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Just watched the video highlights of the scrimmage on www.Hokiesports.com/football and the Tony Gregory touchdown run really stands out grabbing my attention.
The play starts out in a one back formation, with a tight end right and a second tight end lined up at H back just behind him. The flanker is also to the same side. This formation was the Hokies bread and butter for running their stretch play and the zone play to the strong side last year.
On this play, they motioned the flanker and faked a jet sweep to him (Marcus Davis) while Gregory moves to the same spot where he would get the hand off on a stretch play. Logan fakes the jet sweep, then counter option pitches to Gregory. The two tight ends block down, and Painter pulls to kick out the outside linebacker, while Andrew Miller pulls and leads up through the hole and kicks out the corner. Martin and Malleck both had nice lead blocks. It is a thing of beauty.
(Also, note that the whip of the future RVD almost chased Gregory down from behind after blitzing from the opposite side of the field.)
Oh, and it is worth noting that the JC Coleman 50+ yard run was the #2 offensive line against the defensive starters. Kyle Fuller was put on his behind by a Coleman spin move, but the play was also well blocked, with Laurence Gibson pulling and kicking out, with Via, Martin, and Dunn (on Tyler) delivering great down blocks.
Everything from the I and one back sets from the 2's and 3's was quick hitting, even from the deep I. The days of the slow developing spring draws and wide runs may be a thing of the past.
Beer Control,
That is a great question, and it is a little tough to answer. Watching with a sideline view always muddles things when I watch in person, so please take this with a grain of salt.
The 1st team offense ran about 70% of their plays from the pistol or the shotgun, with additional plays coming from an I with twins. The first team did not run from the I. It appeared that, while they ran plays from the pistol, the plays looked very similar to their offense from the ace set when Mike Imoh and Cedric Humes were the tailbacks. The motion not only served as an option, but forced the potential backside pursuit to respect the potential for a rocket or a jet sweep and the quarterback bootleg going the other way. Up front, it looked like hat on hat on most plays, with the tight end (Malleck) who was flexed back to an H back pulling and kicking out. They also used Joey Phillips on those cross blocks, flexed from a pistol offset I formation.
The back behind Logan (mostly Holmes) got very few touches, so it was difficult to tell how much the staff wants to establish the dive (which I think is critical to make everything else work.) However, on a wider Holmes run, Painter, Benedict, and Andrew Miller all pulled like an old Green Bay power sweep and made three outstanding blocks, with Miller really looking impressive. Unfortunately it was called back on a holding penalty.
Joe noted how absolutely freakish Vinston Painter is, but another real standout is Brent Benedict. He dominated the inside and was excellent on pass protection, and it was very clear that reports of him losing 30 pounds were not exagerated. He was massive and top heavy in the spring, but he looks like a completely different person now. I am really excited about the right side of the offensive line, and I saw no reason to be down on Becton, Wang, and Miller.
Gabby Douglas. Rio 2016 may just feature Bud on the floor exercise.
If it is cool enough for Bud it is cool enough for me.
Who is this and what have they done with the real Coach Foster.
And he smiled!
priceless PR for our school...the commentator actually said "speed, they got it from Virginia Tech in Wilson and Hosley"...to do this kind of stuff on a high-profile team/market like NY is just awesome and I believe has a trickle down effect in recruiting.
And I thought I was the only one who went to Texas Roadhouse. Love that place! Great stuff, guys!
Just wanted to share my favorite part of the scrimmage: Corey Fuller makes a nice catch, then the next play, Kyle Fuller makes a mean tackle. Then, somebody told me this crazy rumor that there is a Kendall Fuller coming to VT next year! Cray.
hate them giants but I love everything about this
Also, RMFW started and went 5 for 25 and a Touchdown in his preseason debut!
Tyrod hurt a cav haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=udko7z3Lw7A
Kam Chancellor huge hit vs fsu 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2BOc9Gwko4&feature=related
Also, perhaps some 'Hokies in the NFL' highlights to kill a couple of minutes, if needed. Just a thought.
seems VT OL have to block man power and a lot of zone. How does adding the Pistol change the blocking scheme? for the good, better or indifferent?
