Virginia Tech gave up a late deep bomb for a touchdown against prevent defense and lost to Cincinnati 27-24 on Saturday in Washington, DC. Tech is now 3-2 on the season, while the Bearcats improved to 3-0.
This was a tale of two halves for the Hokies – for both the offense and defense. The offense was terrible in the first half, but moved the ball efficiently for the last 30 minutes. The defense kept Tech in it for the first 30 minutes, but surrendered too many big plays over the final 2 quarters.
In the first half, the Tech offense didn’t pick up a first down until there was approximately 5 minutes on the clock in the second quarter. They eventually scored a touchdown – their second first down of the first half – on a read option run by Logan Thomas after the Tech defense forced a turnover. Bruce Taylor deflected a pass that was intercepted by Kris Harley, which set up Tech’s only score of the first half. The Hokies led 7-6 at halftime, but it was clear that this was going to be a battle until the very end.
Despite only recording two first downs in the first half, the Tech offense put up 402 yards for the game. However, they were still their own worst enemy in the second half. A bad high throw by Logan Thomas deflected off the fingers of Randall Dunn inside the five yard line, and turned a sure touchdown into an interception for Cincinnati. Another high throw by Thomas on a third down play took away a big play by Marcus Davis, and resulted in a punt.
After the first half, the Hokies ran the football effectively…
Michael Holmes: 11 carries for 60 yards and 1 touchdown
Dyrell Roberts: 5 carries for 51 yards
J.C. Coleman: 7 carries for 32 yards
However, it took the Hokies two full quarters to make offensive adjustments, and their only score of the first half was off an interception deep in Cincinnati territory.
The second half was a different story. Kyle Fuller didn’t play at field corner for the first drive of the second half because of what I assume is still an injured shoulder. Cincinnati went right after his replacement – true freshman corner Donaldven Manning. Manning surrendered three big plays, including a 29 yard touchdown pass. After that drive, Fuller returned to the game, injured arm and all.
Tech later gave up a 76 yard wheel route for a touchdown to backup tailback R.D. Abernathy. Tech called a zone blitz on the play, but one of the boundary side defenders did not drop out into pass coverage, which resulted in a wide open pass to Abernathy. He only had to beat one defender in the open field, and took it all the way for a touchdown. This was one of Cincinnati quarterback Munchie Legaux’s big plays of the day. He completed only 19-of-42 passes, but he had 376 yards, including three touchdowns.
Even with that bad start to the second half, Logan Thomas hit Corey Fuller on a 56 yard touchdown on a deep crossing route to give the Hokies a 24-20 lead with just 1:49 left. It was all on the Tech defense at that point, and unfortunately their best defensive player made a critical mistake.
Kyle Fuller committed the sin of all sins for a defensive back: he let Cincinnati wide receiver Damon Julian get behind him in prevent defense and surrendered a 39 yard touchdown pass with just 13 seconds remaining in the game. At that point the Tech offense had no chance to move down the field and score, and the final hail mary of the game by Logan Thomas was deflected and intercepted.
We’ll have much more on this game in the upcoming week.
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I think the comments on Coach Beamer with respect to the offensive coordinators is spot on. All of us have lived through the lethargic offense for years while having kids who could play. The offensive system there holds kids back. Poor line techniques leave our backs in position to fail. Our quarterback’s techniques are not sound. No imagination on offense. I know it should not be but the defense does get down when the offensive scheme is so bad.
I am sorry but I do not blame the kids. The kids are not there for the coaches. The coaches are there for the kids.
I can understand loyalty to your coaching staff but they should perform. The offensive coordinators Stiny & O’Cain are just awful and you have to have blinders own not to see this. The head coach is doing a dis-service to the kids by not giving them the best coaching available.
Maybe Coach Beamer, during the off season, should go to a school like Oregon to understand how a offense works. He then would see the problem there and get the best people available for the kids.
After attending the 3rd Tech loss at FEDEX, I will not be giving my money to Danny Snyder to attend games there. We don’t perform there for whatever reason.
This was a total team let down. Our team D is too slow this year. We don’t close and team tackle as in the past and this is not the typical group of players you expect at DBU. The DBs were getting beat all day. The supposed experienced D line could not get pressure on the QB on their own.
