Recent Comments
absolutely hilarious!!
Oklahoma State
Wramblin Wreck of Georgia Tech
Auburn
Trojans
University of Washington
Sparty
Okies win and cover
GT - my heart tells me one thing and my brain tells me another....I so want GT to loose this one, but I can't imagine Jacory playing another game as well as he did at VT, and he would have to have one like that to beat the insects; GT by 3
LSU wins, but no way the game is that much of a run away...madhatters by 10
ND - picking the Irish in any game pains me to no end...and I always loved watching USC until they pulled one out against us in DC...Irish win, but only by 7
Stanford, don't think they win by 20 though....you'd think they'd be smart enough to figure out how to get some better looking ladies there, wouldn't you?
MSU - Dantonio is a master at playing the underdog...plus they owe me since they bollixed me up last week against the wolverines.
Okie State
Miami
LSU
ND
Stanford
Wisconsin
Oklahoma State - If Missouri was to win the SEC should put official announcement right after but wont happen
Miami - I really dont like Paul Johnson
Auburn - spread is way too big
Notre Dame - future ACC member
Washington - Keith Price helps keep it closer than experts think
Wisconsin - Russell Wilson is the truth
first time since graduation last May.. you will find me downtown. hit me up on twitter if you would like me to stop by your tailgate and drink your beer
Picks:
Oklahoma St
Miami
Auburn
USC
Stanford
Michigan State
Okie St
GiT
LSU Yeah, I said it.
SoCal
UDub
Michigan State in the only blip on the Wiskey screen this year, effectively costing them a shot at the NC and Wilson the Heisman.
Cowpokes
Bumble bees
LSU - I would have taken Auburn until I saw their QB is getting his 1st start in Death Valley
Men of Troy
Huskies
Sparticus
I have a wedding to go to this weekend. Seriously people, I don't care if you didn't go to VT, but check the damn football schedule before you plan a fall wedding. Why do men continue to give in to fall weddings? You're already going to be whipped for the rest of your life, take a stand on this one thing. We have three other seasons that are perfectly fine for weddings, but everybody has to plan them during my 12 weeks of happiness.
At least there will be an open bar and I was promised a TV at the reception to watch the Hokies.
OSU
The U
LSU
ND
Stanfod
Wisconsin
You screwed us. By the time you are reading this, some bum named Vick will be in the spotlight, not you.
Life's a bitch, then you tear your ACL, cause you never know how you are going to go.
We still beat FSU,
Coach Welsh
Dated July 20, 2008
Recipient: David Wilson
David,
It's time to be real. And I really, really need you at UVA.
Virginia Tech? They don't need you. Ol' Frank's got Kenny Lewis, Ryan Williams, and Darren Evans. They'll both run all over our defense in the coming years. But that means you won't see past 3rd team at Virginia Tech.
Here at UVA, you will OWN the offense. You'll start immediately, because let's be honest here, I don't really have a stable, solid quarterback to count on for my passing game. I mean, Peter Lalich was busted for drugs, Marc Verica threw more interceptions than pass completions and Vic Hall isn't experienced enough to trust as quarterback. We need you for our ground game, because it's the only offense we've got. This means I'll be handing it off to you every play! You can run wherever you please! You'll easily average 60 yards per game, if our offensive line holds up...
Anyway, I just can't see any reason why you would want to go to Virginia Tech over UVA. Please don't hold our 4 year losing streak to Virginia Tech against us. We're rebuilding our winning tradition this year. And we need you to do it. I need you.
Sincerely,
Coach Groh
osu
GT
Auburn
ND
UW
Wis.
PUBLISHER
|
14 years 8 months
# | 1st Quarter Second Guesses: Focus on the Defensive Line (Wake Forest) Where's Marshall's future? With The Brothers Hopkins, Maddy, Battle, Harley, Hamlette and hopefully a game ready Harley all returning does he put on some weight, or go outside to end and fight for playing time there? Three-deep along the defensive line, now that's a great problem to have.