Here are a few that came to mind, may have already been mentioned:
- JGW tipped Pick 6 against FSU in ACCCG 2010
- The goaline stand against UNC Fall 2010 where Elzy fumbled (@4:20 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ethlehX5f_A)
- This play because Greg Boone is fucking awesome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtS8S1MaIS8
- Boykins TD catch against NC State in '10 I believe where he broke a bunch of tackles
- Adibi's Pick 6 against GT
/dying
Kyle Fuller's almost INT covering Corey was on an inside curl at the hash mark. The first team stayed away from throwing over the middle for the most part. There were some sharp curl routes, screens, and a bunch of seam routes from the slot receivers. The Fuller TD was on a beautiful post corner.
Malleck's catch was on a bootleg. He caught it in the middle, but he was moving to the side line. The only intermediate route over the middle was a 10-13 yard route by Randall Dunn from Leal.
It is absolute speculation and I don't want anyone to think otherwise! Still, usually decisions are made about the level of participation are made well before a practice begins. Everything about that scenario played out in a strange way.
Usual standard practice for an injury scenario is for the player and his position coach to go out prior to a practice and go through a series of footwork drills to see if he can participate pain free. For a sprained ankle, it would have been a figure 8 drill. Then the coach and trainer would make the decision on if he would stand on the sidelines with the guys who are immobilized (ala Tariq Edwards and Adam Tarasche) or if he would get a blue, no contact jersey and participate in drills.
I don't think he was being punished, per se, but clearly something happened that was out of order. I think either he did something with the trainer after individual work started to test the injury that we didn't see and then he reported out to the coach (more likely), or he did the test prior to the stadium opening up, and he was declared non-contact (which would explain shorts and a t-shirt) but the coach got cheesed when he jumped in the stretching line. I can actually hear one of my coaches yelling "if you are healthy enough to stretch, you should be participating in non-contact drills." Again, pure speculation, but I can assure you, nothing about that situation was "by the book" on an injured player.
that is just scary...an O-line his size in single digit bodyfat...
if football doesn't work out he has a career in pro wrestling.
did Corey Fuller go over the middle at all?
I'm not hinting he's injured, he is injured. Virginia Tech listed him as questionable with an ankle on the injury report for the scrimmage. His injury was noted by Tech for the Thursday practice as well.
As for his weight, it's not a debate, he's a bigger player this year than last year. He's listed at 269, previously he was 260. I can't find the exact numbers, but if my memory serves me he tweeted out some insane 40-time again this year and he was one of our best performers in strength testing, again. By my eyes, he didn't look out of shape, and I don't recall any of the coaches mentioning weight as an issue (Beamer called out Caleb for reporting heavy).
This afternoon he came out without pads on and went through the stretching lines. Then the team spread out to continue their stretching. I didn't see it, but according to French one of the coaches went up to him, and he left the team stretching. I did see him walk by and say something to Cav on the way towards the tunnel, but later on he was out on the sideline working. I've been to a few open pratices, the guys in blue who do not participate in pratice usually do conditioning on the sidelines, I remember in 2010 a bunch of them were running the bleachers while the team scrimmaged.
To be frank, linking the injury, his weight, and what happened today is speculation at best. Honestly, I don't find it plausible because: the coaches knew his weight at the start of camp, he was listed on the injury report with an ankle, from 50 rows up on the sideline we have nothing but a guess at his deamenor, if he was able to practice, not practicing as a "punishment" would be the most counter-intuitive thing possible. This isn't peewee ball.
What's concerning to me, is that two weeks before kickoff one of our best defensive players has a possible season-long nagging injury to deal with.
Boy, it was tough to keep everything in frame when they went at that pace. Great insights here. Asante does let the ball get to his body a bit. At the same time, he was so sharp in his route running that he stayed open. The little in route that he caught going towards the north endzone was pretty. Logan actually threw it behind him just a bit. If he didn't have to pause slightly to pull in the pass, he would have come close to scoring.
