First time hitting 50 points since Tyrod's days...

[hokiemtc]

...overall a good win today. I'm not a big fan of Motley still being in the game throwing a TD pass with 2:00 left, but our offensive coaches are geniuses, so I trust that they have it all figured out.

Some observations...

1) The punt block was a fluke caused by an errant snap that moved the punter over 5 yards, and even then, it was just a finger tipper.

2) Motley was solid and for the second straight game, the offense moved the ball fairly crisply. However, Motley looked like he was ready for a nap and a day off before the 1st quarter was even over with. Making it all the way to halftime looked like it was one of the greatest feats of physical endurance of all time. What was that all about?

3) Why pull the redshirt on Lawson if this is all we're going to use him for? Oh wait...I forgot that our offensive coaches are geniuses.

4) I still hate our sideways running game. At this rate, we're going to have 4 one thousand yard rushers in East/West yardage, but no one thousand yard rushers in North/South yardage. The sideways stuff has worked OK against Furman and Purdue, but it's going to be the last 4 years all over again once we hit some real defenses.

5) The score doesn't agree, but Purdue didn't look to me like one of the worst teams of all time. I think their fans were doing some sandbagging last week. It even worked for a half.

6) I can't believe we actually hit a FG in this game. Not all of them, mind you, but we did hit one.

7) The big kick returns were nice to see, but none of the current returners seem to have home run speed, which looks strange for a VT team. We usually have our fastest guys back there, but not this year.

8) After seeing some of the rest of the Coastal today, we are still right in the middle of this thing. It looks to me like we can beat (or lose to) every Coastal team out there this year. GT and Duke looked worse than expected, UVa and Miami looked better than expected, and it's hard to tell yet with UNC. I haven't seen Pitt yet.

 

[SunnyBeachWave]

...overall a good win today. I'm not a big fan of Motley still being in the game throwing a TD pass with 2:00 left, but our offensive coaches are geniuses, so I trust that they have it all figured out.

Some observations...

1) The punt block was a fluke caused by an errant snap that moved the punter over 5 yards, and even then, it was just a finger tipper.

2) Motley was solid and for the second straight game, the offense moved the ball fairly crisply. However, Motley looked like he was ready for a nap and a day off before the 1st quarter was even over with. Making it all the way to halftime looked like it was one of the greatest feats of physical endurance of all time. What was that all about?

3) Why pull the redshirt on Lawson if this is all we're going to use him for? Oh wait...I forgot that our offensive coaches are geniuses.

4) I still hate our sideways running game. At this rate, we're going to have 4 one thousand yard rushers in East/West yardage, but no one thousand yard rushers in North/South yardage. The sideways stuff has worked OK against Furman and Purdue, but it's going to be the last 4 years all over again once we hit some real defenses.

5) The score doesn't agree, but Purdue didn't look to me like one of the worst teams of all time. I think their fans were doing some sandbagging last week. It even worked for a half.

6) I can't believe we actually hit a FG in this game. Not all of them, mind you, but we did hit one.

7) The big kick returns were nice to see, but none of the current returners seem to have home run speed, which looks strange for a VT team. We usually have our fastest guys back there, but not this year.

8) After seeing some of the rest of the Coastal today, we are still right in the middle of this thing. It looks to me like we can beat (or lose to) every Coastal team out there this year. GT and Duke looked worse than expected, UVa and Miami looked better than expected, and it's hard to tell yet with UNC. I haven't seen Pitt yet.

I'll add some:
Stroman is one of the best tacklers on the team for being a little guy. Reminds me of Kyle Fuller.

I must have missed whatever you're talking about regarding Motley's endurance. ?? Can you elaborate?

Anyone else annoyed that Lawson comes in the game to practice handoffs 27 times? Give him some legit passing experience in the pocket.

Motley impressed me. If he can up his pocket presence a tad, I don't think Lawson is gonna beat him out at qb next year. The kid's got some gusto and just needs some polish.

Why do our cbs never look for the ball on deep passes?

Tyrod and the new look Bills play at noon Sunday.

 

[hokiemtc]

I must have missed whatever you're talking about regarding Motley's endurance. ?? Can you elaborate?

He just looked totally gassed. You expect that in the 4th quarter of games, but not in the 1st quarter. He had that body language about him like he just didn't know f he was going to be able to make it to the next snap or not.

I watch a lot of high school ball here in my area, and I see linemen get that look after playing in the 90 degree heat for 2-1/2 hours. VT's defense gets that look sometimes late in games against physical teams if they've been on the field all game. But you don't usually see QB's with that look unless they've taken a beating (Motley hadn't), and you almost never see it in the 1st qtr. It just looked weird to me.

 

[1bburgfan]

That's just the look on Brandon's face. He played 48 minutes a game in high school when needed. He plays cool and calm, never gets over excited.

 

[VTHokie1001K]

UVA looked better than expected???? They beat W&M by 6 points! UVA looked HORRIBLE.

 

[1bburgfan]

UVA looked better than expected???? They beat W&M by 6 points! UVA looked HORRIBLE.

lol you watched?

