True, but when you realize that uva's opponents scored so quickly, Wahoo's had plenty of time on offense.
They were 14th in the nation in time of possession, but 109th(!) in points per game.
AND.....
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I think Trey Edmunds and Marshawn Williams are our best combination right now until the offensive line comes together. A couple big bruisers will work well. Just sayin.
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I remember JC taking a couple to the house against Duke about 2 years ago so he's got a burst plus he's rock solid. Last year he played hurt (double ankle sprain) but do expect big things from him this year.
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Outside of the Alabama game, our OL struggled at opening holes last year, due to both our inability to get a push from the OL, and the result of our passing game being so horrid every defense stacked the box all game long daring us to throw knowing we couldn't. I pray to god that situation is better this year, because we have a bunch of guys who can decimate defenses if they are able to get any space to run. You can only do so much when you're constantly running head first into a brick wall with steel reinforcement.
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yep. and, our top two backs were pretty dinged up for several games in the middle of the season as well. it was a trifecta of bad things our running game. inconsistent OL. inconsistent/non-threatening passing game. dinged up running backs. if you want to go superfecta, add on relatively inexperienced running backs.
i'm not sure how many of those bad things will be significantly better. our o-line should be better. our passing game should be better but is wildly dependent on the QB situation. our backs are still inexperienced and based on the injury report, they are all dinged up to some degree (except JC).
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I'm curious why the OL was most effective against what I would assume was the most talented defensive front we played last year. Do we just play to the level of our competition, or are there some less obvious underlying factors there? Seems like if we can run the ball against Bama we should be able to run the ball against ECU. But that wasn't really the case.
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I think Alabama went into that game with a mindset to not allow Logan Thomas to beat them, be it through the air or on the ground. From what I remember, I think they were spying him with a LB, while respecting our passing game. Afterwards, when it became clear that we had the horrible combination of an inconsistent passer with inexperienced receivers without sure hands, teams went all in to stop our running game, throwing more people into the box than we could block, and with our inability to do anything in the passing game, making even simple screen routes look difficult, we never truly punished anyone for it.
I would think with more consistency in the air, we'll see the defenses loosen up against the run, which should help our RBs out. We just simply cannot afford to be so dramatically one dimensional on offense like we have been the last couple years.
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take away an 80yrd TD run by trey and what have you got left on the ground in that game? i do think our line got good push but maybe that was just a motivation thing and waiting all summer for that challenge. even in that game though the push created rarely resulted in holes for people to run through other than the long run. im really hoping we are better this year i think we have backs that can make something out of not much just give them any little hole and push.
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I don't care what Shane thinks about JC, and I don't care what his weight room numbers are, I am going to be furious if JC is regularly taking carries away from Trey between the tackles...
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1000000% agree with this, there is no way a healthy Trey and a healthy Williams should get carries taken away by JC. There's this thing in College Sports that we like to call a Practice Champion- one who excels in the weight room and practice but in games goes missing/doesn't work out. JC is our Practice Champion for sure
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there is no way a healthy Trey and a healthy Williams
There's the problem right there. Trey wasn't healthy during the middle of last season. JC wasn't healthy at all last season. Williams isn't healthy right now and isn't even practicing. JC is going to get carries this year. Let's all try to have a group unbunching of our panties when that happens and let the guys play football.
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Trey wasn't healthy during the middle of last season.
What are you talking about, Edmunds was there pretty much the whole season until he had to leave during the DoD game. I'd be ok if JC is 2nd string to Edmunds until Williams gets better and shakes the weight.
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Edmunds suffered a hip injury during the Marshall game; he played much of the year dinged up in some way. He was indeed "there" the whole season, in terms of not missing much playing time, but he was absolutely not 100% for much of the year.
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Has JC shown you anything in a game that has driven you to think he truly deserves carries over the other guys though? He was completely healthy this spring and Joel Caleb by far outperformed him, yet he's still listed ahead of him on the depth chart...
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I saw the headline and thought that Bitter was taking a day off and re-posting an article from a year ago. I HOPE HOPE HOPE that we can make it happen this year. All it takes is for one guy to break out like Williams, Evans, or a long list of others, and we will be back in the thick of things.
Bitter, I am sure the article is spot-on but hope to never see that headline again.
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Biggest take away that scares me is lil beamer wanting to ride 2 backs. NO you can't do that unless they're both bruisers.. and if you do that you better not let the 2nd back turn into 2a and 2b because then its pointless. The O-Line is use to 1-2 RB's cutbacks and his vision when you add 3 RB's into the mix it throws it all off.
