tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88981942024-03-12T21:21:43.697-05:00TechSuperfans!Three Superfans bring you coverage of everything Virginia Tech football! Go Hokies!Anand Trivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08108217732167672187noreply@blogger.comBlogger521125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-67178855947941144792015-07-31T11:58:00.003-05:002015-07-31T11:58:52.032-05:00A Buckeye'd Curse?The Hokies were the only team to defeat the National Champion Buckeyes last year.<br />
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They did it on the Buckeyes' home opener in Columbus, OH. A big caveat was that they were playing with redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett and not veteran phenom Braxton Miller who injured his shoulder before the start of the season. It turned out, Barrett was pretty good and went on to win nine games before suffering from an injury himself. Cardale Jones took over and the Buckeyes finished the rest of the season without another loss.<br />
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Well, Coach Urban Meyer must be scratching his head a little bit as it appears that he and his team will be going into this year's opener against the Hokies down yet another star.<br />
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On Thursday, the Buckeyes announced the suspension of four players, including All-American defensive end Joey Bosa. Bosa, the 2014 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, was going to prove to be tough to contain according to Coach Beamer. The revelation that he will be out will drastically change the Hokies' strategy in this game.<br />
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Beamer is calling this game "the most anticipated football game in Virginia Tech home football history." It certainly will be the first time since 2001, when Miami came to the 'Burg on their way to their 18th National Championship, that Virginia Tech will face a No. 1 team at home. To add to the intensity, the idea of this being a "revenge game" for Ohio State has been tossed around. There's no doubt this will be on everyone's mind going into this game.<br />
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To say that the Hokies struggle against teams in the top five would be an understatement. 1-28 all time and 1-20 under Beamer (Oh what a victory that was! Your's truly lost a bit of hearing permanently from that game against the No. 2 Hurricanes at Lane! But I digress.), the Hokies need another signature win to add to the resume. But, with Braxton Miller back at the helm of his team, the Hokies will have a huge mountain to climb to get that victory.<br />
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I for one will be there with bells on.<br />
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Go Hokies!<br />
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<br />Anand Trivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08108217732167672187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-4654847287153406192015-07-14T09:32:00.002-05:002015-07-14T09:32:20.597-05:00Ready for Football?This Sunday marks the start of a three day media blitz as the ACC Football Kickoff begins. You can watch live on ESPNU starting at 1:00 PM on Monday and Tuesday! #acckickoff<br />
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Set your DVRs, VCRs, or Betamax!Anand Trivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08108217732167672187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-50506379640581677712015-04-17T09:01:00.001-05:002015-04-17T09:01:19.389-05:00Eight Years LaterYesterday brought a bit of a tear to my eye. <div>
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As I walked around at lunch and as I moved around the city at night, the amount of Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange I saw yesterday was amazing. Sure, this is Washington, D.C. and the number of Hokie alum here is higher than most areas, but it sure was nice to see the support still is strong for the Hokie Nation.<div>
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I posted yesterday on the Book of Faces that we should take this time to remember the real issue is that of mental health and the lack of proper care for those suffering from mental illness. My hope is that, as we continue to remember the events of April 16th, change will eventually come to addressing this important issue.</div>
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We Are Virginia Tech!</div>
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Go Hokies! </div>
Anand Trivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08108217732167672187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-66927352352773461812014-09-07T10:55:00.001-05:002014-09-07T10:56:35.987-05:00Preseason Rankings<p dir="ltr">Last night proved how much a croc the preseason rankings are. Are you telling me that losing one player makes your top 5 team become a team that probably will lose 6 games this year?</p>
<p dir="ltr">Don't get me wrong Virginia Tech is going to be a very good program this year and will win 9 or 10 or more games, but Ohio State lost its entire front offensive starting line from last year (one starter shifted from the right to the left which is basically a completely different position). I don't care how good Braxton (my phone must be hungry because it corrected that to Bacon) Miller is/would have been, and maybe he would have been the linchpin that propelled them to victory last night and later in the season, but you can't list that team as a top 10 team.</p>
<p dir="ltr">That said, Tech will not be able to do what it did last night against the likes of Shane Carden of East Carolina, namely put 8, in the box and run man coverage basically every play.</p>
<p dir="ltr">All that aside, I'm excited at what I see from both sides of the ball in these Cody two games.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Go Hokies! </p>
Anand Trivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08108217732167672187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-56458190400542837662014-09-06T09:31:00.002-05:002014-09-06T09:31:28.415-05:00What Do I Know?After watching the 2014 version of the Hokies play William&Mary last Saturday there are reasons to be very excited about the enormous game coming up tonight against Ohio State and there are reasons to be wetting our beds about that game. There's even a common reason that belongs in both categories. Unlike the HokieVision team this year, I suck at intros, so that's that, let's get into it.<br />
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<u>Reasons To Be Wetting Our Beds </u><br />
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1) Coach Shane Beamer might be starting a true freshman tonight.<br />
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I can't imagine, watching JC Coleman take snaps last Saturday, that he will start the game against Ohio State. Sure Coleman scored a TD at the end of the game from the 2-yd line. And I can see him telling that story years from now about how this one time, he had a short yardage touchdown (it begins "the sea was angry that day my friends"). OK, so I really do like Coleman and he is a lot of things: great change-of-pace guy, should be running jet sweeps, playing in certain 3rd down packages, returning kickoffs, and he's a helluva good teammate in the locker room. One thing he is absolutely not is an every down back for a program trying to establish a power running game. That means that going into one of the toughest places to play in all of college football in a night game with the country watching, two kids who last fall were taking snaps in high school, will be starting. Can they run? Sure, but in that high pressure situation, can they remember the playbook? Can they block the right blitzer? Games turn on mishaps like these.<br />
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2) Two of the three Hokie linebackers<br />
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Is there a better feel-good-story than Derek DiNardo starting and playing most of the game last Saturday? He had a big scoop and almost-score, he made some tackles and he's an intelligent, instinctive football player. But at whip, he is not near the athlete needed in a game against playmakers like the Buckeyes have. The Hokies kept quiet about the extent of Ronnie Van Dyke's groin injury, but if he's not ready to go tonight, that's a significant Depends moment.<br />
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And Deon Clarke, despite all the pre-season hype, was nowhere to be seen. In reviewing the game tape I counted 3 missed big plays (two tackles for loss and a big potential sack) that spill to the Backer for them to make those EXACT plays and he didn't do it. Clarke ended up with 3 total tackles with only 1 solo and only 1 tackle-for-loss and that just isn't going to remotely get it done for Backer. Knowing Coach Foster, he has been up Clarke's tailpipe this week about sticking his nose in there and making those plays. but until we see it happen on the field, it's extremely concerning.<br />
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3) The Hokies are starting a true freshman at kicker<br />
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I was very impressed with Joey Slye on Saturday. His kicks got up in the air quickly and he made a tackle on the opening kickoff. But again, bright lights, first game on the road, never seen that many people hating you in one place, can he respond - forget with the game on the line at the end - but on a routine 30 yd attempt in the second quarter? The Hokies lost 3 games last year because of awful field goal kicking and while we learned there's a player with talent at the position this year, we have no idea as of yet how he's going to handle a pressure situation. I hope that Coach Beamer had a higher intensity version of his usual kicker sessions in practice this week, maybe where the entire team lines up around Slye and pipe in some noise and have everyone shouting things at him and charging towards him, etc. Nothing can fully prepare you to face that kick in the Horseshoe, so anything they can do would fall short, but it's worth a try.<br />
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4) Goal line offense<br />
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So all pre-season the Hokies and Coach Lefty talked about the power running game. And in the first game against William&Mary, on the goal line, the running game was an abomination. Now I'll be the first to say that the Tribe's defensive line is better than people think, even better than some other lines the Hokies will play this year, but they are NOT better than the defensive front for Ohio State. So much was wrong with the goal line offense, I don't know where to begin. JC Coleman was getting goal-line snaps (someone needs to bring a physics professor to the offensive staff meeting). There was a mishandled center-QB exchange. And then even beyond all of that, the Hokies still had 3 runs with Juice, who finished a few nachos short of the goal line each time. He didn't look like he had that "nose" for the end zone that some backs just seem to have (think Lee Suggs). I could be reading into that too early, and McKenzie didn't get a shot on the goal line, but it's nerve-wracking all the same.<br />
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Seven running plays inside the Tribe's 10 yd line resulted in 1 TD run in garbage time, but over half of the rushes were for no gain. I guess it's a positive that we don't have any backs that can lose 15 yards on a goal line rush, a la David Wilson, but he could also do <a href="http://youtu.be/MazffVhy6pw">this</a> - which no backs on the current roster can do either. But when the good news is that the running backs don't lose 15 yards on a goal line carry, well........you know....... that sucks.<br />
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5) Knocked down/deflected passes<br />
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Despite Michael Brewer's fantastic performance, one major area of concern was deflected passes. Now, on the interception, LG Wyatt Teller came off of his man way too soon and the defender was left by himself standing in the passing lane, so it was easy to get a hand on it, with the result being a pick. But there were several other deflections, and don't think OSU defensive coordinator Luke Fickell wasn't focused on that this week with his defensive linemen and their pass rush lanes. These are momentum changing plays and there's really nothing you can do to fix pass deflections, short of hooking Brewer up to the rack and "lengthening" him to about 6'4". Since that's probably an NCAA violation, I would adamant about rolling Brewer out and hoping he can be some sort of accurate on the run.<br />
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OK, so now that we're all huddled all Blair Witch style in the corner about facing the Buckeyes let's see if we can't take a look at some things that have me excited about playing Ohio State tonight.<br />
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<u><a href="http://youtu.be/zpsXeoqgGJM">Reasons To Be Excited Enough To Run Through A Brick Wall </a></u><br />
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1) Coach Shane Beamer might be starting a true freshman tonight.<br />
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But wait, Mad Jay, I thought you said this was a reason to be wetting my bed? Well, it is, but it could also be a difference maker for the Hokies in a positive way. From what I saw out of Marshawn Williams and Shai McKenzie, the Hokies have the type of running backs that they've had in the past. When McKenzie's knee gets back to 100% after this season, he's going to be a real force, but even now he breaks arm tackles like they're being attempted by mosquitos and he hits the hole with abandon. Meanwhile, Juice Williams is out there just looking for contact, looking to punish opponents who dare attempt to tackle him, acting as if they insulted his mother.<br />
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If the Hokies can convert enough 3rd downs in the first half to give the Buckeyes a healthy dose of these two backs, then by the late 3rd quarter - especially early in a season before conditioning has really kicked in - the Buckeye defense might be completely exhausted. If you watched the LSU-Wisconsin game you saw this exact phenomenon occur, where in the 4th quarter, LSU was just running through huge holes for massive gains despite having been contained most of the rest of the game. They were running the same off tackle and power trap plays from earlier, but Wisconsin just ran out of gas on defense.<br />
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2) Michael Brewer is exactly what this team needs to run Coach Lefty's offense.<br />
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My favorite play happened to be exactly what VT beat writer Andy Bitter captured in his article. <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/five-thoughts-after-hokies-win-against-william-mary">Mr. Bitter</a> (boy, wouldn't the universe make more sense if he and Mark Berman switched names?) references a 3rd down and goal right before the half with the Hokies ahead 14-6. Brewer escaped pressure and rolled to his left and then.......he threw the ball out of the back of the end zone. How many times before have we seen a Hokie QB try and force a ball in there and bad things happen? Going into the half, Brewer knew the Hokies needed points and the play wasn't there so he got rid of it.<br />
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The rest of the day, Brewer ran the offense calmly and effectively, he didn't go into the tank when he threw that interception off the deflection, and he provided the steady hand that this team, with all of its youngsters, needs. We fans have heard about him all pre-season, but let me tell you about the players. More than any fishing trips, or restaurant buffets they've hit together, watching their QB perform on game day like Brewer did really begins to cement that leadership role he's in. I can't overstate how important that is, especially for a guy to transfer in and unseat a 5th year senior that's popular among his teammates. Brewer looks like he might be ready for the spotlight tonight.<br />
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3) The tight ends are back in the offense<br />
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You're a defense and you've got them. It's 3rd down, you know the play that's coming, you have the receivers blanketed, you pick up the running back out in the flat and now it's just a matter of time before your defensive line comes and plants the quarterback on his ass. But what's this? A throw to a TE being covered by a safety and he screens the safety off with his body, makes the catch and it's FIRST DOWN Virginia Tech (said in my best Bill Roth voice).<br />
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That play is exactly what the tight end brings to the Hokie offense and Malleck did it twice on Saturday against William&Mary. Last year Kalvin Kline made a few of those plays, and was pretty decent as a receiver. But this year, the Hokies have an even better athlete in Bucky Hodges, and a better blocker and outlet route runner in Ryan Malleck and it absolutely destroys a defense to have those guys in there. Who do you cover Hodges with? Is it a run or a pass with Malleck at the end of the line of scrimmage? Even if you do cover Malleck he can get open against most linebackers and he can screen off any safety to give his QB a target to throw to. And Hodges made some freak-type plays Saturday as well. Malleck and Hodges (sounds like a law firm) are going to give OSU D Coordinator Luke Fickell a headache because I know Coach Lefty didn't show his whole hand on Saturday about how he wants to utilize these two guys.<br />
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4) Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips<br />
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There you have it - the key ingredients that were missing from the Hokies lineup last year until Josh Stanford started coming on very late. In fact, Stanford's strained hamstring would normally be listed as a bedwetting reason if it weren't for the remarkable ability of these two receivers. Phillips ran a dig route Saturday for a first down on a third and long and it looked like he was an NFL receiver. I don't say that to hype things up, I'm just saying his body was dead square, he got low, especially for a player his height, had tremendous footwork and until the very last second, the DB didn't know which way Phillips was going to turn until Phillips planted, turned in and caught a well thrown ball for the first down. And Ford, well you can just feel the explosiveness Ford has if he can get the ball and start running in the open field.<br />
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Phillips isn't the fastest but he's going to get open and move the chains and the Hokies have to find ways to get Ford the ball as he's one of the few playmakers on offense (Demetri Knowles if he's fully healthy is the other) that can run with the speed of Ohio State.<br />
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5) Chase Williams is up to the challenge<br />
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We knew the secondary would be good (and Kendall Fuller was unbelievable Saturday). We knew the defensive line would be good (and Corey Marshall was unbelievable as well). And while I've already talked above about how two of the linebacker positions could be exposed on Saturday against the Buckeyes, the question mark for a lot of people headed into the season was Chase Williams. Now sure he was a little sloppy in his tackling on a few plays, but in terms of communicating out there to his teammates, he worked spectacularly with Detrick Bonner to have the Hokies aligned properly for most of the plays they faced. Every time I saw Williams shift a defensive player in a direction pre-snap, the play went that way. He also made some big plays, forcing a fumble, and getting some sacks.<br />
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I'd like to see more tackles out of a middle linebacker, but Williams showed the smarts, the leadership and the physicality that give me hope for this season. There's enough tremendous athletes on defense, if Williams gets them lined up properly by recognizing plays, the Hokies will have success tonight.<br />
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So that covers the 5 main causes for concern and the 5 main causes for excitement. And there are others on both sides of that coin. Some other concerns were - too many penalties (one cost Juice a goal-line touchdown run), terrible second level positioning of the linemen on screen plays, and poor form tackling. One exciting item was how bad Ohio State played against Navy. But those could all mainly be written up to first game of the year type of things. Both VT and Ohio State players will see their issues on film and make big gains between week one and week two. So I've alternated all week between being very pumped up about the upcoming game and putting on Depends before I go to bed. And now it's game day so -<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-50662850531348612572014-04-01T22:53:00.000-05:002014-04-01T22:53:42.361-05:00The Buzz on Williams<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
In today’s culture of big money athletics, it’s about wins and losses. And the new Hokie men’s basketball coach, Buzz Williams, brings winning credentials to the Virginia Tech program. He took over the Marquette basketball program, which was already playing in one of the toughest conferences in basketball at a high level, and took them to even greater heights. The Golden Eagles, during Williams’ tenure, played in the tournament every year and more importantly, with the exception of one season, they played as far or further into the Big Dance every year, culminating in making the Elite Eight last season. </div>
