Week 4: Virginia Tech vs. Marshall @ Blacksburg, VA 12:00 PM EST ESPNU

[Sleepy T]

Marshall is 2-1 after a 34-31 loss last night to Ohio. QB Rakeem Cato's favorite target is WR Tommy Shuler and they along with RBs Stewart Butler and Essray Taliaferro should test the Lunchpail D with a balanced attack in an offense that I believe of the spread type. They led the nation in passing last year so I would expect this to be a similar defensive gameplan as Foster employed vs ECU.

The defense was horrid last year, but FWIW only gave up 14 points in the first game (Miami, Ohio) and 0 in the second game (Gardner-Webb) before surrendering 34 points to Ohio (mostly through the air). The strength of their D (at a glance) seems to be the run defense. At any rate, they haven't exactly been tested by anyone with the talent that VT has on the offensive side of the ball. LT and Co. should be able to put up some points on the Herd....IF they can get it going early and most importantly get the running game going. I would expect Marshall to load the box and make Thomas beat them, but then again..ECU stuffed the running game pretty well..so we will see.

I am no expert..but on the surface this looks like a duplicate of the game we played yesterday. Hopefully we will continue to see some improvement on the offensive side.

Marshall Thundering Herd 2013 Statistics - Team and Player Stats - College Football - ESPN

http://blogs.roanoke.com/andybitter...013/06/06/better-know-a-13-opponent-marshall/

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Virginia Tech ROLLS in this one. I expect 50+.

 

[VT_Antzo]

I think Marshall will have a similiar attack that we just went through with ECU.

Lets get some nice home cooking at Lane on Saturday and have our first complete game where the D, O and ST all come to play.

 

[HoHumHokie]

Virginia Tech ROLLS in this one. I expect 50+.

Pts combined? I guess our offense was just sandbagging the first 3 games.

 

[rockhead44]

Virginia Tech ROLLS in this one. I expect 50+.

50+? I'll take that bet.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Pts combined? I guess our offense was just sandbagging the first 3 games.

We moved the ball yesterday but just couldn't convert in the red zone. I think Lefty will break that film down nicely and figure a way to use some counters etc to beat the 8 in the box. I also doubt that Marshall has a NT as big and quick as the guy at ECU was. He played very very well.

 

[Nortazhokie]

VT opens as an 11 point favorite over Marshall. I do expect the offense to play a little better against MU, but you just never know. Most of the time when people say "Team X" has a bad defense and VT should move the ball, that doesn't turn out to be the case at all. We've managed to make some of the worst defenses look like the Steel Curtain on several occasions. Hopefully that will end one day.

 

[VT_Antzo]

 

[Ragingcroc]

What the fuck, that's horrible.

 

[wildturkey]

I know that's suppose to be a camo pattern but to me it looks like a pile of autumn leaves. It's also terrible

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

I don't hate it, but I am kind if meh on the whole uniform thing. Just to play hard and I will have good memories of the uniforms. I associate game highlights with the uniforms.

 

[VTscores]

Not the worst I've seen, but I think the normal uniforms are better.

 

[VT_Antzo]

I think the helmets are awesome...but they better rock maroon pants.

 

[Sleepy T]

Yeh..Not too bad..could be (has been) worse. I don't really care..as long as they beat the crap out of Marshall.

 

[757Hokie83]

 

[hokiegrad]

like the helmet, hate the uni

 

[ACC_HOKIES]

 

[ACC_HOKIES]

Mild opponent at home after scrapping by the first road game. This is about the time our offense starts figuring it out. Hopefully we see a good mix of run and pass, continuing to buildup for ACC play. It would be great if we got a top quality first half for once.

Marshall hasn't played anyone, but they might have a decent offense to work against. I'll be interested to see if we keep playing this aggressive pass coverage.

 

[Sleepy T]

Mild opponent at home after scrapping by the first road game. This is about the time our offense starts figuring it out. Hopefully we see a good mix of run and pass, continuing to buildup for ACC play. It would be great if we got a top quality first half for once.

Marshall hasn't played anyone, but they might have a decent offense to work against. I'll be interested to see if we keep playing this aggressive pass coverage.

It would be great to get a first half so they can rest the starters a little bit. Not looking ahead, but GT is up next Thursday on a short week.

The quality of Facyson/Ke. Fuller's play has been a super pleasant surprise to me. Assuming Exum comes back soon at full strength, I would expect Foster to have the defensive front pin their ears back and harass the hell out of the QB ALOT in most of the games. That is ... unless the DBs show that they need help or cannot handle the coverage responsibilities of a given team. The only team I could see giving VT trouble in that respect might be UNC (and I haven't watched many of our opponents--correct me if I am wrong). I feel like if VT can handle ECU..they should be able to handle Marshall. JMHO.

Bud and Co. have done a great job at sending extra guys in when they should and the secondary has played on an island in these situations very well---great defensive coaching so far this year to go along with individuals playing smart and making big plays (big surprise).

 

[VTscores]

Currently, Virginia Tech is ranked #2 in total defense. Marshall is ranked #5.