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2016 Football season

Cobrabit

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I think we've corrected the fumble issues. I chalk up all the stuff from the UNC game to the weather entirely. Prior to that game though, we'd definitely had done a better job securing the ball. I think our biggest weakness is still the interior run game though. If we play a team that can lock up Ford and the other receivers (tough task since Ford is a monster), I'm still not certain we can run the ball effectively. As big as Evans is, I'm not comfortable using him as a ram. It was fine given the circumstances for UNC, but hopefully the backs can run better as we get into tougher ACC competition coming up with Miami and Pitt.

And the defense has been great. You're absolutely right that it helps we can get those guys a breather on the sideline now that we have an offense. I'm also happy to see Foster has gone back to his old ways of using multiple fronts instead of the conservative bear formations he's used the last couple of years.

I'm trying my best to temper expectations since its year 1 under Fuente but its getting awful hard not to look at the standings and say "what if".


I agree that most of the fumbles were weather related, but a couple of them were timing issues that can be corrected with extra practice (the jet sweep in the first quarter, much like the UT game, being one of them).

I also agree that the between the tackle running needs to improve to be a complete team. Evans runs similar to the way we used Logan, but that is a recipe for an injury and if Evans goes down, I don't think Motley can keep the rythmn going. So anything we can do to keep Evans upright is going to be crucial to any chance at the ACC title game.

My expectation for this team coming into the year was 8-4 so we wouldn't have to sweat out a bowl birth the last game. I think we can now realistically see a 9 and 10 win regular season. While I think we can beat everyone else on our schedule, there are still a few tough outs with a coin flip between us and Miami and Pitt.

One thing that is great to see again is the excitement around the team. Not just this year, but what could be built in the coming years even with the improved ACC going to make it tough. Recruiting should jump up and if we get that special player or two, who knows what could happen.
 
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Haven't posted here in a while........But like everyone else in Hokie Nation I am super pumped about this years team. That UNC win was probably the best win we've had in the last 4 years besides OSU. Getting such a dominant win in conditions like those says a lot about how well prepared this team was and how hungry they are. Really like the work Coach Fuente has done this far in terms of preparing the team each week, and oh by the way we finally have an offense capable of putting up some points consistently!!! Looking forward to the rest of the season! On a side note why has this place been so dead lately? This place had a cool tight knit group of regulars back in the day....
 

Cobrabit

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I think a lot of the original posters here have just had life happen and gotten older. New jobs, families, etc can definitely put a hold on posting. Plus, with the team struggles in recent years, there just wasn't much to celebrate and post about, so i can see why several don't come back much if at all.

I personally check in to see if anything interests me and will get the off day without kids and having a few cold ones that get me posting more, but the job and kids keep me from being on a lot.
 

amszete

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Not sure what is worse...

Getting used to losing so much it stopped hurting these last few years or getting used to winning then losing like this. What a dumpster fire of a game. While the officiating was suspect at times, our defense and offense looked unprepared. Foster got torched tonight and his defense looked silly time and time again. On O it looked like we caved to pass plays and we abandoned the run. And while Sam Rogers is an outstanding player I don't understand giving him the ball time and time again as a RB. He is not explosive. Very frustrating to lose like this and I am very disappointed.
 

wildturkey

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Told you I was concerned about the lack of running. Though some of that this game was Fuente and Co abandoning it too early. Williams and McMillan had a couple of good runs and they just stopped getting carries. And Rogers is not an HB. He's a FB. That's it. Stop feeding him the ball so much. He's a very good FB and I bet he can make an NFL roster as a productive FB, but stop giving him the ball for 2 yard runs. Rogers gets stuffed a lot. Marshawn Williams on the other hand, seems to always plow for at least 4 yards.

And I guess Foster hasn't corrected his past mistakes as much as we thought. He made the same mistakes against a spread team with a mobile QB he always does, giving the QB waaaay too much room to operate. Just dumb shit too. Like its 3rd and 1 and our guys are playing 8 yards off the line of scrimmage. Cuse lived off 6 to 8 yard passes all game or big runs because the LBs were all out in coverage. What's this? A 4 man rush with 10 yards of open real estate? DON'T MIND IF I DO!!! And he never adjusted. And on top of that, the defense put forth an absolute shit effort. The effort to tackle was charmin soft. I thought we might be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when we tied the game, but those two defensive series after that were abysmal and as embarrassing as it gets.