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The question that comes to my mind is “How?”. As I’ve progressed in my own career, the principles of leadership have become more relevant and more important to me and so I have studied them. It’s not like James Johnson wanted to fail. He had been in coaching for 19 years and though this was his first job as a head coach, he’s a good recruiter and understands basketball fundamentals. But his time leading the VT basketball program was absolutely awful. So I wanted to learn about why Buzz Williams has had the type of success that he’s had, see what he has in common with other great leaders and what he may do differently. To that end I’ve spent the past week watching every Buzz Williams clip I could find and reading stories about him all the way back to his first head coaching gig at New Orleans in 2006. And for those fans expecting the Hokies to come out and start competing for NCAA tournament berths right away, I’ve got a surprise for you - that isn’t likely but even if it happens, it’s not what Buzz Williams is working on with the 2014-15 Hokie basketball team right now I can assure of you that. </div>
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If you saw the press conference introducing Williams as the Virginia Tech men’s basketball head coach (<a href="http://youtu.be/-xPsmZNsoM8">and if you haven’t here’s a link</a>), you heard him say a lot of what people describe as the “right things”. He talked about building men, not players, about how this is going to be a process that takes time but that he considers the program a “sleeping giant”. Coaches have said these things in press conferences for a long damn time. But the more I learned about Buzz Williams, the more I learned that these cliches aren’t cliches to him. They are foundational principles on how he approaches his own life as well as his job as a basketball coach.</div>
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Buzz Williams is a man on a mission. He is spiritually driven to mold the players who play for him into a true team. He does’t do that to win, though that ends up being a by-product. He does it because he feels called to do it. To his core, Williams is convinced that by making these players learn to give themselves to a bigger cause, it will not only make them the best team they can be, it will make them into good men, good members of their community, good husbands, good fathers. In short, Williams feels a responsibility to help young men navigate a very important transition in their lives, by making them give everything they have to their brothers in that locker room. He feels this responsibility so strongly that when he gets the sense that the university he’s at doesn’t live up to their part of this mission, he would rather resign as head coach and become an assistant somewhere else, based on his principles. That’s exactly how he ended up leaving the University of New Orleans for Marquette. </div>
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It’s hard to believe in principles anymore because of the society we live in today. Here’s a guy making $2.3-$2.7M a year, and he’s putting together a career. Surely he, like almost every other basketball coach, wants to jump from bigger job to bigger job to make it to the NBA with the best players and coaches in the world, right? This is where I would say “Not so fast, my friend” except I hate Lee Corso. The truth is I really think that Buzz Williams’ highest aspiration is to be like a Tom Izzo, a Coach K, aka a fixture of the college basketball landscape. Now that means that Virginia Tech probably isn’t his final stop. And the nature of the business is that how soon he leaves depends on how much success the Hokies have and in what period of time. But I’m completely convinced that Williams intends to build the Virginia Tech program for long term basketball success and leave when or if it’s the right time for him and his family - which is basically what any of us in our careers would do. It’s about a restlessness to push himself, challenge himself and see just how far in college basketball he can go.</div>
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That restlessness is what drove Buzz to leave Marquette for Virginia Tech. He built the Golden Eagles for long term success and he saw that with the collapse of the Big East conference, that success was at risk. Combine that with the new challenge of building a program that was in one of the basketball superconferences, and his restless nature to push himself and all it took was the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place. That final piece was new Hokie AD Whit Babcock - whom I insist on sometimes sophomorically calling Bab Whitcock because he looks more like Bab Whitcock than Whit Babcock. Anyway, Whitcock was determined to bring the VT basketball program into relevance and he had a critical connection with Williams through Mick Cronin - the head coach at Cincinnati. Mix in enough of a competitive salary for Williams - and importantly his assistants, too - and the decision was a lot more of a no-brainer than I first thought it was when I heard Buzz Williams was coming to the Hokies.</div>
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Now don’t let that press conference fool you. Yes, there’s a lot of lovey-dovey with alumni/donors, there’s a lot of smiling for the cameras, there’s a lot of human interest stories about Buzz Williams doing these camps for disadvantaged kids that he keeps on the down-low. But trust me, this guy is intense. There’s NOT a lot of love for the media, he doesn’t have patience for players who aren’t willing to be physical and his practices are high energy. I think the stories about how he handled Trevor Thompson (and I’m a fan of Thompson’s game) and the recruits who de-committed today speak for themselves about his no-bullshit approach. Buzz Williams is going to go all-in with the players who want to play for him and the coaches who want to coach for him and he has little time for anyone outside of that circle. </div>
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But the result of that is you are going to see accountability in a Buzz Williams locker room. You know that West Virginia game that everyone watched the clip of Williams dancing around on the court after winning that game ON THE ROAD? Well, did you know that before that game, Williams suspended 4 players for a half of that game (including 3 starters) for a violation of team rules? This is a guy that walks the walk. And the result of that is when you watch some of the Marquette basketball practices, you’ll see something that is a common thread between Williams and other great coaches - the players coach a LOT. You hear it across all sports from the great hall of fame coaches - the best teams are those where the players and coaches have built enough trust to let the players take ownership and lead. </div>
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When the players coach each other and push each other in practice, you don’t get any loafing, any slouching. The challenge is how do you get these players to push each other and prevent it from spilling over into confrontation in practice? And as remarkably physical as the Marquette practices were (and believe me I’ve seen a lot of physical basketball practices), I never saw a clip of serious confrontation. The reason is because Williams has created an environment of love, trust and honesty in his locker room. That’s how the players can get on each other. They understand and BELIEVE that their intentions are to improve each other. It creates mental toughness, belief in one another and belief in their coach. </div>
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Now this article isn’t going to run James Johnson down. He did what any of us would have done if offered the position to be a head coach and that much money. And the irony is that despite how I opened this piece talking about wins and losses, it honestly wasn’t the record that had me convinced James Johnson had to leave. It was the lack of mental toughness, the lack of player leadership, the mismanagement of the team/roster (see: Raines, Cadarian). I mean when you name an incoming freshman captain of your team over your two seniors, you think you’re sending a message and you are, but that message is - I didn’t develop my future leaders on this team last year and now I have to rely on an incoming 18 year old to run my locker room. </div>
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So I do sincerely wish James Johnson well and I know he’s going to do well in coaching. He will be much better at it the next time he gets a chance to be a head coach. But Virginia Tech has a coach coming in with some junkyard dog in him. You know what the first thing Buzz Williams told his team in the post game locker room after they won their 1st round NCAA tournament game last year? “We had 17 offensive rebounds”. He was prouder of that stat than anything. The guy is a fighter, his teams are going to be fighters and it may take a few seasons to build the culture to the level that Buzz Williams is looking for but know this - regardless of what VT’s record is next season, you’re going to see a tighter, tougher basketball team on the court for 40 minutes every game. Because teams take on the persona of their coaches and the way Buzz Williams asks his players to give everything they have to the team is by giving everything he has to it.</div>
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GO HOKIES!!!</div>
MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-19708915234010197532014-02-09T17:00:00.000-05:002014-02-09T17:00:04.988-05:00The 2014 Recruiting Smacktacular<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 22px;">
<span style="font-size: 13px;">The Year of Getting Better</span></div>
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The Class of 2014 has been long awaited. The Hokies have been recruiting super stud defensive players for years, because, well, Bud Foster. And what else needs to be said there, right? And make no mistake, there are a few stellar defensive players coming to Tech in 2014 as well. But competing for top talent on offense has been very hit or miss for a few years for Virginia Tech. Finally, this year’s class has OFFENSIVE prospects from around the country that the Hokies went head-to-head with other top schools on and came out on top. Unfortunately the Hokies lost OLine coach Jeff Grimes but went 4 for 5 in keeping his prospects (very rare these days). And Scot Loefler got to put his stamp on the offensive side of the ball in the class. Very key was the fact that the Hokies also re-recruited and landed their two best prep-school prospects from the 2013 Class. Both of those players were highly touted and pursued by the top schools in the country by the end of the year and both decided to stick with Tech. The Hokies lost DB Cequan Jefferson to Temple, but if you read our 2013 Recruiting Smacktacular, then you already know that wasn’t much of a loss.</div>
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Of course, it’s ironic that there were a few misses on the defensive side of the ball that would have had this go down as the best recruiting class in VT history, but it’s obviously still an extremely strong class. And there’s more to be said about the recruits inside the state of Virginia, which we’ll cover in the wrap-up. There were also still a few players chosen that don’t look ready for college football in this class, but very few.</div>
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As always, check out our friends at <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/virginiatech/football/recruiting/commitments/2014/virginiatech-16">Rivals</a> for the full measureables on each prospect. What you'll read about below are my insights after reviewing every scrap of tape I could find on these prospects from Youtube, from high school coaches, from ESPN and from BeamerBall's site itself. It's taken a month but I love it and if you do too, read on.</div>
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<b><i>Offense</i></b></div>
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<b>Jaylen Bradshaw (WR) - recruited by Bryan Stinespring</b></div>
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As an offensive playmaker, Jaylen Bradshaw isn’t the typical freak athlete who’s trying to learn the position or has been converted from QB or RB as quite a few Hokies over the past 3 classes have been. He’s a very skilled receiver who runs decent routes, isn’t afraid to go over the middle and has solid hands. No, he’s not melting the stopwatch but he gives Coach Moorehead a more developed product to work with than what he's had in the past. Anyone who watched Hokie games this year had to just sit slackjawed at the number of well thrown dropped passes. Bradshaw looks to be a receiver who can help address that issue. I think of him as a little bigger, more athletic version of Willie Byrn, who had a pretty productive season in his own right for Tech last year.</div>
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<b>Xavier Burke (TE/ATH) - recruited by Bryan Stinespring</b></div>
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Burke is an athletic beast. I don’t really see a clear fit, but the Hokies are going to try him at TE first. He’s one of those types of players that you turn on the film and just think “We have got to get him into our program”. 6’4, 250 lb men that can move like Burke are not common. That said, he doesn’t seem to be a very instinctive player. Maybe that’s because on his team they tried him at just about every position (which is what happens when you play 2A football and you’re bigger and faster than everyone else). I think where Burke ends up will likely depend on his hands. If he can make catches, you want athletes like him at TE to attack the middle of a defense. If not, he’s absolutely capable of playing the defensive end position, and I shudder to see what his measurables are after some Gentry-fication. Again don’t see a high football IQ here, but he’s big, fast and tough and if he finds the right spot, Burke could definitely be a solid contributor. He is also a good candidate for a grayshirt depending on attrition and the class numbers.</div>
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<b>Chris Durkin (QB) - recruited by Scot Loefler</b></div>
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Chris Durkin is tall, he’s an incredibly tough runner and he has a cannon for arm. Lefty was able to flip him from Michigan State (where their offense would probably have been a perfect fit for a kid like this). His ability to read a defense, be consistently accurate with the ball and be fast enough to bring a read-option threat to the offense are all in question. But Lefty must’ve seen the raw material and said “I can compete with a kid like this at QB”. Durkin lowers his head and takes on players all over the field (he’s the son of a defensive coordinator). When he winds up, he can fire an absolute missile out of the pocket to anywhere on the field. But he likes throwing on the run a lot and has pretty subpar mechanics and footwork. All of that said, I like having a competitor at the QB position, because they can lead, and at an absolute minimum Durkin is going to push the rest of the QB’s.</div>
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<b>Andrew Ford (QB) - recruited by Scot Loefler</b></div>
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Andrew Ford is the 2nd most underrated recruit in the 2014 recruiting class. He is listed at 3 stars at QB, but comparing his footage to any other 5 star pocket passer, the ONLY thing he lacks is strength. And his pocket feel, his throwing mechanics, his recognition, his willingness to step into a hit to make a throw, are better in most cases than those other top QB’s. I love everything I saw about Ford on his footage. You can just sense he has “it” - that undefinable quality that a guy like Russell Wilson brings to the position (though Ford’s nowhere near as mobile as Wilson). I would suggest that a Bucky Hodges or Chris Durkin gets the backup reps for 2014 behind Leal, but that if you give Ford a spring and a full redshirt year with Gentry that he will win the starting position in 2015. I’m that high on his ability.</div>
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<b>Isaiah Ford (WR) - recruited by Charley Wiles</b></div>
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Ford to Ford in 2015 looks to be a deadly combination. Isaiah Ford is an elite receiver prospect who had as long an offer list as any kid I’ve ever seen come play for Virginia Tech. He has that rare combination of being tall but plays with a significant burst. Perhaps that comes from his time spent on a basketball court. He legitimately wants to play both sports at Virginia Tech and looks capable of it. Ford has decent hands, but it’s what he does with the ball in his hands that separates him from the 2013 Hokies receivers (with the exception of Josh Stanford). Sometimes out in space, you just need a guy that can break a tackle and then outrun some people. DJ Coles had that before his knee injury and while Ford isn’t that big, he’s faster than Coles. Ford is going to be a serious playmaker for the Hokies. </div>
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<b>Eric Gallo (OL) - recruited by Jeff Grimes, closed by Stacy Searels</b></div>
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The best thing I can say about Gallo is that he plays through the echo of the whistle which I really like. He didn’t play against high level competition and he played on a bad team. Most of his footage is him just beating up on smaller, weaker players. He can move his feet decently, he is a high character kid, and by all accounts has a great work ethic. You can never count kids like that out, and Gallo could make himself into a contributor on the Hokie line, most likely at center if he gets stronger and bigger without losing his footwork. I love getting offensive linemen although I would say Gallo was the least impressive of the 4 players in this class on film.</div>
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<b>Kendrick Holland (WR) - recruited by Torrian Gray</b></div>
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Coach Gray obviously saw the same thing on film about the Hokies that we all did last year - inconsistent catching of the football. Holland isn’t blazing fast, he’s a long strider without a lot of burst, but he has two factors working for him here - big size, GREAT hands. Best hands in the class. Reminds me a lot of Jarrett Boykin coming out of high school. I don’t think Holland has that kind of ceiling, but it’s an apt comparison in terms of big body and great hands. I could actually see him bulking up to become a receiving threat at the TE position, or if he does get faster working with Gentry he may stay at WR. There have been quite a few of these “tweeners” to come through Blacksburg in the last several years (Mark Irick, EL Smiling, Christian Reeves and Randall Dunn just to name a few) and none have broken through to be contributors, so I’m skeptical of Holland to say the least. But Holland has better hands than those guys, so perhaps he can write a new ending to that story.</div>
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<b>Shai McKenzie (RB) - recruited by Scot Loefler</b></div>
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Every year the Hokies seem to land an enormous talent coming off of a knee injury in high school. Sometimes it’s worked out well (Eddie Whitley) sometimes it hasn’t (Nick Acree), and in other cases the jury’s still out (Ken Ekanem). This year, that player is Shai McKenzie. Every school in the country wanted this kid and then three games into his senior year he tore up his knee. He’s rehabbing it in Blacksburg now and will almost certainly redshirt this year getting it back. But after watching his footage from before the injury, it’s simple - if McKenzie returns to form he’ll be the most complete back the Hokies have recruited since Ryan Williams. He doesn’t fumble, he can run over people, he can make them miss, he can run past them and he has great instincts and vision. Of course, if he doesn’t make a full recovery, or has injury problems throughout his Tech career, he’ll never live up to the potential, which is really all you can evaluate in a recruiting class anyway. But because everyone else backed off after the injury, I’m putting McKenzie as the third most underrated recruit the Hokies landed in this class. He has the potential to be truly great in the Hokie RB tradition that - with all due respect to Trey Edmunds - no back that played for VT in 2013 does.</div>
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<b>Travon McMillian (QB/DB) - recruited by Bud Foster</b></div>
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McMillian - like most kids who played the position in high school - wants a shot at being QB, and he’ll get it. But he will get on the field for Virginia Tech on the defensive side of the ball. Coach Foster saw his intelligence and instincts. The Hokies did promise to give him a shot at QB, and while he’s athletic, it’s just not a natural fit for this young man, especially when you see how a kid like Andrew Ford plays that position. After a year, he’ll move over to defense and has a great shot at free safety (the QB of the defense) where I think he would excel. It makes a lot of sense to me because the Hokies don’t need him in the defensive backfield this year and if it means bringing in a player with his kind of athletic talent and football IQ, giving him a shot at QB can’t hurt anything.</div>
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<b>Billy Ray Mitchell (OL) - recruited by Jeff Grimes, closed by Stacy Searels</b></div>
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Mitchell is another kid who is on the smaller side when compared to nationally elite offensive linemen and he didn’t play top flight competition. But similar to most of the other linemen in this class, he plays angry, he gets under the shoulder pads of his opponent and he’s athletic. The success of almost all of these guys (except for Colt Pettit) looks to be dependent on their ability to add mass and strength while keeping that athleticism. If they do, they are going to be very good players with great chemistry between them. </div>