The offense is trying to be too cute with too many side-to-side running plays and long developing routes. The best drive happened when Tech went to a 2 back set and gave Holmes the ball with a lot of “off tackle” runs. He’s the only back that gains yards after contact. Yes, LT missed high on a few as usual, but, other drops and pass break-ups were all on the receivers. Sitting high up in FEDEX, we could see receivers rounding and running lazy routes allowing Cincy to close on passes. The best route of the day was the crossing route we scored on late.
Specials were average at best and there seemed to be no urgency at all by this team. Our youth, inexperience, and lack of prep came through.
At least the tailgate was fun.
So much for our “Top 10 defense” and “NFL-Ready QB”. What disappointments….
The D has been as porous as cheesecloth, and Logan has completely lost his poise and focus. Add to that the perennially ineffective O-line play along with the perennially horrendous offensive play-calling. Top it all off with our recurring inability to show up mentally focused and ready to play. The Pitt and Cincy games were both horrifying debacles.
The season is till salvageable, given that all our conference games are coming up. But the results to date don’t bode well for our ability to compete with F$U and Clemson, or even Carolina, BC, and Miami. This could get a lot worse. Maybe we need a 6-loss, no-bowl season to shake up Frank and the administration.
Cincy WRs were behind us in our “prevent defense” on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (the game winner) downs. That was bad defense and I don’t understand it. I have bigger questions about the offense, but the D on the last series was maddening.
SENIORHOKIEJOCK
9/30/12 – 8:30PM
It is time to mix things up. When you have a star, use him every way you can.
Quitely practice Logan at QB AND TIGHT END with Leal at QB. At 6′ 6″, 260, Logan has the biggest hands and the longest arms on the team. He can catch the ball, knows how to run the routes and would probably draw a crowd leaving other receivers open. His presence as a TE receiving and blocking threat completely changes opposing defensive coordinators preparation and game plan. They have to account for him. Plus it might dilute
their efforts to stop our running game.
With his performance so far this year, you aren’t going to hurt his NFL QB recruiting and might even help his TE possibilities at the NFL level.
This is not desperation and not meant to be a permanent move. Play him at TE to start ball games and maybe back to QB for the second half. DEPENDS ON WHAT WORKS. I seem to remember he was recuited as the #2 TE in America. His throwing hand is hurt and he is not passing the ball well plus our RECEIVERS ARE ALL OVER THE MAP. Also, I expect he is ANGRY and ready to lay some wood all over the field.
Also, position him behind our line to block low field goals and extra points. YOU GOT A WEAPON, USE IT!
poor coaching plus poor playing = one long torturous season.
I keep seeing comparisons to Bowden and Paterno. You folks realize those guys each won multiple national championships, right?
I very much appreciate what Frank’s done, but comparing him to those guys is a joke.
If o’cain is doing his job then turn Logan loose. It’s like we are saving him for next year and limiting his ability this year. Run the option, run a throwback pasa to him. Open up the offense early and givr the oposition something to think about . Do not wait till the second half. Throw the ball downfield.
I don’t know if I’ve seen such a Downtrodden Offense for Tech in quite some time, they have no confidence at all. Logan is having a Horrible year with this bunch, the Siver Lining is that he has to come back. He was overthrowing and behind on most Passes, actually some good catches by various receivers. At the end of the Game, I was frozen, shocked, and actually wanted to Puke. There’s been some HeartBreakers, this was one of the worst.
I sure as Hell didn’t see a Prevent D on the Cincy catch, I was shocked that Bud brought the House. I was thinking “Man that’s Dangerous,” surely there’s some dudes back playing Centerfield. I didn’t see em. I don’t blame Fuller, this last second loss lies squarely on Bud Foster getting Stupid. A high School Coach would have defended the play better. I continue to be Amazed at how We give Games away! This one was in the books, no other teams lose as dramatically as We do, nobody. The Hokie Nation deserves better. I repeat, Bud Foster cost us this Gut-Wrenching Game. Our O stinks mostly, but this one is all on the D, and some ignorant calls in the final minute. We pay Bud too much Money to screw it all up like that, He blew it. I love the Man, but not this time. Murray State is not the Ivy League, he reverted back to Stupid, and ruined the whole Season. That’s my take, and I’m stickin to it.
