[Virginia Tech Athletics]
The Hokies responded.
Old Dominion debacle + Josh Jackson injury + Trevon Hill dismissal + Young squad + Road game against a ranked divisional opponent; the Virginia Tech football season had every reason to go off the rails. But it didn't. It's not a win for the ages, but it wasn't a loss to kill the 2018 campaign.
That's the column.
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Hell yeah FAM!
FAM!
Our wide receivers were AWESOME tonight. Also stopping the run with a 3 man line is niceeeee
Takin' care of business.....
Work out.
FAM! Ryan Willis did a great job and the backup ends held their own!
Coach Fu is still undefeated against the state of North Carolina, and he has still only lost two in a row once.
A team that responds the way this one did can go far in this year's ACC.
Magic # appears to be 28. No team has beaten us in the Fuente era without scoring 28.
Good stat, thanks
Not quite the "magic number" as Pitt and ND each scored 30+ in 2016 and still lost, but still an interesting stat
I think the stat is "no team has beat us without scoring at least 28 points"...not "if they score. 28 points we lose"
The WRs really stepped up and won battles, WIllis gave them good balls to battle for, the defense really clamped down and we won a road game against a disciplined ranked team. I'll take it.
Fuck the fuck yea
I could not be more proud of the Virginia Tech football program. After last week's debacle, the season could have easily gone down the drain. The coaches did a great job of getting the team ready and the players showed impeccable character to play as well as they did against an excellent Duke team.
Maybe it's just me but why does Fuente seem excessively somber for some reason in these post-game interviews.....?
Of all interviews, that's the one to show a bit more humility after last week. Said the right things and didn't wanna go outside that.
That's his personality and coaching style. Steady and even keeled. If you want fiery emotion that's Bud and Hilgart.
Because he knows he has to dismiss another player for us to win next week.
Has he looked into sacrificing chickens? Real ones, fried doesnt work.
Keene was the man breaking those tackles. Great team win. Fam!
I felt like that was the slowest 67 yard touchdown run I've ever seen.
I was shouting at Hoyt the entire time. He didn't touch a.n.y.o.n.e.
Kumah had a nasty block on that trot.
Kumah had a decent night catching the ball and I think he is also on Special Teams. I nominate him to wear #25 next week.
You are right, but I also recall hearing players getting rewarded for the previous week's work.
"Officially" it's about practice. However, there have been quite a few times when, coincidentally, the 25 went to a player who had a breakout game or a particularly awesome play the prior week. I wonder if that's because a player is more likely to work hard in practice after having a great game, or whether the "week of practice" begins at kickoff during the previous game.
AB has informed me that officially it's about hard work in ST practice, but it seems to have evolved into having a big game the previous week on ST.
Noticed that too. Gave him credit for not stopping. lol But wondered if he hit anyone on the play.
But the hustle. Hoyt loves to be the first one to endzone, blocking people would slow him down, he goes straight Mega Jesus and parts the seas for the runner without touching anyone.
Lol, so many close calls to hitting the other team. Just a blur of white
It really does look like he is trying to get a hand on both #19 and #1 but can't change direction once he gets moving and just misses both of them.
He was also running in slow motion. Did great, but he was not fast.
Well I got to see it in person and it was beautiful as he stiff armed the defender to the ground and ran right by us!!
L.F.G.
Y. E. S.
Much-needed rebound VicTory!
Turkey Legs FOR ALL!
This Buds for you!
Great rebound! I doubted them and they proved me wrong.
My hat off to Willis. On our first drive after Duke scored early in 4th to bring it back to a 10-point lead, I said that if we don't convert that 3rd and long we lose that game. Amazing grit and leadership to make those tough throws and lead them down the field to score on a great post route.
Nice job by the coaching staff and the whole team responding; especially our young secondary.
Go HOKIES!
Freakin'
Awesome,
Man
FAM!!! Great bounce back by all three phases. LETS GO!!!!!
I'm assuming at the very least ND will be a night game.
Perhaps a chance to move back to 24-25 for the good guys because Oregon it Cal will drop and BYU is getting run out of the stadium.
Looking at the slate, other than Red River there arnt any other big games. Another shame about the ODU game because it would have been gameday for sure I think.
They just were talking about ND during the OSU PSU game and said "Notre Dame travels to Blacksburg next Saturday night". Gameday confirmed?