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<b>Colt Pettit (OL) - recruited by Jeff Grimes, closed by Stacy Searels</b></div>
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This is the best of the 4 players that Grimes recruited to offensive line and I’m very glad that Coach Searels was able to keep him in the fold. Pettit has the biggest frame and while the other linemen are athletic, he has AMAZING feet. He gets great drive and shares the common theme with the rest of this OL class of not liking the defensive players he’s up against. Pettit also played against better competition than most and he was very quick off the snap getting to his defender before the rest of his linemen teammates. I don’t know if Pettit has long enough arms to be an elite pass blocker at tackle but he’s fast enough to be good or he could end up as a fantastic pulling guard. Either way he seems the surest to be a starter on the line in his career (along with Braxton Pfaff from the 2013 class).</div>
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<b>Braxton Pfaff (OL) - recruited by Cornell Brown</b></div>
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See last year’s <a href="http://techsuperfans.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-2013-recruiting-smacktacular.html">2013 Recruiting Smacktacular</a> for our thoughts on Pfaff, who looks to be a solid recruit. He grayshirted and will enroll this year.</div>
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<b>Cam Phillips (WR) - recruited by Aaron Moorehead</b></div>
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It’s extremely obvious that Lefty and Coach Moorehead were determined to address a position of need in this class - get big receivers with good hands and excellent fundamentals. They were obviously as frustrated last year as I was at the unacceptably poor play from most of the receiving corps. Phillips biggest advantage is that he got great coaching in a powerhouse high school program (Dematha Catholic where Kendall Fuller played last year). He is fast, though not with quite the burst of Ford, BUT what separates him from the other top receivers whose film I watched is that he is so sound in the other aspects of the position. He’s great in his hand fighting to get off the line, his steps in his routes look more precise and he has very good ball skills. I would expect that Phillips could come in and compete early for playing time just because of his talent at playing the position.</div>
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<b>D.J. Reid (RB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b></div>
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The Hokies were able to keep Reid from going elsewhere after a season at Fork Union prep school. We evaluated him last year as a fantastic running back but with the addition of Marshawn Williams and Shai McKenzie to the ’14 class, I would expect that Reid gets opportunities at punt returner and the slot position. The Hokies have suggested defense, but Reid is just too innately gifted as a playmaker with the ball in his hands. The Hokies need him to get touches on the football on offense.</div>
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<b>Tyrell Smith (OL) - recruited by Jeff Grimes, closed by Stacy Searels</b></div>
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It sounds like a broken record but Smith is yet another undersized lineman with remarkable athleticism and a killer attitude on the field. I will say this, it’s crystal clear where Jeff Grimes was taking the offensive line recruiting. He wanted the toughest SOB’s out there, but they also had to be athletic. I think Grimes’ plan was to keep bringing these guys in, and within a few classes, have 2 or 3 players from each group that were able to add the weight and strength and be a bunch of Andrew Millers out there. Miller was the personification of toughness on the line in 2013 and clearly the best player with his wrestler’s athleticism. You get a slightly bigger stronger version of him at all 5 positions and you finally have an offensive line capable of competing at the highest levels. We’ll see what Coach Searels does to build on this and I’d like to see some guys closer to the right size and strength already come into the fold, but there’s no doubt you can’t coach toughness and aggression in an offensive lineman (see Wang, David) so at least this incoming class has that aspect in spades.</div>
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<b>Tabyus Taylor (ATH) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b></div>
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Sometimes the Hokies just take players that are a great fit for the program. I remember a few years back they took a kid named James Hopper. He just didn’t have the athletic ability to play at this level successfully but he was a leader in the locker room, had a great attitude, loved football and after 3 years in the program he quit playing and became a student coach and is still on the staff. Tabyus Taylor fits that bill. He has a hitch in his running motion and played against subpar competition but you can just tell he’s a Hokie. He plays extremely hard, he loves football and his coaches and players just get excited about him being on their team. Do the Hokies need him at RB? No. But will he be on special teams and will he help the program? You bet. I expect Taylor will take a grayshirt this year and enroll in a prep school.</div>
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<b>Marshawn Williams (RB) - recruited by Cornell Brown</b></div>
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It’s too easy because of the name to tie into the Marshawn Lynch cliche here. But I’ve got another name for you that Williams reminds me of an incredible amount - Drew Harris. Yes, Harris didn't qualify academically and never joined the Hokies, but he was a bowling ball at RB. Williams is similarly sized coming out of high school and like Harris you can tell that some defenders just don’t want anything to do with him. They go low on him most of the time and are left grasping at jersey. My favorite way to evaluate RB’s is when they play in bad weather because that’s when you can see just how good their balance and footwork are, and Williams, despite his big size, was remarkably deft the two times I saw him play in sloppy conditions. Don’t get me wrong - I do like Trey Edmunds because of his effort and strength and great attitude but he’s a tall back and it’s just so hard to be a power back with his build and running style. Williams is 212 lbs already but much more compact, lower to the ground and runs more centered over his feet. I can’t help but believe that Williams is going to be a better power back in his career than Edmunds.</div>
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<b>Kevin Bronson (DE) - recruited by Charley Wiles</b></div>
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Do what?!? Where on earth did this guy come from? Half the country offered Bronson including all his Florida home state schools and yet he came to Tech, not announcing until February 1st. I didn’t know anything about Bronson and popped on some footage and just started jumping for joy. What a massive score by Wiles. Bronson has the best first step for a Hokie DE coming out of high school since James Gayle. He is already big enough and fast enough, but he will definitely have to get stronger. That said, he was simply unblockable in high school and the knack for rushing the QB is something that just comes instinctively to some players. Bronson’s frame, speed and ability to read the offensive lineman to get past him actually remind me a ton of the old Steeler LB Greg Lloyd. Bronson is as close to a sure thing at defensive end as Dadi Nicholas was when he came out of the same area in Florida. Well, at least we at TSF had Nicholas down as a sure thing. Anyway, Bronson is the type of score the Hokies get because of their reputation for defense and thank goodness for that.</div>
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<b>Terrell Edmunds (DB) - recruited by Bryan Stinespring</b></div>
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Terrell Edmunds offer list was extremely short. No one even wasted their time recruiting him against Virginia Tech. His older brother Trey is the one who really handled the recruiting and it was open and shut. I’ve always maintained that Trey Edmunds best fit would have been on defense, because his running motion is a bit awkward and too upright. His younger brother Terrell is about 20 lbs lighter but runs just like him. The good news is that Terrell wants to be on defense and he will be. For the same reasons I don’t like him at RB, I don’t like him at corner. But I LOVE him at safety or especially rover. He is so strong and straight-line fast and loves contact. Definitely excited to have Terrell under the tutelage of Coach Gray to watch him develop.</div>
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<b>Holland Fisher (DB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b></div>
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We covered Fisher in last year’s <a href="http://techsuperfans.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-2013-recruiting-smacktacular.html">recruiting breakdown </a>but it was tremendous to keep him at Tech after a year at Fork Union. He is only a bigger, stronger faster version of himself a year ago and will probably get into the 2 deep at safety or rover out of the gate. That’s how talented he is.</div>
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<b>Melvin Keihn (LB) - recruited Aaron Moorehead</b></div>
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Penn State, Notre Dame and Miami all went after this kid HARD and he stayed true to VT. Why did those other schools push so hard as his senior season evolved? Maybe because he was just making plays from all over the field ending up with 16 tackles for a loss, including 9 sacks. Or maybe it was the fact that his top end speed is so fast that he was the gunner for the punt coverage team. Keihn is already big enough that he could either keep getting bigger and become a defensive end or he could stay his current size and play the middle linebacker position. Either way, he has a sixth sense about knowing where the football is and being relentless in his pursuit of it. Great addition to a young and very talented LB corps in Blacksburg.</div>
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<b>Vinny Mihota (DT) - recruited by Bud Foster</b></div>
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Coach Foster knows more about football and particularly defense than I do. That’s just a simple, obvious fact. But I call ‘em like I see ‘em and Mihota doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of what I see here in this defensive class. He has remarkable hustle, I’ll grant that, but from a physical ability standpoint, I would suggest Mihota has the farthest way to go to be game ready. I’ve certainly been wrong before, no arguing that, and maybe Mihota’s hustle carries over to the weight room which will lead to him getting on the field. But when compared to the footage of the elite linemen the Hokies did get, and the one they did not (Nnadi) it’s clear there’s an order of magnitude difference in terms of ability between them and Mihota. The recruiting services ranked him above the guy who played next to him on the line (Steve Sobczak) but in fact, it was often a double team on Sobczak that freed Mihota up to make a play. As you’ll read below I think Sobczak will be a better collegiate player. </div>
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<b>Raymon Minor (LB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b></div>
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6’3, 210 lbs with a frame to easily carry 225 lbs and he’s so fast that he played WR on offense. Raymon Minor was BORN to play either Backer or Whip in a Bud Foster defense. I can’t tell you how few kids this tall play low with a good base, but Minor does. Just like with RB’s, I evaluate LB’s in sloppy conditions and Minor was playing a different game on a bad field than his opponents. He changes direction very easily but it’s his acceleration to top speed and nose for the football that make him such a natural fit. He definitely has the hands having played WR, so if he picks up pass coverage at the collegiate level, I could see him as a whip. If he puts on some more weight and stays fast, and attacking the run and the screen passes are his strengths, then he belongs at Backer. Either way, Minor is a fantastically awesome late addition to the Hokie program stolen right out from Nebraska in the 11th hour.</div>
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<b>Shawn Payne (DB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b></div>
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Great top end speed, 6’3” tall, loves contact and has a good nose for the football. I don’t think Payne has enough hip swivel to play cornerback like he did in high school, but he is an absolutely perfect fit for safety or rover in the Hokie defense. He makes big hits in run support but he can definitely run with a receiver down the field. I look forward to seeing what Shawn Payne brings to the defensive backfield later in his career.</div>
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<b>CJ Reavis (DB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b></div>
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I enjoy doing recruiting breakdowns. Once a year I get to spend 2 weeks watching hours and hours of footage on prospects and seeing football both at its fundamental level and watching the game evolve in terms of scheme. This is the game I grew up watching and studying. And once or twice a year amidst all the hours, I see footage of a player that just leaps out at me. This year that player is CJ Reavis. I love everything about this kid’s game. He has a winning, brash attitude, he is just unbelievably physical and tough, extremely agile, has great leaping ability and is almost psychically instinctive. Reavis would be the perfect corner at VT except for one thing - he just isn’t fast enough at the top end. But there’s no way you don’t have a kid like this on the field. He is going to start at VT. I don’t know whether it will be safety or maybe he bulks up enough to play whip. But this guy is a player who carries the lunchpail for a defense. He is a leader and plays the game exactly like it was meant to be played. I can’t wait to see where Reavis ends up.</div>
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<b>Steve Sobczak (DT) - recruited by Bud Foster</b></div>
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One of the biggest misses I’ve ever had in analyzing VT recruits was DT Luther Maddy. Instinctive and strong, but he was short, didn’t look like he had enough speed and also his teammate looked like such a massive talent (Wedley Estime who became Dadi Nicholas), that I assumed the Hokies took Maddy to help land Nicholas when a last minute scholly opened up after Stephone Anthony flipped to Clemson. It goes without saying I was very wrong (fortunately). I will not make that mistake again. Steve Sobczak wins the most underrated recruit of the 2014 Class. Recognized by few recruiting services and with only an offer to James Madison to go along with his offer at Tech, I expected the footage to show a kid completely outclassed. What I saw was a holy terror on film. In Coach Wiles-speak Sobczak “pitches a fit”. This guy played at 330 lbs earlier in his career and then slimmed down to 285 which helps him get off the ball a ton quicker. It also has given him an undying motor. He pursues plays at all times from snap to whistle and his low height along with wide base make him extremely tough to move out of a hole. I also can’t believe his technique already. He is natural with his hand placement, has a great rip move and a decent swim move. I can only assume that early in his career with his weight, he was so slow that he actually had to work on technique to beat a block. Last but not least he played on a very good football team that made it deep into the Virginia state playoffs at a high level of competition. So his film is against other good high school kids unlike much of the footage I see on prospects. And against that competition, Sobczak was very productive. He doesn’t have the ceiling of Ricky Walker, but don’t be surprised if they end up with similar stats by the end of their career, because Sobczak is going to be hard to outwork.</div>
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<b>Greg Stroman (DB) - recruited by Torrian Gray</b></div>
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If only CJ Reavis had Stroman’s speed. Greg Stroman is basically shot out of a cannon in his footage. He is a pure athlete in every sense of the word. Great change of direction, GREAT top end speed, the only question mark is - does he have any coverage or ball skills? If he had good experience with that in high school, I would have likely tagged Stroman as the most underrated recruit of the Class. You can’t coach speed like he has. But I’m cautious here. There was a player like Stroman named Davion Tookes several recruiting classes back who had that same blinding speed. But Tookes never picked up the defense and decided to transfer out of Tech. So it’s not as easy as just being a topflight athlete…….but it helps. And if Coach Gray can reach this kid, Stroman has the athletic ability to be a very good corner at DBU.</div>
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<b>Ricky Walker (DT) - recruited by Bud Foster</b><b></b></div>
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All the Ricky Walker footage I watched was so good I was tempted to name him one of the underrated recruits of the class even though he was a 4 star recruit that everyone in the country tried to land. He is quite simply “can’t miss” as a prospect and his ceiling is as high as any defensive tackle the Hokies have ever had. Whether Walker reaches his potential will depend on how hard he works at VT. He was so much bigger and stronger than his opponents that you just know he didn’t have to push himself to be successful at the high school level. If he does have that inner fire to be great, he certainly has all the tools to do it. Remarkably nimble on his feet for 275 lbs, he can make himself unblockable. The thought of having him and Derrick Nnadi at tackle in this class was going to have me shedding tears of joy, but after missing out on Nnadi, we now turn to 2015 5-star DT Tim Settle who is considering the Hokies. If they land Settle next year to play next to Walker then the middle of the VT Dline will be stout for years to come. </div>
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<b><i>Special Teams</i></b></div>
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<b>Michael Santamaria (K) - recruited by Torrian Gray</b></div>
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This feels like an overreaction to an absolutely horrible year on special teams. Of course Cody Journell also received a kicking scholarship and despite not meeting Hokie standards off the field, he was a very good kicker on the field. I have no basis to evaluate kickers via footage, so I’ll go with Coach Beamer here and concede that Santamaria is a good kicker, but the Hokies have several kids walking on at kicker and I’m a bit surprised the Hokies used a scholarship on a kicker in such a large signing class.</div>
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<b style="font-size: 21px;"><i>Wrap-up</i></b></div>
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Coach Beamer the Elder has famously said for years that he believes that there’s enough talent in the state of Virginia to win with. I have always agreed with that. I think you need some good players from other states, but the core of your team can come from the top talent in Virginia and you’ll be successful. It’s not Florida or Texas, but it’s better than most of the rest of the states. Beamer has proven that with the product on the field. However, other schools know this as well, and in a year when Virginia produced several of the top players in the entire country - probably the richest talent level the state has had in 6 years - the Hokies missed on almost every top player, some of them to UVa, which went 2-10 and whom the Hokies beat. I don’t know what the reasons for that are. I speculate that there are underhanded things happening in football recruiting in Virginia but I don’t have hard evidence of it. What I do know is that this is still an excellent recruiting class, grabbing great players from around the country, but one or two of those top players from Virginia would have made it the best in VT history. </div>
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A specific area I’m seeing improvement in, but not enough is on both offensive and defensive lines in terms of landing top talent. The offensive linemen recruits have been getting better the past few years (Jonathan McLaughlin is a future All-ACC performer, that I completely missed on in last year’s review) but the Hokies still aren’t in enough on the top players at the offensive line position and I just can’t understand it. As I mentioned in the breakdown earlier, the 2014 Class has four athletic, big-framed kids, who have great toughness/aggression, and a few of them are going to pan out. But a few won’t, and I really was excited about Coach Grimes and what he was going to do with “his” guys on the offensive line over a period of time. You could already see the much better coordination of the offensive line last year. Despite losing a lot of one-on-one match ups they at least weren’t falling all over each other, and in a few games (like Bama and Miami) they were really very effective. But Grimes is gone, and now we’ll have to hope that we get lucky again. Coach Searels is a key piece of the puzzle for VT’s offensive success going forward in terms of both recruiting and coaching.</div>