[email protected]. Make the emails rain
One other thing, we are 3 wins and 4 loses out of our last seven games.
Only saw one mention of Hokies presnap shifts and motions or whatever Stiny calls them. Seems we are confusing noone but ourself and the defesne just sits and waits for us to run whatever we ran last time. After watchinbg Alabama Never shift I am wondering if this is coach speak designed to impress the fans. We really do need some new coaches on offense. seems Shane would get the message to his dad or maybe he is just as bad. Our running backs are cewrtainly not uo to standards this year.
You’re right, it looks like a Chinese Fire Drill, it aint working at all. The opposing Defense just rolls their eyes, and stuffs us. Thank You, I thought it was just me.
The offense is too painful to watch, many formations of the same predictable plays. The first half of the game was about as ugly as it get’s. There was some light at the end of the tunnel in the second half but the light was a train!! SAME OLD ENDING.
It’s really really sad. Here’s the scenario – Frank retires. Bud takes over. Shane takes over the offense. O’Cain and Stiney are shown the door.
Whenever Frank retires, I’m fine with it – he’s built this program to where it is. It’s bigger than I ever thought, and has a ways to go yet. I’ll bet he retires in the next 2-3 years.
I love you Man
The problem isn’t the scheme or the play selection. The problem is that we simply don’t execute with any consistency.
We miss too many blocks, we drop too many passes, we miss too many open receivers.
Personally, I’d be in favor of replacing Curt Newsome as OL coach. It’s my belief that his blocking schemes are simply too complex for the college level and that his O-lines simply aren’t nasty enough. We need to have O-linemen who are firing off at the snap of the ball and hitting opponents, not taking a half step backwards and simply looking to “get in the way” so that a RB can find a hole.
But I really didn’t have any problem at all with the play selection yesterday. In fact, I thought we mixed in misdirection well and employed the jet sweep with Roberts very effectively. We even ran a couple of true screen passes yesterday for a change, and they worked.
The fake read option and pass down the middle to the TE was a great call, but it’s dependent on your QB being able to make a 10-yard pass on target, which ours wasn’t able to do. LT’s pass was too high and too hard. It should have been an easy TD but wasn’t. The play selection had nothing to do with that.
You’re dead on with the assessment…. 🙂
I agree with this. We simply do not have the playmakers on offense to execute. Playmakers execute plays and make things happen. I sat in the stands at GT and said then, we have no playmakers. Five games later I still see no playmakers. We have kids who make plays once in a while but we have no players who consistently catch passes, make blocks, etc. All our playmakers from last year are gone and no one has stepped up to prove they can make plays. We are not as talented, and we need to accept this fact as we watch, cheer, and support our Hokies. For whatever reason we have missed on some kids in our recent recruitment and we are seeing that now. If you want to blame the coaches for anything, blame them for missing on the recruitment of this group, but as Hokiestud said it comes down to execution. You can watch the game, and time after time is comes down to lack of execution. Another example: Third play from scrimmage: misdirection fake, TE chip blocks, releases to the flat. Great call, worked as you draw it up, LT doesn’t put the ball anywhere near the TE to catch it. 3 and out! A lot of people want to blame the coaches for lack of execution. I just don’t think we have the talent level to beat good teams. Don’t agree. Which players on our offense would start or play at Clemson or FSU?
Agreed Stud. I’m in no way going to anoint Stiney as some sort of offensive genius or a great OC….but I really do bet that he’d be ‘good enough’ if the blocking was good. The only good Curt Newsome line we’ve had was last year, and how could they NOT be good with that much returning experience.
So while I wouldn’t mind seeing a different Offensive Coordinator, the biggest issue we have, year over year, is the OL. If the line blocks, then all of a sudden all of Stiney’s ‘multiple’ schemes, etc. would actually work.
Now for this particular season, we’d still have the issue of Logan throwing high A LOT….but the long term issue would better AND we’d would have been able to rely on running more and allow LT to settle in more.
Obviously, nothing will change this year, but I really really hope we can get something to happen in this offseason. Stiney may not be great, but I really do think he’d be ‘good enough’.
