Recent Comments
Was that play supposed to go left or right? Right looks better blocked with someone pancaked. Left, there are 6 unblocked dookies converging on the ball.
DW's fumble when no one touched him? He had a first down and more until the ball flew out for no reason, then rolled out of bounds. Instead of 148 yds he should have had at least 170. All I can say is there wre too many mistakes. Dumb penalties, poor execution, missed tackles, bad punts. They all added up to fewer points for our offense.
I think the time off helps us more than GT. Their offense requires timing, which I think they will lose during the time off. We will get some well needed rest and more practice against their option O. Clemson D is not that good. Currently #93 rusing defense and #57 scoring D. They give up a lot more points and rushing yards then VT, #7 rushing D and #8 scoring D. We are pretty good at time of possession, 6th in the nation, almost 2 minutes more than GT.
My biggest concerns are penalties (we commit more) and special teams. Field position is important and the punting game could hurt us, except for one thing. If we give GT a short field then they can't eat as much clock before they either attempt a field goal or score a TD. If we use more clock and also score we should win. It is basically a toss-up so the unexpected turnover, big play, or mistakes will decide the game.
We need to stay focused and execute well.
Really enjoyed this, pa.
I hope you can give us some updates and analysis throughout the season. Pulling for these guys!
You can only coach so much when it comes to vision. Some comes from experience (learning) and some comes from sensing what is going on around you (sensing/intuition/pattern recognition). I believe it is all learned behavior but some are better/quicker at developing it than others.
2nd down play there are others that missed blocks. A. Miller doesn't get to the backer allowing him to pursue. No one to block Daniels, also allowing him to get to DW in the backfield. Even if DW doesn't get slowed down by DE penetration Daniels still comes up to make the hit at the line of scrimmage.
3rd down. There are three receivers bunched together and Drager on the same side in the flat. Either not well designed or not executed or well read by the D.
Agreed, thought the kid made a very nice hit on the kid...at least it was probably cathartic for him after the int.
Guys was it just me or was Bellima (if that is how you spell his name) crying after the game? Sorry I haven't caught SportsCenter since Saturday afternoon after VT's escape from Dookie Land.
BTW: Nutt's pic makes him look like a Demon. Would be much scarier if he was a good coach.
3. LT's first pick was because MD7 gave up on his route. Had Davis finished the route he would have been between the ball and the safety. Incompletion at worst, probably a touchdown. LT was threading the ball into tight spaces all day, including on his first INT. That ball was exactly where it was supposed to be the receiver wasn't. On the Dunn touchdown it's just not a great throw. That one's on LT, but Dunn also gets called upon to play defender there.
5. And we now know why our string of 1-and-done senior kickers has come to an end. Get well soon, Cody,
7. See 3 above.
38. A true freshman. Repeat that over and over again. A TRUE freshman. He should have never seen the field this season. True freshmen don't punt for Frank Beamer. The kid needs a year to get his two-step mechanics down, but he has the leg to boot it 50 yards. If Demler could have consistently given us 40 yards with decent hang time then next year we'd be talking about how Branthover was the next Vinnie Burns.
81. Oh my GOD how was that deep slant in the 4th not called PI????!!!??? The defender locked arms with him for three steps then grabbed his FACEMASK so he couldn't dive to make the catch. If what Jaryon did was PI, that should have been assault and battery.
If Marcus Davis finishes his route the safety cannot intercept that pass because in finishing the route MD7 would be standing between the safety and the ball. LT threw that ball where only his receiver could catch it. The only problem was when the ball arrived his receiver wasn't where he was supposed to be.
thanks for the feedback. It really is tough to get a feel for the game. The eyes always gravitate towards the ball, coupled with entertaining friends.
Nice.
We came out in the shotgun for the first play and then went immediately to LT under center, before the first INT was thrown. And as I was watching the game I was thinking we were seeing a lot more I and Ace than we have seen the last few weeks. I assumed it was because we went to that after the two early picks from LT, sort of Beamer circling the wagons as he is wont to do, but after a second viewing it's pretty apparently MOC was trying to throw a lot more under-center formations at Duke. Was this something he saw in Duke's D that he thought he could exploit, or was it trying to give Georgia Tech a little wrinkle in their film study this week? Who knows.
The second series of the second half, though, was our second longest yardage drive of the half (34 yards) and ate just short of five minutes of clock. I don't know if you can really say we failed to execute on that drive, DW just got stuffed on a makeable 3rd and 2.
And we did run the zone read three times in the first half. David Wilson nearly scored our first touchdown of the game on that play, and the first two plays of our fifth possession were zone reads, both for nice gains.
I'm with you. I CANNOT review a game after watching it live. I have to see it on film first. When I watch a game live, and even the first time I watch it on TV, my eyes are following the ball exclusively.
