Recent Comments
yeah, they traveled well to fedex but they rarely sell out that itty bitty stadium of theirs. jmu has better attendance.
I'm 22% on the year...
that door to the big boys club, but remains one step too late. It's a shame for such a well-run program and great fan base.
possibly due to injury, he cannot reliably get the ball to the receivers. With a lack of a running game, partly due to blocking and partly due to RB talent, the O will struggle. Need Beamerball and the D to step up or else we are going 7-5.
Most teams make their biggest improvements from week 2 to 3. In this case Pitt did that but VT didn't. I think fatigue and injuries at keys spots may be a factor.
when he ran into Jarrett while tacking Orwin Smith on a crossing route. Fuller was writhing in pain, but stayed in there.
It makes me think that, sure, he'll play this week but he's one tackle away from being out the whole game.
One big one by Malleck on a 3rd and 5 when it was cut to an 11 point lead. Drops were about the only problem we didn't have a problem with in this game.
Something in the right leg and maybe the right arm. If he is afraid to run and can't throw correctly it will affect confidence. Fear and doubt would cause him to make the wrong reads to avoid contact or the harder throw. Result is inaffective offense.
Listening to the radio it sounded like there were a lot of dropped passes. Was this the case? Did Tech fail to convert many 3rd downs or stall drives due to this?
Credit to Pitt for an offensive scheme that tied up our front line and backers. Bud didn't adjust and couldn't do much since the base defense relies on aggressiveness. Pitt used that aggressiveness against them. On many of the running plays it looks like a rugby scrum. Why can't our O line block like that?
to consider that the bowls have this flexibility right now. I'm in favor of it.
Last time I felt like this DURING a game. I still get pissed and lament past losses while looking back, but this one definitely reminded me of Quincy Wilson running for 178 yards...I flinched everytime the ball was handed off to him. I can handle LSU giving it to us, near misses by Boise St and Mich, valiant fights against future Champions like USC (Auburn after vacating wins?) and Bama, I can even handle flat games against JMU...
...but a 2-4 WVU team manhandling us, that was painful to watch and so was this.
French, do you really think we can still run the table? FSU looks like they are on a mission. I know it's silly to predict at this point but your comment surprised me.
Also, is there any possibility of Edmunds playing this year after the coaches come to their senses?
X, Vinnie, KJ, Bruce Smith, and Jim Pyne....(heavy sigh)
(I don't remember who originally said this) "You're never as good as your best win, and you're never as bad as your worst loss."
echoed the performance at Ketchup stadium....1-5 again...(sigh)
I've seen VT play poorly and loose to good teams. I've seen them play good and loose to great teams. I've seen one side of the ball play god awful football only to have the other side come in and save the day against all kinds of teams. But I can't remember a game where we played so effin' terrible that we made a team that had looked to be one of the worst in D1-A look like MNC contenders. (As a note, I didn't get to watch JMU and I just can't seem to remember the Temple game for good reason.)
I am not buying into the bounce back mode this time. At least when we lost to JMU, I knew we looked pretty darn good against Boise who, say what you will, was one of the better teams in the country. This time we looked okay against GT, below Mediocre against AP and abysmal against the Pitt. How am I supposed to believe we will bounce back after regressing for the 3rd straight game!
We obviously have a major issue at RB that I don't think can be solved this year. I know alot of people here want to see Edmunds, but asking a true frosh to come in and save the day seems a bit ridiculous to me. Can he help? Maybe, but I don't think throwing that kid into the fire is the answer. As someone stated above, our best athletes are at wideout this year. Between our version of Randy Moss (aka Marcus Davis), DR, Corey and Demitri, we have to get the ball in these guys hands. Not to mention we have some very good receiving TE (where's George^2 these days? I just miss hearing his name) that can make plays. I really wish instead of trying to plug in another running back as the media tries to convince us VT can do every year, that we try to utilize talent where we have it and RB is not the spot for it this year. In no way am I saying that MH and JC won't be good backs for us, but they are not there yet and I expected Shane to be able to see that. This does not give the line a pass as they have to help these guys out as well. As french has pointed out, they appear to be lazy and that comes back to coaching all the way from Beamer down to Newsome. Get your shit together guys! As for Logan, I have no idea what happened but the Jefferson comparison is valid. His regression, (there's that word again) is startling. I don't know if his San Diego trip screwed up his form (he better get a damn refund if so) if O'Cain did it (he better get demoted or fired if so) but this is not the QB of last year. I am curious if they have told him to try to be a pocket passer to help his draft stock, and that is making him tentative in the zone read plays. Either way, please find the Delorean and bring back my LT from last year!
D wise, I am very disappointed in our lack of adjustment at halftime even though it wouldn't have mattered. Many games in the past we have gotten it handed to us in the 1st half only to have Bud make adjustments and get it turned around in the 2nd half but we made the same mistakes all game long, over-pursuing and what I felt was loss of gap assignment. Poor tackling is not an adjustment though and that was abundant all day long and I feel that that is laziness again.
Our teams need to realize that they are not as good as everyone says they are. I wish to god we would be unranked every year, because when that used to be the case, we came out with fire and proved we belonged. Now we belong and we are proving we don't.
I'm disappointed more than I ever have been in our team. Can we turn it around? It's possible, but we have to get our head out of our ass and prove we are a big boy school instead of assuming it by birthright.
Sorry for the wall of text and what is probably a jumble of ludicrous thoughts, my anger just spilled out for bit. I'm not going to reread it so it probably makes little sense but I've had this bottled up since Saturday afternoon and just had my release. If it's any consolation, I feel better now.
