I just returned home from a weekend in the North Carolina Triangle. This was my second game down at Duke, and both have been causes of anxiety that I didn't anticipate upon arrival.
Well, that was certainly interesting wasn't it fellow Hokie fans? I have not had a chance yet to review the game film, but after watching the Hokies 30-14 win over Boston College yesterday, I wanted to share some quick observations as they stand fresh in my mind before I watch the film and find out that I am all wrong.
This week, I spent most of my film review focused on the defensive line troubles that plagued the Hokies against Miami, but I did watch one live speed review of most of the offensive series. Using the themes we have discussed in the past, I will give my high level impressions of the Hokie offense this week.
After the defensive line debacle versus Miami, I took the opportunity to examine how the depleted Hokie defensive line performed against Wake Forest. With the Hokies schedule including pro-style power I running teams like UNC and UVA, as well as a wishbone Georgia Tech team, developing backup defensive linemen who can not only fill in for injured guys now, but who can also play important snaps late in the season, is crucial for Virginia Tech to win the ACC this year.
1st Quarter:
1st defensive series:
1st and 10- bootleg, defensive line flows, the whip apparently has bootleg responsibilities. Good coverage by Exum.
Welcome to this edition of my ramblings and other nonsense. I am not going to have the bandwidth to do a deep drill down on the play by play of the game, however I wanted to share some high level observations of the game. First off, it was great to see the Hokie offense deliver a fantastic performance in the most adverse of conditions, however, given the euphoria of the dramatic nature of the win , I have a feeling some of these may rub some folks the wrong way. I want to be positive, but while I was thrilled with the win, there are some things that deeply concern me coming out of the game.
First off though, lets have a little sweet with the sour.
Positives
I just want to start by saying that I am just as pissed as you all are. We can all point to the reasons that the scoreboard said 23-3 after the Clemson game Saturday night, and I could rehash many of them. First, I want to focus on a couple of positives, and then I want to fire some howitzers.
I didn't get a chance to watch the game live this week, so I am probably prejudiced by some of the frustrating reports about the erratic performance of the Hokies this week. After a quick review of the first quarter, I walked away with the following impressions: 1) The defensive line and middle backers are a strength of this team. 2) Logan Thomas has some weaknesses, but the coaching staff is giving him much more responsibility than they gave Tyrod Taylor or Bryan Randall as a first year starter. 3) The offensive line has played better than you think they have, but they still play too high to drive people off the ball.
After a long drive back to the DC suburbs and a full day of discussing health information technology at the AHRQ Conference, my brain has had some difficulty digesting the game from Saturday. During the game, I found my focus wandering, as I had difficulty watching the offensive line as closely as I do when I watch the game on film. Hence, I am going to do a "post game thoughts" post, and I will follow it up when I have a chance to watch the video of the game.
Okay folks, lets not press the panic button yet. Yes, the Hokie offense struggled against a weak East Carolina defense, but the score of this game really should have been at least 26-10. I think this team shows a lot of promise, but there is vast room for improvement.
Before I focus on the critical, I would like to note some positives about the game.
Defensive line
One negative yet consistent theme for Hokie football throughout the 2000's has been weak early season offensive line play. That theme has stayed true regardless of changes from the I formation gap concepts of the 90's and early 2000's to the zone blocking schematic used today, and we have seen inconsistency early in seasons from both veteran groups and newcomers. I think most Hokie fans have come to expect early season offensive struggles, no matter how promising the outlook for the season.