1 might have a quicker first step and hit the hole, 2 might be a tiny bit slower but still hit it and 3 could be east west then go.. With that said you're then asking your O-Line to hold blocks for 3 different types of RB's and be productive every play. That just doesn't happen.
Find your workhorse and then Juice can spill him if needed. JC should see 30 carries max all year IMO.
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I've never heard any of our OLine complain about that. They have their assignments and they execute them as best as they can. Most plays, they have no idea who's behind them until the end of the play anyways.
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pretty sure they usually see who's in the huddle. whether they register who it really is may be different. never player OL myself, but I can understand the original point and agree. You really just want 1 or 2 RBs so that they and the OL, and really the entire offense, can establish a rhythm and timing.
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And he is the great icebreaker at Oscar Smith, who immediately became a recruiting ambassador for VT.
Let's not forget what he has done, and will do, for all things VT. He plays hard, gives it his all, is a good citizen and team mate.
I'm hoping he has a great year.
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I think I'm just wanting us to find a workhorse and stick with it. Trey had his best game vs Miami and then towards the end there JC came in and nothing against him but we took our foot of their throat. I would have liked to see us push our foot down harder.
It might be me just needing/wanting/desperately begging for Aug 30th to come! I like JC but would love to see a legit #1 RB not 1a 1b 1c.. or I would be fine with a RB for certain packages but if a guy is killing a drive running,blocking ect ect don't take him out for a play or two.
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Oh yeah, I completely agree with you. I want to see a clear #1 or a clear #1 and #2. Then everyone else is playing situational, or to give 1 and 2 a breather, or in mop up duty.
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Comments
Sums it up for the offense.
13th out of 14 teams is actually embarrassing. Its even more embarrassing when the WAHOOS are ranked higher in rushing.
True, but when you realize that uva's opponents scored so quickly, Wahoo's had plenty of time on offense.
They were 14th in the nation in time of possession, but 109th(!) in points per game.
AND.....
I think Trey Edmunds and Marshawn Williams are our best combination right now until the offensive line comes together. A couple big bruisers will work well. Just sayin.
I cant wait to finally see J.C.s explosiveness that Shane Beamer keeps talking about.
kind of like Caleb's.
I remember JC taking a couple to the house against Duke about 2 years ago so he's got a burst plus he's rock solid. Last year he played hurt (double ankle sprain) but do expect big things from him this year.
I remember that vivdly, my daughters and my mom's first college games of any kind.
Also, IIRC, didn't we lose our center that game?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDctMnjCbA
I am waiting for shai... sounds like that kid could be an absolute stud
AS long as brewer/motley/whoever is behind center is not our leading rusher/scrambling for his life I will be happy
I felt like last season was slightly (only slightly) better than 2012. Edmunds was closing in on 1k yd season, wasn't he?
Trey had 675 yd last year. Rushing was down from 145.8 ypg in 2012 to 119.8 ypg in 2013.
Whoa! I guess it just felt like a running back did better last year as opposed to 2012.
Outside of the Alabama game, our OL struggled at opening holes last year, due to both our inability to get a push from the OL, and the result of our passing game being so horrid every defense stacked the box all game long daring us to throw knowing we couldn't. I pray to god that situation is better this year, because we have a bunch of guys who can decimate defenses if they are able to get any space to run. You can only do so much when you're constantly running head first into a brick wall with steel reinforcement.
yep. and, our top two backs were pretty dinged up for several games in the middle of the season as well. it was a trifecta of bad things our running game. inconsistent OL. inconsistent/non-threatening passing game. dinged up running backs. if you want to go superfecta, add on relatively inexperienced running backs.
i'm not sure how many of those bad things will be significantly better. our o-line should be better. our passing game should be better but is wildly dependent on the QB situation. our backs are still inexperienced and based on the injury report, they are all dinged up to some degree (except JC).
I'm curious why the OL was most effective against what I would assume was the most talented defensive front we played last year. Do we just play to the level of our competition, or are there some less obvious underlying factors there? Seems like if we can run the ball against Bama we should be able to run the ball against ECU. But that wasn't really the case.
I think Alabama went into that game with a mindset to not allow Logan Thomas to beat them, be it through the air or on the ground. From what I remember, I think they were spying him with a LB, while respecting our passing game. Afterwards, when it became clear that we had the horrible combination of an inconsistent passer with inexperienced receivers without sure hands, teams went all in to stop our running game, throwing more people into the box than we could block, and with our inability to do anything in the passing game, making even simple screen routes look difficult, we never truly punished anyone for it.
