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OK, so the season is over and I have had some time to go back and reflect on it and here goes:
(A quick note: Bowls are a fun reward to players but aside from the MNCG and maybe the other BCS games they are generally sloppily played exhibitions that I just don’t get too excited about. I mean teams come off of their rivalry game high, take a month off, go home, go on a quick vacation somewhere nice with their boys, and then show up for a football game for a few hours. They are fun, and I hope we win ours but what can you really glean from them.)
On the CFB board, I picked us to go 8-4, and later revised that to a prediction of 7-5 when I saw the fistful of players leaving the program and the season ending injuries to Gregory, Malleck and RVD. I felt this would be a transitional year and our offense would probably not show much improvement. The new staff didn’t have any of their own guys in and all through the offseason we heard how little of the system had been put in place. Our D would be good, but I thought the injuries would de-claw it a bit. I figured we would lose to Bama, ECU (I was very high on them this year and being our first true road game and a nooner I saw a loss) and Miami. I also figured that we would drop 1 of UNC, Pitt or GT (2 after injuries). I did not expect three of the losses would be to Maryland, BC and Duke. BC and Duke ended up being surprisingly good, but the Maryland loss was imply inexcusable.
First, the good: The defense was flat out nasty this year and the future may be even brighter. Fuller and Facyson exceeded expectations for me, obviously. Also though, the young guys on the line (Baron and Williams) played well. Bud put them out for the final drive against GT and UVA and that says something about he and Wiles confidence. The O showed progression throughout the year. They moved the ball well late in the year but couldn’t punch it in nearly enough. I feel like we outplayed all three of the teams in the late season losses but just got too many 3s or missed 3s. AJ Hughes is a special punter and not too bad of a tackler either.
Now the bad: The offensive line is a nightmare. There are moments of brilliance and a few guys who have the potential to be good (J Glock) but they looked absolutely lost out there a lot. Hopefully some of the young guys or incoming freshman can contribute right away because we are going to need them. Secondly, the special teams play was just atrocious across the board. I have spent enough keystrokes on CJ. He is gone. Good riddance. Hopefully we get consistency out of the next crop of guys and get a multi-year starter. Jarrett is allergic to fair catches and takes huge hits back there. I love his approach but worry about him getting injured. He is the QB of our defense. Knowles is fast but not too quick it seems. I am a bit shocked that we supposedly recruit so much speed and so many “athletes” but can’t have a monster return game. Maybe someone will emerge this coming Spring. I really think that Frank needs to let someone else get involved with the coaching here. Lastly, injuries sucked. Exum never got to contribute and I feel terrible for the guy. Kyle got hurt. Facyson had a couple of injuries and then Edmunds breaking his leg just sucks. I hope these guys all get fully healed and the former have long NFL careers and kill it at the combine while the latter come back and kick ass for us.
Overall the season went as I kind of expected it and I feel optimism moving nto next season. I think we have a good group of contributing young guys and a couple good recruiting classes coming in. I won’t get into specifics here but we do have holes to fill (most notably DE, LB and QB) but I think we are trending back in the right direction.
Thanks to the seniors. Gayle, Collins and Wilson wreaked havoc on opposing QBs. Skip was a beast in the middle. Jack Tyler was always around the ball and is a great story. I am convinced that Tariq Edwards was our defensive MVP and we saw how much he was missed last season. Exum and Fuller are great players and great people and I am sure we will see them for years to come on Sundays and on our sidelines. Logan is a straight worker. He had ups and downs but he never sulked, said a bad word, lost his composure or refused to go back in. He played hurt and was the majority of the offense the last two years. He gets a ton of criticism but nobody can question his work ethic and pain tolerance, that’s for sure. Miller was a good leader on the OL and Coles a good guy in the slot who also fought through a lot of injuries.
Enjoy the bowl. Let’s hope we continue to progress and as always Go Hokies!
(A quick note: Bowls are a fun reward to players but aside from the MNCG and maybe the other BCS games they are generally sloppily played exhibitions that I just don’t get too excited about. I mean teams come off of their rivalry game high, take a month off, go home, go on a quick vacation somewhere nice with their boys, and then show up for a football game for a few hours. They are fun, and I hope we win ours but what can you really glean from them.)
On the CFB board, I picked us to go 8-4, and later revised that to a prediction of 7-5 when I saw the fistful of players leaving the program and the season ending injuries to Gregory, Malleck and RVD. I felt this would be a transitional year and our offense would probably not show much improvement. The new staff didn’t have any of their own guys in and all through the offseason we heard how little of the system had been put in place. Our D would be good, but I thought the injuries would de-claw it a bit. I figured we would lose to Bama, ECU (I was very high on them this year and being our first true road game and a nooner I saw a loss) and Miami. I also figured that we would drop 1 of UNC, Pitt or GT (2 after injuries). I did not expect three of the losses would be to Maryland, BC and Duke. BC and Duke ended up being surprisingly good, but the Maryland loss was imply inexcusable.
First, the good: The defense was flat out nasty this year and the future may be even brighter. Fuller and Facyson exceeded expectations for me, obviously. Also though, the young guys on the line (Baron and Williams) played well. Bud put them out for the final drive against GT and UVA and that says something about he and Wiles confidence. The O showed progression throughout the year. They moved the ball well late in the year but couldn’t punch it in nearly enough. I feel like we outplayed all three of the teams in the late season losses but just got too many 3s or missed 3s. AJ Hughes is a special punter and not too bad of a tackler either.
Now the bad: The offensive line is a nightmare. There are moments of brilliance and a few guys who have the potential to be good (J Glock) but they looked absolutely lost out there a lot. Hopefully some of the young guys or incoming freshman can contribute right away because we are going to need them. Secondly, the special teams play was just atrocious across the board. I have spent enough keystrokes on CJ. He is gone. Good riddance. Hopefully we get consistency out of the next crop of guys and get a multi-year starter. Jarrett is allergic to fair catches and takes huge hits back there. I love his approach but worry about him getting injured. He is the QB of our defense. Knowles is fast but not too quick it seems. I am a bit shocked that we supposedly recruit so much speed and so many “athletes” but can’t have a monster return game. Maybe someone will emerge this coming Spring. I really think that Frank needs to let someone else get involved with the coaching here. Lastly, injuries sucked. Exum never got to contribute and I feel terrible for the guy. Kyle got hurt. Facyson had a couple of injuries and then Edmunds breaking his leg just sucks. I hope these guys all get fully healed and the former have long NFL careers and kill it at the combine while the latter come back and kick ass for us.
Overall the season went as I kind of expected it and I feel optimism moving nto next season. I think we have a good group of contributing young guys and a couple good recruiting classes coming in. I won’t get into specifics here but we do have holes to fill (most notably DE, LB and QB) but I think we are trending back in the right direction.
Thanks to the seniors. Gayle, Collins and Wilson wreaked havoc on opposing QBs. Skip was a beast in the middle. Jack Tyler was always around the ball and is a great story. I am convinced that Tariq Edwards was our defensive MVP and we saw how much he was missed last season. Exum and Fuller are great players and great people and I am sure we will see them for years to come on Sundays and on our sidelines. Logan is a straight worker. He had ups and downs but he never sulked, said a bad word, lost his composure or refused to go back in. He played hurt and was the majority of the offense the last two years. He gets a ton of criticism but nobody can question his work ethic and pain tolerance, that’s for sure. Miller was a good leader on the OL and Coles a good guy in the slot who also fought through a lot of injuries.
Enjoy the bowl. Let’s hope we continue to progress and as always Go Hokies!
