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Ohio St (People's Champ) -3.5
Oklahoma -6.5
Gators +7.5
X-Mas trees -2.5
Clemson -3.5
So Cal +5.5

Hope everyone had a good turkey day! Go Hokies!!!

Despite the negatives coming out of this season and the narrow escape against the lowly Boston College Eagles on Saturday, there was good to be found. I hate when Beamer says “if one or two plays went another way” because proper preparation makes those plays go your way, but this team is closer to a 10 win team than most of us care to admit. I wanted to use my free time over the holiday to point out some of the good adjustments by the coaching staff and great individual efforts by the players.
The Screen Game
I know, I know, I know. TKP readers and many football fans hate the boring wide receiver screen game. You won’t find that attitude here though. The Hokie staff has used a variety of wide receiver screens as a supplement to the running game. Each variety is a relatively safe play that serves the dual purpose of getting 4-7 yard chunks of yardage to set up reasonable down and distance situations and getting their quarterback some confidence with a couple of easy throws.
The screen game has not been as effective this season, as defenses have played more cover 2 zone (due to the lack of a consistent running game) and the available receivers are not nearly as effective blocking. To his credit, Mike O’Cain used the screen game to try to get some productivity from Logan Thomas on Saturday, but he made an interesting adjustment to allow the play to be successful despite the lack of blocking flankers.
The Hokies lined up in a five receiver look, with Randall Dunn in the slot to the short side and Kevin Asante out wide. http://youtu.be/GASYLtgCZoc?t=4m54s Rather than use a receiver as a lead blocker, O’Cain has Asante run a cross-buck screen, but with Dunn criss-crossing to block the corner, and Vinston Painter leaking out to lead block on the safety who has man responsibility on Dunn. INSERT SCREEN IMAGE. Dunn provides an excellent kick out block, turning the corner out to the sideline. Painter intercepts the outside linebacker (no easy accomplishment for a 300 pound man) and drives him down the field with tremendous footwork.
When you see a play like this, it makes you scratch your head. It features an excellent coaching adjustment. You see players who have struggled to contribute after half a decade in the program looking like they have NFL caliber ability. And yet, the offense as a whole continues to struggle. Why?
Good and Bad Up Front
As I indicted in my previous column, the Hokies had success running straight ahead power plays and veer at the Eagles. Granted, Boston College has been terrible against the run this year, when the Hokies run on the interior, generally they have had success. Even against Florida State, the Hokies kept FSU honest on the interior, and it opened up other parts of the game.
The Hokies kicked things off with a straight counter lead, where the fullback dives and lead blocks into one whole while the tailback hits a different hole. It is effective against teams which teach linebackers to follow the fullback to the football as their first read against the I. http://youtu.be/GASYLtgCZoc?t=6m33s This play exemplifies the benefit of a quick hitting power play, in that it only requires a good interior push and doesn’t need effective receiver blocking. The interior of the Hokie line creates a 4-5 yard bubble on the inside of the BC line. David Wang effectively turns out the 3 technique, and Caleb Farris and Brent Benedict combo to turn outside the one technique. Benedict gets his head inside, and Farris moves on to the linebacker along with Joey Phillips. End result is a nine yard gain. The Hokies had success later with the same play, this time with Wang turning the defensive tackle inside and using good feet to create a small bubble off left tackle. http://youtu.be/GASYLtgCZoc?t=17m31s
They also used motion and the fullback offset to run the same play. http://youtu.be/GASYLtgCZoc?t=17m36s Here, the Hokies zone block up front. The general rule is to take a playside step, and engage the first player who crosses your face. Becton successfully scoop blocks the right defensive end, who is influenced by the receiver motion and hesitates to dive inside.. This allows Becton the extra second to get his head inside. The one technique stunts from Wang’s gap across Via’s face, and Via takes him right where he wants to go. This allows Wang to get to the linebacker, which he does easily.
Again, Farris and Wang combine to throw an outstanding combo block, with Farris going to the linebacker on this critical third down run on the game tying drive. http://youtu.be/GASYLtgCZoc?t=24m13s It looks so easy, but the Hokies do not utilize this bread and butter work in big games.
Also, consistency continues to be an issue. The guards and center are still dropping too far back before initial contact on pass pro, which causes Logan Thomas to be unsettled in the pocket with the guards in his lap. We all saw Wang and Via get stonewalled on the most critical pla of the game, the Martin Scales all-effort 3rd and short where he got no help in OT. And, even Mr. SEC Brent Benedict can’t win battles without proper fundamental footwork. http://youtu.be/GASYLtgCZoc?t=24m18s The Hokies run the pistol veer, and Benedict attempts a throw technique with completely dead feet. The defensive tackle gets into his chest, and makes a dominant looking tackle for loss while Benedict ends up looking bad. Against a poor run defense like BC, and this weekend where getting first downs running the football will be critical in windy Lane Stadium, nobody can afford this kind of mental lapse.

