I ended up watching the full game last night between Notre Dame and Penn State (plus, I was getting live reports as my brother got to go for a work trip with Capital One and pre-gamed with Dan Marino and Larry Fitzgerald.) What a terrific football game. Penn State was zone blocking to perfection in the run game (their other tight end, No. 16 was terrific and the right tackle scooped a one-tech from the backside, a truly awesome feat, on one of the SIngelton TDs). Meanwhile, Notre Dame had nothing going and then turned to smashmouth gap scheme power blocking with a lot of QB keepers mixed in, only to make the biggest play of the game because a corner got twisted up on his bump in single high coverage.
BREAKING: Pitt transfer LB Jordan Bass has committed to Virginia TechThe 6'4 230 lb. athlete from Hampton, Va. had 14 tackles, 1 sack and 1 PBU this season2 years of eligibility remainingStory: https://t.co/WZINWUO1p5pic.twitter.com/c4JL0RSllM— Kolby Crawford (@kolby_crawford) January 7, 2025
Just to continue conversation. Here are defensive coordinator options who are "on the tree" of connections with Pry. I am sure there are other names out there as well.
1) Anthony Poindexter- Virginia ties, great recruiter, been passed up twice for the DC job at PSU (although for two well regarded DCs in Mario Diaz and Tom Allen). Negative, limited DC experience
2) Tim Banks- current DC and safeties coach at Tennessee. Was the secondary coach under Pry at Penn State. Recruited and developed a top notch defensive line and good corners. Linebacker recruiting has been a weak point. Likely out of the price range unless Heupel wanted a change.
1) Impossible to evaluate the offense. Interior three weren't awful, so that is something. The tackle play was abysmal. I don't know how Garrett can be a starter next year. Clements is the easy target, but Garrett was rotten too and he played all year.
2) I loved seeing Emmett Laws making plays and Gerard Johnson not looking out of place. But, the experienced edge guys were either busting calls or the linebackers and safeties went back to being clueless. There were a lot of head scratching things happening.
His father fell in New Orleans prior to the game and it required surgery to fix his hip. Unfortunately his father passed away from complications. Tough week for Smart with the game delay due to the truck incident and having to worry about his father. Sometimes football takes a back seat.
The saddest part is it appears he fell the day the game was supposed to be played so who knows if he would even have been where he was if the game wasn't delayed.
Brent Pry said Bud Foster will be a part of the program going forward, but he will not be the defensive coordinator. Said it'll be a number of days a week he helps out. #Hokies— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) January 2, 2025
I'm going to guess this is more than just an advisory role. Never a bad thing to get a mind like his more involved with the program again. Hopefully we'll get some clarity soon on who the new DC will be.
There will be "in-depth discussions" about not guaranteeing conference champs the top 4 @CFBPlayoff seeds in 2025, sources said. Top 5 conference champs still would get in playoff but rankings would determine seeds, sources said. This would require unanimous approval by all stake...— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 30, 2024
Only a few more steps until ESPN's wet dream of the SEC Invitational is made a reality.
