You run into a highly motivated team that catches you off guard with some trick plays and a strong team performance. Congrats to Syracuse.
That's what happens when you start thinking you're good.
- Thread starter BigDaddyHokie
- Start date
Embarrassing lost. Almost has bad as Temple in 1998. We were 19 point favorites. I wish Syracuse had kept their _____s in AAC or whatever it's called. They do not belong in ACC.
Honestly, watching the game it almost seemed like JF was teaching this team a valuable lesson of humility or seriously testing the teams grit. I may be giving JF too much credit. However, play calling, sense of urgency, and key adjustments just wasn't there today..
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It was like we were playing not to loose rather than playing to win.
We got back to the routine of running on 1st and 2nd down and throwing on 3rd too much. It was like the old days with the philosophy that a punt on 4th down is OK. But not today.
We need to play wide-open all the time. Like Syracuse did to us.
We got back to the routine of running on 1st and 2nd down and throwing on 3rd too much. It was like the old days with the philosophy that a punt on 4th down is OK. But not today.
We need to play wide-open all the time. Like Syracuse did to us.
Yep, not a good effort by the entire Hokie players and coaches. The problem is the difficulty getting kids up every week to play. It's tough to do and this is where talent is key. Alabama can have 3 out of 12 games where they are emotionally just going through the motions, but their talent overcomes and compensates and they get the Ws. We don't have that luxury anymore.
Believe it or not, Louisville and VT are equal in recruiting the last four years on average. The difference is a guy like MV in Louisville's QB that can be a game changer. We watched it today with Clemson and NC St. Clemson did not seem to be fully engaged emotionally, but their talent was just to much in the end for NC State. Add this talent to a boneheaded move by NC States Coach late in regulation that helped the cause.
At UNC last week, they came unprepared emotionally and even though they are more talented than us, it is not a gigantic gap. It's kind of like us and Cuse. In Spurrier book, he said the hardest thing to do in college football as a coach is getting your kids emotionally invested each week. Lou Holtz often said the same. Having some weeks in which kids are just not emotionally invested is nearly a given each year for all teams. The key is having the talent or a special elite player to overcome it, or....if you have that team that is not the most talented, but is the rare team that for that given year is emotionally invested each game, you get some of those Boise St teams of the past, or Utah on that given year, or Georgia Tech in 1990, or Washington in 1991 or West Va in 1987-88, or BYU in 1984, but these are few and far between, and even in some cases, the talent is still to much like it was for WVU against Notre Dame in that national title game.
Believe it or not, Louisville and VT are equal in recruiting the last four years on average. The difference is a guy like MV in Louisville's QB that can be a game changer. We watched it today with Clemson and NC St. Clemson did not seem to be fully engaged emotionally, but their talent was just to much in the end for NC State. Add this talent to a boneheaded move by NC States Coach late in regulation that helped the cause.
At UNC last week, they came unprepared emotionally and even though they are more talented than us, it is not a gigantic gap. It's kind of like us and Cuse. In Spurrier book, he said the hardest thing to do in college football as a coach is getting your kids emotionally invested each week. Lou Holtz often said the same. Having some weeks in which kids are just not emotionally invested is nearly a given each year for all teams. The key is having the talent or a special elite player to overcome it, or....if you have that team that is not the most talented, but is the rare team that for that given year is emotionally invested each game, you get some of those Boise St teams of the past, or Utah on that given year, or Georgia Tech in 1990, or Washington in 1991 or West Va in 1987-88, or BYU in 1984, but these are few and far between, and even in some cases, the talent is still to much like it was for WVU against Notre Dame in that national title game.
I mentioned third down earlier in the day... Tech finished 4/13. That's really, really bad. You can add 0/1 on fourth down to the hugely negative side of the ledger.
Syracuse, on the other hand, was 10/21 on third down and an astonishing 4/5 on fourth down.
Syracuse, on the other hand, was 10/21 on third down and an astonishing 4/5 on fourth down.
We all thought this year we had something new and special. Last Saturday we ended up with the SOS. Hopefully, this was just a hiccup and not the continuation of a trend.
It was almost upset Saturday/Friday for the ACC, NCST should have made the field goal. Duke should have not ruffed the kicker and may have upended Louisville. UNC did beat Miami (mild upset). And Syracuse beat VT.
It was almost upset Saturday/Friday for the ACC, NCST should have made the field goal. Duke should have not ruffed the kicker and may have upended Louisville. UNC did beat Miami (mild upset). And Syracuse beat VT.
I was at the game. We sat in the end zone where we warmed up. You could almost feel the lack of enthusiasm. Guys just seemed to be going through the motions. Then when they stared to dance to the music being played I knew we were in trouble. On a side note if you have never been to a game in Syracuse you need to go. The have some of the nicest fans you would ever want to meet. Great place to enjoy (well if we would have played better) a game
The total lack of focus, energy, motivation and enthusiasm was painfully obvious from the very first snap. We came out just as flat as can be, and never did really get any energy dialed back up save for a couple of nice 3rd qtr drives from the offense.
And where were the adjustments on either side of the ball? The whole point of changing coaches was that the new guys were supposed to be able to adjust things on the fly as needed, unlike their predecessors. Hell, Stiney could've come out with a bad gameplan and stuck with it all game. We didn't need new coaches to do that.
And where were the adjustments on either side of the ball? The whole point of changing coaches was that the new guys were supposed to be able to adjust things on the fly as needed, unlike their predecessors. Hell, Stiney could've come out with a bad gameplan and stuck with it all game. We didn't need new coaches to do that.
It's evident we did "not come to play". We should have beat that team by 40 points without breaking a sweat.
Amazing how one week changes so many opinions on a message board. Growing pains for a new coach for sure. The team being flat and not ready to play is on the coach....
I think we were over confident, both coaches and players. Probably looking ahead to playing a real team this week,
I think that expectations rose way to far for the first year. We are still light years ahead of where we were and where we were heading. This was a disappointment. But a lesson that anyone can lose on any given day. You have to bring your A-game every week no matter who the competition is. We can still win the coastal. We have the head-to-head win over Carolina so if we take care of business from here on out then we still own the Coastal. Let's just put this behind us but always . . . always post the score in front of the players to remind them never...never take a win for granted. Fight hard for every yard, every play, every game.
I did not get to see your game, but I was shocked when I saw the score. Get back on track and do not let the cheaters win the division again.
It wasn't worth watching, so you didn't miss anything. VT got thoroughly whipped in all 3 phases of the game from opening kick to final whistle. Total domination.
Bigdaddy, even good teams have to have a successful game plan and troops ready to play the game.
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