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Similarly, the defensive tackles over the years at VT are always low rated players that Coach Foster and Coach Wiles turn into borderline NFL players. This year I think Steve Sobczak fits that bill, and believe me, I’m glad he came to Tech as he is very underrated. But if you’re a top talent defensive tackle, how can you not consider VT? You’re not being asked to eat up space like in a 3-4 alignment, but rather be a playmaker. Make tackles for loss, rush the QB, force RB’s to cut things outside. I just don’t get how the top level tackles aren’t begging to come play at Tech. Especially in-state kids like Derrick Nnadi and Andrew Brown this year (Really Brown? UVA?) and Korren Kirven last year. Really surprising. Fortunately, Ricky Walker is an elite player at the DT position this year and maybe Tim Settle (who already looks like a grown-ass man) next year will choose Tech to help shore up the position. </div>
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Like we said last year, if you don't have at least one NFL 3rd round or better draft prospect on your offensive and defensive line every season, you're just not going to be able to compete at the top of college football in today's game. The Hokies are getting closer to that, but aren’t there yet. At least the focus on offense this year produced some big time future playmakers in McKenzie, Reid and Isaiah Ford, which were in short supply on the 2013 team and also in the 2013 recruiting class - which makes not giving Chris Mangus more of a legit shot inexplicable to me.</div>
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So we approach this spring practice with great curiosity. How does Leal do in taking over the reins on offense? What does the offensive line look like with so many changes there, including the coach? Is VT ready to turn things around and get back to competing for ACC championships, or are the past two seasons the beginning of a slide downward? The next step begins in April and we can’t wait!</div>
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GO HOKIES!!!!</div>
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MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-67147498564556809322014-02-06T21:32:00.003-05:002014-02-06T21:32:48.280-05:00Recruiting Smacktacular InboundJust a heads-up that the complete breakdown of the Hokies 2014 Recruiting Class is in process and will be posted here sometime this weekend. Get excited about many of these future Hokies!!<br />
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GO HOKIES!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-27952555190257536692013-09-28T13:10:00.003-05:002013-09-28T13:10:48.770-05:003 Key Plays - VT vs. Georgia TechWith the kickoff of the ACC season, it's time to bring back our world famous segment - 3 Key Plays. These are the plays that made the difference in the game in the Hokies 17-10 victory on Thursday night.<br />
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1) With 12:28 left in the 1st quarter, facing 2nd and 4, the Hokies capitalized on a fumble by throwing a crossing route to DJ Coles (who hung on!!!) and he took care of the rest, dashing into the end zone. This score gave the ferocious Hokie defense the lead and really set the tone for the game. It was a well-executed passing play and it was a WORLD of difference between being held to a FG and scoring a TD after creating that turnover. Big play.<br />
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2) With 3:34 left in the 3rd quarter, the Hokies had Georgia Tech in 3rd and goal from the 10 yd line. The ball had been on the 1, but the defense had moved the Yellow Jackets back to the 10. A terrible, floaty pass to the end zone by Vad Lee provided an easy interception opportunity for Detrick Bonner. However, Bonner had other plans, deciding to run up the back of the receiver and sit there for 2 seconds while the ball fluttered toward them and then knocked the ball down. Even though he was beaten on other routes, it was clearly his worst play of the game. Instead of a pick, ending the GT scoring threat, or at least stepping in front of the receiver to force a FG attempt, he was flagged for pass interference and the Jackets converted on the next play to cut the lead to 14-10. Awful play and it made the game a lot closer than it should have been.<br />
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3) 8:24 mark of the 4th quarter and the Jackets, trailing 17-10, have a 4th and 2 at their own 33 yd line. Instead of punting it and letting their defense (which destroyed the Hokies in the 2nd half) squash the Hokie offense, Coach Paul Johnson decided to go for it. DT Derrick Hopkins, who played like an impostor of Ndamukong Suh the entire night, blew up the inside handoff to RB David Sims and stuffed the play short of the 1st down. The Hokies would miss a chippie FG that would have iced the game, but they ran the clock down another 3 minutes and kept GT pinned deep.MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-51730901570721136832013-09-08T21:12:00.001-05:002013-09-08T21:12:13.726-05:00Game Review - VT vs Western CarolinaIn beating Western Carolina 45-3, the Hokies had their best team performance since last season's 37-0 win vs. Bowling Green. But there were some huge differences which provide me a much greater sense of optimism coming out of this ballgame than I felt after the Bowling Green game last season.<br />
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If you think back to that Bowling Green game last season, the Hokies basically needed Logan Thomas to BE the offense. Their first three series were a joke until Thomas finally started running the ball himself and moving the offense. They scored 21 pts in the 2nd quarter and went on to win. The defense pitched a shut-out but they gave up 266 yards to a team that would go on to lose to such notables as Kent State and San Jose State.<br />
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Watching this game against Western Carolina, yes the offense got started a little slowly, but when it began to work it was because the entire offense was coming together. The passing game started to click, the running game began to emerge and the defense was absolutely smothering. The only reason Western Carolina got 3 points was because of a missed catch interference call while Kyshoen Jarrett was fielding a punt on his 10 yd-line. The ball bounced off his foot, WCU recovered and the Hokies held them to a field goal. The remainder of the game, the defense was simply dominant in every facet.<br />
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The key to this offensive unit playing more competently (I'm not ready to call it a resurgence yet, until they do it consistently against better competition) has clearly been the offensive line. The Hokies gave up no sacks on Saturday and were clearing running lanes for all of the backs. And this without their best player - RG Andrew Miller who came out of the lineup with an ankle in the first quarter.<br />
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The other major difference between this game and the game against Bowling Green is that the Hokie coaches were rotating in dozens of different players throughout the entire game! There was no hesitation to play true freshman Kalvin Kline at TE, and he delivered with 4 receptions. The Hokies freely rotated in defensive linemen and receivers to keep the players fresh and give lots of young players plenty of reps. And it paid off with big plays by Willie Byrn, Nigel Williams and of course, I'm sure you didn't expect to read a review of the game and not hear about RB Chris Mangus.<br />
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Yours truly has been scratching his head about Mangus since the spring. Mangus redshirted in 2012, the Hokies lost Michael Holmes to dismissal this year and I figured Mangus would be in the mix at RB. I was asking our source in the program and all sportswriters why there was no mention of Mangus. Even before the Alabama game with Coleman out and Caleb suspended, the coaches seemed to suggest that they would play Mangus reluctantly, because they had no choice. Was it blitz pickup, ball security issues, what exactly was the reason he wasn't being given a vote of confidence?<br />
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I knew it wasn't his ability to run the ball as he was TSF's #1 underrated recruit in the 2012 class. And after running tough at the end of the Bama game last weekend, Mangus got a chance to show that element on Saturday to the rest of Hokie Nation as he took a pitch, broke a tackle on the way to the edge and then beat 3 players with an angle to take it to the house for a 76 yd score. Mangus needs to figure in to the Hokie offense. He is the kind of big play threat that the Hokies didn't have last season. Whether he's in the slot, in a 2 back set with Edmunds or Coleman, or what, Coach Loefler needs to find a way to work Mangus in to the offense.<br />
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Speaking of Edmunds, he demonstrated that the first game vs. Alabama wasn't a fluke. No, he didn't rush for over 100 yards, but he averaged 4.5 yds/carry and ran with toughness and elusiveness. I didn't see a single called run for Logan Thomas in the game. I'm sure there will be plenty of read-option as the season progresses, but not on Saturday. Thomas made some crisp throws with great accuracy and velocity. However, he also had two interceptions, though one of them was not his fault. The first interception was a "make-a-play" ball that QB's give to their #1 receivers on any given Saturday. I saw dozens of those plays in other games last weekend (watch Teddy Bridgewater's TD pass to the end zone in the Louisville game as a perfect example). Thomas threw the ball in a 1-on-1 situation with Knowles and WCU DB Trey Morgan. Knowles is either supposed to catch the ball, or knock it down. He did neither.<br />
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The second INT was also a ball thrown to Knowles, but it was a worse pass and an easier interception. Knowles has speed but he looks like a guy without a lot of wide receiver play in his background, which is, in fact, the case. He needs to develop his ball skills in order to become a true additional threat in this offense. We'll see what Coach Moorehead is all about in his ability to develop these receivers. Catching was better on Saturday but there were still 4 dropped balls which is 4 too many.<br />
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If Andrew Miller's ankle is ok and WR Charley Meyer fully recovers from his hamstring injuries and is capable of making the types of catches and plays that we heard about all summer, this offense can take another step forward against ECU on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Hokie defense will face a much higher talent level challenge than they did against WCU and it will be on the road to boot. As always, we'll learn more about the Hokies next week, and I hope I get to watch the game again.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!!<br />
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<br />MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-58364477579323148542013-09-01T17:15:00.002-05:002013-09-01T17:15:42.634-05:00Game Review - VT vs. AlabamaI thought the strangest I would EVER feel after a Hokie loss was the the Pittsburgh game from 2012. It was the first one where I implemented my gameplan of recording the game but only watching it if the Hokies won. And when I saw that they had lost, I deleted the game from the DVR and felt the most bittersweet emotion I can imagine. Bitter because I couldn't believe I was going to NOT watch or attend a Virginia Tech football game for the first time in 20 years and sweet because I knew that my blood pressure, my stomach ulcer and my unbroken household goods were all the beneficiary of the decision to not watch.<br />
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I felt very disappointed and hurt that the Hokies lost to Pittsburgh - a team they should have beaten - but I had turned a corner in my life and knew that their losing would no longer wreck my personal relationships with my kids, my job attendance nor my health. And life went on. I proceeded to watch 7 and miss 6 of the games last year and was intent on doing the same this season. And truth be told I still will - except for the Alabama game last night.<br />
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You see, my new perspective allowed me, for the first time, to watch a Virginia Tech football game without the unbelievable terror of of the prospect that they would lose. With all of the injuries and departures, and facing a talent gap at some positions even with a fully healthy roster, the Hokies had almost no chance of winning. What I wanted to see last night was - what affect has the new coaching staff had, in gameplan and play calling, and what level of prospect did the Hokies really land in the past two classes with so many freshmen playing Saturday night? And in watching the loss, I didn't feel bittersweet per se, but a strange mix of excitement about the future, pride in how hard some areas of the team played, shock at how badly the receivers played and satisfaction in seeing the VT defense pick right up where they left off last season, if not even better.<br />
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If you want the play-by-play notes, box score and scoring summary, go see our good friends at <a href="http://www.hokiesports.com/football/stats/showstats.html?15555">Hokiesports</a>. Suffice to say here are the 5 most important takeaways from where I sit:<br />
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1) Dat defense! The Hokies played easily the best team they will face in 2013 and the defense looked like more than they just belonged on the field, but they were BETTER than the Alabama offense. The defensive line repeatedly smashed the pocket and shut down running lanes. The secondary and linebackers (Jack Tyler, good Lord) were flying all over the field, knocking away passes and tackling fundamentally and the defensive MVP was Kyle Fuller who played the game of his life. In short, it's the best defensive performance I've seen the Hokies have against top-flight competition since the '04 Sugar Bowl vs. Auburn. If you want a barometer, think about the '07 LSU national champs - that's how good the Alabama offense is - and the Hokie defense was an order of magnitude better than the '07 squad at this point in the season. Of course, the '07 team went on to win the ACC Championship on the back of that defense (and a young freshman QB named Tyrod Taylor).<br />
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2) Beamerball is officially dead. The nail is in the coffin. Despite having a very good punter and kicker, the coverage teams have been subpar the past 3 seasons, (with very little in terms of defensive touchdowns as well). Even then, they haven't been as atrocious as the coverage from last night's game vs. Alabama. The gap discipline was nonexistent such that even if the missed tackles weren't there that resulted in TD's, there would still have been large amounts of return yardage for the Tide. If you want to see kick coverage as it should have been - watch Alabama's special teams. How embarrassing for a coach who built a program on the foundation of special teams and defensive scoring for the Tide to "Beamerball" the Hokies for 21 pts. Coach Beamer hasn't forgotten how to coach special teams, and he communicates the overall vision of the team well with his players and coaches. But with his elevated age and profile as a head coach, he clearly isn't getting through and reaching these players anymore in terms of specific X's and O's. Heartbreaking to watch that last night. I think Bama would have won anyway, but the game would have had a completely different complexion with even decent kick coverage.<br />
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3) The forward pass has been legal in college football for 107 years. I will argue until my deathbed that the worst performance by a quarterback since that day back in 1906 was Grant Noel's performance against Miami in 2001. Noel was 4-16 for 81 yds with 4 interceptions and a fumble. And while Ernest Wilford did drop a well-thrown critical 2 pt conversion in that '01 game, I was there and I can tell you that Noel's passes were so horrible throughout the day, that I just couldn't believe what I was watching. Logan Thomas didn't have a great night last night, but I went back and counted - out of his 26 passes, on 12 of them, the receiver dropped the pass or gave up on the route. He should have legitimately been at least 16 for 26 (one Knowles catch would have been very difficult but he had his hands on it on the sideline), which is very respectable against a defense like Bama's. And on Logan's pick six, WR DJ Coles completely gave up going across the middle. He didn't want any part of it. If I had been Coach Beamer I would have benched Coles for the rest of the game. I've seen receivers "hear the footsteps" or "get alligator arms" but I can't recall a player who kept looking into the middle of the field and jogging at half speed on a short slant route like that. Rece Davis called out the Hokies on College Football Final, saying that were "hot garbage". If anything that's an understatement. Without a 5 fold improvement in receiver play, the Hokies are going to be lucky to go to a bowl this season, much less compete for the ACC title. I expect to see a lot more of Josh Stanford and Charley Meyer next weekend.<br />
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4) The last two classes have obviously been amazing for Hokie recruiting. Players like DB Kendall Fuller, RB Trey Edmunds, LT Jonathan McLaughlin and DB Brandon Facyson weren't just good, they were incredible. DT Nigel Williams and WR Josh Stanford looked like they belonged on the field with Bama. DT Woody Baron and DB Donovan Riley may not quite be ready for primetime but they showed flashes and will be better players for it. I was disappointed in Sam Rogers missing the tackle on Christion Jones' kickoff return and disgusted by Desmond Frye who is fast, but didn't even touch Christion Jones on his TD reception (it's not "bump-n-run" coverage if you don't bump the guy!!!) But you're going to get some freshman mistakes as part of the learning process. Overall, I was truly amazed at how good the Hokies young players were on that stage, I'm very excited about the talent they showed, and I think it bodes well for me being able to watch a LOT of games over the next few years<br />
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5) I finally saw offensive line play to get excited about for the first time in 5 years at VT. True freshman Jonathan McLaughlin is going to be in the NFL someday if he stays healthy. That entire line was cohesive, they communicated and they executed. Adding Coach Jeff Grimes so far looks like the biggest win by a mile in the recent coaching changes that were made. The line was physical in run blocking the entire night and against Bama (!!!) they gave up 1 sack, which is nearly impossible to comprehend. If Grimes can do this with the guys we already have, I can't wait to see what he can do once he lands "his guys" with the 5 inbound freshmen in next year's recruiting class. The line was a joy to watch for once and I can't wait to see them continue to develop this year.<br />
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So there you have it. Now it's worth mentioning that there are no "moral victories". The Hokies lost and it still bothered me to see it. I felt so bad for the defense that plainly leaving their guts out on the field and the offensive line that was doing the same. But contrast this game to the win vs. Rutgers in the bowl game. I didn't see the identity of running the football that I wanted last night, but I saw the ABILITY to run it against a team like Bama and that was amazing. Thinking back to how inept the Hokies were against Rutgers, it looked last night like the offense actually knew how to run a play with cohesion. The one incomprehensible difference was that the receivers couldn't catch anything thrown to them against Bama, but if that gets fixed (and that's a huge if), VT could be in for an exciting season. If they don't get that fixed, than they'd better switch to a triple-option offense and try to run for all their yards and points.<br />
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Either way, I hope they win a lot, selfishly so that I can watch more games. It hurt to see a loss, but I was reminded about how much I love Hokie football watching that game. And I'm stoked about the prospect about getting to watch them vs. Western Carolina next Saturday!<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-48584344070459379282013-08-28T22:28:00.005-05:002013-08-28T22:28:52.150-05:00Game Preview - VT vs. AlabamaLast season was a strange time for me. It was the first season I didn't watch (either live, on the Internet, TV or in person) every Virginia Tech football game in 20 years. I've already outlined <a href="http://techsuperfans.blogspot.com/2012/01/game-review-with-twist-at-end-sugar.html">why I chose to do that</a>, with the straw that broke the camel's back being the catch that they robbed from Danny Coale in the 2012 Sugar Bowl. As a result I only watched the Hokie wins last season and thank God for that, because if I hadn't made that decision I can only imagine how beyond miserable my life would have been.<br />
