Recent Comments
I added you on untappd. I-10 IPA is the best IPA in Jacksonville, that being said, there aren't many good beers in Jacksonville. If you are loving the canning you should check into Avery and 21 Amendment beers. They do a good job putting their beers in aluminum. Also Anderson Valley puts their Hop Ottin in a can and that is not bad. I agree with BCO above though that Head Topper is probably the best, and I can't believe he didn't mention Modus Hoperandi by Ska brewing.
Here is a site with a list of a bunch of cans if you are interested
Craft Cans
I had a similar discussion with a twitter follower last night. I wasn't just referencing the touchdown (Tyler also was beaten to the flat on the first 1st half completion when he ran into JGW and was beaten on another crossing route late in the game.)
Now, on the touchdown, Tyler was playing a short zone. His responsibility is similar to a robber coverage, in that he is supposed to read the QB's eyes and play just underneath the shallowest crossing route. Derrick Bonner played soft man coverage on the receiver that scored the touchdown. I can't verify it because our copy of the film that we have pulled these clips from doesn't show it, but it appears that Bonner was about to run into a pick, and took a deeper angle, which freed up the receiver. Still, of the three available options for coverage, Tyler is the worst of the 3 in coverage going back to his first start against going back to the Georgia Tech game. The revelation that Taylor was hurt clears it up a little, but up you would like to see your whip, who is supposed to be a secondary linebacker hybird, used more in coverage than your big middle linebacker. What is indisputable is that, based on two scrimmages, this game, and past opportunities to watch these three linebackers, they are all excellent blitzers and good against the run, and I think even they would tell you that coverage is the worst part of their game.
As for my other assertions, I have made it clear from the first day of writing this column for The Key Play that these are my observations. I am not a professional journalist and have no aspirations of being a "noted football blogger." I have no insider information, and have never claimed to. I watch the game, then review the film, and I apply my knowledge about football to write observations and analysis for the benefit of the members of the community who perhaps are not as familiar with the jingoism of the game and have only been inundated with the dull cliches of the latest Four Letter Network analyst. When I don't have a firm grip on a defesive concept that I observe, I reach out to former team mates who are now coaching and get their input.. After writing, I enjoy the back and forth with other members of this community. That is why I take the 3-4 hours a week to review the film and offer the comments. I will be the first to tell you when I am wrong (note that Foster's defense did not use the same philosophy defensively as last year to stop the option, which I wrote about in my preview column for the game.)
I grew up a WVU born and raised "Eer. I reveled in cheering Sam Huff in FBall and Jerry West in BBall. Rod Thorn and Hot Rod Hundley were there as well. Bobby Bowden was king there before FSU. I remember the days of the old Southern Conference with the "Eers, VPI, Citadel, Davidson, Furman, VMI, GW, etc. After retiring from Uncle Sam, moving to Virginia and while working for the Navy in Norfolk and Yorktown as a civil servant, I met my bride-to-be in 2000 and discovered she was a coverted Hokie fan after moving to Newport News from Michigan. Her daughter and future son-in-law were attending VT and I had just come off a devastation of seeing Mike Vick beat my favorite 'Eers with that last minute hell-of-a-run setting up Shayne Graham's field goal to stay unbeaten in that unparalleled national championship year. I truly hated Mike Vick then. I did root for them in the championship game though as I always (well, most of the time) root for the underdog. In Virginia I rooted for UVA (I know, I know!) unless they were playing WVU. It soon came to pass as we came up to BBurg for almost all the home games that I started to slowly get sucked in to the Lane magic, mostly in the beginning because of Sandman. The atmosphere in Lane was intoxicating. In 2008, my wife lost her position at the bank in the News and applied for a job opening at VT in University Relations and was hired subsequently as the exec for Larry Hincker. So now we make most of the home games from 10 minutes away and I am a 100% die-hard citizen of the Hokie Nation. To have seen up close and personal Mike Vick, D Tapp, D Hall, Eddie Royal, Ryan Williams, Darren Evans, D Wilson, Cody Grimm, Adibi, V Hall, etc has been truly wonderful. My ringtone is Sandman even. As a footnote and confirmation of it's a small world - My dau-in-law went to elem school with Mike Vick and tutored some of the above players while attending VT. My daughter and Vince Hall went to school together. I have a picture of him and her receiving their City of Portsmouth athlete of the year awards his senior year. These days when visiting WV, I get called traitor and worse by friends and family up there but I still wear my Hokie gear and dec out the SUV with Hokie stuff and so far, I have escaped each time with my life and no burning couches yet have been flung at me.