I still see it listed as TBD, but Lane should be electric for this one.
I am watching the Gameday Twitter for the announcement.
When is it typically announced? Isn't it during the primetime game (OSU-PSU)?
YOU BEAT ME TO IT
Fowler just announced it's an 8 PM kickoff. Lane better be jacked.
Herbie just confirmed an 8pm kick for VT/ND during a TO break of the PSU/OSU game.
Hopefully that means Gameday is coming to town!
#20, #22, #23, #24, and #25 all lost. If we aren't at least #23 I'll be surprised, and we might move up another spot or two higher since we beat a top-25 team convincingly.
As far as other games, Florida might sneak up to #25 just in time for their game against #5 LSU. But yeah, that's about it.
I'm betting that Fuente and company would prefer this young team remains unranked. The Hokies let the inflated ranking before the ODU game get in their heads.
There's no way this team doesn't take ND seriously, even if we hadn't lost to ODU (which would probably put us right about in the top ten this week). And after this week it won't matter, if we beat ND we deserve the little number next to our name, and if we lose then we will drop out.
In any case, with the loss to ODU this team has no excuse for unpreparedness, regardless of how highly we're ranked.
watcha talking about Willis......Heck Yeah!!!!!!
Go Hokies!!!!!!!!!
Let the Willis puns commence!
College football is a great sport
it hurts but at the same time it feels so good
☑️Amazing highs
☑️Mariana Trench-like lows
☑️Can cause you to spend all of your money on it
☑️Causes serious mental problems if consumers don't partake of it on a regular basis.
Aw crap. College football is heroin.
plaid if i've ever seen it
What a great show
Have you seen they are making an Invader Zim movie?
Invader Zim Trailer (Sorry for link, can't embed on phone)
Guys I met Zion
Guys I met Zion
Guys I met Zion and got a picture
We dominated Duke at home
What is going on
I... I think we're having fun.
Where the hell was this team last week?
I think the coaches created a teaching moment.
Last week = results with players running the show
This week = results with buy in and coaches running the show.
WE 8PM FAMMMMM
GAMEDAYYYYY OFFICIALEdit: sorry I jumped the gun. 8pm kick
Where? I haven't heard it yet
Just announced the VT-ND game is at 8 on ABC next week. Gameday possibly?
Wait, so does Bud get a pass for tonight?
Ugh.
Just confirmed 8:00 next weekend.
Drink. I don't mind.
GAME FREAKING DAY (and yes I know it's not official) #EnterNight
8PM LETS GO I DONT GOVE A SHIT IF ITS A REPOST HELL YEAH
WOOOOOK!!!!!
DO NOT DENY MY PUSSY TOUCHDOWNS GAMEDAY.
JOE! I LOVE YA BRO!
Man I needed that. Awesome to see the guys step up after last week. Let's hope we are able to build off of this one.
Leg because I had to follow the Duke game via ESPN gamecast FROM DISNEY WORLD. Happiest F**kin place in Earth!
As was I. I was the guy wearing all the Hokie Gear.
Followed the ESPN gamecast while in Magic Kingdom for the ODU game. I gave up on keeping track of it at halftime. Couldn't let the game ruin my time there.
I would think being there would be enough to ruin the time there
A few observations being at the game:
1. Traffic and parking around Duke is terrible.
2. I saw the best sign in Krzyzewskiville -
3. The updates to Wallace Wade Stadium were not build to accommodate a 70%+ crowd. Brutal in the concourse area.
4. Peoples should be the workhorse for this team. He's a stud!
5. The D played great with the exception of one player who I won't name until after the review from French.
6. Willis did a fine job tonight.
7. Glad to have been there to support the team as they got back on the winning side!
8. The WR's played awesome tonight.
9. Rambo had the ugliest most beautiful looking TD I've ever seen.
Rambo's TD reminded me of every one of Sam Roger's TD's.
That's too funny to be mad at.
