Recent Comments
K-State - My irrational hate for KState means they will keep winning and covering.
Jorts - I was so going UGA but the picture of the girl doing a keg stand sealed my pick of UF.
PSU - Braxton Miller may be Jesus because he sure looked dead last week but is back this week. tOSU cant keep winning, can they?
ND - Too many points.
Cowbell - No clue but its a lot of points.
Beer of the week will be what ever they are serving at a Halloween party I am going to. Sadly this most likely means bud/miller light and some IPA. I am expecting a bourbon induced blackout around 10:30pm or so.
Go Hokies!
I just watched the duke game every snap and saw the same plays used over and over again sometimes back to back. Alot of end arounds and sweep throws out to a receiver and screens. The exact same stuff we called in the Clemson game. I am far from a football expert but want some clarity on this subject. Is it better for an offense to have several go to plays that they use 33% + of the time and call fakes off of that or is it better to use formation and varied playcalling (ie offset I, Power I, Tight I power run or half back toss then mix in play action and straight throws)? Is this a philosophy thing based on the offensive coaches or well practiced rule that you only choose between 10 different plays about 50% of the time? (honestly I never played or really studied football so I dont know the answer or debate on these questions) Also as a side note I think it would be interesting if someone went threw and recorded each play called in the Duke game and compared it to the plays called in the Clemson game.
"Curt Newsome's head must be spinning!" -beamerball.com
The main problem for me is figuring out when it'll happen. I don't think anyone believes we could comeback next year and win it with the team we have right now. So if we look ahead, Beamer will probably retire when his contract is up, who's the next coach? If it's Shane then Bud is leaving that day, and if Bud leaves then we're screwed.
I do think that a National Championship is possible, but these next few years are crucial for Tech football, either make a run under Beamer or we need to pick the absolutely perfect coach to follow him, if we don't it could be a few years before we can contend again.
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13 years 8 months
# | Richmond Times Dispatch: Holland Fisher says he remains committed to Virginia Tech If a kid verbally commits to a school isn't it a bit shady for other schools to then offer him a scholarship? After they sign they can't continue to talk to them though, right?
...have this kind of in-depth, well-prepared analysis? And not just this post (kudos to joelestra) but every week after a game -as well as pregame musings?! And oh-my-f'eeng gawd the animated gifs always rock.
THIS
SITE
KILLS IT
!!!!......!
the Ville
KsT8
Ugga
OhiOst
ND to cover
MsSt8 to cover
nati
K-State
Jorts
Nittany Lions
BOOMAH
Hail State
'ville - A complete sober pick is never fun but I am still working and will be when this game kicks off. I think Rick Pitino will have this team ready to go. Nati hasn't recovered since Bob Huggins left for West ByGod Virginia. Remember its ACCtion and that means it hoops season.
I still call it the Eddie Royal (because that's when it worked) play--it's so adaptable to any defense...it can go right...and then BAM left! What kind of insane defensive mastermind can keep up with that?! Coupled with, my personal favorite, play-action QB throw the ball as far as you can down the center of the field; we are truly an unstoppable offense.
Louisville
K-State
Gators
tOSU
Boomer
State
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13 years 8 months
# | Richmond Times Dispatch: Holland Fisher says he remains committed to Virginia Tech The learning curve will be a bit bigger with Fisher, because he has played linebacker his whole time in high school. He projects as a safety and my understanding is that he has only been playing safety at passing camps.
Louisville
Kansas State
Gators
Penn State
Notre Dame
Miss. State
I don't think its as bad as it sounds.
Same goes for these schools who miss their stars...
USC - Reggie Bush
Texas - Vince Young, Colt McCoy
Auburn - Cam Newton
Florida - Tim Tebow
Oklahoma - Jason White, Sam Bradford
Ohio St - Troy Smith
It's not like VT is Baylorish. Baylor I think won't ever repeat what kind of season they had with RG3,
So it's highly unlikely we win a national championship unless we find another Vick? You're not the first person to tell me this but you're the first Hokie to tell me this. Can't deny the truth in the statement, but I still feel there's so much parody now that well run systems can beat the traditionals on a good day.
But this feeling I have continues to grow that I have such high hopes for no reason. I feel like coaching changes would put us down the right path, but then I constantly hear from outsiders (and now one of the most knowledgeable insiders) that we've reached our potential. This is depressing. I don't know what to believe in anymore.
This is going to sound obvious and simple but VT just needs to win more games...I'll keep it more recent
The gimmies
James Madison and East Carolina for example. VT should have won these games. Not losing games like these is pretty easy to fix, if it hasn't been already.
The key out of conference games
Kansas, Auburn, Michigan, Boise etc. VT should have beaten all these teams (I know they did beat Michigan...) Each one of those loses was hard in the sense that I thought VT was still the better team even though they lost, I know that makes me sound like a total homer, but I still think that way.
