Virginia Tech Camp Report

Many of you may have missed a thread that B-street started on the message boards recently asking the community to contribute what they have learned about the Hokie football team as they close out the Fall camp and get ready for Georgia Tech this coming Monday night.  I thought that was a great idea for a thread and I found that my answer was so long and detailed, that it should be an article.  Plus, I owe Coleman a Scrimmage Report article and it seems like the scrimmages were too long ago to write any meaningful articles about them now, so why not just make it a Fall Camp wrap-up article and include some of my observations from the scrimmages?  Perfect slacker solution!  Here goes:

The Offensive Line is Legit (I think

Let me start off by saying that I am the very first person to temper my enthusiasm for how a team, an individual, or a unit plays in practice versus how they are likely to play in a game.  After all, there are numerous factors that go into how a player or group of players practice that can cover up those same players’ weaknesses.  Undoubtedly, those weaknesses will then be exploited in game situations and one will think “What the heck happened here?”

Let me give you some examples: oftentimes the pace and intensity of practices will be a tick or two lower than the players will experience in game situations.  Or, players will get more snaps in practice going against 2nd teamers than they will against 1st teamers, whereas in a game, players are likely to face the other team’s best possible product almost exclusively.  And, in the case of an offensive line, those guys don’t necessary face a constant array of multiple blitzes and shifting formations in practice that they likely see in a real game.  Make no mistake, they do get some of those blitzes and multiple looks, and those guys are up to their ears in it this week as they prepare for Georgia Tech, but keep in mind that they are getting most of that from the scout team right now…not exactly the equivalent of the athletic challenge they will get when they line up on Monday.

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