1. Traffic and parking around Duke is terrible. AND THEIR PARKING LOT ATTENDANTS ARE GEOGRAPHICALLY CHALLENGED
I was't there this year but two years ago, sis and I were among about 1000 Hokie fans who spent nearly an hour finding our way back to the Medical Center Deck and other lots. (and NOT because we were too drunk)! When we showed the map of campus we had to an attendant at one lot, he couldn't even figure out where on the map we were standing right then! We eventually stumbled our way upon the right path after meeting roving groups on similar journeys in the wilds of campus. (Side note-we heard the campus parking people were still ticked off at Bama fans from their visit to Duke earlier that year or the last who had trashed the lots on campus and I guess took it out on subsequent visiting fans).
Any way-huge props to the very vocal Hokies who out yelled the Duke fans(who knew they had football fans? )-it was easy to hear the Lets Go Hokies chants on the TV broadcast as well as the huge cheer on the first down review call-you'd have sworn the call went Duke's way if you didn't know the game was being played at Sacksburg South! Way to represent!
We sat in the eye center parking deck for an hour and a half, just sitting there in line. The entire traffic/parking situation there is an absolute train wreck. You can tell they don't expect capacity crowds.
The also don't open the lots until 3 hours before kickoff. That's not even a tailgate...
I was there as well - live in Hillsborough, NC.
There are (were) two games in which they opened up the lots 4 hours prior. VT and one other. We arrived around 2:45 and parked in the Large Circuit Lot. Parking was free, too. Even though that was a little more than 4 hours prior, there were already about 20-25% full.
This was also my first college game at Duke where they 'wanded' everyone at the security check point. VT fans were loud and fun!!
When you wear maroon pants, good things will happen.
I didn't get to watch but I just saw the highlights. Receivers balled out! Damn they made some great plays. I'm not sold on Willis. None of the passes shown looked particularly spectacular and at least a couple looked pretty risky but they went our way. I'm happy to get the W but I'm not super confident in our offense just yet
He put the ball where the good guy could catch it in tight coverage. I think he's got some skills.
I think he threw one bad ball all night
He had a few overthrows but none of them were dangerous.
I can think of 2-3 where they were just beyond his receivers that would have been big plays. But he had a great game.
The pass that stood out to me was in the end zone across the middle. Our WR was covered and the defender was in great position to pick it off.
I think it still hit savoy in the hands
I'm not sure JJ could make half the throws Willis made last night, and for as much as some have stated he's a TO risk, there was not much of that at all. He looked the part.
He looked pretty sharp to me. The decisiveness stood out, and as many have said, I think he definitely adds something to the deep ball threat. I've been a supporter of JJ, and I can appreciate the emphasis on protecting the ball and being a solid game manager, but, so far I'm kinda liking what Willis brings to the table.
This discussion reminds me of a recent solid Hokie...
Mr. Michael Brewer.
That guy doesn't get enough appreciation.
I'm always here for the Brewdog Appreciation Station.
Since Brewer was an avid fisherman, you need to somehow stretch that out. Perhaps "Brewdog Appreciation Silver Station", or "B.A.S.S." I am open to other variations.
He's a pretty good hunter as well:
Ok didn't read a single comment. BUT I was the biggest downer and now I am back.
GIVE ME NOTRE DAME. They can get their ass whipped too.
LETS GOOOOOO
Dalton Keene....the ball found him last night! Phil Patterson, right? Willis did a nice job of seeing the whole field and finding the right receiver.
So what did Bud do with our defense there? 3-man fronts, pulling DEs out to cover the flats like OLBs. Had we ever seen that gameplan before?
I noticed this too. Looked up at the screen and said....'three linemen? since when?'
Glad to see us use this alignment, always though that diversifying like this could be useful.
Same, can't wait to see French's analysis
According to David Hale on Twitter the Duke coaches were downright dejected walking out of the box knowing we shut down the run with a 3 man front.
I'm wondering if we did something different with the LBs as well. They both were all over the run. Maybe we reduced their coverage responsibilities?
It was great to seeing yhe passing game truly supplement the run game which wasn't very effective. I could have watched passes to Hazleton and Kumah all night long!
A great win.
Willis , all he needed was a chance. Makes you wonder ...
Would he have made the difference last week from the get-go? Who knows, honestly. It was mostly the defense sleeping then.
A lot of us were left wondering what kinds of deficiencies he could've had to warrant starting Jackson over Willis after the spring performance... But I think we figured Fuente had his reasons and knew better.
But so far.. So good.
I put my trust in Fuente over the results of a single game. We shall see how the rest of the season goes.