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Speaking of miserable, that's what the Hokie's chances look like going up against the two-time defending national champion, semi-pro Alabama Crimson Tide in the kickoff game on Saturday. Thirty-one Hokies on the travel roster are true or redshirt freshmen. At least seven projected players from the two-deep headed into the spring have either left the team voluntarily or non-voluntarily or are injured and out/questionable for the game. Now if you want details about who's in or out, what the spread is, <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/nick-saban-eats-oatmeal-creme-pies-breakfast-every-152959098.html">what Nick Saban eats for breakfast</a> or countless other factoids about the game, there are limitless places to find that on the 'Net. But you're here to see an off-the-wall look at the upcoming game so here we go:<br />
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Ok, so the odds haven't looked this bad since 300 Spartans stood at Thermopylae against the countless hordes of Persians. But I think there are two angles that I think people are overlooking. First of all, it may play out like people expect and the Hokies lose the game, but just as those Spartans eventually lost to the Persians, in their valiant effort they inspired a larger victory in the broader war and the Greeks did expel the Persians from their lands. The Hokies, if they rise to this occasion and play well, it could absolutely serve as the catalyst to bring the team together and contend for an ACC title in 2013.<br />
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Second of all, the Hokies could actually win the game. Let's be honest, the talent gap favors 'Bama, that much is clear. But it's not like the talent gap between Michigan and Appalachian State in the Wolverines stunning loss in 2007. And that game was played in Ann Arbor. It's not like the talent gap between Jacksonville State and Ole Miss back in 2010 when the Rebs lost, also at home. This is a neutral site game and though the Tide have the advantage in a few areas, the Hokies are fielding what has the potential to be the best defense since the '07 ACC Championship season.<br />
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And the first game of the season is a wildcard to begin with. The players may or may have not fully picked up the scheme. A blown coverage here, a missed assignment there and a few gamechanging plays could also go VT's way. Of course, the Hokies are also susceptible to these types of mistakes, I'm just saying we won't know which way that cookie crumbles until after kickoff.<br />
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And the biggest reason I feel like the Hokies have a chance in this game is because of how much sits on Alabama's shoulders. They come in the prohibitive favorite, the team attempting to go for a three-peat national title which would be the first time since the 1940's that would have happened. If the Hokies keep the game close, suddenly the pressure rises. Doubt can begin to creep into the Alabama players' minds. The image that is burned indelibly in my mind is AJ McCarron after that LSU game when they went on their game winning drive late last season, sitting on the sidelines in absolute tears of relief. So much is piled on this team's shoulders, it could lead to playing tight. The Hokies on the other hand are in the position they've always excelled in - a chip on their shoulder with everyone betting against them. It's what Coach Beamer built the program on back in the Big East days. You can almost hear and see Rodney Dangerfield on this team, adjusting his tie talking about "I don't get no respect".<br />
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Of course, the Tide do still have a defense filled with future NFL draft picks and two studs at RB and WR in TJ Yeldon and Amari Cooper, with a senior QB in McCarron. And Nick Saban is obviously one of the best, if not the best coach in the business. Besides, I'm not even watching the game live, or on delay if the Hokies lose. So the Hokies will be down one loud screaming voice supporting them.<br />
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And so knowing that's the place I'm at as a fan now, and facing a nearly unbeatable opponent to kick off the new season, with half a dozen key players either having left the Hokies or sitting out injured and 31 freshmen on the travel squad, I can understand someone wondering what the hell business do I have being so incredibly excited about Saturday's game in the Georgia Dome vs. Alabama?<br />
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The answer: I'm still stone cold crazy. I may have found a more successful way to address my illness by only watching Hokie wins in order to save my TV, my household furniture and my children's view of their father, but just like every other year the sleepless nights have started this week and that pit is forming in the very bottom of my stomach. Virginia Tech football is about to take the field again and while I'll only know if I'll be watching the game Saturday night after it's over, you can be 100% certain of this fact - if the Hokies win, I'll watch the game twice back-to-back staying up however late that night it takes.<br />
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As always (and for the first time in 2013) - GO HOKIES!!!!!!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-57062235357154743252013-07-29T18:39:00.001-05:002013-07-29T18:39:08.271-05:00Let's Get Psyched!<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hROXiMUddy4" width="459"></iframe>Anand Trivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08108217732167672187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-5345666292306791942013-02-10T15:59:00.000-05:002013-02-10T15:59:16.406-05:00The 2013 Recruiting SmacktacularThe Year of "2012 - The Sequel"<br />
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The Class of 2012 had some excellent skill position players, some of whom were ready to take the field last season, others who show great promise for the future. There were even a few prospects at defensive end. But it was lacking in any sort of depth for those warriors in the heart of the trenches- the "Big Uglies" as the legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson used to call them.<br />
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The Class of 2013 if anything, exhibits even greater talent away from the line of scrimmage, than the 2012 Class did. And there are some Class of "2012" members who actually count in the Class of 2013. If you want to see the profiles of Seth Dooley, Woody Baron or Jerome Wright, please see our <a href="http://techsuperfans.blogspot.com/2012/02/recruiting-smacktacular-2012.html">2012 Recruiting Smacktacular</a>.<br />
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However, despite better talent in the four offensive line prospects that come into this class than 2012, the Hokies yet again fall miserably short in getting bigtime offensive line prospects, or even enough prospects into the class. My Calm and Beloved Reader, you have to look no further than LAST SEASON to see what happens when a team doesn't have a full complement of high quality offensive linemen at their disposal. Despite strong play from Nic Becton and Vinston Painter at tackle in their one-on-one battles with ends (at least in the games I watched), the interior of the line was a mishmash of garbage, never playing with any drive off the ball or any consistency, as various players came into and out of the lineup. The results speak for themselves.<br />
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Having said that, after spending the past several weeks going over interviews, game film and comments from high school coaches and teammates, I will admit that I am excited about the overall quality of the class. The Hokies can do battle with programs from around the country to land talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. And there appear to be very few bad apples in this class as well, which bodes well for continued team chemistry. These players are consistently mentioned for being the type of hard-working, team-first players that the Hokies have built their program on and that I'm proud to see represent Virginia Tech. Having said all of that, this is called the Year of 2012 The Sequel because there still isn't enough "beef" to make the difference on the interior that is so obvious to me when I watch the top teams in the country. If you don't have at least one NFL 3rd round or better draft prospect on your offensive and defensive line every season, you're just not going to be able to compete at the top of college football in today's game.<br />
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Now, that was plenty of ado, so without much further ado, let's get into it. As always, check out our friends at <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/virginiatech/football/recruiting/commitments/2013/virginiatech-16">Rivals</a> for the full measureables on each prospect. But if you want to know who's going to be a stud and who's going to be an also-ran, continue on down the wormhole.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"><i>Offense</i></span></b><br />
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<b>Kyle Chung (OT) - recruited by Charley Wiles</b><br />
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Ok so it's ironic that immediately after I rail on the offensive line in the intro, one of the better OL prospects in the class happens to come up first for discussion. Kyle comes from great stock with his dad being Eugene Chung, former Hokie great and NFL lineman. Kyle's fundamentals and footwork are miles ahead of most kids coming out of high school as a result and he's athletic, having played some tight end. Really the only question is, how strong can he get and how much weight can he carry on his frame without losing the athleticism? VT has had enough kids who can "really get after ya", it's time one of these prospects takes it up a notch and starts crushing people on a consistent basis. Chung has the potential to be one who does, based on his pedigree and film, but "potential" is a dangerous word.<br />
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<b>Bucky Hodges (QB) - recruited by Bryan Stinespring</b><br />
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This may be called the Year of the Sequel, but I think when people look back 5-6 years from now on the 2013 Class, they're really going to associate whether this was a good or a great class based on the development of Bucky Hodges. He looks like a thinner version of Logan Thomas coming out of high school, but he has a quicker, more compact throwing motion, and isn't quite as athletic. New OC/QB Coach Scot Loeffler gets a ton of raw material to work with here and we're going to find out in very short order what kind of QB coach he really is. If Hodges can learn to read a defense and manage the game, he looks like the type of player who can be a star. If he either doesn't have that mental toughness and quick recognition ability, or Loeffler can't reach him, he'll just be another Jordan Jefferson-type of QB - serviceable, but never able to live up to the athletic talent.<br />
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<b>Jonathan McLaughlin (OL) - recruited by Bryan Stinespring</b><br />
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McLaughlin was originally an East Carolina commit, who after a year of prep school, switched to the Hokies, thanks to the hard work by Bryan Stinespring. It's always good to get a kid in who has had a year of prep school to go against tougher competition, and McLaughlin helps put another body in the trenches this spring, which the Hokies really need right now, but nothing leaps off the tape as special about him. He is big enough but doesn't appear dominating in any of his footage, unless going against a somewhat smaller player. McLaughlin is the type of prospect the Hokies need to sign behind two-to three stud prospects, because he could be a sleeper and work hard enough in the weight room to become a starter, but you don't want to rely on him being a contributor as part of your four player OL recruiting class, which is what's happening here.<br />
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<b>Deon Newsome (WR) - recruited by Cornell Brown</b><br />
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Deon Newsome is the second legacy Hokie mentioned in this class as his dad, Myron Newsome, was a LB for VT back in the day. Newsome is just an all-around football player and you can tell he grew up around the game. He played everywhere for the Hampton Crabbers, but most of his snaps were at QB (wearing #5 a la Tyrod Taylor). Newsome wasn't always the fastest guy on the field, but the 757 is filled with kids who can fly, so he's also not exactly slow. However, he has great stop/start acceleration and just has that knack which makes him a danger with the ball in his hands. And I say a "knack" because he doesn't even make a ton of flashy moves, he just always seems to be gliding north/south and avoiding tackles. I see him being able to contribute both in the return game and as a slot receiver.<br />
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<b>Parker Osterloh (OL) - recruited by Curt Newsome (closed by Bryan Stinespring)</b><br />
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My goodness, this Osterloh fella is a monster. 6'7 1/2", 300 lbs and he has more room to grow into that frame. Unfortunately the level of competition he played at was very poor, he appears to have had little coaching at the offensive line position, and basically his footage is of him just getting in the way of anyone trying to futilely get past because he's so much larger and more athletic than they are. I liken the relationship to him and new OL Coach Jeff Grimes to that of OC Scot Loeffler/ QB prospect Bucky Hodges. We're going to learn about what Coach Grimes can do given a lot of raw material because Osterloh could develop into an absolute monster. If he gets a lot stronger and learns the position well, he could be an amazing All-ACC caliber performer. Or he could just be another big guy, not able to get on the field. The type of prospects the Hokies need to be going after, are the kids that have the fundamentals of a Kyle Chung, but have a frame like Parker Osterloh. In the meantime, we'll hope that both of these young men can reach their maximum potential and become solid linemen for VT.<br />
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<b>Carlis Parker (QB) - recruited by Bryan Stinespring</b><br />
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The 2nd most underrated recruit in the 2013 Class is Carlis Parker. I don't know what most recruiting sites were thinking about, but Parker has got a very nice throwing motion, can throw well on the run, and is a legitimate running threat from the QB position. He's tall enough to see over the line, but still can shake'n'bake to escape pocket pressure, which he feels very naturally. Recruiting sites might have missed him but all the North Carolina schools came on late and even the SEC beckoned with an offer from USC. Now most of those other offers were as an "athlete" (which should indicate what kind of athletic talent Parker is) while the Hokies promised him his first shot will be at QB and from his footage, this looks legit. Fast + elusive + a live arm = excitement, as we know all too well in Blacksburg.<br />
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<b>Braxton Pfaff (OL) - recruited by Cornell Brown</b><br />
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I have to admit that while I have really been down on the Hokies OL recruiting the past few seasons, in terms of overall quality of prospects along with not enough prospects in each class, there has been at least one player in each class whose footage just gets me fired up watching it. Yeah, these guys don't have all the tools of the top prospects, but they still get after it, they play extremely physically and they give it hell on every play. And to me, that type of battling in the trenches, though it doesn't get the highlights on TV, is really where you can boil the game of football down to. Who wins that battle - the blocker or the defender? Braxton Pfaff is that guy for me this year, who just makes me want to run around and break stuff. He's a big ball of effort and hustle on every play and I don't mean to short sell his footwork or arm strength, as he is a legit prospect, he's just not a Kyle Bosch or Dorian Johnson from this year's OL class. Now I fully expect this kid to embrace the weight room and if nothing else, he is going to represent the hard-nosed, physical type of line play that Coach Jeff Grimes went on and on about at his introductory press conference. Glad Pfaff is a Hokie.<br />
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<b>David Prince (ATH) - recruited by Cornell Brown</b><br />
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David Prince will be competing for a similar role as the previously mentioned Deon Newsome - returner and slot receiver. And while they both played a lot of QB in high school, and both were in rushing roles from the QB position, their running styles are very different. Newsome is that guy people always miss their first shot at, who makes a couple of moves while he's running and then puts his head down and gets the most out of every play. David Prince is a one-move and he's GONE type of guy. The kid can flat-out burn it. He outran every type of angle, just relying on his blazing speed. Put simply he was uncatchable in high school. He isn't going to break many tackles or shake you out of your shoes, but give him a step and it's six points. Football is a results game, so the question will be whether Newsome's or Prince's style of play is more effective at the college level, but whichever one is, they will add excitement to Lane Stadium in the years to come.<br />
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<b>D.J. Reid (RB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b><br />
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Makes sense that the RB coach would recruit a running back under the radar like D.J. Reid. Reid is the 3rd most underrated recruit in this year's class, as the thought of him being a 3 star running back is laughable. The footage I watched appeared to be a Kill the Man with the Ball Fest, as there were defenders breaking through everywhere in 9 man fronts, so it seems that he was the lone threat on offense for his team (reminded me of watching what teams tried to do to the Vikings this year with Adrian Peterson). And because of that, Reid didn't have a ton of TD runs like many other prospects, so maybe that's what hurt his rating. But Reid is incredible instinctive, he has great feet and good balance. He'll have to be taught to trust linemen and read blocks, but he can run over a defender, around one or make them miss. Reid is just meant to run the football. He is also big enough to be a huge weapon in the passing game as he is easily physical enough to block a LB or slip out of the backfield, as long as he can pick up the mental aspects. All in all, this is a fantastic addition to the class and I'm pretty certain Reid will earn a chance to join the lineage of Hokie starting RB's later in his career.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"><i>Defense</i></span></b><br />
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<b>Chuck Clark (S) - recruited by Bryan Stinespring</b><br />
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The defensive side of the ball is just filled with unbelievable talent in 2013 and it starts with Chuck Clark at safety. His footage is straight out of a 1990's montage of BeamerBall. The kid is returning punts for TD, he's blocking kicks, forcing fumbles, picking off passes and taking them to the house. Clark picked off four passes last season and returned THREE of them for TD which is ridiculous. The two-time defensive Player of the Year in SE Virginia, Clark just has that instinctive nose for the ball. And despite a running motion that I can only describe as awkward, he is still pretty fast. He will be working with his track team this spring to clean up his running motion, which should only make him that much faster. And he's already plenty physical. The Hokies have really landed some great safety prospects the past few years and Clark is right in the mix amongst the best.<br />
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<b>Brandon Facyson (CB) - recruited by Torrian Gray</b><br />
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Would I sound completely insane if I said that it's possible that the best cornerback signed in this class ends up being Brandon Facyson instead of Kendall Fuller? Fuller is more polished right now, there is no question, but Facyson is the winner of TSF's most underrated recruit in this year's class. Watching him reminds me of watching a young Nnmadi Asomugha who, when he played for the Raiders a few years ago, was the best shutdown cover corner in the NFL. Facyson is that rare breed of big, tall corner who still has the open hips and incredible change of direction that lets him come out of his break to make a play on the ball. He also has excellent ball skills, always high-pointing the football whether on offense or defense and plays very physically in the run game, not just enjoying the contact, but comes up on the football in a fundamentally sound way. Facyson has plenty to learn about technique as he often had to overcome being out of position by simply being so much more athletic than his opponents, but physically, he is the most exciting prospect at cornerback I've seen sign with the Hokies since Jayron Hosley. VT beat out literally half the schools in the SEC and Charlie Strong at Louisville to land him out of Georgia.<br />
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<b>Holland Fisher (DB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b><br />
