Recent Comments

at 34:43 when UVA's kicker blows the kick watch him flick off the Tech sideline haha

last year was the first year in a long, long time that it back fired and that was really only punting.

journell was on scholie.

they always developed walk ons. this is the same strategy, but it has backfired.

Why is it so hard for us to get a good (if not really good) kicker and punter?? I don't get it. We're a top 25 team every year. I understand we aren't making a run at a national championship or anything, but seriously how many kickers can there be out there? I'm planning on grooming my future son to be a kicker since there is apparently not much competition...let's hope even he will want to be a Hokie kicker.

I noticed that too, a ton of carries for the receivers. Dyrell has the speed to make it work, but I feel like we've been running end arounds to no avail for years on end.

What's a guy gotta do to get some of those 2008 punt or kick return toss plays that went for TDs?

Although we don't wear them on the flight decks though, flightsuits or at least a "jersey" (turtleneck). Actually once underway nobody wears them, they switch over to coveralls.

I think the way VT supports the military is awesome and glad HD covered it today @ http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/38109/vt-teams-up-again-with-wound...

..for a lineback to assess whether Martin Scales is going to smash him the face or if Dyrell Roberts is going to be #StraightBurning to the sideline on a counter sweep.

Michael Cole was in blue again. I'm bummed about that. I think he has a lot of potential and I was hoping for him to push for playing time in the secondary. That's hard to do when less than 100%.

J.C. had a long of 6, but big plays at the expense of negative yards isn't what this offense needs.

#Scales4Heisman

Hopefully Davis' hamstring injury isn't too serious. They're nagging and persistant, something to keep an eye on during the season and the rest of spring.

@Corderoknows nah ima just chill and rehab and see how it feels later on this week!— Marcus Davis (@MDavis_7) April 12, 2012

I just really miss Jake.

1. DJ Parker (Don't think he played officially though the Niners picked him up as a FA)
2. Vince Hall
3. Brent Bowden
4. Nic Schmitt
5. Dwight Vick
6. Greg Boone
7. Richard Graham (this OL needs backups and he would be a nice utility guy)

I will never forget the days of Hall and Adibi demolishing quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends... you name it. You entered their part of the field you better be ready for punishment.

Courtesy of @haleyVT, I watched a youtube video of about 15 plays, filmed from ground level. It was difficult to get a good grasp of everything, but in the limited video, I saw a couple of things that I have not seen the writers include in their tweets or articles.

1) Yes friends, there is video footage of Logan Thomas running the counter zone read option play, which I screamed for the Hokies to run all year, and sure enough, it was well blocked and Logan got a long run before the whistle blew it dead. Last year, the Hokies ran four plays from the gun running package. The primary action had the tailback crossing across Logan's face and sweeping opposite of where he lined up, where he served as the lead blocker if Logan read keep. Logan then followed and turned up at the inside shoulder, with the DE or OLB playside being used as the option man. The Hokies ran two counters to that action. One was a straight speed option to the tailback side, and the other was an interior counter handoff out of the two backs. If you were a linebacker on D, last year you knew the Hokies were either passing, or a run would go opposite where the tailback lined up.

The counter read is a more typical play in a spread, run best by Vince Young at Texas. The initial action is the same, but the tailback reaches the mesh point and runs much more inside. The OL leaves the weakside DE unblocked, and Logan reads the DE. If the DE crashes with the dive, Logan keeps and has a weakside safety all alone to run over. If the DE stays outside, the TB veer dives inside the DE. With Logan such a dynamic threat on the lead play, this counter at the very least will lessen the pursuit of the D, and at best could result in some easy big runs. On the play in the video, the DE (I think Collins) takes the dive, which is how the Hokies played against this play all year. The backside LB, in this case backer Chase Williams, also pursued the dive/sweep action and vacated to early. Logan had an easy read, and flew up the weakside 7 gap for a 15 yard run. The action, and the defensive bust were very similar to the only TD the Hokies gave up to Arkansas State last season (with JWG busting the assignment.)

2) Hokie DE's had numerous plays were they were in 2 point stances. Gayle, McCray, and Wilson were all spotted on plays standing up. I am not sure if this is a new wrinkle or only something they will do on passing downs, but I didn't think Gayle got much pressure last year from a 2 point stance.

3) The Hokie starting offensive line didn't look as bad as advertised in my limited sample size. Benedict may struggle in space, but he flattened Kris Harley with one good pop in the shoulder on a running play. On a QB pressure by Maddy, Maddy lined up on Benedict, but did a hard loop stunt inside where he then beat Andrew Miller, while Benedict effectively picked up a Chase Williams blitz. Unless there was a communication error, it looked like that was a Miller pooch-screw. Painter, Becton, and Wang looked servicable, but there isn't much to go on. Meanwhile, as advertised the starting D really made the Hokies backups look poor, especially Caleb Farris. There is some footage of several plays he would like to forget. Gibson also had some ole moments, while Goins looked outmatched in the strength department.

4) Other than Marcus Davis, David Mellstrom is the only guy who stood out catching the ball, but as a walk on he likely will be scout team bound. The Ronnie Van Dyke pick was a bad drop by Roberts, even on a high pass.

5) Speaking of Van Dyke, everything we know about the Hokies says Tweedy or JWG will start, but from what I saw, this kid needs to be on the field. Excellent coverage from the whip spot, and a real knack for steping into the gap to take away the cutback. At his size, if both Taylor and Edwards are not healthy, I wouldn't be shocked if Van Dyke gets moved to backer in a desperation move. He really looks like a good player. Tyler, Gayle, and Maddy also stood out. Hopkins got kind of lost in the much, so it was tough to tell, and it seemed like Collins was backside on every play the 1st team D is on in the video.

6) I saw spread. I didn't see pistol. Again, limited sample size.