I'm just glad our backup is a capable replacement. Let's see how things change now that there's some film of him out there in Fuente's system for opponents to breakdown.
Why?
Hasty Generaliztion Fallacy
This team really surprised me. Gave me hope for the rest of the season. Willis was so confident and level headed. He never looked flustered and he took more downfield shots in this game than I've seen JJ attempt in the last 4 games combined. This team has a huge test next Saturday but they sure did make me proud this weekend.
Here's my prediction of our excitement levels this year.
By the end of the year we might achieve 30k janskys.
With the elections in November...it should happen. Also look for ES to hit 3000.
It would have been nice to see Hooker throw the ball at least once to keep the defense honest. ND is going to light it up if they know they can ignore any and all receivers when he takes the field.
Fuente and company know if Hooker can throw the ball or not yet. I assumed they are saving something for next week and setting up th expectation that he can't throw. They never needed to try it thanks to the team effort against Duke.
I think the point is, for the "wild turkey" to really work effectively, you really need to show a willingness to pass from the formation or the opponent can key onto the run.
Through numerous years of seeing the "wild turkey", under both Beamer and now Fuente, I'm not sure I've ever seen a pass, and I don't understand why.
Greg Boone threw it one time back in like 09, absolute bomb but nowhere near a completion.
Gotcha, must've forgotten about that one way back in the memory banks.
Anyway, not sure one pass every 12 years is gonna cut it.
Yeah, I also vividly remember in the 08 UVA game that Tyrod had to undercut a DB so Boone's throw didn't get picked
My guess is that they were setting Duke up for a pass out of that formation, but ended up not needing it. We may end up seeing that vs Notre Dame.
Agreed. Really lends itself to a pop pass to a receiver who fakes blocking then releases.
But you have to practice the hell out of that. Not an easy throw to make, on the run, over advancing DBs & linebackers.
I don't think it was much of a package or any kind of deep strategy.
I'm guessing he was in there purely to get some comfort in a game. Keep in mind, he is now one play away from being the starter. Better that he gets a few reps against Duke, while we are in a good spot, than having to jump in a future game with more on the line. It's not likely we have garage time in many games coming up.
I had a feeling the rotation was no more than a simple way to knock some freshman butterflies off of Hooker (just in case). It also appeared to give the coaches a moment to chat up Willis on the sideline.
Interesting tidbit I found:
Willis' 332 passing yards were the most by a Hokies quarterback against a Power Five opponent since 2016.
Had to keep up with the game via phone cause I was at the Urban Meyer/James Franklin douchebag bowl (it was a fun game though)...awesome rebound win, can't wait to watch it when I get home later! FAM!!!!
17-27, 332 yds passing, 3 td.
Duke has some all ACC defensive players. I honestly don't know why Willis isn't getting more praise for that performance. JJ barely crested 200 yards passing against FL State and W&M (let alone that 150 yard ODU game).
Honestly, and I know this will be unpopular, but this is the first time since he has gotten here that I have begun to question Fuente. I know the defense played poorly against ODU but the defense can't win us nearly every single game. Sometimes the offense needs to do the heavy lifting. If we had been able to drive the field and score touchdowns like we did last night my gut tells me we beat ODU.
People say the problem with Willis is that he could lose us a game. Well I feel like JJ helped us quite a bit to lose some games in the past.
my understanding of is this: Fuente knows a lot of are games are going to be close. RW throws a lot more picks in practice where as JJ doesnt. Fuente is afraid of turnovers costing us a winnable game. But based on the decision making and talent I saw last night there should have never been a question.
I agree. Look at the way that Duke played us. They dared us to throw. Willis made them pay for that decision. If JJ had started he may have thrown for 200 yards and 1 touchdown. Teams are going to HAVE to consider Willis' arm moving forward. This should create more space in the running game. Not to mention the fact that Willis looks slightly faster than JJ running the ball. Is Willis going to throw some pics? Yes. But JJ threw pics too. He especially threw them against better competition.
Yep I agree 100% I really hope whatever discrepancy in RW and JJ ability to run the entire playbook gets fixed quick (I know that was a concern as well) because I think this could end up being a huge improvement in balance and success for the offensive which will massively help a young defense.