I saw the same thing yesterday. A perfect example was the screen pass on 3rd and long in the first half. It was setup perfectly and would have resulted in a first down except both of the OL that got down field to help block decided to try to cut the same LB and both missed. The result was only WR’s were downfield to block for Coleman and the play was stopped.
Issues with execution are still coaching issues but there hasn’t been issues with playcalling or scheme. There seems to be a breakdown by someone on just about every play and VT isn’t doing anything super sophisticated. Simple things like completing WR screens are an adventure for this bunch.
Sick feeling after this one. Need a major coaching overhaul. Just read some of our former players’ tweets.
What are they saying & who are the ones tweeting? O or D?
Put in Sean Glennon.
We should put the wheel route in on offense. Even if it doesn’t work for us, it might help our defense learn to recognize it. Pitt and Cincy used it once each for huge TDs.
Come on! They’re 3-2 with more than half the season left to play. Stop the bitchin’!!
Question? Have you been watching this debacle and yes 3-2 almost half way thru our season what was supposed to be easy up until next week and have you looked at what’s coming up on the schedule other than GT it should have been a well oiled machine by now. So let’s face it this is who we are this year.
2 of those wins are against Austin Peay and Bowling Green
Epic fail by Fuller
I was at the game…Fuller got beat several times. I think his injuries are to more than just his shoulder….
Again, D Is/was bad….and historically the close rate for this defense isn’t very high. Too many games where we have a late lead and lose a close one due to the D. I mean it’s too many to count LITERALLY. Sure the O is bad, but geez have some pride, get off the field when you have a chance. The Exum as corner move is terrible. He isn’t a corner…is not natural when the ball is in the air and will be cooked more and more as season continues. He may can play corner in a traditional safety over top setting Burr not how we play. Expect this D to have trouble all season….against the run and pass
Dude…Exum was the best corner on the field. Fuller and Bonner looked bad.
I’m sorry but Exum should have been called for at least two more interference calls. It’s not his natural position: He never looks back for the ball and he’s grabbing players because he’s getting beat. Bring in the young bucks and let them learn on the fly at corner. Let’s be honest-we are heading to the Alamo bowl with a porous D, ineffectual play calling and a QB who peaked as a sophomore.
Alamo bowl? Bowl? We have to win 3 more games and that may be hard pressed to happen.
Are you insane? Exum was awful, he was getting beat and committing stupid penalties. He single-handedly kept drives alive for Cincinnati. I was at the game, everyone could see it. He is the worst corner I have seen at VT in years.
Thought i was watching Ronyell Whitaker.
Why are our corners so bad this year after having so many good ones play on Sundays? But come to think it, our weakness on defense has always been the long ball. We’ve been beaten many times on big passes.
No bowl this year people. I see no way we turn this around. Even in our worst of days we didn’t look this bad. And just think, next year it will be the same crap, the same tired comments from the coaching staff and oh look at that, the same freakin awful coaches. Let’s face it everyone, we have peaked and hit our ceiling. I foresee some bad times in our future and I am sickened by the thought of no bowl this year but hey at least we can’t lose it again if we aren’t playing. It’s really sad. Frank has done all he can and now he has turned into Bowden. Maybe he will make Shane OC next year.
And get rid of Stiney haha. Picture that happening! Loyalty is a curse and we relive it every year!
I’m as sad as any Hokie fan to watch this. But I also suffered through a lot of REALLY lean times in the history of this program. It’s frustrating that he keeps Stiney, but I’ll back Frank until he decides to retires. He deserves our respect.
We could be Arkansas.
You need some perspective. You obviously didn’t watch VT play offense from 2006-2008. Trust me, it can get a lot worse than you’ve seen this year.
With Duke, UVA and BC remaining on the schedule this team will go to a bowl. They also won’t lose to all of Miami, UNC, Clemson and FSU.
Sorry, that first half was the worst I have seen. I have perspective. You are smoking dope if you think it can get worse and you think we are going bowling this year. Have you watched UNC, Miami, FSU and Clemson this year? Three of those games are on the road and how has our team done on the road this year? We have barely beaten Duke when we were good over the last few years and when have we ever played good going to BC? I will give you UVA but I say 5 and 7 is a pretty good shot this year. Wake up!!!