Looks like it was too quick to say Fuente has changed the culture because that was a classic Beamer era loss; build up weeks of positive vibes only to lose to a team you've got no business losing to. Positive is we're still in the driver's seat for the Coastal. With Miami losing, again, we can essentially knock them out of contention with a win this Thursday. We have the tie breaker with UNC and still have that game against Pitt
 

wildturkey

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Solid bounce back W against Miami tonight. Very impressive defensive performance considering the injuries right now. And it was great to see the running game get back on track. They made more of an effort to feed McMillan instead of rotating carries and it really paid off
 

wildturkey

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FINALLY! We finally get a win at Heinz Field over Pitt. Huge game from all our receivers and a gutsy effort from Evans after injuring his ankle. The Coastal is ours now as long as we can avoid any downers like what happened with Cuse.
 

Cobrabit

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Yep, so happy with the win at Heinz and the way the offense kept marching down the field. While I would have liked to see a lot more redzone opportunities converted to TDs rather than FGs and the defense put a few stops in a row after the 1st quarter, the fact they all kept battling and came out with a road win against a pretty good team was a nice thing to see.

VT should be favored in the last 4 games, but I'm still hesitant to go along with that mindset (previous year disappointments still weighing on my thoughts). Duke, GT, and UVA have played us tough in recent years and going to ND will also be interesting.

A 10-2 season is a distinct possibility, but so is 8-4. I'm leaning more towards the 10-2, with a Coastal title, but I'm not getting my hopes too high due to previous let downs. I am hoping I'm wrong though and Fuente/Foster get the team back in the ACCCG ahead of schedule.
 

wildturkey

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Really flirting with disaster with these late game situations. Fairly lazy effort all around against Duke. Foster just can't stop a team that has a mobile QB in its run game for some reason.
 

Cobrabit

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Yep, all too familiar, but at least it was a W. I'll take 7-2 with a good chance at a 10 win season in Fuente's first year.
 

wildturkey

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Duke knocked off UNC, making our path to the Coastal title significantly easier. :yes:
 

Cobrabit

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Duke knocked off UNC, making our path to the Coastal title significantly easier. :yes:

Yep, definitely gave us a little leeway, but hopefully the team doesn't see it that way and plays to win out. GT and UVA are both games we can lose even if we'd be favored. Same with ND, though it doesn't count towards the Coastal.

I'd love to see a 10 win season, give Clemson a run for their money with a chance to win, and take care of business in the bowl. Recruiting will get a nice bump and hopefully get us ready for a long reign.
 

Cobrabit

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Well, that was a piss poor performance. Need to regroup and finish strong.
 

wildturkey

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Well, that was a piss poor performance. Need to regroup and finish strong.

The team looked like a group that didn't practice all week because they forgot there was a game this week. Worse game of the season. Even with the Cuse loss, at least we were somewhat competitive after getting beat on some big plays. We've been sloppy at times the last couple of weeks but still won. Maybe getting popped in the mouth and embarrassed will wake everyone up and the team will finish strong like you said
 

wildturkey

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Well we didn't make it easy after a very rough start but we got the W against Notre Dame. Maybe the team got all that bad play out of their systems and we'll get a nice victory over UVA to seal the Coastal division
 

Cobrabit

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Missed most of the game taking the kiddos to take pictures with Santa (little punks were really shy and doubt a single good picture, but maybe the photographer can photoshop an okay one) and then local Christmas parade. Was checking the scores and figured that I was glad I wasn't watching the game. Get home right as we take the lead and tell my kids to leave me alone, haha.

From what I gather, turnovers and our defense put us deep in a hole, but the team kept fighting and took over after halftime. Like you, I hope they take the momentum of the second half and the win into next week and dominate UVA for 13 straight. Clemson is beatable and I think we can play with them.
 

Cobrabit

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Wel the UNC los clinched the Coastal for us. Just hope that the team doesn't pay attention and comes out on fire tomorrow. They should either way considering its UVA, but I could see it setting up as a trap game now if the players don't take UVA serious considering their poor record and the current 3 score Vegas line.

Time to make a statement against their rival and go into the ACC CG with some good momentum.
 
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