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Holland Fisher is one of those guys whose stock kept improving throughout the camp season last summer. He showed he had ball skills, could cover and still played with immense physicality. A very early Hokie commit, basically everyone in the country went after him, including Alabama and Ohio State who both pursued very hard. But Fisher stayed true to his commitment and the Hokies are getting a big, fast heat-seeking missile. He can accelerate to full speed by his second step which is just unbelievable to watch on film. He's 6'2" but plays with a much lower center of gravity than that. The coaches are going to give Fisher a shot at rover, but I'm not sure he's top-speed fast enough to play there. I do, however, think he's a future STAR at the whip position once he puts on 15-20 lbs or so through some Gentrification, as he spent his high school career playing close to the line of scrimmage. Fisher is a great example of how, on defense, the Hokies can go head-to-head with ANYONE in America for a prospect, because of the perception of the Hokie defense. It shows yet again, why it's so important that the offensive staff begin building a similar tradition.<br />
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<b>Kendall Fuller (DB) - recruited by Torrian Gray</b><br />
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Torrian Gray only recruited two players in the 2013 Class, but they were both cornerbacks and they are both unbelievable. What else is there to say about Kendall Fuller? Like I mentioned above, he comes in ready to play. His brothers have prepared him to understand the defensive backfield concepts that Coach Gray uses, and he obviously is physically gifted. Donaldven Manning has all of the instincts one could want in a CB, but he was undersized, being forced into action so early in his career and lost his confidence and nearly left the program. I have a feeling that for Kendall, confidence won't be an issue. He also looks to be the fastest Fuller (either him or older brother Corey). The only small issue I saw in his footage was, he doesn't seem to have top flight ball skills, but then, he's playing DB not WR, so that's nitpicking. Really with Fuller the only question is - will he be great? I have zero doubt, that he's ready for the college game and he will be good. But how hard will he push himself? How seriously will he take the coaching and the weight room and the film study? He has the talent to play already, but to be one of the great ones, he has to drive himself to do those other things and keep trying to outwork his opponents. That's a lot to ask a kid who already has the world at his feet, and doesn't HAVE to outwork his opponents to be a contributor. We will see.<br />
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<b>Cequan Jefferson (DB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b><br />
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Jefferson isn't big and he's not as athletic as the two other cornerback prospects the Hokies brought in this class, but he's instinctive, and extremely tough for his size. Watching footage, he's clearly one of those guys that the game just comes naturally to. He comes off of the man he's covering to make plays on a regular basis. If Jefferson was a half step faster or a little bigger, he'd be much more highly rated. As it stands, he could still surprise some people. I could easily see him having a standout special teams career at Tech (similar to Alonzo Tweedy).<br />
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<b>Jameion Moss (LB) - recruited by Charley Wiles</b><br />
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The "freak show" position on the Hokie defense is the Backer spot. Now Bruce Taylor was successful last season in the role just because he knew the defense so well. But think of the James Anderson's and Xavier Adibi's, as guys who have no business being that fast at that size, that made the Hokie defenses go. Plays are "spilled" to the Backer because the Backer is supposed to be your playmaker. Jameion Moss is a little too small to star in that right away, but the kid can absolutely fly at 210 lbs. I loved his pursuit and his ability to come off of blocks to the correct side to make the play. If he can put on 20 lbs and keep that speed (a big if) he has the capability to be that playmaker for VT in 2-3 years.<br />
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<b>Andrew Motuapuaka (LB) - recruited by Shane Beamer</b><br />
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This young man is to the linebacker spot what Cequan Jefferson is to the cornerback position in this year's class - at first glance you think "No way." He looks too short to play the spot, his arms just don't have enough length like a Jameion Moss to hold off blockers, and then you put on the tape and he's just all over the field. Motuapuaka has an endless motor, he's faster than I thought he'd be, and talk about playing the game violently! He relishes contact and makes big hit after big hit. He is a natural at the game and so, like Jefferson, it will be a function of if he can get fast and strong enough to overcome his size disadvantage and get out there to play in what is a very competitive position on the Hokie football team - the Mike spot in the middle. Jack Tyler is able to do it at that size through incredible instincts and he is faster than people realize. Perhaps Motuapuaka will emerge as a similar playmaker later in his career.<br />
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<b>Anthony Shegog (DB) - recruited by Bud Foster</b><br />
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Anthony Shegog looks custom built to be a rover in the Hokie defense. He is a big body who can really run, and he absolutely loves contact. Shegog played all over the field in high school, so he's been at corner and safety and linebacker, which if you put those three in a blender, is really what the Hokies are looking for in a rover anyway. Tech landed Shegog over UVa which is always awesome to bring an in-state kid in over the Wahoos. He models his game after Kam Chancellor and he has a similar frame, so it will be interesting to see Shegog's development. If he is successful, it really will help the Hokies by allowing them to move Holland Fisher to where he can be a terror at whip.<br />
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<b>Wyatt Teller (DE) - recruited by Bud Foster</b><br />
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Coach Foster may have only landed two prospects in the 2013 Class but they are stellar (would you expect anything less from this legend?) It's a shorter list of schools that didn't offer Wyatt Teller than the ones who did. Despite being ranked so highly by recruiting services, I nearly listed him as one of our underrated recruits, because he has the best defensive end footage I've seen in some time (which is saying something when you think of players like Corey Marshall and James Gayle). Now Teller is a very different type of player than those guys. He isn't an athletic wonder, running a 4.4 40 yd-dash in a 220 lb frame that we hope gets big enough. Instead, Teller is a full-grown merciless terror on the football field. The only way to describe what I watched was that he MAULED the opponent, whether it be an offensive tackle, a guard, the running back, a double-team, you name it, Teller destroyed it. One play that sticks out to highlight his strength is that he chases a running back down the line and with the back running forward, Teller literally grabs the back, lifts him up (the back's legs are still running in the air) and turns and brings him down facing back towards the line of scrimmage. He is already 250 lbs and it seems likely to me that he moves inside to the defensive tackle spot. He is very quick in space, he's just probably not fast enough to play defensive end. But I shudder to imagine a redshirt year spent getting meaner and tougher with Mike Gentry and I'm pretty certain Wyatt Teller is going to be a name Hokies everywhere will know by the 2015 season.<br />
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<b><i>Wrap-up</i></b><br />
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The great thing about analyzing recruiting is that it allows to me do what I enjoy - just watch the game of football and evaluate player performance, without the stress and agony of a Hokie victory hanging in the balance. So, yes, while I only watched the wins for Virginia Tech this past year, I watched hours of footage and film on players the Hokies were in on, whether they signed them or not. And I've come to the same conclusion that I reached the past two seasons - the Hokies aren't getting enough top talent in the middle of the offensive and defensive lines. It will be very interesting to see the impact of this new offensive staff (a change that I still am not fully recovered from the shock of after hoping and dreaming of it for so long) on many areas of the team.<br />
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New OC Scot Loeffler will be a fascinating topic to study and discuss regarding his impact on QB development, game-planning and playcalling, all of which will have massive implications, to be sure, on VT's football future. But I think one of the biggest opportunities to make an impact is OL Coach Jeff Grimes who comes to Blacksburg with a strong history of recruiting linemen, especially in the ultra-competitive SEC. Can he begin getting Tech in on the foundational type of linemen that you can build an offense around? After watching the footage, I do honestly believe one of this year's crop of offensive linemen will develop into a very effective starter for Virginia Tech, (my guess is Osterloh or Chung) but you just can't afford to go 1 for 4 in terms of being right about linemen. You want to get at least 2-3 stud offensive linemen each year and then take a project or two who you think could develop into very effective players. I am already excited about seeing the impact of Grimes on the Class of 2014.<br />
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So what's left to discuss on this year's class? In what's become a common refrain, the defensive talent was plucked from among the very best along the whole East Coast. The Hokies won recruiting battles against in-state programs as well as national powers and continued to reload. I was (and still am) a big fan of Davion Tookes from the 2012 Class, but I think Facyson and Fuller both have the potential to be first team all-conference performers, if not even better at cornerback and Wyatt Teller is an awesome addition to the line.<br />
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Regarding offense, maybe what's most interesting about the 2013 Class is two players who were supposed to join VT this year after a year of prep and neither is currently scheduled to do so: Thomas Smith was a massive prospect at WR who never made it to Fork Union where he was going to prep for a year, and Drew Harris was the next big thing at RB who has run into some academic qualification difficulties. Smith was pretty impressive but not landing him isn't that big of a deal because the WR corps is still deep and the Hokies have added a few more prospects this year to that position in Prince and Newsome. The addition of DJ Reid at running back makes me feel a lot better about the decreasing possibilities of landing Harris, but I still hold out hope that Harris makes it to Blacksburg, as I think he'd be a solid complement to the blazing Chris Mangus (who I still think is going to take people by surprise).<br />
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I find I'm more excited about spring practice than usual (which if you know me is REALLY saying something) just to see how this new offensive staff goes about their business. I'm expecting an increased energy level and it would be so tremendous if, for a change, the offense was really able to push to the defense to a higher level. I'm not expecting that from an execution standpoint in the very first spring that the Hokies are trying to learn this new offense, but from an energy level standpoint it should be very interesting. And I also look forward to seeing those prospects who've already enrolled, especially Carlis Parker at QB and Brandon Facyson at CB to see is they still look as impressive athletically when matched up against current Division I-A talent.<br />
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Of course, as Susan Bissonette once said - "An optimist is the human personification of spring" so let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Oh what the hell. Let's.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-75830469633502789722013-01-13T14:36:00.002-05:002013-01-13T14:36:33.443-05:002012 Hokies Football - Mad Jay looks back<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;">I started following Virginia Tech football the year I started attending there - 1993. When I chose the school, it was because of its reputation as a great engineering school and I had no idea the football program was in such a shambles, coming off of a 2-8-1 season. I attended every home game my freshman year, had great seats as a student, and saw the Hokies end up going 9-3, winning the Independence Bowl and starting a bowl streak that continues to today.</span><br />
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I was already a huge football fan, so it was easy to turn Hokie football into my religion. And for these past 20 years, I re-arranged my life around VT football games. Spent untold amounts on going to games, ordering them up on TV or the internet and watching them all. The last 10 years were spent watching the team beat its head against a wall because of ineptitude on the offensive coaching staff. In 2011, I finally saw a glimmer of hope on the offensive side of the ball, with Coach O'Cain doing a good job in his playcalling on gameday and Coach Stinespring completely removed from the booth. But that culminated in Coach Beamer throwing the Sugar Bowl away with several unbelievably bad decisions, and I knew that was the end of it for me. I wouldn't risk health nor home, life nor limb for Coach Beamer anymore. Watching Hokie wins was all I was capable of.</div>
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So in 2012, I only saw 7 of the Hokies' games. Now you can draw your own conclusions on if my following the team closely had any impact on their record, but either way, thank goodness I chose this course for 2012. The wins were so ugly, I shudder to imagine what the losses looked like. I know it would have done irreparable damage to my health to watch this entire season the way I had watched the previous 20. But since I didn't, I'm in no place to do a position group by position group breakdown of the team. I only saw just over half the games. But there are some observations that are pretty obvious to me, just from watching the wins, including the Rutgers game.</div>
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1) I think Coach Stinespring felt emasculated after the 2011 season. He was offensive coordinator in name only, and the only one in college football who didn't call the plays, if the head coach didn't have that duty (like CPJ at Georgia Tech for example). </div>
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As a result, Coach Stiney was determined that 2012 would have his mark on it. So he went to several NFL teams and Texas in order to create some new mastermind hybrid/pistol offense. And not only that, with so many aspects of the offense being new, now he was "needed" in the booth again. The 2011 formula of Stinespring doing the rah-rah thing on the sidelines while O'Cain called the offense from the booth were gone. And from the look of the results on the field, it was an unmitigated disaster. </div>
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The offense was uncomfortable in all aspects. Logan Thomas never looked in rhythm. The running game was a joke, with far too little Martin Scales and far too much shuffling of players for any of them to get into the flow of the game. The playcalling, particularly in the Russell Athletic Bowl, was desperate. If there was any play that even remotely worked, the Hokies would just call that exact same play a second time in a row. Grasping at straws is what it felt like and you could sense that there was conflict in the booth between Stinespring and O'Cain. I understand why Coach Stinespring wanted to change things up from 2011- the offense had success and he was only peripherally involved. What I don't understand is why Coach Beamer the Elder allowed this. </div>
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2) Coach Foster hasn't lost a step. Having watched the final three games of the 2012 season, that looked every bit like a Hokie defense of old. People flying to the ball from all over the field, forcing turnovers and three and outs. The defense only allowed a 22% third down conversion rate, which would have been the best in the nation over the course of a season by more than 4%!! I think it is one of the strangest things that Coach Foster was never given a chance to be head coach of a good football program. He's everything I'd want as that coach if I were an AD.</div>
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3) This 2012-13 offseason is absolutely critical. Now that VT has danced so closely with missing a bowl, I think Coach Beamer recognizes how fragile it is. I don't think he wants to step down, but not even he can remain oblivious to the dramatic difference between the level of execution on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. The difference has been there for years, but it was easy for Beamer to remain loyal to his friend Stinespring when the team was winning 10 games every year. The incompetence can be overlooked no more. And so the rumor mill swirls about what's going to happen. </div>
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4) Here's what I think should happen - Coach Cav should step down and retire and Coach Stinespring takes that position as Director of Recruiting. Coach Sherman is gone to Purdue to coach receivers. Coach O'Cain and Coach Newsome should take the first job that comes along that they can land. In Newsome's case, a trip back to JMU makes a lot of sense, considering his recruiting ties to the area and the fact that he belongs coaching at that next level down anyway. This frees up a new offensive coordinator to come in and bring in a staff that knows his offense. And it keeps Stinespring in the program as a recruiter which he's good at. Plus he's not going to land a job anywhere else as a coach. This is what I see as a best case scenario and will create a lot of buzz going into the 2013 recruiting class and beyond.</div>
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5) Speaking of recruiting, we will have the annual recruiting class breakdown ready to go in early February. This class is shaping up to be yet another very talented class, headlined by the Army All-American Defensive Player of the Year - Kendall Fuller (younger brother of past Hokie Vinnie and current Hokie Kyle). But it also looks light on offensive linemen which would fly in the face of everything Coach Beamer should have learned going through the lean 2005-2008 years. But then again, the entire point of this post has been how Coach Beamer is in a kind of old dog/new tricks situation. How he handles the next 30-60 days will have far-reaching implications on his legacy and the future of Virginia Tech football.</div>
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I just hope I get to watch a lot more games next year.</div>
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!!!</div>
MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-37818306652072515202012-10-29T20:58:00.000-05:002012-10-29T20:58:00.698-05:00Game Preview - VT vs. MiamiIsn't this something? The Hokies are 4-4 which means I've only watched 4 games of Hokie football this year. I know this is going to sound nuts, but the year before I got to Tech the Hokies were 2-8-1. I went to nearly every home game during my career at Tech, missing 2 maybe 3 games total and the Hokies grew into a force to be reckoned with.<br />
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I watched the Hokies religiously every year after I left Tech, getting back to as many games as I could, spending god knows how much money on ESPN Gameplan back in its infancy where you had to pay for the entire day and then I'd just watch the Hokie game. And then this year, before the season started, I decided I'm only going to watch wins and the Hokies go back into the tank again.<br />
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Maybe there's a karmic connection between my willingness to suffer the pain, wear and tear of supporting Hokie football all-in and the Hokies having great seasons. Even knowing that, I can't go back. The dull, sick feeling of seeing a Hokie loss scroll across my iPhone totally sucks, but it pales next to the wrenching agony I used to be in. My home life is better, my health is better and who knows - maybe this poor performance by the team will force Coach Beamer into making those changes on offense.<br />
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Having said that, let me offer what I've seen in the Hokie wins that might tie into what's been going on this season. As if it wasn't plainly obvious what's going on to anyone who has watched Hokie football with even the least bit of zealotry the past few years. The reasons for failure are no different than they have been for a decade or more. The Hokies are missing the gamechangers in the trenches and the offensive scheme and playcalling has reverted to the trainwreck we all witnessed from 2006-2009.<br />
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I wonder if there's anything different about how the offensive coaching is structured during the week and on gameday than it was last year in 2011 when Tech's offense showed the first signs of making sense since the Rickey Bustle era? When it relied on rightly timed calls and decent execution instead of the magic of a Tyrod Taylor or a Bryan Randall making a heaping glass of lemonade out of a stinking pile of lemons?<br />
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Hmmm, yes that's right. Boy Wonder Bryan Stinespring has left his motivational hot spot on the sidelines where he pumped everybody up during the 2011 season, and joined Coach O'Cain in the booth this year. And during the offseason he brought the pistol and pre-snap motion concepts into the playbook and is doing most of the game-planning work around those during the week. Suddenly, and I'm sure on a COMPLETELY unrelated note, even in Hokie wins, the offense has looked like a circus, complete with damn Benny Hill music and people running around chaotically at 1.5x normal speed!!!!!!!<br />
