The adage says you can tell who will win based on the first ten plays for each team, so I checked out the first game vs WVU to see if it held true. I also looked at play 11 to see if there were any trends there.
WVU:
1. Rollout, pass, shorthopped. 0 yards
2. Screen pass left. -1 yards
3. Slant pass, knocked away. 0 yards
4. Quick slant, first down. 12 yards
5. Draw play. 2 yards
6. Sack. -4 yards.
7. Deep pass, triple coverage, knocked away, near pick, pressured. 0 yards
8. Quick pass, first down. 10 yards
9. Shovel pass. -2 yards.
10. Draw play. 2 yards
11. Incomplete pass, dropped. 0 yards
Total: 9 pass 2 rush 19 yards 2 first downs. 2 positive plays, 6 neutral, 3 losses.
VT:
1. Quick out. 4 yards
2. Check out, QB read. -1 yard
3. Quick slant, knocked down. 0 yards
4. Read Option? First down. 11 yards
5. Jet sweep. 5 yards
6. Inverted veer? First down. 5 yards
7. Veer? 3 yards
8. Option right. 0 yards
9. Scramble. 6 yards
10. Fake sweep, 1st down. 6 yards
11. Fake sweep, deep pass, 1st down. 29 yards
Total: 4 pass, 7 rush, 65 yards, 4 first downs.
Comments
WVU's dedication to not running the ball still surprises me. They were never down by more than one score, and it felt like they were getting pretty good yardage running in the first half. It was Fedoraesque.
MOUNTAIN JESUS WAS GOING TO BE THEIR SAVIOR!!
They live by his flowing locks and they die by his flowing locks.
Crawford averaged like 8 ypc and they only gave him the ball 13 times
Holgerson essentially said after the game that they respected our run defense up front and knew they weren't going to beat us that way.
Sure they got chunks when they did run it but part of that is because since they were passing it so much, we were in defensive schemes to defend the pass not the run. Had they started running more there is a chance that you'd see their success dry up as our defensive setup may change.
This isn't to say they shouldn't have run more but more to point out that just because they were running on us doesn't necessarily mean that would've worked had they done it more by default.
shut it with your facts, skipper
That old adage got burned to the ground at the Belk Bowl.
Battle at Bristol
Clicked on the link in the tracker for the sole purpose of saying that, exactly that, and only that.
Damnit.
2008 Orange Bowl
Something, something, ECU 2015...
Don't let the Belk Bowl take away from the fact the old adage got burned to the ground at the Super Bowl
UCLA would like a word
Georgia Tech too.
Tell that to Paul Johnson after last weekend...
I would be interested if you did the same analysis on both Bama & Clemson Championship games, to see if this holds water.
Someone more motivated than myself look up the the first 10 plays from BaB.
VT:
Jerod Evans pass complete to Isaiah Ford for 5 yds to the VTech 16
Travon McMillian run for 4 yds to the VTech 20
Jerod Evans run for 7 yds to the VTech 27 for a 1ST down
Jerod Evans pass complete to Isaiah Ford for 12 yds to the VTech 39 for a 1ST down
Sam Rogers run for 4 yds to the VTech 43
Jerod Evans pass incomplete to Isaiah Ford
Sam Rogers run for 7 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Jerod Evans run for no gain to the 50 yard line
Sam Rogers run for 6 yds to the Tenn 44
Jerod Evans pass incomplete to Bucky Hodges VIRGINIA TECH Penalty, Ineligible Downfield on Pass (Jonathan McLaughlin) declined
Our opening drive totaled 13 plays but we went on to miss a 47 yard FG attempt
Tenn:
Joshua Dobbs pass complete to Jauan Jennings for 2 yds to the Tenn 32
Joshua Dobbs run for 4 yds to the Tenn 36
Joshua Dobbs sacked by Ken Ekanem for a loss of 8 yards to the Tenn 28
Tyler Byrd run for 5 yds to the Tenn 30
Jalen Hurd run for 3 yds to the Tenn 33
Joshua Dobbs pass incomplete to Josh Malone
Jalen Hurd run for 17 yds to the Tenn 42 for a 1ST down
Jalen Hurd run for 1 yd to the Tenn 43
Jalen Hurd run for 1 yd to the Tenn 44
Joshua Dobbs run for 3 yds to the Tenn 47 TENNESSEE Penalty, Offensive Holding (Coleman Thomas) declined
It took Tennessee 3 drives to run 10 plays and each ended with a punt.
So yeah... we were dominating until that first fumble.
Jeez, why did I ask you to do that? Now I am sad.
Not sure I'd call plays of 0-2 yards "neutral". Those are the kind of plays that, to use Fuente's words, put you "behind schedule". I'd lump them in with the losses and call them "negative plays", and get rid of the "neutral" designation. If you're on-schedule or better (3 yards or more), that's a positive play. That would leave:
WVU: 9 pass 2 rush 19 yards 2 first downs. 2 positive plays,
0 neutral, 9 negative playsVT: 4 pass, 7 rush, 65 yards, 4 first downs. 8 positive plays, 3 negative plays
Just my $.02.
My definition is if 3 of them could get you a first down, that'd be a positive. Getting positive yardage but not enough to make a difference to a fan who hasn't undergone 2-3 seasons of French's analysis would be considered neutral in my book.