Sunday, September 02, 2007

3 Key Plays - VT vs. ECU

1) Trailing 7-3 late in the 2nd quarter Brent Bowden and Brandon Dillard combine for a BeamerBall special. Bowden punts a booming ball that lands at the 1 yard line and gunner Brandon Dillard gets down in front of the ball stopping it from going into the end zone. Even if Macho hadn’t gotten his pick 6 on the subsequent series to move the Hokies in front 10-7, ECU would have been pinned deep and the Hokies probably would have gotten the ball back in a position to score anyway.

2) On the opening drive of the 3rd quarter, ahead 10-7 and facing a 3rd and 9 on the ECU 26, QB Sean Glennon drops back and gets blasted by ECU lineman CJ Wilson. Glennon fumbles and the Pirates recover. This play was so symptomatic of the Hokies’ day. It was the first drive of the 2nd half. The offense was moving the ball successfully and was on its way to score at least 3 points when disaster struck. Branden Ore heard the wrong call in the huddle and blocked to the wrong side which means the defensive lineman was free to run into Glennon unblocked. ECU recovered the ball and the Hokies offense didn’t get back in gear until the 4th quarter.

3) Trailing 17-7 the Pirates make it all the way down to the Hokie 34 yard line with almost 3 minutes left, when the VT defense rises up and stops them on 4th and 1. Had the Pirates scored on that drive (either FG or TD) it would have been a one score game and the end would have been a lot more dramatic.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can we reevaluate the "Ore is going to be fine" assessment that everyone was handing out after he missed summer workouts and came into camp out of shape? I know he is capable of improving his performance next week, but let's not pretend that we didn't see a glimpse of "pre-7-eleven" Brandon.

MadJay said...

ala izquierda,

If you'll read in my game review, I said that hopefully Ore hasn't come down with a case of draft-itis to explain his play.

Either way, as you say, let's see how he plays this week. There will be little running room with this Oline vs. Dline matchup so I will be watching how hard he's running. If he keeps his head up despite not having success in the running game that will go a long way in showing where his mentality this year. If he goes into the tank there may be some trouble brewing there.