Week 3: Virginia Tech @ Pittsburgh (9/15/2012)

[Forty_Sixand2]

Ha, then yes you saw me, Ms. 46, mamma and Pappa 46. We had to come out of the tram station to cross the street into the Omni. I know, I am a lot shorter than I look on TV

 

[VTscores]

What I don't understand is the up-tempo offense. The idea is good, but I still see a lot of LT looking at the sidelines waiting for a play. It doesn't seem as up-tempo as you might want to see.

In all fairness, I don't think they had much in terms of game film on Pitt, so I don't think they knew what to prepare for.

Then again, neither did Youngstown State, last week. Are they so gung-ho that they can't play generic football against a lesser opponent? Kind of like a sports car can't run well on regular gas?

 

[sparko]

these are all bullshit excuses .. there is no excuse for us to look that bad on both sides of the ball against this team. period .. and i'll disagree with you all on stinespring re: him being an OC. he's a decent position coach and a good recruiter. he's a shitty offensive coordinator. we can afford another offensive coordinator that's better than him. shitcan newsome, let stinespring have the offensive line/recruit if CFB HAS to KEEP HIM, and get a real OC .... i feel like frank beamer runs a union .. his coaches feel very little pressure to perform now because .. at this point .. there is very little "fear" or pressure to do well. if he wants to be a "good guy" to stiney and newsome -- fine .. give them the heads up .. "hey curt, hey brian .. you guys need to start looking because at the end of this season, gonna have to let ya go. do your job until then and you'll continue to get paid". i'd be ok with that. they can land somewhere else easily if given some time to look. just please get rid of them.

 

[Hokie Swagger]

dropped out of both polls. #33 in AP #26 in coaches poll (effectively)

 

[HokieEsq]

The coaches are being nice. I am a lot more worried about Cincinnati after watching the Pitt performance. (the first 3-and-a-half quarters at least, after which, I had to get out of the house)

If we had played well and hard and lost, it would be a lot easier to take. But there were so many stupid mistakes, mistakes that coaching should have remedied long before we start screwing the pooch against AP and Pitt.

Maybe f we had never been ranked 13, this would be an easier loss. We never should have been ranked 13 after our performance in the first 2 games. We are closer to where we are playing at the moment. I hope it will give the team some needed belly fire to step up in the weeks to come.

 

[m477hokie]

I disagree with everyone that is so discouraged by the first game of the season. I agree the second two have been bad, but we showed up defensively against GT, a team that put up quite a lot on our ACC rival. I still think we win the coastal, and the ACCCG will be a toss up but I think we have a good chance of going to the orange bowl.

 

[Chrish1023]

FSU is going to wreck us if we don't get A LOT better. Clemson probably will too...

 

[wildturkey]

What I don't understand is the up-tempo offense. The idea is good, but I still see a lot of LT looking at the sidelines waiting for a play. It doesn't seem as up-tempo as you might want to see.

In all fairness, I don't think they had much in terms of game film on Pitt, so I don't think they knew what to prepare for.

Then again, neither did Youngstown State, last week. Are they so gung-ho that they can't play generic football against a lesser opponent? Kind of like a sports car can't run well on regular gas?

It's up tempo not so much to run plays fast as it is to keep the defense from subbing players. When they hustle up to the line, the D has no choice but to stay on the field. Otherwise they risk the offense snapping the ball at any time and catching them off guard.

 

[VTscores]

It's up tempo not so much to run plays fast as it is to keep the defense from subbing players. When they hustle up to the line, the D has no choice but to stay on the field. Otherwise they risk the offense snapping the ball at any time and catching them off guard.

That makes sense.

 

[HoHumHokie]

I disagree with everyone that is so discouraged by the first game of the season. I agree the second two have been bad, but we showed up defensively against GT, a team that put up quite a lot on our ACC rival. I still think we win the coastal, and the ACCCG will be a toss up but I think we have a good chance of going to the orange bowl.

I'd rather not go to the Orange or even Chick-fil-A and get embarrassed again.
From what I saw Saturday, we will lose to UNC, Clemson and FSU and possibly one other. I only see GT possibly losing to @Clemson and possibly @UNC. A lot will hinge on the VT-UNC game in a few weeks. Hokienation better show up...plenty of tickets available. I'll be there!

 

[hunzworth]

I disagree with everyone that is so discouraged by the first game of the season. I agree the second two have been bad, but we showed up defensively against GT, a team that put up quite a lot on our ACC rival. I still think we win the coastal, and the ACCCG will be a toss up but I think we have a good chance of going to the orange bowl.

I think we have the tools to accomplish all those goals, but unless we see some changes/corrections i dont see us getting there.

We've got personnel problems on defense IMO. I hope there is serious consideration about moving some guys around in the d-backfield. I wonder if not having a true backer has limited our play calling on defense and put more pressure on our secondary? Im not sure how much longer Edwards is out but I wouldnt mind finding someone to rotate with Taylor in passing situations. The DL has talent, but have looked sluggish. I dont know if its motivation, conditioning, or what but we just arent playing with much 'pop'.