 

[RB4]

I think Motley did very well!! not saying he is better than Brewer but he adds an element, and if that play continues it could get interesting. I thought the same thing on that Kick return, supposed to be home run hitters returning kicks.. How on earth do you get caught like that? One quick note on Lawson. He should have redshirted for sure. I have watched a few practices and he is not throwing for a reason guys. He is getting better, but he is not ready. Could have really used the redshirt year.

 

[VTHokie1001K]

lol you watched?

lol no.....I saw some clips though.....and followed the score line while watching the VT game. But judging from the score, the stat line, the "highlights" and the Hoo message board....it was a horrible game.

 

[VTHokie1001K]

I think Motley did very well!! not saying he is better than Brewer but he adds an element, and if that play continues it could get interesting. I thought the same thing on that Kick return, supposed to be home run hitters returning kicks.. How on earth do you get caught like that? One quick note on Lawson. He should have redshirted for sure. I have watched a few practices and he is not throwing for a reason guys. He is getting better, but he is not ready. Could have really used the redshirt year.

I agree....Motley has played much better than I expected...he had a few plays where he got pressure and I thought for sure he was going to try to scramble, but he kept his composure, stayed in the pocket and delivered a nice pass. I was pleasantly surprised. We just have to do a better job of protecting his blindside.

 

[1bburgfan]

Motley would of been a top 10 recruit in Va. if he had played on the other end of the state. So glad Paul Johnson didn't get him at that school in Atlanta.

 

[leeanderthal]

I was a strong Motley supporter. He earned his position against his opposition. My problem was he seemed to be so injury prone. I thought at one time he would get injured just running out on the field. I was wrong. He can take a good lick and keep going. He may look tired but he isn't. He just doesn't show much emotion. I'm proud of how he has stepped up and hope he can continue to get better as the season goes on.

 

[hokiemtc]

UVA looked better than expected???? They beat W&M by 6 points! UVA looked HORRIBLE.

They did? Hahahaha...that is great. Had not seen that.

The UVa looked "better than expected" comment came from their ND outing in which they looked every bit as good to me than ND did. If you think ND is a top 5 team (most don't), then UVa also looked like a top 5 team. If you think ND is a top 25 team, then UVa also looked like a top 25 team.

And apparently, LOL, if you think Bill&Mary is a top 25 team, then UVa still looks like a top 25 team! Gotta hand it to London (and to Beamer, too, for that matter), there is no level in the world low enough that they can't play down to it.

 

[Hokie81]

Lawson has a very strong arm, I watched him make some real nice long passes in Semper Fidelis All American Bowl Game and threw a perfect dart vs Purdue that a pee wee player should've caught and taken to the house. VT has to give Lawson playing time in every game, the more experience, the better he'll get. Motley is the better Qb now, but Ithink Lawson looks better now than RS sophomore Motley did coming in mop up games last year.

Lawson will improve tremendously after a full year.Spring practice under his belt. IMO, Lawson will earn the starting job next year. Nonetheless, VT will have 2 quality Qb's that can start next year.

How bout' VT's Sam Rogers! Kid is one heckuva a player / team player.

I watched the game w my 2 grown sons (one VT, one RU grad) yesterday, we could not believe Greene got run down from behind on his nice ko return, looked like he completely ran outta gas-WOW, embarrassing.

Why can't Hodges get open more often? He had 6" - 9/10" height advantage over all Purdue db's... Was expecting lots of balls to him yesterday...

 

[Hoos19NC]

They did? Hahahaha...that is great. Had not seen that.

The UVa looked "better than expected" comment came from their ND outing in which they looked every bit as good to me than ND did. If you think ND is a top 5 team (most don't), then UVa also looked like a top 5 team. If you think ND is a top 25 team, then UVa also looked like a top 25 team.

And apparently, LOL, if you think Bill&Mary is a top 25 team, then UVa still looks like a top 25 team! Gotta hand it to London (and to Beamer, too, for that matter), there is no level in the world low enough that they can't play down to it.

I couldn't agree more about UVA playing down to the level of their opponents ......rarely playing up as in the ND game.

 

[VTHokie1001K]

It seems that UVA gets up for one big game a year...some they win and some they lose....the rest of the season they play fairly predictably. Last week was their A game.....I don't expect to see them play like that again for the rest of the season.

 

[Hoos19NC]

It seems that UVA gets up for one big game a year...some they win and some they lose....the rest of the season they play fairly predictably. Last week was their A game.....I don't expect to see them play like that again for the rest of the season.

Good observation.....they have talent but coaching is beyond bad. Just ask Grayson Lambert.....

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

I predict they go 2-10. They might beat Syracuse.

 

[SunnyBeachWave]

I think Motley did very well!! not saying he is better than Brewer but he adds an element, and if that play continues it could get interesting. I thought the same thing on that Kick return, supposed to be home run hitters returning kicks.. How on earth do you get caught like that? One quick note on Lawson. He should have redshirted for sure. I have watched a few practices and he is not throwing for a reason guys. He is getting better, but he is not ready. Could have really used the redshirt year.

I don't care how bad lawsons passing is right now. When we are up 4-5 scores and d is playing lights out, let him practice the art of interception. The more pocket experience he gets now, the better he'll be when he is the starter, and I think he's the qb of the future. Motley may have something to say about that next yr though.