We all commented that Holmes doesn't look impressive, and then you would look at the sticks and he got 4-7 yards. I was suprised that he only got three carries, but each run was effective and the first man never brought him down.
Edumunds didn't get to the endzone, but if this was the old Hokies, I think he would be the workhorse. He had small holes, and always seemed to make the right cut. I kept thinking "Lee Suggs, Lee Suggs, Lee Suggs" but more in between the tackles. At the same time, he didn't get one snap with the offense in any of the "new formations." I have to assume that he has struggled with some of the nuances of the spread/pistol.
I am glad to see that RVD's numbers and the observations of other Key Play posters and beat writers bears out what I thought of his performance. With the lack of depth in the secondary, the Hokies need the whip to be a solid cover guy. RVD looked terrific in coverage, and at the same time, it looked effortless. Yet, at the same time, he was around the ball more than the #2 backers and mikes in run support, and when he hits, you can feel it in the stadium. He needs to see the field, and soon.
I wish I could say more about Bonner and Jarrett, but I really lost them in the shuffle. I wish I could be there Wednesday to focus more on them.
Left this out... Fuller blocked a kick, not a punt (read notes wrong.)
Also, Alston Smith made a nice tackle for a loss during 3rd on 3rds. Given how little productivity there was from the tackle spots, that was nice to see. Matt Arkema struggled against Kris Harley some as well, but I didn't catch Harley making a dynamic play.
I'm going to try not to repeat French's solid assessment, but here are some things that struck me during the scrimmage:
- Asante touched the ball on the first three plays of the scrimmage; hitch-and-go, screen, and sweep in successive order I believe? He appeared very quick and had a knack for finding space. As people have said already, it was very clear that they are looking to get him involved in some way or another. The thing that struck my brother-in-law and I was how shaky he looked receiving the ball. On at least two occasions he let the ball get in on him, trying to catch it against his body rather than using his hands to bring it in (one of which was during the passing drill prior to the scrimmage, where it banged off his chest on a simple stopping route). I believe the word we used for Asante was an "adventure."
- Coles is still clearly bothered by the knee. The last few days we've been hearing how he is progressing and doing much better, with a lot of talk being about how he has been in a sleeve rather than a brace. He was out there catching balls in the practice session, but his running looked labored and he was very tenuous in his cuts. It made me a little worried about how far away he is, but who really knows...
- JC Coleman looks much better with the extra weight. He was much more patient and hit the holes with good burst.
- Stanford was as advertised...not much seemed to go his way, but I watched him on a number of plays and he looked smooth in all of his actions.
- Trey Edmunds is a big, powerful guy. What really caught my attention was how long his strides are when he is running with the ball. He gets upfield quickly, but I would like to see him run with his legs underneath him more in traffic. Also, can someone please get him to tuck the ball, he carries the thing like a loaf of bread.
- Leal didn't inspire a ton of confidence in me today. He had a number of moments where the pocket would collapse on him and he would continually throw the ball off of his back foot. He got away with it on some of the deep passes where he needed to put a little air under the ball (e.g. the Fuller TD I believe), but he missed his spots a lot, especially over the middle, a number of which could have been picked.
- RVD looked like he might kill someone on the field. He was solid in pass coverage and I honestly thought he would have taken off Dyrell's head as he was pushed out of bounds (on what would have been a late hit), but luckily Dyrell spun away at the last minute. The dude's motor is incredible.
- Manning got chewed out a couple of different times by both Torrian and Bud for missed assignments. I didn't spend a ton of time watching the secondary as I wish I had, but he was the one guy the coaching staff was get into (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
- One last comment; I liked the (limited) things I saw from Holmes. Very patient, let things manifest themselves and then made the read. He doesn't look spectacular, but he looks like a good anchor, which is something we're going to need this year out of our talented but inexperienced backfield.
For those who are interested, the plays at 19 seconds and 26 seconds were both great examples of how the Hokie offense lined up and what kind of movement they exhibited.
The video is at http://www.hokiesports.com/football/ . You must scroll down and click on the box on the left labeled "latest video."