I'm still perplexed by our offense at times. One drive we will come out attacking and moving the ball at will, then the next we go back into turtle mode and it almost seems like we are trying to force the running game. Playcalling was very hot and cold at times last night. Running the ball into a wall of defenders and wasting nearly 2 minutes and 3 timeouts before the half was very questionable, especially when Willis was hot in the passing game.
I get protecting the ball and not wanting to turn it over, but we are so hyper obsessed with it that I think it influences personnel and playcalling. It was evident that Willis was the better QB watching the game last night. I don't know if the staff just likes JJ better or they went with the safe option or what, but Willis was flat out better and played with more energy and fire.
I also thought the timing of switching in Hooker was also bad. You knew it was a run every time he came in if you're not going to let him throw it. Wasted play and why take Willis off the field when he's playing on fire? Also the fake punt decision was very questionable that early in the game.
I wondered if they were talking to Willis on the sideline when Hooker was in...giving him insights into coverage and such...just to keep coaching him up since he hadn't been in a live game for two years.
I said the same thing during the game. The coaches may not have wanted to burn up their timeouts to point out things that they were seeing that Willis may not have seen. Having Hooker run a play which kept the clock moving while still getting to talk to your newly installed first string quarterback and coach him up seems like it could be a decent strategy. I don't know if that was what was going on, but that was the end result.
Why didn't someone coordinate an injury to give the coaches time to talk to Willis?
/s
I appreciate the way you went about this post, and after a game like that by Willis it's hard to argue against him given the result. I worry every time that lob throw goes up but as long as our receivers are going to go out there and fight for it then those throws aren't as risky as they appear on the surface.
True. But those lob throws were designed right? (Kind of like against Pitt) when Willis saw one of our big receivers in single coverage with a small corner he made the throw to make the D coordinator pay for his decision.
Absolutely, I don't think he's throwing those off of bad reads or anything. You could tell the game plan was to have our guys beat their guys 1 on 1 when they played press man.
Willis wasn't eligible last year
Some things I noticed :
Hollifield played a lot this game for rivers
Quillen played a lot
Gaines is having a good season.
Willis looked good
Hooker will throw it eventually . I mean he is a QB and not a special package player that's out of position so everyone calm down .
Good points, Txhokie!
Glad to see Hollifield get some significant playing time.
I wonder if Quillen's increased playing time was because he had earned it in practice, or was Farley or Watts hurt, or was it just to help keep the DBs fresh?
I would say Willis looked fantastic! Duke had to be the best defense we've faced yet, and he lit them up! Also played virtually mistake-free ball.
With 7 tackles last night and always being the first one down on punt coverage, my guess is that he earned it.
Hollifield is a literal ballhawk; dude fell on a fumble (that wasn't a fumble but still), and had at least an assist or two on two passes in one defensive series. He's going to be a monster
Dax Hollifield's arms are tree trunks. That guy is going to be an absolute monster by time he's done here.
At one point I saw Dax and for a split second I thought he was Jarrod Hewitt. That joker's BIG.
Having followed recruiting this past year for the first time, I feel like Dax and Tre were a couple of the biggest recruit success stories (not to leave out other great recruits). Nice to see them both making significant contributions early.
Can someone explain why savoy's throw was intentional grounding? I thought if you're flushed out of the pocket and your pass crosses he line of scrimmage, you're good.
I believe that only applies to the original posesser of the ball. Apparently for anyone else there has to be a receiver in the area.
100% correct. In addition, if you have some kind of trick play where the QB hands off the ball, then gets it back to throw it, even the QB doesn't get that rule (i.e., throw it away as long as he's outside the tackle box).
Dude, the ref couldn't even explain why it was intentional grounding.
These are the same ref's that ignored face masks, pass interference, holding, etc.
I mean, he could have... but if he had given an explanation of "my check cleared," that would have been a bad look.
Hey, let's stop calling Willis the backup. He's not the backup anymore.
I just want to point out that DAX was on the field more than I've noticed him in the previous games and he was usually near the ball making a play. I see that as a very good thing. I feel he will be a great LB, in the mold of that great string of nasty LBs they had at Ohio State back in the day, namely Laurenaitis.
Oh and our WRs were back to playing big and strong. Maybe that was related to the QB change, knowing that RW could get the ball to them....? Not saying JJ couldn't, but Willis definitely passed the Eye Test.
