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a) Was not aware of this, thanks.
b) Friend's dad owns the place, I like the new location more. Great beer prices too!
c) There's a lot going on
d) I see Bruce Smith there a lot. You should ask him to tackle your friend too, see if he's still got it!
e) Benny's or DP Doughs is my favorite. Cookout is too far from DT for students, Chipotle closes at 10 :-(.
Oh, and lets not forget the secret weapon. When he isn't rushing for 2000 yards next year, Martin Scales will be the Hokies 3rd down pass rusher and get 10 sacks. #Scales4Heisman
Is it September Yet?....wow! great work Billdozer!
If he is healthy, call it "Logan, DEEP TO DJ COLES. TOUCHDOWN TECH."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MID76JKie08
nasty move
I think that with their recruiting getting better, Foster may change. The wide tackle six and the gap defense were used by Foster specifically because they didn't have the athletes to play SEC style, line up our best athletes against yours, and beat you football. In the seasons that he had great talent, they didn't blitz and stunt as much (the 06 and 07 Hokie defensive highlight films feature much more base defense against the run.)
If they can get Brown and Hand, I think Foster will figure out a way to take their skills and make it work, but I can GUARENTEE you, every recruiter that visits Brown and Hand will tell them that there has not been a Hokie defensive lineman since Foster was hired that has been a productive multi-year NFL starter. Even the best (Brown- moved to LB, Worilds- moved to LB, Tapp- non-descript backup, Engleberger-bust, Moore- bust, Price- nada) didn't make an impact.
Which I believe French and others would blame on a 'lack of offensive identity'. An easier task might be to just give the upcoming season offense a nickname, like 'The Logan Show' or 'Thomas and Friends'. Opposing defenses might volunteer: 'Get the F*ck Out of the Way, Their Quarterback is Running it Again!'. Which I like.
As for our offense over a period of time (like Lunch Pail D and Beamerball), hard to argue against just 'The Ball Control Offense', as unexciting and unoriginal as it might be.
French made the comment that he felt like DJ should have started over Boykin at times...don't get me wrong I loved number 81, but I feel like DJ 'Clutch' is exactly the kind of physical receiver our offense needs. Marcus Davis getting named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list is awesome as well.
If NFL type DT's wouldn't fit BF's scheme then what's the use of trying to recruit guys like an Andrew Brown? Seems to me it would be a waste of time unless they are going to use him at DE. Also BF has talked about wanting to change the "DNA" of our DL referencing Ala. and LSU's D-lines. Based on what you guys are saying those type of players wouldn't fit into BF's scheme unless he's going to go to a more traditional 4-3. Your thoughts please.
TRUCK AND CHUCK.
I know it's all highlights, but after watching this, is it just me or does anyone else feel much more comfortable having DJ Coles, Dyrell, and MD7 at WR this season?
Oh and this video is the tits, BilldozerVT! Keep up the amazing work, sir!
How will VT defend against teams like Stanford and other NFL caliber offenses? Most college teams are not that good, but if the Hokies want to win a NC we will have to face that caliber of offense. Will having a healthy and complete team be enough?
McCray played more against UVA and Michigan than I thought he did, and he had some good pass rush (but he was usually second in the race behind another defender.)
I heard very little about McCray in the spring. Hopefully he has a breakthrough year. His upside is higher than Collins, but Collins is a much more instinctual player at this point.
I'd like to see those guys like McCray playing more than that...especially down the stretch with Clemson, fsu, and Miami...fresh legs all round are a gOod thing..
List me a one of those fools. My girlfriend is moving up to Falls Church in August and her 12 year old son has his first day of school in a brand new place (that may as well be the dark side of the moon compared to Wytheville) the very next day. I wouldn't be wearing my daddy pants if I bailed on him to go to the game...
but, I will be at the Cincy, Pitt, and maybe Austin Peay games.
Small, and generally stout defensive tackles certainly seem to be the Bud Foster model. The Hopkins brothers, Maddy, and looking back at Barry Booker, Jonathan Lewis, and others all sort of fit that mold. Guys like Acree don't fit, and I do not think for a second that the "four defensive end" alignment that we heard about in the spring will be used at any time other than on passing down and distance plays.Guys like Zach McCray and JR Collins, while big enough to play DT in a pinch, are too long to really be effective on those interior stunts (that is one of the reasons that Nick Acree was never a favorite of Charley Wiles.)
Ultimately, we will see Maddy and Derek Hopkins starting, with Marshall coming in for Maddy on most passing downs. I think they use the same DE rotation as last year, with Wilson and McCray playing every 4th series and Marshall getting some snaps at tackle and end. I am not sure where Antoine fits, but I find it hard to believe he will beat out Maddy with Maddy's excellent spring.
but as mentioned, the type of dt's vt uses are small, quick guys so some guys that might be more nfl types wouldn't fit what bud is asking his guys to do.