If ND is ranked high enough there will obviously be a draw. Otherwise, anyone within the top 3 of either SEC/B1G would match up well with the top or runner up ACC spot. The ACC is not the strongest conference as we all know, so taking a diluted version of either conference is not terrible haha.
Protecting its own
Full disclosure, I don't want it either. I'm just trying to be practical about what this collection of players on offense can realistically be expected to do this season, and so far I've seen nothing that says we can be reliably successful running up the middle 25 times a game.
If we resist abandoning the power run game simply because we've always been a power running team, even when we don't have the horses to run it, then we're guilty of exactly what we criticize Beamer and Stinespring for doing.
We pass protect so, so much better than we run block. And so far as I can tell, our best athletes are at wideout, not tailback. If we have to rely on the Stinescreen and the quick slant instead of the tailback iso to get five yards then so be it. I'm in favor of doing whatever we have to do to be effective on offense, even if it's something we've never done before.
I'd rather be Oregon than Alabama if our roster is better suited to be Oregon.
Regarding the pistol, there was one play against Pitt where we shifted before the snap from Pistol to Shotgun. How did we do this? The tailback moved from behind LT to beside him. LT did not move at all. We keep him lined up the same distance behind the line in both formations, and that's just wrong. Having LT six yards behind scrimmage in the pistol is eliminating all of the formation's quick play potential.
Then again, are we really shocked that we're mishandling how we utilize this latest wrinkle added to the offense?
Bright spot of the weekend...I went to the Eagles game and it was amazing. Only thing that kept me from sulking until next Saturday.
...there was a scrimmage where he was pulled because of a sore arm. I wonder if that sore arm (was it actually referred to as 'dead arm'?) has led to some of him mechanical issue?
As always, superb job French. Generally your write-ups make me feel a bit better about the team as a whole. However, after reading this masterpiece, I find no comfort in the days to come. I'm hoping that we figure out things like over-pursuing, losing contain, and that ever-important aspect of football called "tackling". Evidently, Foster didn't get to the chapter dedicated to tackling in the official VT playbook yet, so for any members of the team out there that may be reading this, let me catch you up to speed:
1. Break down
2. Drive THROUGH the intended target
3. --And this one's kinda important-- WRAP THE FUCK UP!!
That's it! That's how it's done! It's amazing that a defensive unit that was touted by Coach Foster as potentially the greatest to ever play at Tech doesn't understand basic tackling form. Well, let me back up, maybe they understand how to tackle, but they sure as shit didn't display it on Saturday.
Here's my defensive shit-list for this game:
1. Exum - Liability in coverage, pathetic in tackling, and absolutely lackadaisical.
2. GW - Sir, what the fuck are you doing with your time here?
3. Taylor- You have lost your killer instinct, which was your best asset 1year ago.
I need to remember to include this in next year's Pitt preview.
Is the original posted anywhere, for captioning purposes?
For not capturing the after shot of wet pants and vomit.
So if Logan really is hurt, what do we know about Leal at this point? Not that I think we would actually pull him unless he goes down and can't get up.
Also, I'm sorry if I missed it if you said this, but what do you think about the season Dyrell is having so far? To the uneducated me watching the game with a beer in my hand, it seems like we need to try to get the ball to him more often.
Looking at the positives, I think the special teams are playing better than I expected at this point. AJ Hughes has really impressed me so far. Also, I have to believe Bud will get the defense back to where they need to be. I would not want to be in practice with him this week.
In light of this, the only adjustment I can see working is abandoning the power run game and basing the run on jet sweeps, counters, and draws and using WR screens and quick slants to augment the run game.
But as French noted it in his post, this is essentially what we already have. Almost all of our runs this season are slow to develop, and go left/right before moving up the field. O'cainspring have called very few running plays that attack the line of scrimmage.
Within the philosophy of the offense they're trying to run, two plays would help us attack between the tackles better, one we run often, but fail at, the other I haven't seen all season. Logan misreading the zone read not only puts the running back in a position to fail, but it leaves the middle of the defense untouched. He needs to read that play better, more often than not it seems like he hands it off when he should keep. Where is the designed QB blast/iso, or QB power? Eliminate the read and just have the big quarterback get physical and churn out yards between the tackles.
In a perfect world, the pistol should bridge the gap between the spread plays, and traditional runs (zones, powers, etc...). If executed and schemed properly, it should allow the tailback to hit any gap, extremely quickly. Read this for a more detailed analysis: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Deconstructi.... However, by my eyes, we are using the pistol as just a formation, not part of the greater offensive philosophy. It's another puzzel piece from a different box that Beamer Co. is trying to fit in.
Ultimately, I think sweeps, counters, and draws are all important as compliments to well executed rushing attack. However, I do not want our base offense to be one that constantly moves parallel to the line of scrimmage, it's counter-intuitive.
I would have to agree that people are over reacting to the loss. As tough as it was the staff always gets the team to rebound strongly after these type of disappointments. I think the problem with our fan base is we view our team as a national title contender every year and these slip ups prove that we are not ready for the national title game. I think our mindset as a fanbase either has to change from we have a shot at a national title to we have a successful team that can win 10+ games a year. Now, I am not one to settle but until the team and coaches prove otherwise I find it difficult to believe that we will be able to capture the elusive national title while keeping everything the same as we have it now. Until that day comes I will have to lower my expectations.
According to Beamer, he won't play and the coaches are going to reevaluate the running back situation this week.