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Now despite this preposterously poor performance on offense, the Hokies find themselves at 4-4 and 2-2 in the conference. And because UNC is ineligible, the Hokies actually are in complete control of their destiny to - and I know how stupid this sounds, believe me - GO TO THE ACC TITLE GAME as the Coastal Division representative.<br />
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It starts against a Miami team that is coming off of 3 straight losses but has dealt with a lot of injuries and is now coming off it's bye week. It starts on the road IN Miami on a Thursday night on national TV. And the key to the game will be can the Hokies cobble together an O-line that can get a push on the defensive front and actually execute a sensible offensive gameplan? I think the Hokie defense can hold these Canes to 17-20 pts, but I'm completely unconvinced the offense can put up that many.<br />
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And by the way, speaking of defense, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this season, Coach Foster's defense has shown a chink in it's armor, to be sure. But I think it's safe to say they're showing improvement. The defense I saw flying around the field in the final 3 quarters vs. Duke is what I'm accustomed to seeing. And by all accounts, the Hokie D was a force against Clemson, holding it to a season low in yardage.<br />
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Lastly, let me go ahead, since I have to do this every <a href="http://techsuperfans.blogspot.com/2009/09/game-review-vt-vs-nebraska.html">few years or so</a> (see item #10) and defend Logan Thomas. All this garbage from Todd McShay and even fans in Hokie Nation about how the "ball doesn't come naturally out of his hand" or any of the other countless ridiculous things that have been said, are just plain dumb. Thomas is on track to have a better season than last year statistically, minus the INT's, and several of the ones I've seen haven't been his fault (tipped balls or heaves at the end of a half). Sure he's had some bad throws, overthrowing most of the time in that case, but this is his 2nd full season as a QB. LT has unlimited talent, he's a leader, he has poise, his receivers have dropped a lot of passes, and the fact is, Thomas has made throws throughout his career that very few QB's are capable of making. Period.<br />
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So the Hokies have a shot to hit the reset button on their season on Thursday night. They either will or they won't and it's my personal hope that I get to stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning that night watching a sweet Virginia Tech victory.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-713805523459575232012-10-16T19:50:00.000-05:002012-10-16T19:50:05.224-05:003 Key Plays - VT vs. DukeWow, it felt REALLY good to watch a Virginia Tech game again. Although I have to admit, after seeing the score, I was in a complete state of shock watching the first quarter. I was thinking to myself "How in the name of all things maroon and orange are the Hokies going to come back, shut Duke down and rip off 41 straight points?" And what's so interesting about that is that it made identifying the three key plays that much easier.<br />
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1) With all the momentum in the world against the Hokies, they faced a 20-0 deficit and a 2nd and 2 at the Duke 44 yd-line late in the 1st quarter. Logan Thomas dropped back and found WR Marcus Davis for a 40 yard bomb that put the ball down on the 4 yd-line and the Hokies would pound it in from there, making the score 20-7. Huge turning point.<br />
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2) The next play was the critical play of the game. Ahead 20-10, Duke had driven down to the Hokies 29 yd-line with about 30 seconds left in the half. One more completion and it was a definitely make-able FG for the Blue Devils to recapture the momentum and go ahead 23-10. But QB Sean Renfree's throw hit the all-time leading receiver in Duke's history (Connor Vernon) in the hands at the 20 yd-line and miraculously it bounced off, settling in Detrick Bonner's hands, who returned it to the Duke 42 yd-line.<br />
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3) And the coup de gras was Logan Thomas finding Davis all along down the near sideline for a 42 yd TD completion on the very next play to make it 20-17 going into halftime and the Hokies steamrolled in the 2nd half, running away with the game.<br />
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Make no mistake folks, the Hokies played with a lot of guts. But that pass to Connor Vernon is caught 99 out of 100 times, and we're talking about a completely different ballgame if that had happened. The Hokies have to execute at a very high level at the skill positions this year, because the offensive line is a MASH unit of injuries and they weren't exactly dominant even when the starters were healthy. Plus they just lost their best lineman in Andrew Miller at center and the backup, Caleb Farris is also out with an ankle.<br />
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The team is ok, but they are a long way from being good. We'll see what steps they can take against Clemson. Look for the preview later this week.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-4066656341749392882012-10-04T22:56:00.000-05:002012-10-04T22:56:11.797-05:00Game Preview - UNC vs. Virginia TechEvery once in a while, in football, you'll have a game that isn't about the matchup. The personnel groupings of the offense vs. the defense don't mean a damn thing when considering who will win the game. Sure, the Tarheels bring a different defensive scheme and offensive scheme to the table than they did last year. But the defense is the old 4-2-5, bring six on the rush, cover with five that Gary Patterson perfected at TCU. And the offense is the Gus Malzahn/Chad Morris-influenced offense that the Hokies have seen against Clemson, ECU and others. It's the "snap the ball as many times as you can in a game to tire your opponent" philosophy.<br />
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Sure, the Hokies struggled to stop Clemson, but the point is that these schemes aren't "new". They are, however, in their first year of implementation at UNC so those players don't have all the execution details down yet. To that point, UNC has played 5 games. Their losses? To Wake Forest and Louisville. Their wins? Against Elon, East Carolina and Idaho. So they haven't beaten anyone good, and they've crushed their less talented opponents.<br />
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But all of that is really thrown out the window. Because, this is one of those season-defining games that Coach Beamer has literally built his career on. I remember it, in 1995 coming against Miami. More recently, in 2010 it was against NC State in Raleigh and in 2011 it was against Miami at Lane. The formula is simple. Coach Beamer loses some games in the season he shouldn't lose and the team's back is against the wall. Are they going to get back up off the mat and fight? Or will they pack it in? And you know what? Hokie Nation eats this up and for that matter, so does the rest of the country. The Hokies became the Little Team that Could. Sure we might lose some games we shouldn't, but by golly, we pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and make a good season out of it (with 2003 being the glaring exception, when a huge win against #2 Miami was followed up by a loss at Pitt). Yeah, those losses knock the Hokies out of the national title picture every year, but America loves an underdog right?<br />
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And so here in 2012, we till this same ground. The Hokies find themselves at that tipping point yet again, having lost to Pitt and Cincinnati. The players had their obligatory "players-only" meeting this week. The coaches are gee-whizzing and aw-shucksing about how talented the opponent is and how it really isn't about the slow starts. And really, I haven't watched the Hokies losses, but I've read about them and I think it's obvious that the 2012 Hokies team has the talent to beat UNC. They unleashed over 300 yards of offense on Cincinnati in the 2nd half. They held Georgia Tech to 192 yards rushing. These guys can play, but the question is - will they?<br />
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There is one defining characteristic easily recognized in most Coach Beamer teams - guts. His teams hit, play physical and almost never give up. I mentioned earlier the 2003 Hokies and they are an exception. That was a team filled with incredibly talented, but selfish locker room cancers, like DeAngelo Hall and Marcus Vick. They did NOT play hard-nosed and go all out, every snap.<br />
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Now, I don't get the sense that this year's team is filled with prima donnas, per se, but even in the wins I watched, I didn't see a relentless, gutsy, go all-out like this is your last snap, type of effort that I'm accustomed to. The execution has been sorely lacking to be sure, but I think there's something that's been going on during the week that has led to that. Bruce Taylor tipped me off a little with his post-Cincy-game locker room comments about how "they're ain't gonna be any more joking around during the week. It's all serious now." That same message was re-delivered by Taylor during the players-only meeting on Monday.<br />
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I think what he was trying to explain to the younger players is that it takes a hard-nosed approach, ALL THE TIME. In Middle Drill. In position drills, every rep each player has to show toughness and competitiveness. You can't take it easy, joke around during the week and then just turn it on like a light switch at kickoff on Saturdays. So really the game on Saturday at UNC has more to do with if the Hokies are able to play with the intensity, focus and execution that have enabled them to beat more talented teams in the past. I think we're going to learn more about how the season will unfold based on HOW they play this game. If Taylor's message to the team really sank in, they are going to come out and play with guts and intensity from the opening whistle and execute like they are capable of, because during the week they listened to coaching and practiced each rep with that intense focus. If not, they will lose to UNC and the season will likely go off the rails like the 2003 season. Oh and by the way? 2003 was the last time the Hokies didn't win 10 games in a season. I hope this year turns out different.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!! MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-3470557565130754872012-09-30T20:07:00.002-05:002012-09-30T20:07:43.093-05:00Cincinnati PostGameI have had several of you contact me and ask how things are going in my new approach to the season where I find out the Hokies football score after the game and then only watch the game in a win. So I would like to take a brief opportunity to address that and then comment on the season to date.<br />
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When I check the score of the Hokie game at the end, or after its over and see that the Hokies have lost, it still hurts. It is painful. I posted on Twitter that finding out that the Hokies lost a game is like having one of my kids come tell me that they are hurt. It saddens me, it frustrates me (if they were hurt by someone else) and it bothers me a great deal. But WATCHING the Hokies lose a game is like watching one of my kids get hurt. It is a visceral, utterly primal reaction. It is hard to breathe for a second and for any of you who have kids (or as much a Superfan as I am), you have experienced this directly. It is extremely unpleasant and I have chosen this season not to subject myself or my family to feeling that way by avoiding watching the Hokies play in a loss. So far, the furniture, the TV, my health and my family have all benefited from this new approach, since otherwise they would have seen me experience two losses already.<br />
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And that brings me to my comments on the season to date. I read the comments on Twitter last night and the articles on the game this morning. And I can tell you that it is only a half-truth to say that I haven't seen that Cincinnati game. Because I have. I've seen that same game so many times before. See if this sounds familiar -<br />
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"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">That is 10 games against the top competition, with the nation watching, only to see the Hokies fall behind early in 8 of them, often by more than one score. The team almost always fights back, only to come up short in the end which endears the program to many around the country as a bunch of hard-fighting blue collar guys taking on "The Man".</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">That is what I wrote after the Boise State loss in 2010 on the same field and in an eerily similar fashion. Now granted this Cincinnati team isn't nearly as good as Boise State was or some of the other teams that Tech has lost to in this way over the years, but all that does is highlight how wrong the direction is that things are headed. In fact, in EVERY game this season, the Hokies have played absolutely terribly for the first 15-20 minutes. So what does this mean?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">It may be illustrative to highlight other teams here for a moment. In countless other games I DID watch on Saturday both teams came out crisply. Georgia-Tennessee, Oregon-Washington State, and Oregon State-Arizona are three I'll pick, ignoring the obvious choice of West Virginia-Baylor because I think that was an instance where neither team has a defense that's worth a damn. But in all three other games, both teams executed at a similar level throughout the game. Sure, there were momentum swings, and big plays one way or the other but the teams battled throughout the game and the one that made the most plays won. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">There was one game that looked and felt very familiar to me, however - South Carolina vs. Kentucky. The #6 ranked Gamecocks trailed 17-7 at halftime to the Wildcats, despite having a clear talent advantage. Of course, South Carolina woke up in the second half and mowed the Cats over, finishing them off 38-17, and that difference in level of play was what was so fascinating to me. Because South Carolina doesn't do that very often. Well-coached teams don't do that very often. In fact, it</span></span> is more remarkable to me, the level of success Coach Beamer has had the past 8 years when you consider how awful his teams have played at the beginning of games so consistently particularly on offense.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">Can it be a result of anything other than coaching? And more specifically, I think it's exactly tied to not having an offensive identity. The Hokies come out, the other team has changed up some aspects of their scheme, and suddenly the Hokie offense acts like it's playing this game with an oblong leather ball for the first time in their lives. If the Hokies had an offensive identity, they could go out there at the beginning of the game knowing what they wanted to do. Let the defense try different looks, don't run anything too complex right off the bat, and then execute extremely well. You don't even have to score a TD or FG on the opening possession (though that would be nice). But you get several first downs and good plays and a good look at what the defense is doing differently than what they showed on film. And you can begin to make your adjustments, like running a different play out of a certain formation than you ever have before. In other words, flip the script. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">I've posted on here until I was blue in the face about the Beamer-Stinespring dynamic. Last season, despite still getting off to a few slow starts, with Coach O'Cain up in the box and Stiney serving as main cheerleader down on the sidelines, the offense had one of its best seasons I can ever recall from a play-calling standpoint. Why on earth did Coach Beamer change that up and let Stinespring sit back up in the box? What was broken that needed to be fixed there? And aren't the results year-to-date enough to suggest that change is needed? </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">I can only hope something happens before it's too late. ACC play starts back up and we'll have the North Carolina preview back up later in the week, but at first glance, the Tarheels are VERY dangerous. I can only hope I get to watch this coming weekend's game.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">GO HOKIES!!!!!!!</span></span>MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-41004069228850568722012-09-28T21:35:00.002-05:002012-09-28T21:35:48.405-05:00Game Preview - VT vs. CincinnatiUnlike many of you, I was not that fired up after the Bowling Green win last week. It wasn't a key game, didn't deserve 3 Key Plays in what became a blowout and the Hokies got off to yet another slow start this season on offense. The way the offense looked last season, with Coach Stinespring down on the sidelines and O'Cain in the booth, does any human being on the planet understand why Stiney moved back to the booth this year?<br />
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The offense has suddenly turned to mush. Last year's offense was no juggernaut but it seemed somewhat crisp at times, for the only time I can remember in Stiney's tenure. Now there is no way that this change back to sloppy play and slow starts can be just a coincidence. The Hokies go into FedEx Field on Saturday against a Cincinnati team that SMOKED the Pitt Panthers. The same Pitt Panthers that took the Hokies behind the ol' woodshed two weeks ago in a game that I gloriously did not and will not ever see. So Cincy is for real and a slow start could absolutely be the end of the Hokies in this one.<br />
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VT Offense vs. Cincy Defense<br />
The Hokies will be without RB Tony Gregory as his knee flamed up after a solid performance last week. Michael Holmes seems to have hit a freshman wall, while JC Coleman continues to improve, so don't be surprised to see Coleman get a lot of playing time. And I'm still trying to figure out why Martin Scales isn't getting more carries. But while the Hokies do need to find some running game, the mission critical key to this entire game is going to be the play of Logan Thomas. LT has to rise up and make some plays. Yes, there have been drops and poor protection at times. But he's going to have to take over a game at some point this season and overcome all of that and Saturday seems like that kind of opportunity. Cincy is a senior-laden defense, they're not going to make stupid mistakes. It's going to take bigtime throws and making plays with his feet for Logan to get the Hokies going on offense. Not average plays, but BIG plays. He certainly has the physical talent, it's time to see how psychologically ready he is.<br />
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Cincy Offense vs. VT Defense<br />
Cincy will spread the field and then hit you with the Florida running game. Unbalanced lines, motion, QB read plays, it's the full enchilada of spread offense. The Hokies have made a change in the starting lineup on D, with super-athletic Ronny VanDyke getting his first start over the embattled Jeron Gouviea-Winslow at whip. JGW will still probably play, but you need athletes all over the field on defense to slow the Bearcat offense down. Butch Jones is a helluva coach and Bud Foster has his work cut out for him. If the Hokies can get out to an early lead and make the Bearcats more one-dimensional, that would be a huge help in freeing up the defensive line to pass rush, but it'd also be a huge help if Kate Upton applied to be our house-cleaner. Doesn't mean it's going to happen.<br />
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Special Teams<br />
The Hokies have been much improved on special teams this season but I think this will be a push between the two teams. Both the Hokies and Bearcats have attempted few FG's, and while Cincy has the edge in punting, the Hokies have the edge in punt returns. I expect field position to be a back and forth tradeoff most of the game.<br />
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As it often does, Saturday's game will likely be determined by time of possession and turnovers. Not that it will necessarily be a close game. These two teams are momentum teams, more than most, and if one gets going and scoring points, it could be a looooonnnnnggg day for the opponent. I really hope the Hokies win so I can watch this game, because if they don't, I have a feeling it's because they'll lose worse than they did to Pittsburgh. The crowd leans VT and that could help, so if you're in the DC area, turn out and BE LOUD!!!!<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-17756098205433399332012-09-21T20:26:00.002-05:002012-09-21T20:26:36.494-05:00Game Preview - VT vs. Bowling GreenWell, this is certainly an interesting place to find ones' self. For the first time since I can remember (at least 10 years) I have to write a game preview for an upcoming game, without having watched the footage of the Hokies' previous game. Yes, as a recap to those of you who don't know, this season I am recording the Hokie games and then after the game is over, if it's a loss, I won't watch the game. From all the gnashing of teeth I saw on the intertubes this week, I think this decision has served me very well in not watching the loss to a subpar Pittsburgh squad. I can't imagine how the Hokies lost that game, but it was apparently turnover fever on offense, and the defense couldn't stop the run. My heart and liver will take your word for that, HokieNation.<br />