French, defensively, the first and second halves were night and day. Did Bud change the scheme up a bit, or did we just execute better, or both?
PS The Hokies replay shortens the game to 2 hours so if that's the film you watched that's why some of it's edited out. It sucks.
PPS I wait for this post each week as much as I wait for Seattle's drunken picks in the Six Pick. Excellent work Sir!
was going to do a shrimp boil for me a couple friends for the bama-lsu game .. might rethink that.
he is missing a wing.
right. will change now on master.
i was probaby looking for VT and glossed over Hokies (i copy and paste into a spread sheet, so nicknames i miss sometimes.)
my bad.
I'm pretty sure I went 4-2 (w: Okie St, VT, Clemson, Arizona St; l: Baylor, Michigan)
thanks for all the work!
i will need to reread slowly tomorrow ... at work. haha.
Date 04/24/2006
Recipent: Peter Lalich
Hey Pete,
It's the Chessmaster, Al Groh and I want you to commit to the UVA franchise. I was looking at my superbowl ring that I earned fetching Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick coffee and it made me think what they had at quarterback then. With you a big strapping qb we can take back the state. Don't believe for one minute we want Tyrod Taylor more than you. He isn't a quarterback, no one can win with him. We want him to play safety or wideout. You, Peter are our quarterback of the future, commit to us and be a winner. The first round is on me.
Cheers and yours faithfully,
Al Groh.
Date: March, 1990
Recipient: Seattle Hokie
Seattle Hokie,
I just wanted to reach out and introduce myself. My name is Mike London and I will be coach of UVA one day. How do I know that, I have a crystal ball. Yes, I lost one in a hunting accident and it was replaced with a crystal. I know I will be head coach of UVA one day and I know you are headed to VT and then one day you will end up in Seattle. Also, email hasn't been invented yet, but one day this thing that people will call the interenets will take over the world. I have foreseen this and I have seen a picture of your junk, at least I think it is yours, you named your junk, Brett Favre, right? Anyway, how about after you move to Seattle we setup a time to meet in one of the bathrooms at Jefferson Hall. I will be in stall #2 (my favorite) tapping my nikes to the beat of Lil Wayne. Don't worry, you will hear of him soon, in like 20 years. Just tap back those black Cole Haan's you like (will like) and we will take it from there. Since you enjoy low alcohol beers, wine, including white wine, bubbly and eat salmon regularly, I think you will make the perfect UVA fan. I want to convert you, all the way.
Balls of London (That's my stage name, so just call me that)
LOVE IT!! haha!
First Series:
1st and 10: DL is Wilson-Hamlette-Hopkins-Collins. Hamlette gets great push on the draw, and Exum and Wilson come clean up. Hamlette is looking more and more like a solid run-down option against teams with bigger lines. I don't think he would fit against GT's look though.
2nd and 11: Wake goes play action and bootleg on an obvious passing down, but Collins again gets sucked inside. Price rolls to his throwing hand and completes a nice 15 yard out. Collins looks tired now. He was unblocked and still didn't get close to Price.
1st and 10: Great surge by Hopkins against a shotgun sweep. Bonner flys up and fills to make the tackle. Again, Hopkins makes the play, and Bonner shows the ability to capitalize. I just noticed Barquell Rivers is in this series.
2nd and 12: Corner blitz by Fuller. Hamlette gets a great jump off the snap, and Hopkins stunts behind him and gets into the QB as well. Incomplete. Again, excellent tackle play.
3rd and 12: 50 package is in. Wilson-Hopkins-Collins on the line. Three man rush with no blitz. Wilson and Hopkins cross stunt and Wilson causes Price to scramble to his left. Collins lost contain, so Price runs left and completes a pass for first down.
1st and 10: Hokies stunt left, Hamlette loses leverage and his gap. The RB cuts back and the backer (again, Edwards) is blocked and can't make the play. Big run.