Divine had some poor tackling angles, yes. But....I'm going to go out on a limb and say he is the crucial piece on the backend for this team. Divines presence at safety allowed Ladler to play his position. I think we all noticed ladders return to productivity last night when aligned closer to scrimmage line. He was active in the run game and generally more disruptive. So while divine had some missteps (though recall his beautiful almost interception), his presence and knowledge seemed to lift the entire backend. I don't know what his health issue is, but we need that guy.
It's a small sample size, but preliminary results confirm your analysis.
I doubt DD will get many Ints-- his hands are the reason he is playing D*. And Ladler will become All ACC in another year. Did u see his missile-launched whiff on Jones in a designed corner blitz? Great call by Bud, just a little out of control for Lads.
Reggie Floyd will be amazing, too.
* Note Saban recruits DBs with good "ball skills".
One thing that a poster on reddit noted that I agree with:
We tend to get a little chippy when things get heated. Add this into the observation that we showed some finger-wagging at the stadium crowds, and I'm not sure I really love our attitude at the moment. I think we could stand to slow our trot.
Certainly a fine line there, but I love it. Seen too many guys recently walking around with head down or just not showing emotion at all. Ideally you have guys who can play with an edge and remain in control, but If i have to choose between the two, give me the dogs.
We need more dogs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EChnZTJicw
You know it's funny...I was a full time age group swim coach for 10 year...learned a lot about atheletes. A broad generalization, but true in many ways. Two kinds of athletes.
Dogs - they'll do anything you ask...and say "Yes sir!" Predictable, dependable, often leaders, role models during practice. A pleasure to coach.
Cats - late for practice on occasion, sometimes they work...sometimes you can't figure out what the hell they're doing. Tough to coach...like hearding cats
But some of those cats...they have mad skills.
Your dogs would help get the team to big meets...elevate the training intensity for all. But a couple of those cats...those were the kids that could bring magic to competition (game) day.
You gotta have dogs and cats on the team. The balance is how to make the call on how you draw the line for the cats. Hokies coaches know when it's time to cut the line on a cat.
🐎. I couldn't agree more. Gaines has a personal foul card ready to play at a crucial moment. I only hope it doesn't come out this weekend. The guy is a beast but he must control himself.
Since there were so many Hokies there last night, our guys very well could have been gesturing to them instead of taunting the opponents.
Just a possibility.
My two biggest takeaways:
(1) Willis opens up back-shoulder fades and downfield throws in a way jj couldn't and that is HUGE for this offense. If he continues to play like that this offense can be dangerous. Seemed to operate at a faster pace as well which I love.
(2) The three-down lineman scheme seemed brand new to me, can't wait to see some deeper analysis. I know we used to drop DEs into coverage to catch the QB off guard (Dadi did it a lot I believe), but those DEs were never even lined up on the line, they were linebackers covering the slot, and i think it caught Duke way off guard
On the shuttle ride to tailgate I met a DE recruit for duke on an unofficial visit. I didn't get his name, but he said he was from Apex. As we were walking the mother said they had visited ECU and it was a terrible visit.
I told the kid good luck and that he should take a look at VT since we need DEs.
Is the real life version of tweeting @ cruits?
When opportunity knocks...
Willis made a lot of the right reads and converted a lot of third downs. Our offense is designed to get someone open or a one on one situation by flowing safties and lbs one way. Look at the third and 9 conversion by Hazelton where he ran a curl to out route. Willis stood tall in the pocket, allowed the play to develop and then made the right read. Something we have not seen much lately. The offensive line played great in pass pro but a lot of it was Willis standing tall, he is tall, and making the correct read.
Another one was when he hit Hezey on the stick route on third down. We had been playing to the single press coverage and throwing the back shoulder fades when the safeties were up in the box on third down and again Willis was making the right read and throwing the jump ball. This time the corners still showed press man, but the safeties backed off and took deep half's shading over the outside receivers. Hezy was the zone breaker and ran a stick route down the middle splitting the two safeties and Willis drilled him for a third down completion. As far as I remember we never saw that coverage again as it was a test and Willis passed. Dukes best bet was to put there all ACC CBs on Islands and play an 8 man box and Willis delivered. This is cheesy but I think the biggest factor between him and Josh was that he was standing tall in the pocket and being decisive. I think alot of that is bc of his height, it allows him to see the routes unfold.