In that situation you simply don’t let them score. You put an extra defender (pull a lineman if necessary) and put his heels on the goal line. Plays centerfield. If they throw the ball to the end zone he goes and knocks it down. OR you attack/blitz and dont give them to throw it deep. Regardless Bud is going to take this loss personally (and take the blame himself). Stiney will blame the players (or execution…which btw is his job, too). Frank will wonder what time the games starts. Nothing will change. We’ll all cuss and get frustrated next week (and the week after). Like many of us…I’m simply done. Too tired. Too beat up. Too raw to accept YET another disappointing loss. This may actually be it for me.
Goodbye then.
Double that good bye, Sir, because this is about it for me too- UNTIL BEAMER RETIRES & WE GET DIFF. “O” PHILOSOPHY & PERSONNEL. I turned the game off yesterday mid-stream because it is so frustrating to watch the unecessary incompetency of our coaches and team. Don’t plan to even watch them next week.
We have had a mediocre (at best) offense for about a decade, under the losing Steiny’s leadership – & Beamer won’t do anything about it.
Beamer reached his peak a few years ago and he is turning into the infamous FSU Bowden. Did you see him on the sidelines, with his glazed look; did you compare that to the intensity of Cinti coach who was pumping up his team. And worst of all, did you notice the lack of aggressiveness & enthusiasm of our team – IT REFLECTED BEAMER’S ATTITUDE. I even saw a video where announcers were reflecting on Cinti players all running to other end of field at beginning of 4th QTR & VT walked w/o enthusiasm.
I even noticed lack of intensity in our once awesome defense; not all of that is lack of talent. I wonder if Bud & Company doesn’t get tired of carrying the O for a decade.
I am surprised so many still enjoy the taste of Beamer Koolaid. It’s taste is now BITTER to me.
You obvious haven’t been a fan long.
Be careful what you wish for… Go back and look at the coaching histories of:
Nebraska
Notre Dame
Florida
Alabama
Texas (after Darryl Royal retired)
There are more if you want them.
Yes, we have a right to be sad and disappointed. Yes, we have a right to be pissed at the the incompetence. Frank’s brought us a lot of great memories as well. What is it 4 ACC Championships???
Agree on someone playing even deeper. As for “or you attack / blitz’, no problem there. We did only rush 4, but if you watch that last play again (if your stomach can handle it), our DE gets great pressure and is actually all over Legaux as he throws. For all we know, our DE might have turned that into a good pass.
VT improved in this game but it’s still a loss..big plays can be expected but the Refs (unknown it they were Big East to me but a few calls could have gone either way) helped the Cats all day. It was still a step in the right direction. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that we have enough to overcome either FSU or Clemson this year. I was disappointed that Foster decided to play in a prevent defense instead of bringing heat.
Question – on the last TD pass…his knee hit the ground and he rolled into the end-zone. If that call is made that he was down at the 1 then the clock likely runs out. What is the rule in this situation?
I watched it again in slow-mo and his knee did he early, but he had a slight bobble and didn’t have full possession of the ball at that point. By the time he secured it, his body was definitely over the line. Heck of a catch and just another unbelievable gut kick loss. You almost have to laugh to stop the pain.
Also, the clock wouldn’t have run out, because it would have stopped to reset the chains. Chances say the spike it on the 1 with about 9 seconds left, and then it gets really interesting from there.
So your knee can be down without position of the ball which allows you to be down and roll into the endzone? I’m asking, we were unable to determine the proper call for that play. To me if you knee is down and you don’t have control for the catch than the ball is spotted where you were down.
Agree with your analysis, but a rule question, can a receiver make a catch if he is already down?
Yeah, you can see it happen pretty regularly… catching low throws while on knee/knees.
I am upset about the loss too. Fuller should not have let the receiver get behind.
Why the negatives about the rest of the season? Is nobody a real hokie?
If you are not real hokie, get off the bandwagon.
Bandwagon? Is there a bandwagon?