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So without the appropriate context on how the Hokies could have possible lost that game, I will certainly be avoiding any predictions as the Hokies face the mighty Falcons of Bowling Green. Let me assure you, my Calm and Beloved Reader, of two things first:<br />
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1) I don't care how badly he played against Pittsburgh, Logan Thomas is an NFL QB, so do not give up on him. I have definitely watched enough of his games to know what he is capable of and he could have had the worst game in the history of football last Saturday and I would still say that.<br />
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2) You would not want to play on defense for Virginia Tech this week in practice. I shudder to imagine the torturous, violent level of intensity that accompanied every drill and every rep for those players suffering the wrath of Bud Foster. I may not have watched the game, but I watched Pittsburgh's earlier games, and they were not 2007 LSU (which was the last time the Hokies gave up that kind of yardage on defense). I am certain that any craps that the Hokies' defenders took during the week had Foster's footprints on them, as far up their ass as he must have been with his boot.<br />
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So having gotten over those two things, let's take a look at how the Hokies matchup on paper against this week's opponent, Bowling Green.<br />
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<b>VT Offense vs. Bowling Green Defense</b><br />
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Hmmmm. The Falcons are 99th in the nation against the pass but a stout 41st in the nation against the run including a stifling performance in a loss against the Florida Gators. The Hokies have given me exactly zero reason to think they can successfully run the football, considering the struggles against Austin Peay. So this is a game where I hope to see Logan shake off whatever is ailing him and deliver the ball to the weapons on the outside and rack up major yards and touchdowns. If the offensive line can pass block, which they have done a decent job of in the games I've watched, I think this is the best chance for Tech's success. LG David Wang being out with an ankle could cause some problems but Mike Via and Matt Arkema are both suitable replacements in terms of pass protection. There's a chance to make some hay in the air.<br />
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<b>VT Defense vs. Bowling Green Offense</b><br />
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This is where I expect the game to turn. I highly doubt the Falcons will score more than 10 pts on this defense, and if they do, don't be surprised to see Foster strap up the helmet and pads next week during practice to demonstrate the level of intensity and technique he demands. Bowling Green has struggled mightily on the ground and in the air and I believe that is a result of starting two freshmen on the offensive line. They are still finding their rhythm to put it kindly. Even with a dinged up Kyle Fuller, Bruce Taylor and the return of a stiff Tariq Edwards, the Tech defense ought to be able to throw a lot of confusing looks at this Falcon offense. And with their amplifiers set on 11, I fully expect the stout Hokie defensive line to mow over these linemen. Coach Wiles is surely hopping these guys up this week on a steady diet of raw meat and shame.<br />
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<b>Special Teams</b><br />
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The Hokies also have the edge in special teams. Bowling Green has made a grand total of one FG on the season out of four attempts and while their punting is decent at 43.1 yds/kick, their punt coverage is 104th in the nation, against VT's 4th best punt return unit. That is a recipe for losing the field position battle to Tech. Hopefully we see the Falcon punter a whole lot on Saturday.<br />
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So again this week, I return to something Coach Beamer the Elder said earlier this season preparing to play Austin Peay - "It's not about what's supposed to happen, it's about what does happen." Surely the Hokies have more talent than Bowling Green and their defense is going to be as motivated as humanly possible. But it probably comes down to if the offense can score more than 10 points against the Falcons. One would like to think so, but then I would have loved to watch this past weekend's game against Pittsburgh. Wishing it don't make it so.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
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<br />MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-60683529002696808132012-09-13T20:01:00.001-05:002012-09-13T20:01:31.841-05:00Game Preview - VT vs. PittPittsburgh is a program in transition in so many ways. They've had 4 coaches in a little over a season. Think about that - 4 COACHES! In addition to that, the Panthers are going to be leaving the Big East and joining the ACC next season. There's just so much in the way of distractions, that it can't help but cause a loss of focus in these players. And that has shown up in their first two games, where they looked terrible and were blown out in both, one of which was to Division I-AA Youngstown State.<br />
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But make no mistake, when you put the film on, these guys are still big, strong and fast. Talent is not the issue in Pittsburgh. Their problem is that they are making tons of execution mistakes all over the field. The distractions I already mentioned on top of learning a brand new offense and defense for the 3rd time in 2 seasons is just resulting in tons of missed blocks, balls thrown to the wrong spot on the field, as well as defensive assignment breakdowns.<br />
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Despite all of those issues, the Panthers still have a stud RB in Ray Graham who has gone for over 100 yards in both contests and he's as tough to bring down as he ever was. And if this is any indication of how seriously the Hokies still need to take this opponent, their offense has actually gained more yards than the Hokies. If that isn't a sign of just how amazing Pitt coach Paul Chryst is, and how wrong something has gone with Stinespring's move up to the press box this year, I don't know what is.<br />
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Fortunately, the Hokies have some key players who now are listed as probable against Pitt, that earlier in the week looked like they wouldn't play. Starting center Andrew Miller will play, as will LB Bruce Taylor and free safety Detrick Bonner. I have no idea how effective those three will be, and I suspect Bonner and Miller will play less snaps than Taylor in the game, based on the fact that their injuries seem more serious than his. Michael Cole had better be ready for primetime at rover and Caleb Farris needs to have all of his snapping jitters that he showed last Saturday out of his system.<br />
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In fact that brings me to the key to this game - it's the first road game. The Hokies have been very good on the road the past several seasons and they have more talent than Pitt this season, but none of that means a hill of beans if this bunch of young guys, many of whom will be playing in their first game outside the friendly confines of Lane Stadium, step out into a hostile environment and wet their pants. Can they still execute on offense without being able to hear the snap count? Can the Hokie defense get a key stop without the roar of the crowd helping cause false starts or delays of game against the opposing offense. And maybe the most important question of all - can the Hokies get off to a better start than they have been? The first quarter has been an absolute trainwreck for VT so far this season and if they fall behind by a couple of scores early in the game at Pitt, the Pitt crowd will get into it and suddenly, the momentum will become a very elusive thing to recapture. My nights are filled with scary thoughts like these heading into this game.<br />
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Thank goodness the Hokies are catching Pitt early this season. As the players get more familiar with Paul Chryst and his system, they are only going to get tougher to beat. The Panthers are going to play at 110% to try and avoid going down 0-3, but just wait until that effort is combined with a team that knows what it's doing. They will be good, just hopefully not starting Saturday. At the end of the day, Tech should win this game, but as Beamer pointed out last week - it doesn't matter what should happen, it only matters what happens.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-82316527254108567542012-09-13T19:41:00.002-05:002012-09-13T19:41:37.573-05:003 Key Plays - VT vs. Austin PeayI was so disgusted with how terrible the Hokies played against Austin Peay for the first and third quarters that I didn't do a 3 Key Plays. But now that I've had some time to simmer down, I will.<br />
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1) The Kyshoen Jarrett punt return was THE key play. It fired up the team, put them in position to score the first touchdown and got the fans into the game.<br />
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2) 12:32 left in the half and the Hokies had 4th and 1. I couldn't BEGIN to tell you how much this play angers me. INFURIATES me. Ok, so it's at home against Austin Peay and it's 4th and 1 with Logan Thomas under center. Everyone in the stadium, including the folks selling turkey legs under the stands know that he's going to QB sneak it here. Is there REALLY a chance the Hokies are going to lose this game if they fail this 4th down? Is this not the exactly, once-in-a-season, perfect chance to fake the QB sneak and throw the easiest TD pass to a TE or back leaking out of the backfield? Think about it - by running some sort of fake here, you basically strike fear in the hearts of every defensive coordinator you face the rest of the season by showing them that you do have a fake off of this formation. It forces them to prepare for something other than Logan Thomas on the sneak. I was livid that the Hokies didn't fake it here and then I was damn near unconscious when I saw that they couldn't push Austin Peay back enough for him to get a yard. As excited as I was about the 3rd and 1 play action pass to George George against Arkansas State last season, I was at LEAST that furious over the lack of creativity on this play. I swear to you all, there is something wrong with Bryan Stinespring being in the booth this season. I swear it. More on this in a later post, but I know this is causing problems for O'Cain.<br />
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3) 3rd and 4 from the Austin Peay 9 yard line with 7:50 left in the 3rd quarter. Michael Holmes makes a great, GREAT cut and gets not only the first down, but the touchdown as well. This score iced the game, but it also gave me hope that Holmes and the Hokies can run the ball in the red zone. He isn't the fastest, nor the strongest back the Hokies have had. But I keep saying, he just has a knack. He's tough to tackle, he carries the ball properly, and he has that instinctive way of sliding off of direct hits. Emmitt Smith (no I'm not comparing Holmes overall to Emmitt Smith, of course) had that same knack to avoid the big hits over the course of a game. It makes you fresher late in the game and you can't teach it.MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-49649632646942897352012-09-07T21:00:00.001-05:002012-09-07T21:00:16.589-05:00Game Preview - VT vs. Austin PeayThe Hokies take on the... what?!..the who?!.....the Austin Peay GOVERNORS?! In the history of terrible mascot names that has got to be one of the all-time worst. And other than the Florida A&M Rattlers in 2004 (a game that yours truly attended and saw the first "do-over" kickoff ever when the Hokies recovered the live opening kickoff in the end zone and the refs, out of pity, made them kick it again), this is probably the worst team to ever come into Lane Stadium.
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Austin Peay didn't even have scholarship football until 2006. They now have it, and probably want to give it back, after getting POUNDED 49-10 last week against the mighty Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. And if you want any indication of how bad Western Kentucky is, the score would have been worse except the Hilltoppers kicker didn't make ANY of his three FG attempts including shanking a 23 yard attempt.<br />
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The Governors have nothing to be ashamed of other than their nickname. In watching their game against Western Kentucky, they played very hard. Unfortunately their players are just not at the level where they are able to physically compete with Division I-A players. Unlike most Division I-AA schools who at least have some players on their starting squads who would make I-A rosters, the Governors don't have ANY players that I saw that would even play for Virginia Tech, much less start. I know this is going to sound insane (it sure as hell isn't the first time, if you're a regular reader) but it is not much of an exaggeration to say that I, in college, probably could have played for the Governors on the two-deep. Now, imagine me in college, going out and playing against the Hokies football team, and, assuming I survived (40% chance of survival), I sure would have had some stories to tell, but one of them would not have been about the final score.<br />
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So this game has nothing to do about the matchups and more about what Virginia Tech's approach to the game. Now before I get into that, I already know what you're thinking - assuming you haven't suppressed the painful memories - JMU, right? But the circumstances are completely different. The Hokies were coming off of one of the most gut-wrenching self-inflicted losses I had seen up to that point in time, the Monday before against Boise State at a neutral site. Both the defense and the offense had a chance to win the game at the end and both blew it, and the special teams sucked that night, too. The entire team was deflated and went into a game they thought was a gimme against one of those Division I-AA schools I mentioned above, where some of the players actually could have played at Tech, in JMU. And they just played as flat as a pancake and got their butts beat.<br />
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This is coming off of a huge, emotional ACC victory at home, Austin Peay isn't nearly as good as JMU was, and the final key difference is that JMU HAPPENED. Sure I want to deny that it did, but it doesn't matter. Some of the players on this 2012 team were on that '10 squad and they lived that defeat. I just can't envision under any circumstances, that they are going to let this team go into Saturday's game unprepared. And that's what I want to see.<br />
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The Hokies are banged up after the Georgia Tech game. Several players along the defensive line and linebacking corps are nursing sore knees and ankles, just like I knew they would be, fending off all those GT cut blocks. But I LOVE the Hokies response. Chase Williams is starting at backer for Bruce Taylor, and both Luther Maddy and Antoine Hopkins are probably going to get a grand total of two series in this entire game. In fact, the entire starting squad needs to be sitting after halftime. This is the game where you get the second and third teamers TONS of reps.<br />
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And that is the KEY to this game for me. The approach of the first string needs to be laser-focused to say "we need to play great, not to get a win but to BEAT THE PISS out of Austin Peay in the first half so that our backups can get plenty of reps". The reason this is so critical isn't just to keep the guys healthy in this game and get the sore guys on a quicker road to recovery, but because it's a long football season. During the course of the season, players at a wide variety of positions are going to miss time. Could be one series, could be a half, could be three games. The backups need live action. They need to feel the game, the crowd and they need to be running the entire offense and defensive schemes. This is more than garbage time where it's just hand the ball off a few times or play a vanilla 4-3.<br />
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I really put this on the coaches. Their intensity level needs to be high. I'm not worried about Coach Foster that much. He only has one speed. But he and his staff need to be coaching their asses off on the second and third string and make sure that those guys are getting important reps across the different defenses they could be running in a big game later in the year. Similarly, the offensive coaches, while not needing to fling open the entire playbook to give opponents film on, certainly need to run the bread-and-butter plays with the backup personnel. This is a game about strengthening the entire team across the board. If the coaches slack or back off, the players will pick up on it. It changes the complexion of the game.<br />
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From the opening gun, the team needs to be out there busting their ass and I look forward to watching this one on the internet (thank you, thank you <a href="http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index">ESPN3</a>) and seeing the Hokies doing what Coach Beamer talks about all the time - Get Better!<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8898194.post-79350968257851767942012-09-04T22:53:00.000-05:002012-09-04T22:53:00.822-05:003 Key Plays - VT vs. GTGreat googly moogly, I can so easily imagine the congestive heart failure I would have suffered watching the Hokies' game live. I'll take being up until 1:30 AM watching it knowing the Hokies had won over probably losing a piece of furniture and yet another remote, not to mention the aforementioned palpitations. For some insane reason, the final drive playcalling was just as bad as it's ALWAYS been in the Beamer era (what were those two passes to Malleck?!?!?!), but Logan Thomas and Corey Fuller refused to go out like that. So much heart shown by both teams, I couldn't have asked for a better opening game to the season. This segment is about the 3 Key Plays and I make a concerted effort to limit it to that, but on rare occasions (and this is one of them) there are more than three plays. In this game there were undeniably 4 plays that decided the outcome. Here they were:<br />
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1) Facing 4th and 8 at their own 46 late in the first quarter, freshman AJ Hughes was back to take the snap and punt his second career punt in live college football action. He muffed the snap and the result was a loss of 22 yards with the Yellow Jackets taking over on the Hokie 24 yd line. Up to this point the Yellow Jacket attack had been absolutely shut DOWN by the Hokie defense which already was sitting on a 7-0 lead. This one play flipped the momentum and pulled the Jackets into the game. If the Hokies could have tacked on another score or two they would have forced GT out of their gameplan and probably won going away. Instead, this was just further proof that Beamerball is no longer about stellar special teams, anymore.<br />
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2) 4th and 6 at the Hokie 37 yd-line with 3:03 left in the game. Paul Johnson called for a punt and then 2nd guessed himself and called a timeout to go for it. With the Hokies leading 14-10, and the Jackets with only one more timeout remaining, a stop here might not have completely locked the game up but it sure would have made it much easier to win. And the Hokies totally stuffed the play. But credit to Tevin Washington and BJ Bostic for pulling out some sandlot football and mucho crappy play by Detrick Bonner allowed for a huge 19 yard gain right along the sideline that set up the Jackets winning score.<br />
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3) 4th and 4 at the Yellow Jacket 47 yd-line with 13 seconds left in the game. The game looked over. Under quarterbacks not named Tyrod Taylor or Logan Thomas it would have been. But Thomas immediately found a wide open Corey Fuller who turned it upfield for a massive 23 yd gain and a first down at the GT 24yd line, giving Cody Journell his chance to redeem a miss earlier in the quarter and send the game to OT.<br />
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4) 3rd down and 6 from the Hokie 10-yd line in OT, and Tevin Washington scrambled to his left. With no one open he just had to throw it away. But he held onto it one count too long and LB Bruce Taylor got there and spun Washington onto his back foot where he couldn't get enough on the ball to throw it away. Instead it settled into the hands of Kyle Fuller whose interception meant that a 2nd Journell FG would win the game, and sure enough it did.<br />
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In order to compete for championships, you have to have a few lucky breaks and you have to have a never-say-die attitude. That attitude has been in the Hokie locker room on some teams, but there have definitely been others (I'm looking at you 2003 and 2006 Hokies) that didn't have it. It goes without saying that this Hokie team had a chance to prove right out of the gate that there's certainly no quit in them. I saw a lot to be excited about and a lot to improve on. I definitely hope I get to watch the Austin Peay game and see some more.<br />
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GO HOKIES!!!!!!!MadJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00715905480046854492noreply@blogger.com1