The Champions
LSU, USC, ALABAMA. yea VT lost to Alabama and USC, I don't think VT was as good as either of those squads, but they could damn well play with those teams, and are capable of beating teams of that caliber, which is top shelf. They were beating USC at the half and Alabama through the 3rd Quarter. LSU I know was another story but that just happens sometimes, even to the best of programs. Even then a star was baptized in fire with Tyrod Taylor.
So VT has had some blunders, but who hasn't? The National powerhouses have lost to Louisana Monroe (bama), App state (Mich). There are teams like ND that have had TERRIBLE seaons, Texas got blown out by Oklahoma, Ohio St got blown out by USC, USC got blown out by Oregon and Stanford. Some powerhouses get temporarily halted (Florida with Ron Zook).
I guess my point is I don't think VT isn't far off from being on the next level.
If you examine national champs there are two basic roadmaps.
1) Be a traditional power
2) Have a magical season with a/several unique once in a lifetime superstars in a BCS conference having a down year.
If the Hokies want to win a national title, the ACC is a better path than the SEC because the path to the title game is easier in the current format. The missing piece from a talent perspective is big time offensive line recruits. That requires a legit OL coach with a track record of producing NFL quality linemen (Todd Washington from Baltimore would make sense as a Hokie alum). Then, you can recruit outside of Virginia, as Virginia has a very poor history of producing quality offensive linemen. The rest of the talent is there, especially with good coaching to mold it.
Once they transition to a four team playoff (and ultimately I think they will go to 8 or 16 team playoffs,) then coming out of the SEC would be much more critical. It would give more access for Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina recruiting grounds and the level of competition would toughen them up to win in a playoff format. But (and I will believe it forever) that the will to win at VT does not match up with the will to win that you find at top SEC programs. I think that SEC may ltimately be a better path, I think if the Hokies got there, they would be a mediocre team, similar to Tennessee and Arkansas, rather than a top power.
Honestly right now I am not necessarily too worried about any players going early. The way we have performed has definitely dropped several players draft stock. Going into the season I thought for sure that Fuller, Thomas, Gayle and possibly Exum would be going early regardless. So much preseason hype and athleticism. Now mid season all have had a "decent" year statistically. Not good but still potential Sunday guys. If declaration day was now I have a feeling Gayle, and Exum would probably go if they were predicted in the first two rounds, which is highly unlikely unless they play in beast mode the rest of the season. Just from media appearances and perspective or hunch. Gayle reminds me of Worilds mindset. Logan Thomas and Kyle Fuller seem both like guys who would stick around.
With that said I really hope these guys see potential in next year like Barkley did and stick around. Even though that didn't really work out for him. If they stuck around and played well in their senior season their prospect would be higher.
you made several good points and I agree on most, especially the Klein/Vick comparison. However, the "I project our next 10 years to be about what PSU has done the last 10, maybe Tennessee the last 10." comment has me puzzled. Do you feel this way assuming changes will not be made or do you think that even if changes are made, we just can't compete with the big boys? Just wondering
I know "national powerhouse" is a strong expression, but I don't think "Can we win a national championship" is a strong enough question. Staying power > one and done.
preseason polls are marketing driven
So if it's an outside goal, don't you think the administration and coaching staff should do what it takes to make it a realistic goal?
I do. That's how business works and this college football thing is nothing more than that, BIG business. I think we have the intangibles in place to make it a realistic goal but we're scared to change. I'm not saying we can be Bama/Ohio St/Oklahoma in two years, but we can get better coaches than we have now and in turn, get those big times wins, which attracts better talent. It's very possible.
Not sure if I would go the alumni route, but Todd Washington is the OL coach with the Ravens and is a Hokie alum. The Ravens OL has struggled this season with lots of young guys on the interior, but Baltimore has always featured a precise power blocking scheme with great attention to detail. Also, when Washington coached in the UFL, four of his five OL starters got NFL contracts the next season, so he has some track record of developing guys. Seems logical.
I have no idea if they have an interest in coaching, but Jim Pyne and Jake Grove would at least demand that they play nasty.
I totally agree that the uniforms make a big difference when recruiting to young adults, but I think you're undermining the "(The offense doesn't hurt either)" part.
It seems like you're saying uniforms carry such a weight that the other tangible things don't seem to matter as much as they would for other programs. To that I highly disagree: If Oregon wasn't putting up 50 points a game and played for a NC two years ago and currently the second best team in the nation regardless of what the polls say, then those flashy uniforms wouldn't carry as much weight.
Point being, the on the field performance allows the uniforms to be more effective when recruiting. I don't want to undermine the role the uniforms play when recruiting, but Oregon's performance on the field gives way for the uniforms to be a talking point. You can't have the uniforms' effectiveness without having the wins to back it up.
RIP Billy Mays