I have supported Oregon being the best one loss team, but it will be solidified when they beat a Stanford team that should have lost to USC. I also think Nebraska is the biggest pretender of them all. I think both Sparty and the Honey Badgers suffered from such an emotional game last week. Finally, I think people need to give South Carolina more credit for what they have done, and are doing, and not take away from the because of who the have lost. If they lose to Arkansas this week then drop them, but until then I think they need to be a little higher.
I would rather lose to GT and sacrifice the division then lost at home at night again (UNC) and/or lose to UVA. I honestly don't think we could get past clemson in charlotte regardless so ACCCG or not, we'll end up in atlanta for the peach bowl. So given the choice of the lesser of three evils, I'll take the road loss to a very talented team.
WHO THE FUCK CHOSE UVA I DEMAND ALL YOUR TURKEY LEGS
I would love to have this pic signed by both of them. Two classy gentlemen.
I agree, Oregon has the better loss, but Oklahoma has the better wins. If Oregon beats Stanford and they both go 2-0 over that time, you better believe they'll jump the Sooners.
By the way I moved Oregon above Nebraska.
I think it's great to see Rivers out there and that pick to seal the game was clutch.
And I think your point about Gayle could apply to Hosley as well. I would not be surprised if his hamstring is still not giving him some trouble and hopefully the week off this week will help.
From a non-football playing (but well versed) football fan perspective I think playing against GT's offense is all about discipline and gap positioning. I am also a little concerned because I saw a lack of those elements Saturday. There was some really poor tackling and I saw on a few occasions DBs taking what looked to be the wrong gap and leaving holes on the outside. Fuller will have a huge game I feel because he is a great open-field tackler and impresses me more every game with what I see as very few mistakes.
Oklahoma and Nebraska both have bad losses, and Clemson was manhandled on Saturday night. Sure, Oregon lost pretty convincingly to LSU, but a) it was the first game and b) LSU is the #1 team.
Hosley has been very good in coverage all year. He wasn't yesterday.
I don't know how to evaluate the defense yesterday. They appeared to be solid from an assignment perspective, but they didn't look dominant. I thought Fuller, Maddy, and Rivers had excellent games. Collins had some nice pass rush pressure, but he was not as sharp shutting down the backside on Duke's zone-read series (ditto for my guy Derrick Hopkins, who got blown up on the Duke TD run.) Gayle struggled and clearly wasn't 100%, yet the backup defense ends didn't do enough to give the kid a rest.
I am thrilled for Rivers. He is limited, but you hate seeing a guy who gave so much to the program go out only playing in blowouts. Taylor is certainly a better player, but I hope Rivers can really go out with a bang.
Georgia Tech presents a new challenge. Traditionally, the Hokies have been able to shut down the Yellow Jacket dives, but have struggled giving up 3-5 yard chunks to the QBs. This is a byproduct of the Hokie strategy for the free safety to have QB on option, while the whip and backer take the pitch. It basically guarentees a 3 yard run if the QB keeps. Hopefully the Hokies mix it up, but it could be tough with Dew out there. I wouldn't be stunned if Fuller plays more snaps than Dew again despite the wishbone. He will also help against the quick pitch, which gave Clemson fits and has troubled the Hokies in the past.
Fuller, Edwards, Whitley (who stunk on Saturday) and Exum must have huge games against Georgia Tech, and the two defensive tackles must take away the dive. John Graves EXCELLED in that role (his best two games were against GT.) Hopkins, Marshall, and Maddy are very different DTs, so that will be interesting to watch.
That defense that you say lost passion caused 4 turnovers and really shouldn't even receive full-blame for the touchdown as it occurred after another shanked punt. Oh and by the way, Hosley, who you criticized so much, was named a Thorpe award semifinalist today. Guess the nominations committee missed the Duke game....
I may be wrong, but I can't recall them running the zone read from the shotgun the entire first half. Every play in shotgun (not many) in the first half was pass pro. They were effective out of I and one back, and stayed in that package most of the first half. Logan has been suprisingly good under center, especially with play action. He made the right throw to Dunn, but it was a poor throw as result of a mental decision (to arc the ball) versus a physical limitation.
The second half, they ran shotgun/zone read series the full first two series and failed to execute. Those two short series coupled with the Dunn play were the biggest momentum changes.
Again, I really need to see the video to be sure on my analysis. Watching the game live really limits your ability to see what is happening in full context.
and this is in the year-end rankings, the wins are against #3 Miami and #5 WVU. Tell your co-worker that we scheduled Alabama, LSU and USC all in the year they won their National Championships.
Eh, it's what I did. 6-0 one week... now I'm below 50% on the season. Oh well.
"it's another ugly win and that's all Frank Beamer does"
uhhhhhhhhhhhh....... what?
That was the only part of it that really bothered me.
Seven have held the belt including Duke and NC State! That VT has not held it is a crime! Beamer has the worst record in belt championships. 0-9. Three other coaches have 10 losses but they all have at least 15 wins and multiple reigns.
I am curious to know whether VT had any equivalent belt games prior to 1972.