On offense I think we live and die by LT and he hasnt looked near as poised or comfortable out there as he did last year. Not sure if that is do to with all the new faces out there, less protection, or if the 'new' offense is complicating things for him. The only time he has looked comfortable has been when we are in the two minute offense, prob because he has ran those plays thousands of times in practice. My point is that maybe we need to simplify things going forward, run a small group of plays but run them with great execution. The OL grades havnt been terrible so that shows we just arent being very consistent as a group, maybe simplifying things helps those guys also. We are talented enough that we shouldnt have to really trick/scheme alot of teams, just execute on our side and they shouldnt be able to stop us.

Edit to add: We are talented at RB but they have to start 1)holding onto the football 2)hitting the holes when they are given one 3)find there cut backs in the film room and hopefully that will translate to the field. Martin Scales should get more carries. He runs hard and without hesitation we need that

Marcus Davis seemed to start to step up, hopefully that is a trend that continues as we really need him to be a big part of the offense. Knowles and Fuller also seem to be going hard but D.R. seems like he has lost his interest?

Rant/bitch over:

 

[VTfoozball]

Screw the O-line grades and our clueless offensive coaches that hand them out. All I need to know about the O-line is what I've seen this year in short yardage situations. No push and plenty of penetration in the backfield. It's called being very, very weak and I don't think that will be fixed during the season so get used to it. I don't know what I'd do if I were the OC. The O-line is short-circuiting everything the offense is trying to accomplish. I wish Beamer would send Newsome back to F'ing JMU where he belongs. Don't get all high on Scales because of 2-3 good carries in the Pitt game because he's had his share of bad ones too. He's got his limitations. He just happened to have blocking by some miracle on his runs. But it's a good idea to get him more work because if this sad O-line can even create a hole they can only hold it for so long. I don't know why the defense looked so bad but I wouldn't be surprised if they're tired of the offense looking like shit. I know that I would have a hard time putting forth my best effort after watching the other half of my team go 3 and out time and time again. Our only hope for this year is to get Logan going because there is no improvement happening with the O-line

 

[m477hokie]

I really thought the pass protection was acceptable, I mean not perfect but it never is for any team. Logan Thomas had as much time to pass as he had last season, no excuses for him.

 

[VTfoozball]

I really thought the pass protection was acceptable, I mean not perfect but it never is for any team. Logan Thomas had as much time to pass as he had last season, no excuses for him.

They are doing half their job. 50s handed out all around

 

[hunzworth]

Screw the O-line grades and our clueless offensive coaches that hand them out. All I need to know about the O-line is what I've seen this year in short yardage situations. No push and plenty of penetration in the backfield. It's called being very, very weak and I don't think that will be fixed during the season so get used to it. I don't know what I'd do if I were the OC. The O-line is short-circuiting everything the offense is trying to accomplish. I wish Beamer would send Newsome back to F'ing JMU where he belongs. Don't get all high on Scales because of 2-3 good carries in the Pitt game because he's had his share of bad ones too. He's got his limitations. He just happened to have blocking by some miracle on his runs. But it's a good idea to get him more work because if this sad O-line can even create a hole they can only hold it for so long. I don't know why the defense looked so bad but I wouldn't be surprised if they're tired of the offense looking like shit. I know that I would have a hard time putting forth my best effort after watching the other half of my team go 3 and out time and time again. Our only hope for this year is to get Logan going because there is no improvement happening with the O-line

Not touting scales for H-man just saying that so far he is the only running back that will hit a hole. Of course he has his limitations but right now they all do. As far as the OL i honestly dont understand/trust the grades but i dont see game film from a bunch of different angles either. I agree with you that we are getting blown up at the point LOS, i dont think we are weak i think its a minds tying up our feet sort of thing. As bad as our offense was this week our defense put us in a 21 nothing hole, maybe its a different game if we arent in that position, maybe not, but i blame both sides equally for this one.

 

[VTfoozball]

What do you mean minds tying up their feet? In an obvious run situation where all they have to do is move the guy in front of them backwards we lose...BAD. It's a strength issue in those situations. They are not even physically up to the task

 

[VTfoozball]

But watch them continue to call QB sneaks and handoffs all year long even though they've proven to be an unreliable play all year in 3rd and 4th short yardage situations

 

[hunzworth]

What do you mean minds tying up their feet? In an obvious run situation where all they have to do is move the guy in front of them backwards we lose...BAD. It's a strength issue in those situations. They are not even physically up to the task

Teams are just overloading the inside to stop LT on the sneak, its not a matter of 5 guys on 5 its more like 9 on 5. We arent getting beat because we are 'weak' we are getting beat because everyone knows what is coming in that situation. The only chance any of the RB's have got in short yardage was holmes on 4th and 1, I havnt had a chance to rewatch the game but it looked like the FB missed his block on that one.

Look im not at all saying the OL are a bunch of world beaters i just dont think their problems have to do with being physically weak. I feel like it is more of a mental prob and not having any rhythm as a unit.

 

[757Hokie83]

well, the good news...after these first 3 performances...i think LT will be back for his senior season

 

[awaz]

This is exactly what I was thinking. LT isn't accurate or consistent enough to go to the NFL. Maybe it's better for VT if he takes two years to get there.

The most troubling part of today's game was the defense. They looked great against GT, but they were relatively ineffective today.

if he keeps playing like this he's not consistent enough to be a starter in the ACC.. i have faith he'll get better because he did the exact same thing last year (start like crap).. but it baffles me that he's doing this again

that being said, my biggest disappointment, by far, is the dline, and gayle in particular