A Google search uncovered peaymania.com, but my internet security at work blocked it as "adult and pornography".
Oops!
Anyway, went to the phone to check it out and its just your ho-hum message board. Dumb internet security at work!
injured ankle .. injured ankle .. injured ankle. Wonder how often that happens to a team's defense after they've played georgia tech? Dirty-ass chop blockers
"Hokie Huddle" on itunes or here:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/HokieHuddle
Maybe you two could join up and form a Tech radio station.
Your commentary sounds great and is well thought out but you should take a lesson from Andy Bitter's recent blog where Coach Cav finally reveals that JGW was not the defender being beat on the Boise State winning TD even though every picture and on TV it looked that way. The players won't say and in fact they are instructed by staff not to even pay attention to what the press and you bloggers write. Those that know who was truly beat on a play based on the defense called not what you think you saw on TV won't say you will never know it unless a coach FINALLY tells you what actually happened. Bud Foster alluded to it in post game interviews and pointed out that they executed the package called incorrectly but did not say who executed improperly just said "the kids" You can analyze film from a TV presentation all you want you don't have the full picture on plays like that. But I will tell you this Jack Tyler was not beat on that scoring play at the end of the game, and you will never know who was....... so if that's true and it is your speculation on who plays and what Foster's options are are also off base and incomplete in their analysis.
I can remember just tucking a half gallon of Wild Turkey in my coat and breezing straight through. They weren't really looking for it. The hard part was getting something to mix it with. You had to wait by the concession stands and collar a vendor with a full rack of freshly loaded Hokie cups (or for one year that would be Hoakie cups. Dooley's secretary didn't know how to spell Hokie). Had to buy the whole rack to get a coke.
But for the potheads (which was most of the student section) it was a different story. The State Police would post spotters with binoculars above the press box and call in sections over the radio. You had to smoke quick if you didn't want to get caught. Ah, the good old days...
I became an official Hokie on September 21, 1975. I applied to Tech and UVA and got accepted to both on early admission. Only applied to UVA so I could turn them down. That really pissed a lot of people in my Cavalier heavy home town. It was a time when we embraced the term "Chokies". If you haven't lived with Jimmie Sharpe running your team, you wouldn't understand.
Chose VT because it was as far away from my parents as I could get and still be at a State school. Don't regret it for a minute. Finished school almost on time, got a trip to Antarctica and the South Pole with Dr. Parker and became a Radford commuter. Sorry, at the time the better looking girls were there. Worked in the Biology Dept for three years while my wife finished her degree. One of the saddest days of my life was driving out of Drapers Ghetto with all of our worldly possessions. Wish there was a nuke plant close to B'burg. I would be be therE now.
Live in GA surrounded by those insufferable UGA, GT and Clempson fans (most of which aren't alumni). Last time I was at a VT game was for my 10th renunion. Mercifully I got kicked out by the middle of the 2nd qtr. for having alcohol in Lane. Now that was a change from my days in the student section. Thankfully we get a lot of televised games so I don't miss much.
My advice to current students " DON'T LET THEM MAKE YOU LEAVE BLACKSBURG. HANG ON AS LONG AS YOU CAN. IT'S AN UGLY WORLD OUT HERE."
on your way to or from the stadium make sure to stop in at Jerome Bettis' restaurant to use the restroom. While you are at the urinal you can look out onto everyone dining via a two way mirror, while you pee.