Does anybody want to take a stab at why we tried the fake punt? When I saw him out there, I thought WTH!
I liked the call. Wish he had gotten it, but it was a good place on the field to try.
When they showed the replay during the broadcast it looked like Ricky blocked a defender that was pursuing who would've never caught Farley. If he could've gotten to the defender that made the play on the edge Farley has a better chance. I would like to see it again.
Either way I thought it was early, and was concerned that might be an indication the coaches didn't have much faith in the defense. In the end, the defense turned out to be just fine.
I do like the coaches being aggressive. It just seemed early.
According to Fu, Walker was supposed to send a man in motion prior to the snap, which would have helped the blocking at the point of attack. He didn't do it, and it blew up the play.
Haven't seen this mentioned yet but how bout Tre Turners HUGE third down catch to extend the drive that led to our last TD??! That was a big time play from a true freshman
Adding him to Hazelton, Kumah, and Patterson as targets should give Willis a great selection of targets. Yeh, we can go to a West Coast (pass first) offense, and allow the run games to feed off of that would be fine. Willis just needs to read the progression and hit his targets (which he did most times)... not overthrow. Yes, I am being picky, but I like how he is handling this. Hopefully, that will occur less with practice with the first string.
Grimsley's been pretty good too. Him and Kumah seem to "enjoy" blocking the most.
Yep, sorry I left Grimsley off the list! He should be in the mix
Right? The way he likes to hit makes you wonder if he and Farley should switch roles.
Yea they like the nasty stuff. They look like they could play defense.
Question about the D. Is it just me or were we using a 3 man front where one of the D ends would become a LB and one of the DTs would shift to noseguard? It worked just seemed like an interesting D to run.
That's right, lots of 3 man fronts last night with a DE dropping into coverage. Here's Gaines talking and laughing about it after the game.
On another note it was great when Duke scored the second time the O got another TD to push the lead back up. Part of me was used to the good old days when it would be 3 and out and the defense would get gassed.
Re the 3 man front
Belmar was a linebacker in high school. He had the tight end all night last night. TE went on a pass he went with him, he blocked, Belmar rushed.
Debose was in on a few snaps as well. He rushed on all of them that I remember.
And Garbutt played some receiver in High school. Makes you wonder if Bud has been planning this over time as he got these guys or if there was something specifically suited to what Duke does. Will be interesting to see how it progresses through the season.
Debose dropped back in the FSU and W&M game, but not against Duke. I can't tell you what he did in the ODU game from memory because I had to watch it on an iPad. I sent him a message after the FSU game commenting on him covering passes because he NEVER did that in high school. He's learning every day. He's hungry and willing to do whatever it takes to help the Hokies win.
Just saw this tweet by Andy Bitter, but that was RW first win as a starter. He was 0-10 as a starter at Kansas. That's a lot of pressure off his shoulders in my opinion.
Come on Andy!
If Andy is from the Midwest, "pretty good" translates to anything from "alright" to "AMAZING!!!!!!" We just can't bring ourselves to get too excited about something in case our enthusiasm ruins it.
I was withholding until the review from French, and I'll welcome any feedback here, but Ladler looked like the weak link in the D last night. A bunch of missed tackles, appeared to be in the wrong place or behind the play most of the evening.
Am I seeing things or did anyone else see this as well?
I thought he looked dynamic and was one of the most important defenders on the field. He was a mess last week but every game he's played at whip he's looked like the most natural player we've had at that position.
Thanks!
I need to go back and watch the game. It was difficult to see everything while there. Overall, the back end looked much more disciplined.
IIRC he was out of position on a long pass play to a back/TE on their last scoring drive. He immediately realized it but the pass was made and he had to chase it down.
After watching that game there is one thing that continually bothers me and that is Hazelton's blocking. In each game this year he is never blocking and if he did, these receptions could easily go for an additional 15+ yards. I mean if he keep scoring TD's I can only be so upset.
We don't need another Marcus Davis.
I can't believe that his lack of blocking effectiveness has gone unnoticed and uncommented by Fuente, Cornelson, and Wiggins.
But I would expect either his blocking or his time on the bench to increase soon.
You want to see the effect of WRs blocking? Watch Ohio State's last 2 touchdowns against Penn St. WR blocking sprung both big plays.