Congrats to the team for a solid win over Cincy...

[hokiemtc]

...some thoughts...

1) This was by far the best the special teams have looked in ages...and it was also the first time in 28 years that Frank didn't coach them. Coincidence? I noticed that in kickoff coverage, the guys were maintaining their lanes and breaking down at the end to wait on (and surround and gang tackle) the ball carrier instead of having a couple of guys over pursuing and blow right past the returner (therefore giving up creases and big returns). Textbook special teams coverage, and the first time I've seen that out of VT in a long, long time. Again I ask, coincidence? The punt coverage was outstanding, with the returner getting tackled at the moment of catching the ball almost every time.

2) Who was #2 for the defense and why did he choose NOT to cover anyone the entire game? He single-handidly gave up half of Cincy's total yardage all by himself. Along the same thought lines, where were all of our usual cornerbacks besides Fuller (who looked fantastic out there)? Did we have that many injuries coming into this game?

3) Stroman playing a lot of defense and getting a few snaps at running back was a nice adjustment. Good for him getting that defensive TD. The kid has great speed. He did field one punt and ran backwards for a 20 yard loss, though, which is a major no-no for a punt returner.

4) Coleman looked fantastic out there. Where was this all year? Interconnectedly, the oline had their best night run blocking maybe all season.

5) Good lord, our passing game is a train wreck. No QB, no pass blocking, dumb pass routes that aren't designed to accomplish anything...luckily, we used it more and more sparingly as the game went on and the running game took over. Is it just me, or does anyone else say, "Oh no" every single time we ever drop back to pass the ball?

6) Lots of freshmen and sophomores on the field for VT yesterday. LOTS returning next year.



This post was edited on 12/28 12:52 PM by hokiemtc

 

[BigDaddyHokie]

I agree the special teams were awesome and well prepared.

Our running game came alive again and that was very refreshing. After the first series we mixed the plays up and started getting results. That continued for the rest of the game for the most part.

Our D looked good after the first series and bent but didn't break.

That was a great win over a competitive Cincinnati team.

This post was edited on 12/28 2:02 PM by BigDaddyHokie

 

[Hokie81]

Coleman looked good, kudos for not getting discouraged over playing time. But I do wonder how Shane is gonna get the returning stallions sufficient carries next year...

Congrats Hokies - despite the injury plagued season you still had a winning season, beat the boohoos and played bowl game in fertile recruiting territory!

We are Virginia Tech!!!

 

[1bburgfan]

Heard from several players that the pre bowl practices were longer and harder than ones in early August. It was easy to see how well prepared this team was for the bowl game. # 2 Riley has been playing a lot since Fayson got hurt , usually being the nickel back. In his defense the dbs get left out on an island in our defensive scheme, it's easy to watch the football, but on the plays he gave up there was no pressure. IMO the run blocking has improved greatly since installing Teller into the lineup and the pass blocking still needs lots of work this spring. I believe Searles has done a great job , in his short time here. The kids enjoy playing for him much more than they did for Grimes. Stroman is a freak athlete and what's even better there is another redshirting Trevon McMillian, who is a carbon copy of Stroman.

 

[littleton tiger]

Agree, impressive win that will help build excitement going into spring training next year.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

2015 looks good. If we can increase our scoring about 10 points a game, we should put up 11 or 12 wins. Every game we lose this season was by one TD or less, except Miami game.

 

[leeanderthal]

Originally posted by 1bburgfan:

Heard from several players that the pre bowl practices were longer and harder than ones in early August. It was easy to see how well prepared this team was for the bowl game. # 2 Riley has been playing a lot since Fayson got hurt , usually being the nickel back. In his defense the dbs get left out on an island in our defensive scheme, it's easy to watch the football, but on the plays he gave up there was no pressure. IMO the run blocking has improved greatly since installing Teller into the lineup and the pass blocking still needs lots of work this spring. I believe Searles has done a great job , in his short time here. The kids enjoy playing for him much more than they did for Grimes. Stroman is a freak athlete and what's even better there is another redshirting Trevon McMillian, who is a carbon copy of Stroman.

Very good post. Travon is bigger 6.0 and 200#. He can run and we may need him at rb as I hope the coachs see their way towards RS 's for both Shai and Williams. They need the time to fully heal.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

All our RB injuries have me worried. Are we working them too hard in practice, or not hard enough, or is it a freak of nature.

 

[VTSmitty]

Originally posted by Hampton Roads 6:

All our RB injuries have me worried. Are we working them too hard in practice, or not hard enough, or is it a freak of nature.

Broken bones for Edmunds. That has nothing to do with practice. Shai looks world class for quite a few games, and then freak non contact injury results in ACL. No way to see it, no way to prevent it. Same for Marshawn.

 

[SacrydDreamz]

Our special teams were much improved this season, not just this game. They ranked in the top 10 in punt return defense and 55th in kickoff return defense -- not stellar but a marked improvement over last season. They also did not give up a return TD all season... when was the last time that happened?

Regarding the secondary, we've had consistency issues at times but overall the play wasn't bad. The defense was 15th in passing efficiency and 28th in passing yards allowed. So in summary we didn't have a dominating unit, but clearly a very good secondary which got burned at times for big plays (hence the disparity in ranking on efficiency vs. yards). This is somewhat expected given the style of defense we play. Still frustrating at times when it appears that we do not make adjustments quickly enough.

J.C. Coleman was much improved to close out the season. Part of it, whether or not some want to admit it, was a change in play calling and putting Coleman in a position to succeed... so some of the credit must also go to Loeffler. That said, Coleman did well when being thrust back into the lineup through attrition and played with a chip on his shoulder...

And yes, the passing game is a train wreck. I put that on the QB, O-line, and inconsistent (though talented) WRs more than play design per se. Brewer doesn't make decisions quick enough at times and holds on to the ball too long... then he forces things when the play breaks down. Sometimes it works, and at other times it results in disastrous interceptions. His deep ball also leaves much to be desired... in fact, I cannot recall a deep ball (as in greater than 30 yards down field) he placed on the money. The fact is we do not have a good enough QB or O-line to run something other than a vanilla offense and hope for the best.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Special teams: We need to kick ball a little deeper. I noticed at Military Bowl, all KOs went to 5-10 yard line but one if my memory is correct.

Passing game: Routes need tweaking, too many short passes where if completed, result in little yardage. Hit receivers on the run and allow them to operate in open field. That results in big gains.

 

[leeanderthal]

When SL went to basic running plays we wer at the best I've seen this year.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

We looked like a different team on the first drive of 2nd half.

 

[hokiemtc]

Originally posted by leeanderthal:
When SL went to basic running plays we wer at the best I've seen this year.

I noticed that, too.

We also did a lot of simple, straight-ahead running against Ohio State, but we just ended up having a lot of 3rd and long pass attempts mixed in there out of necessity. We didn't have those 3rd and longs against Cincy.

The offense didn't really crap the bed this season until we turned Brewer loose to be his turnover machine self.