1st and 10: Edwards lines up like a 4-3 OLB, on the line, which means usually there is a blitz coming from somewhere else. Edwards covers, Taylor comes up the seem, and Fuller comes backside. Taylor crushes the QB, who throws incomplete. How does Taylor come untouched? Collins engages the left tackle, dips his right shoulder, and rips inside. The tackle goes with him after initial contact, and Taylor has a huge lane with no backs to pick him up. Great design.
2nd and 10: Hokies bring an 0-Gap blitz. Price rolls right, and should roll right into Wilson, but he also sucked inside and Price again breaks contain. Not a strong night from the Hokie ends. Price completes a low pass for a first down.
1st and 10: Quick screen vs the blitz. No chance for the DL
2nd and 6: Back to nickle, with Edwards on the end of the line. This time he comes and Taylor backs out. Hamlette gets a huge initial push (actually moves the guard back a full step) but can't make the follow up to blow by. Nice pocket, incomplete pass. I just thought to myself, where is Luther Maddy? I have not seen much of him since the first quarter.
3rd and 6: 50 package. Hokies do a red dog blitz (both backers, with Edwards coming across the formation on a stunt around the left side) and Taylor, Edwards, and Collins meet at the QB. Hopkins with a nice influence stunt to create a lane. Price had no chance.
4th and 11: 50 package again. They rush 3, but Price hears footsteps and throws the ball in the short flat. That seems kind of gutless by your QB in that situation. Good stop by the Hokies D after a long drive.
Final Series:
1st and 10: Hokie starters are in (why?) Backup QB slides.
2nd and 6: Again, why are the staters in?
1st and 10: Rivers and Maddy are in. Hopkins, Wilson, and Collins still out there. Nice tackle by Rivers.
2nd and 9: Why are the starters still in. Nice hit by Exum
3rd and 9: Backups are in. Ballgame.
*kudos to Blake DeChristopher with a terrific blitz pickup on the long Boykin catch and then a huge zone block on the Wake DE to open up a huge hole for the Wilson TD run.
1st defensive series: Gutty run by Pendergrass. Wilson with a nice play on the scrape, but both he and half the Hokies D got pushed back after initial contact almost seven yards.
2nd a 2: Hokies slant right. Taylor fills and makes the tackle. Everyone controlled the correct gap.
1st and 10: Hokies again slant right, but bring Taylor and Tweedy on a blitz. The blitz is designed to get Taylor the sack, but he misses Price high. Marshall recovers to tackle a scrambling Price for a short gain. Big time hustle by Marshall. Again, he has been the most impressive Hokie DL not named Hopkins.
2nd and 8: Wake catches the Hokies in a blitz and burns them with a screen. Good hustle by Hopkins and Collins to make the tackle, but a big gain by Wake. Marshall was in position to perhaps catch the RB as he made the catch, but he lost his feet and fell down as he tried to change direction.
1st and 10: Wake runs a shotgun angle draw to the left side. Hopkins beats the double team and gets an arm on the RB, and Marshall comes in and cleans up. Again, wonderful DT play against the run.
*the Hokies DTs are much better on plays that start out going to the sideline. They struggle more against straight ahead runs, especially delays that let them get trapped or lost upfield.
2nd and 9: Wake runs a bootleg off their pistol power off tackle motion. Collins gets sucked down inside. Either the whip blew his assignment to take bootleg (SCREEN-THROWBACK-REVERSE) or Collins had contain and blew his assignment. Whitley is forced to step up to take away the QB run, and Price finds his receiver behind Whitley and in front of Chris Hill.
1st and 10: Marshall again gets pressure up the middle (nothing from the DE's). Bonner makes a nice play to break up the deep ball after getting burnt initially. McCray is in now for Wilson.
2nd and 10: Blitz again. Marshall and Fuller almost get there, but Price makes a nice throw on a quick hitch, and Bonner falls down. Big gain. Whitley made the tackle, but the next body there was big Derrick Hopkins. ATTITUDE AND HUSTLE.
1st and Goal from the 8: Zone play left from the pistol. Marshall again gets into the backfield and trips the RB. Tweedy comes in and cleans up. It is a good thing Marshall got a piece of the RB, because McCray got cut block backside and there was a huge hole to run on a cutback. McCray has to be more athletic to recover against a cut block.