In the past (see Cody Grimm) the Hokies didn't remove the whip against 4 and 5 WR sets. With DB depth such a big question mark, and knowing that Taylor, Tyler, and JGW are not great cover guys, I am curious as to how Foster will play spread teams.
Will he play young DB's with the nickel (which I assume will have Fuller move to the slot and Manning play the field corner) with the whip coming out? Will he keep JGW in and pull Tyler or Taylor? or will he let the whip play on the slot and keep Fuller at corner (a possibility given how unhappy the staff was with Manning over and over again in the scrimmages.)
If the whip stays in the game to cover the slot, I am not sure how Foster doesn't play RVD. In all the scrimmages, RVD covered the slot, and in all those snaps, he was only beaten one time going against the 1st team offense. Meanwhile, JGW usually blitzed and when he did cover, he was dropping into zones and not covering man.
I'm not sure if I misunderstood the statement, but Martin is listed as a senior this season... French and I watched the first public scrimmage together, and we both noticed Ryan Malleck was used as a TE/H-back in a similar manner as Clemson used Dwayne Allen, so I do think it's fair to say they want a versatile guy (at least for now).
I think that's why I like your analysis so much better than others'. You base your analysis from the ground up on what the O line is doing, while everyone else (myself included) focuses on what the skill positions are doing.
Really A+ work, French.
Just wanted to say Kevin and Brian are pretty timely with their stuff in case anyone else was wondering.
Let the backups get a lot of reps, and everybody can pad their stats. No more injuries, rest all QUESTIONABLEs:
DT Antoine Hopkins (ankle)
P Ethan Keyserling (hip)
DT Luther Maddy (ankle)
LB Bruce Taylor (ankle)
If we can't beat AP with our 3rd string, then we should pack up the entire football program.
Oh no, I'm not saying these are negatives. I think the show is great, I just thought of Saban's comments when they were talking about WKU.
Also, the Coles story has been covered on the blog in another thread so it's all good. No offense was meant by my comments.
I grew up in Virginia for the first 13 or 14 years of my life but had to move because my dad was fired and found a new job in Jacksonville. That said, I've been a Hokie for all my life, except for a brief period where I would "be a fan" of only the top CFB programs (which at the time were FSU and Miami. I know, yeah, gross. But I was very young and very stupid). Now I'm studying Psychology and Criminal Justice at UCF but I still spend my Thursdays, Saturdays, and sometimes Mondays watching the Hokies. And if it isn't on TV down here, I'm all over the internet radio broadcast. The rest of my time, I'm either hanging with friends, playing video games, studying (ha, yeah), or of course scouring The Key Play.com's wealth of information about Virginia Tech football and occasionally posting my own two cents.
But since we had four new posts up yesterday, I wanted to hold it back for today. Blame me.
But the DJ Coles story as well.
While the personnel on the field changed very little, the fundamentals for each formation's version of the running game are very different. It caused some confusion.
Out of the pistol, the Hokies ran almost exclusive zone blocking. For zone blocking, you get a gap assignment and the first person who makes contact, you center your helmet and maintain contact driving to the play side. While you don
Out of the gun (which was the primary formation) we saw saw lots of veer blocking, which requires a series of combination blocks play side with scoop blocking backside. It is essentially man blocking, and when Logan is the primary ball carrier, they include pulling the guard and kicking out the end while optioing a linebacker (almost like a belly option from a wing-t). The I formation and ace formation is almost exclusively man blocking, which requires sight adjustments and a variety of line calls setting up getting appropriate head position and creating specific lanes.
It is a world of difference for the guys up front, and it shows against top defensive guys.
Last week was awful, this week just looks like a nightmare...
1. Coin flip - KSU
2. Coin flip - UCF
3. Gators
4. Bayou Bengals
5. Nebraska
6. uga
both aTm and mizzou are going to lose their conference openers, setting them both up for a long, long, long year of losing in the SEC
Well done! I thoroughly enjoyed this. I'll be coming back for more.
did anyone figure out if there are ANY Austin Peay Football blogs out there?
Dr. Parker retired when I was in grad school (99-04)...he was an interesting character.