I'm sure he's a fine blogger, but his name is Hamilton Riley. Can a name be any more UVA?

If you didn't pick up on that.

there are plenty of redneck uva fans and i've met plenty of snooty khaki wearers who support vt. stereotypes always have a shred of truth to them but both fanbases run the gamut.

Is the single stupidest idea I've heard in a long time. Scratch that - second stupidest, behind the guy on Twitter who said we could win in the ACC if we "fire "Beamer, Stinespring, O'Cain, recruiters, and get rid of Logan Thomas".

As stated before, concessions money goes to the clubs/ charities/ organizations who run them.

The German Club sells the programs, and the money made from that goes to funding the Midwinters Dance.

The profits of the official University Bookstores goes back to the school for student-based programs. As stated on the Bookstore website: "The University Bookstore is a non-profit corporation that returns all profits to Virginia Tech for student related scholarships and improvements. Since 1968, the University Bookstore has returned funds valued at over $45 Million for such uses."

The effect shirts are the primary source of funding for SGA. A portion is usually donated to charity, with the rest funding community-based initiatives.

Boycotting the Thursday night game is exactly the kind of thing thats wrong with the fanbase. You say you're a fan, a supporter of our athletic program and players, but refuse to show up and express that fandom? Rather, you take a page from the Maryland fan playbook and just get drunk in the parking lot, turning your back to the very people and community you claim to support.

Those coaches do not work for you. They work for the university and if you think they're thrilled with the way things have gone this season, you're even more delusional than I thought. The coaches don't touch the "athletic endowment" aka Virginia Tech Athletic Fund (VTAF) beyond what is budgeted to them.

By boycotting the things you listed, or even the athletics department in any way, you won't be "asserting yourself" or "making your voice heard" or "collectively pushing back". The football team will be funded in the manner the university sees fit, regardless of what you do. Instead, your boycott would have the seemingly unintended effects of depriving student programs, charities, and other athletic programs while weakening the unity of the Hokie Nation.

If your love of Virginia Tech and the Hokies is so conditional that you would seek to punish our incredible institution after one bad season, then do us all a favor and give up your Hokie Club membership and tickets to someone who deserves it.

wow, historical scholarship on my favorite sports site.

thumbs up

"5-6 isn't exactly daunting and you can see over the past few years that relying on just the hidden gems from VA and not the top players won't get it done."

We have very consistently got at least three, up to five of the Commonwealths top 10 the last fifteen years. Nothing has changed, and certainly isn't a cause of this years issues. Are too many good players leaving the state? Sure, but we have been getting our share....those are UVA players heading out of state, not VTs.

And it's not like UVA is either causing any mythical recruiting deficiency or benefiting from it. They have only had one year where they did better in the top 10 than we have...by one player...when Thoroughgood decommitted on NSD. Our team wouldn't be any better with Thoroughgood.

VTs problem is not talent. But that's a typical UVA viewpoint, that Groh left them with no talent and VT has such a talent advantage. It's just not true, they have won with less talent and so have we.

That makes me sad.

1. OSU
2. Pokes
3. Gators
4. Cardinal
5. Cocks
6. Domers

They shall pay dearly tomorrow.

tOSU
OkSt
UF
Stan
Klempsun
ND

It's pretty obvious that the B1G intending on expanding at some point. When Notre Dame dropped out of the picture (for the next number of years), the B1G decided not to wait any longer. Enter -- Rutgers

But everyone anticipates conferences moving to 16 or more teams any way, so there is still room for Notre Dame in the B1G. Hell -- any conference would MAKE room for them, even if they were already up to 16.