What are you looking for against Western Carolina to show promise for the rest of the year?

Nova Hokie 95: Personally, I don’t think you can take any positives away from games against the likes of the Catamounts. They’re not just an FCS team, they’re a bad FCS team. Instead, I think you have to look for the absence of negatives, and it’s a subtle difference.

Can we get a push on the OL against WCU? That’s a positive, but to me it doesn’t really mean much for the rest of the year other than it’s not a negative — it’s not us not getting a push on the OL against WCU. Stated differently, being able to get a push against WCU doesn’t mean we’ll be able to do the same against other teams on our schedule. However, a failure to get a push will be a bad omen for the future. So I’m going to look at our OL push. After the Alabama game, though, I’m quite optimistic in this regard.

I’ll also look at the rhythm of LT and the WRs. Many on the board have been harping on LT, while others have pointed at his WRs. I think it’s safe to say that neither impressed against Alabama. So let’s see what they can do against WCU. Can they get on the same page? Can LT hit the WRs on the run, or will he be behind them, ahead of them, above them, or at their feet? Can the WRs run good routes, come back to the ball when necessary, and actually catch the ball when it hits them in the hands? Again, a great passing day against WCU won’t really tell us much for the rest of the year, but a poor passing day — wherever you want to lay the blame — will result in the re-reduction of a lot of season predictions, I think (after the overall “we’ll be better than I originally thought” tone that seems to be washing over TSL).

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