I would think with more consistency in the air, we'll see the defenses loosen up against the run, which should help our RBs out. We just simply cannot afford to be so dramatically one dimensional on offense like we have been the last couple years.
take away an 80yrd TD run by trey and what have you got left on the ground in that game? i do think our line got good push but maybe that was just a motivation thing and waiting all summer for that challenge. even in that game though the push created rarely resulted in holes for people to run through other than the long run. im really hoping we are better this year i think we have backs that can make something out of not much just give them any little hole and push.
I don't care what Shane thinks about JC, and I don't care what his weight room numbers are, I am going to be furious if JC is regularly taking carries away from Trey between the tackles...
1000000% agree with this, there is no way a healthy Trey and a healthy Williams should get carries taken away by JC. There's this thing in College Sports that we like to call a Practice Champion- one who excels in the weight room and practice but in games goes missing/doesn't work out. JC is our Practice Champion for sure
There's the problem right there. Trey wasn't healthy during the middle of last season. JC wasn't healthy at all last season. Williams isn't healthy right now and isn't even practicing. JC is going to get carries this year. Let's all try to have a group unbunching of our panties when that happens and let the guys play football.
What are you talking about, Edmunds was there pretty much the whole season until he had to leave during the DoD game. I'd be ok if JC is 2nd string to Edmunds until Williams gets better and shakes the weight.
Edmunds suffered a hip injury during the Marshall game; he played much of the year dinged up in some way. He was indeed "there" the whole season, in terms of not missing much playing time, but he was absolutely not 100% for much of the year.
Yeah and it looked like he was finally healthy during the UVA game and we all know what happened after that. :(
You're right. But didn't he outperform all RBs from the 2012 season?
That he did. LT3 led rushing in 2012 with 524 yd.
Has JC shown you anything in a game that has driven you to think he truly deserves carries over the other guys though? He was completely healthy this spring and Joel Caleb by far outperformed him, yet he's still listed ahead of him on the depth chart...
I'm starting to thing Caleb will be our H back. But more involved in the run/sweep plays and some other stuff.
S
Just a friendly public service announcement:
I saw the headline and thought that Bitter was taking a day off and re-posting an article from a year ago. I HOPE HOPE HOPE that we can make it happen this year. All it takes is for one guy to break out like Williams, Evans, or a long list of others, and we will be back in the thick of things.
Bitter, I am sure the article is spot-on but hope to never see that headline again.
Biggest take away that scares me is lil beamer wanting to ride 2 backs. NO you can't do that unless they're both bruisers.. and if you do that you better not let the 2nd back turn into 2a and 2b because then its pointless. The O-Line is use to 1-2 RB's cutbacks and his vision when you add 3 RB's into the mix it throws it all off.
1 might have a quicker first step and hit the hole, 2 might be a tiny bit slower but still hit it and 3 could be east west then go.. With that said you're then asking your O-Line to hold blocks for 3 different types of RB's and be productive every play. That just doesn't happen.
Find your workhorse and then Juice can spill him if needed. JC should see 30 carries max all year IMO.
I've never heard any of our OLine complain about that. They have their assignments and they execute them as best as they can. Most plays, they have no idea who's behind them until the end of the play anyways.
Im looking for a vulgar joke here, but its not coming naturally....sigh...
pretty sure they usually see who's in the huddle. whether they register who it really is may be different. never player OL myself, but I can understand the original point and agree. You really just want 1 or 2 RBs so that they and the OL, and really the entire offense, can establish a rhythm and timing.
Yes because good power run teams like Bama, LSU and Wisconsin all don't have large RB rotations...
Seriously, relax a bit about Coleman. He's a hokie who clearly loves the team and was playing injured most of last year
And he is the great icebreaker at Oscar Smith, who immediately became a recruiting ambassador for VT.
Let's not forget what he has done, and will do, for all things VT. He plays hard, gives it his all, is a good citizen and team mate.
I'm hoping he has a great year.
Yep.
Hard not to root for a guy that gives it his all for the team on and off of the field.
this is true, but if it equated to getting plays then Juju would have had a lot more playing time.
not harping on JC personally, but I do understand the point he is making. Ironically the poster's name is "JC" taught me.
I think I'm just wanting us to find a workhorse and stick with it. Trey had his best game vs Miami and then towards the end there JC came in and nothing against him but we took our foot of their throat. I would have liked to see us push our foot down harder.
It might be me just needing/wanting/desperately begging for Aug 30th to come! I like JC but would love to see a legit #1 RB not 1a 1b 1c.. or I would be fine with a RB for certain packages but if a guy is killing a drive running,blocking ect ect don't take him out for a play or two.
Oh yeah, I completely agree with you. I want to see a clear #1 or a clear #1 and #2. Then everyone else is playing situational, or to give 1 and 2 a breather, or in mop up duty.