2nd and goal from the 7: Hokies bring 4. Again, Marshall was the closest to the QB, but only could get a hand up. The pocket was stable. Price throws into double coverage. Incomplete.
3rd and goal from the 8: Collins and McCray get a coverage sack. Hopkins and Marshall lost center contain.
4th and goal from the 4: Don't put yourself in that spot defense. Leave Marshall on the field. Again the Hokies bring 4, and again the DEs don't beat the OTs. Price has a comfortable pocket to get off a 5 step throw, and he hits the TE for a TD. The Hokies shot themselves in the foot, but I don't see this top notch pass rush. Scheme has created 2 of the sacks, and the other two have been coverage sacks.
For some reason the video skips to the 12:32 mark of the 2nd quarter. Not sure of the down and distance, but Wake has the ball on their own 15 yard line.
1st series:
1st and 10. It looks like the DL is Wilson-Prince-Maddy-Collins. Play action and time to throw. Good coverage, and Wilson gets off the block late to make the sack. Nice effort. The DT's were both standing up and looking in the backfield. If it had been a running play, they would have given ground.
2nd and 16. Shotgun. Obligitory "Wilson is giving up 100 pounds to the tackle" reference. DL stunts to the right. It looks like the design is for Edwards to fill the gap right where the back runs. Edwards over-pursues and doesn't recover. Edwards has not looked like the same player the last three weeks.
3rd and 8: Shotgun. Zone blitz with both DTs backing out. Both LBs and Whitley blitz. They force a short throw.
2nd series:
VIDEO SKIPS AHEAD TO NEXT HOKIE OFFENSIVE SERIES. (Nice block by George George on the Wilson toss sweep)
3rd series:
1st and 10: It looks like Wilson, Hamlette, Hopkins, and Collins. Decent pressure by Wilson and Hamlette (although Hamlette loses leverage and gets pushed past the QB.)
2nd and 10: Wake still in the gun. They run a trap draw, but the Hokies X stunt the DTs and Hopkins ends up right in the hole. Nice call. No gain.
3rd and 10: Again, good pressure up the middle by Hamlette and Hopkins, but both lose leverage and get behind the QB. Price scrambles but throws incomplete. There is still almost zero pressure from the DEs. Blitz, or the DTs get a push.
4th Defensive Series
(GREAT PUNT BY THAT NOT DEMLER GUY)
1st and 10: Wake runs the same off tackle play where the Hokies stunt away from the whip that killed them vs Stanford. Collins gets blocked (by the TE!), and Tweedy gets blown up play side by the H-Back. The Hokies can't stunt away from the whip unless that position can shake blockers better, and again, Collins looks poor in this game.
1st and 10: DL is Collins, Hopkins, Marshall and Wilson are the group. Again, short crossing route with little pressure.
2nd and 5: Foster brings 6 guys, and drops Hopkins into a short zone. Price throws the ball into the turf even though there wasn't much pressure in his face (he heard footsteps from behind.) Still not much from the DE's. Have I noted that I would like to see McCray and Means get more snaps?
3rd and 5. Collins gets a nice inside move and nails the QB as he throws... right into Edwards lap. That is what I want to see every play. If a DE gets single blocked, the QB should get hit.
Hokies TD: END OF HALF.
Analysis:
Foster is doing an excellent job of rotating in defensive tackles. Hamlette, Maddy, and Marshall all got snaps. Marshall is clearly the playmaker of the bunch, but isn't big enough to play every down. The defensive ends have made two plays, but for the most part have been ineffective. I am not sure how they are practicing, but the Hokies got a lift on the first drive with Duan Perez-Means and Zach McCray got into the ball game, and both are bigger than Wilson. I can't understand how they don't get a few more snaps, at least to keep Wilson and Collins fresh.
this is even easier then a shrimp boil. The hardest part is really just cleaning everything and paying for all the goodies you want to throw in.