Clear, I think what people are trying to get at is it the same old song and dance. Defense plays hard and gives up first half yards but no points and the offense can’t get out of its own way. No identity on offense and nothing to hang our hats on. GA Tech lives and dies on the triple option, WVU has their own offense that their coach brought over, Clemson the same, and look at Rich Rod and his offense. They have a system and run it for better or worse. Having 30 different looks isn’t inventive if 28 you do not know the ends and outs of. There are going to be the LSU games where a team is just flat out better than you on both sides of the ball but Pitt and Cinn are not flat out better. If it was a different story and the defense that got it handed to them and gave up in the first half, or if the offense was scoring 50 and the defense gave up 60, I could deal with it but we have lost every game because of the offense except for the Pitt game in recent memory. Look at the time of possession in our losses. Look at the first half. Look with the offenses of today, a defense can have a good game and give up 20 or 30 points. Look at FSU against Clemson last week case in point. No one loves Hokie football more than I do (you may love it as much but not more) and I have now started calling them the NOKIES. When you have the same thing happen over and over and tomorrow we will hear the same old “Things got out of whack”, “we played hard but did not execute”, etc, it gets old. When the coach and athletic dept put in the trophy case, they set the standard and I do not see this offense ever reaching that. I still love the players but they are not put in a position to win. I am sure the booing in the games is directed at the coaches and the play calls and not the players for the most part. I will say some offensive players need to be called out and need to perform. If not start playing the young guys and get them ready for next year. The one positive is see coming out of this season at this point and maybe I am wrong, but the 10 wins are done. In each of the past seasons, when this happens FB goes on about how they are the only team to win 10 games for x years in a row. Now if you do not hit that number, you have stepped back and how do you get back to 10 wins and doing nothing but the same won’t work. I hope I am wrong but at this point Duke will be a struggle for this offense.
Until the MNC case is destroyed or the three-headed monster of Stinespring/Newsome/O’Cain is fired I’m off the bandwagon. Until there are major changes on the staff I’m resigned to the fact that we peaked in ’99 and we will never see it again.
Good bye. How many more 400 to 500 yard games by the opposition before Bud becomes a monster?
We gained over 400 yards….the big complaint was the offense failed to make any adjustments during a game. Clearly Tech did…….. In this game the defense didn’t make a stop and they made a play. If you can’t recognize that, then go ahead a bail. Hope you can live with the fact that you’re a quitter
Both of you need to take off the O&M shaded glasses and look at reality. If O’Cain knew what he was doing Logan Thomas wouldnt have regressed to a true freshman and would have control of this offense. If Newsome knew what he was doing we might actually be able to run up the middle… and Stinespring… if he knew what he was doing our best running play wouldnt be designed for a receiver. Foster isnt off the hook either – the defense has been a joke and is a shell of its former self.
Bingo
Tackle the receiver or push him out of bounds if he is going to get buy you. Give up a 15 yard penalty and live for another down, Never let him get behind you no matter what.
It remains a mystery to me why all, and I mean all or our opponents seem to be ready and well prepared for VT and we look frankly clueless. I’m not an expert just wondering why the rest of the NCAA can out play us and out perform us and out scheme us and out special-team us. I just don’t understand. What is going on? Forget all the individual players and specific issues we are terrible, predictable, no passion, no creativity, even the defense is not up to par… what is going on within the program. We are going in the wrong direction. OK this needs to happen… to initiate some changes… got it. Nothing will change. That’s OK because the Orioles and the Ravens are doing good. Maybe I’ll become a Maryland fan…
Go ahead.
I just returned from the game and I couldn’t believe I was re-living the Boise St. nightmare…less than 2 minutes and we let a team go 80 yards and score a knife through the heart victory. I realize D gave up big plays in the 2nd half that were costly, but given the defense was the only Hokie team that showed up to play all 4 quarters, its no surprise we lost! Two 1st downs in the 1st half won’t win any games! Stiney, O’Cain, and Newsome continue to not have players ready to play and the lack of intensity shows season after season. O-line got schooled entire 1st half and then somehow Stiney finally figures out how to make adjustments for big yardage in the 2nd half??? Logan’s play this season is simply a mystery how he is so off from last year? At least Bud had his guys playing with intensity and hitting people! Logic would say we get smoked by Canes, Clemson, FSU. UNC and BC could end up L’s as well as road play has really gone south of late! Hate the thought of Hokies not having winning season, but unless this ship starts steering in a different direction, nothing to suggest different results.