I find it interesting how you compare our defense to being as unique as GT's offense. So that got me thinking: how does Bud and Co defend GT differently than a more pro style set? Why are we sometimes successful (last year 2nd half) and sometimes not so successful (09 second half)? I understand explaining that might as well be another post but it would be facinating stuff.
BTW, I dont think I've ever seen a gif used as a legit educational tool and not just an lol.
I have had some great question both here and on twitter about some of the nuances of the defense. I want to focus on one, what has made teams successful against the Virginia Tech run defense?
Stanford presents the most unique formula. First of all, they had a GREAT offensive line that was able to block at angles which cut off the stunts from Virginia Tech linebackers. Stanford also used formation to create matchup problems. Stanford understands that the whip most often will line up to the weak side of the defense. So, they would use multiple tight ends to the strong side, then motion one of those tight ends back to the whip side. The Stanford tight ends (who were all NFL caliber blocking tight ends) were then matched up with the weakest member of the Hokie front seven, in this case, Jeron Gouveia-Winslow.
Winslow and the defensive end (JR. Collins) to an X stunt, with Collins going outside and JWG taking the inside (or #5) gap. JWG goes to fill the gap, but the tight end takes him off his feet. Suddenly the gap is open, and the back has a nice hole.
That is really the key to the front. Everyone, especially play side, must at least stalemate their blocker in their gap. Otherwise (because the linebackers don't immediately scrape and pursue to the ball) there will be large holes and tremendous pressure on safeties to make the tackle.
French-- in your opinion what position in the front 7 is the most important for a successful tech D. Also fwiw if tyler plays every play like those 2 video plays above its going to be hard to keep him off the field especially against gt
this is the best stuff and why i love TKP .. i know that teams use our schemes against us in recruiting but i love how the giants and their smaller, more athletic dline core, is being looked at by coach bud. in the long run, if the giants dline continues to dominant with "defensive ends", i think it can be used to pitch to good dlineman. our dline is deep this season and will be dominant. couple that with (hopefully) some VERY strong dline recruits panning out, and landing dhand and/or brown next year, and it seems as if our defense is only going to get better and better
Free Shoes University. Can't spell Citrus Bowl without UT.- Old Ballcoach.
Touching on each question:
1) I have seen a ton of schemes and I can't remember one that repeatedly asks the defensive tackles to stunt across multiple gaps and still maintain gap fits. Most teams change alignments and will stunt occasionally, but nobody trys so much to funnel types of running plays to linebackers.
2) In a one gap 4-3, the DL wants to get up field and make plays. The dominant defenses in Tampa Bay of the late 90's early 2000's allowed Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice to get up field as the method for controlling their gaps. However, in the Ravens 2 gap 4-3 that they ran in their Super Bowl season, Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams only job was to keep the interior line off Ray Lewis.
3) I think it does hurt recruiting elite out of state prospects. Offensive schemes do the same. Look at Florida under Urban Meyer. His recruiting dropped off when it became apparent that players could be great in that system, but the fundamentals they acquire do not translate to the NFL. See Tim Tebow (or Pat White at WVU.) Eventually, the kids who see the NFL in their future realize that going to such a school hurts their chances. Urban Meyer fell behind LSU and Alabama in recruiting, and magically his health is at risk and he gets out. Now, he will get a jump start at Ohio State, where he will always have a talent advantage over the best Big Ten schools.
a) I knew nothing until just now.
b) This has been in the works for a couple years.
c) Soooo much construction all the time. Turner Place (the new dining hall) is done on the outside, looks great, and has great location right next to all my classes.
d) I ALWAYS see Bruce at TOTS. I'd love for him to tweak the Terry Tate Office Linebacker role to spearing people who spill their drinks.
e) Benny's > Jimmy Johns. I'm interested in seeing how Waffle House does. Benny's, Cookout, and Chipotle were PACKED when they first opened up.
Questions:
1. What do you mean by "radical stunting"? What's so radical about it? What's considered non-radical?
2. Based on what you said, don't the DL's all "tie" up the lines in both Bud scheme and the traditional pro-scheme?
3. Does this really hurt us? If you compare how offensive schemes don't really hurt a recruits ability to make it to the NFL, why should a defensive scheme hurt us too?
TheArchitect hit the nail on the head...hard to encapsulate the "identity" of this thing with such a limited body of (successful) work. Before last year, something like "O'Cain, no gain" or "Stiney sh*t the bed" would have been easy to hang on the O.
I think "Truck and Chuck" (above) is a really good one. However, with a lot of new personnel and the continued evolution of the Stiney/O'Cain gameplan, I think we need a larger sample size to be able to find the right moniker that will stick beyond this year.