 5 yards per carry, even facing 8 man fronts. The design of the passing game lead to guys being wide open. As Mason noted, Keihl Frazier could not hit water if he fell out of a boat.
And there lies the concern. Scot Loeffler was hired by Auburn to take a spread, read option focused offense and transition it to a pro-style offense. It failed because he couldn't get Frazier up to snuff. Now, he has been hired to Virginia Tech to transition from a read option offense to a pro-style offense. Will Logan Thomas be good, or will he be Frazier? That is the question that most of us will focus on this year.
Yet, as I discussed with TheKeyPlay last night, Loeffler isn't tide to Thomas. Thomas, for all his skills, has been and continues to be a great athlete playing QB... a project. Loeffler's legacy will have little to do with the success of Thomas. Loeffler will be measured by "the guy" after Thomas, be it Bucky Hodges, David Cornwell, Jacob Park, or someone we have not spotted yet.
Lets get vtfly some fresh under-garments now...