I totally agree about reliving Boise. I was at both games and suffered through the gut wrenching finish. Boise was worse though because we had higher expectations and a packed house. Nobody was pissed leaving today just resigned.
Right about reliving Boise. We blew the game on defense both times when we had it won. I hate to bash our defense, but is it not true?
I thought the play calling in this game was pretty good. I put this one on the players. Some mental lapses on a few defensive plays and some spotty throwing and catching on several plays hurt us. The offensive line looked pretty good in the 2nd half. It is sickening to lose a game this way but there were some positives. We have always managed to right the ship for conference play. If we get by UNC and Duke we are still in it even if we lose to Clem and FSU (assuming Miami loses to FSU). Miami is now looking like a must win although we have a long way to go to get to that point.
One thing is for sure. The ACC looks terrible again. GT, VT and UVA really let the conference down today.
We also win most likely if they don’t take that TD back on holding and we catch that ball to Tide end. Huge play turning the ball over there.
Yeah, that was one of the catch and throws I was thinking about. Looked like LT threw it too hard and a little high but Dunn still could have caught it. I think they share the responsiblity there. And we were a bit unlucky that it fell into a defender’s lap. Reminds of the Michigan game last year where all the bounces went there way.
It’s sickening to watch our offense and then look at Texas and Okla St move the ball so fluently or maybe I could plug in any team at this point they would look better than our offense. Another neutral-site loss and another loss to a inferior opponent, something has to change, I don’t want to hear what we did in the second half because it will not carry over into the next game and we all know that. At this point no team we play from here on out is a givin victory and even getting bowl eligible may be in question.
we have no running game and no running backs. Va tech can’t win without those things in place.
On the wheel route both linebackers on that side cut up inside and blitzed. I assume only one was supposed to blitz and the other was supposed to drop back. Another brain fart by the defense in thsi game.
True. Bud called it a “blown coverage”. Even I figured that out.
If we are in a prevent defense, where are the safeties?
Against the multiple WR sets the safeties typically have to cover someone so they often aren’t available to come over and help as in the past. But in rality, the corner was supposed to be his own “safety”, i.e. don’t let anyone get behind you.
Yet again, the “Agony of Defeat”……….Frank Beamer 10 wins vs. 21 losses in NFL stadiums. What is his bowl game record? Record vs. Top 5 teams? Record vs. Top 10 teams?
Prediction for the remaining schedule:
@ UNC – Loss
H Duke – Win
@ Clemson – Loss
@ Miami – Loss
H FSU – Loss
@ BC – Loss
H UVA -Win
Get ready for a 5 win, 7 loss season and no bowl game this year folks!! Added bonus, entire offensive staff will be back in tact next year AND we lose several Top committments from current recruiting class….
Go Hokies!!
The top recruits may want to come because they certainly should have a spot in the 2 deep. The more things change the more they stay the same!
Just looking at one upcoming game, I’m not sure they beat Duke right now. They struggled with them last year and Duke is playing well.
Totally agree. Folks-it’s not quitting -it’s called being a realist. The game has passed Frank bye and he won’t make the moves to fix it. Everybody picks on Dabo but hey .. The guy isn’t afraid to hire coordinators smarter than he is and to pay them through the nose to come to Clemson. At least they’re feared. Color commentator again today called out hokies for lack of passion and intensity and an offense that moves around a lot pre snap but really is one dimensional and easy to defend.
To stay VT as being in a “prevent” defense at this stage is off base with only the cornerbacks playing back in prevent.
Fuller is a cornerback. Maybe it wasn’t a full fledged prevent, but we were playing soft coverage.
Our corners must have deep help in that situation. Especially since we were only rushing four. Six defensive backs. We did not need Taylor and Tyler both in with the situation as it was. Perhaps a Tweedy or Vandyke who can cover a lot of ground. I blame Bud for not protecting about the only way we could lose the game- the long bomb.
Offense was pathetic in first half. I still wonder where the D-line that was written about in spring & August is? One sack I believe yesterday & Cincy was passing alot. Exum is a good athlete, but currently in wrong position & will get tested often & fail-secondary is going to be a problem in several future games unless we can get better defense push. A bowl game is the best this team came hope for at this point. I’ll watch & squirm for balance of the season and be thankful for a win over UVA.