Five thoughts after Virginia Tech’s loss to Florida State
That was not a finish that many Hokies fans were hoping for last night. If you’d like to revisit it, here’s our coverage from Virginia Tech’s last-minute 28-22 loss to Florida State.
Now that it’s had some time to settle in, here are five thoughts about the game, and judging from the tenor of comments in the previous post, they’re less harsh than what a lot of people are thinking.
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1. I see a lot of criticism of the offensive play-calling and quarterback Logan Thomas in particular, and I just don’t get it.
I get that Thomas threw two interceptions that weren’t pretty. I get that the play-calling near the goal line at the very end could have been more imaginative. I get that there’s a general sense of frustration that’s been building with the staff over the years that triggers a visceral, negative reaction anytime something doesn’t go particularly well with the offense. But I don’t think this game compares to previous ones this year in which the offense didn’t pull its weight.
Scoring 12 points and committing critical errors against Miami is a bad offensive night. Scoring 22 (or 20 if you take away the safety) and committing a few errors against a defense the caliber of Florida State is nothing to hang your head about. The Hokies had 385 yards on FSU. Only Clemson has had more this year (and not by too much). The Hokies scored 22 points. Again, only Clemson scored more. Thomas threw for 298 yards. Nobody has done that against FSU this year. Remember, the ‘Noles were ranked first in the league and in the top-six nationally in every major defensive statistical category. Nothing was going to be easy, and I’d say the Hokies exceeded the admittedly meager goals that many had set for them coming in.
Now. could the play-calling have been more innovative near the end by the goal line, when a touchdown would have put Tech in a much more favorable situation? Yes. But it’s a tough scenario. Three straight runs there probably wasn’t what the fans wanted to see, but it was a situation where Tech was trying to burn the clock and get in the end zone at the same time. Passing there and risking an incompletion would have just given FSU more time on the clock coming the other way. (Running also forced them to burn at least one of their three timeouts.) As for the third-down call, a Thomas run on a read play up the middle had worked well for a touchdown earlier in the half. Is it a safe call? Yes. A little predictable? Yes. But it has been one of the Hokies’ better plays all year. I don’t see the problem with going to a play the team runs well. There’s only a handful to choose from this season.
As for Thomas, I thought it was a gritty performance. He shook off that early pick and was pretty sharp for much of the night. A couple drops or less-than-stellar efforts on catchable passes by his receivers didn’t help. But he had a good rapport with Corey Fuller, making some really nice throws in tight spots. People will fixate on the interceptions, especially the last one, but that came with 27 seconds left, when FSU knew Tech had to pass to have a chance. You try to make a play in that situation and live with the consequences. I can’t fault Thomas for that.
This is not to say that Virginia Tech still doesn’t have offensive issues or that nothing will be done about it in the offseason. But lumping this performance in with the eggs the Hokies laid at Pittsburgh, Clemson and Miami is unfair.
2. Corey Fuller is by far Virginia Tech’s best wide receiver.
Marcus Davis still has the better numbers this year, but anyone who has watched this team knows that Fuller is the more effective receiver. Thursday night crystallized that. Fuller was the team’s go-to receiver all night and finished with seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. But what was most impressive was his ability to come up in big spots. All three of his catches on Tech’s first touchdown drive came on third down, the first, a 33-yarder, jumpstarting what had been a stagnant offense (all three were spot-on throws by Thomas, incidentally, including the 4-yard fade pattern for the touchdown).
Contrast that with Davis and Dyrell Roberts, the team’s other two senior receivers. Davis had a big 54-yard catch early but largely disappeared after that, only popping up in less-than-flattering moments later on. His fumble after a play that would have been negated by a penalty anyway led to a touchdown that gave FSU a 20-10 lead. He had an earlier drop that I remember and couldn’t haul in a well-thrown deep ball from Thomas up the sideline in the fourth quarter that hit his hands. A catch would have put Tech in a scoring opportunity. Roberts had one catch for 11 yards on the final drive, but he didn’t put too much effort going up for a slightly overthrown ball from Thomas near the end zone in the second quarter. It looked like it might have been within reach. It’s clear after watching the game that Thomas has the most confidence in Fuller to make a play when the ball goes his way– a comfort that you could see with Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale last year. Considering the outcomes he’s had throwing to each of his receivers, it’s no secret why.
3. For most of the night, that was the Tech defense of old.
The stats have been mentioned before, but they bear repeating, just to give you a sense of the kind of night Virginia Tech had. Florida State finished with negative 15 rushing yards, its lowest total since at least 1973. The Hokies sacked EJ Manuel five times. They had 10 tackles for a loss. They held FSU to 3-for-14 on third-down conversions. They held Manuel to a 59 percent completion percentage, 11 percent lower than his season ACC-leading mark. The Seminoles averaged 4.6 yards per play, 3.1 yards less than their season average coming in. Overall, it was the kind of ball-hawking, aggressive defense that Virginia Tech fans have grown accustomed to over the years. And it was all the more impressive considering FSU’s offensive success coming in. The ‘Noles led the league, averaging 524.6 yards and 44.8 points a game. They finished with a season-low 311 yards and their second-lowest total with 28 points.
Tech had a number of defensive standouts. Senior Alonzo Tweedy made the most of his first starting opportunity this year, making six tackles and adding another speed threat to a pass rush that hounded Manuel all night. The Hopkins brothers, Derrick and Antoine, got the start together at the tackle spots and combined for six tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss. End James Gayle had two TFLs and a sack. Linebacker Jack Tyler led the way with eight tackles, getting a big safety near the end that helped the Hokies nearly pull the game out. All in all, Virginia Tech’s front seven played one of its best games in a long time, especially considering the opponent.
But …
4. The two-minute defense is an issue.
The loss had a familiar sting for the Hokies. Two of Florida State’s touchdowns came in two-minute situations, the last being a six-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a 39-yard touchdown by Rashad Greene. The Cincinnati loss came on a last-second touchdown pass of the same length. This one came on a breakdown in the secondary. The Hokies didn’t communicate with each other on the correct coverage, at least according to cornerback Antone Exum. That seemed to be an issue for some of the night. Detrick Bonner got beat deep for a big play early when it looked he was still talking out what coverage to be in when the ball was snapped. I can imagine having freshman Desmond Frye in the game on the final drive because of Michael Cole‘s scary injury didn’t help the communication. This isn’t a one-time deal. I’m sure Virginia Tech fans who have followed the program longer than I can name a couple games that got away from the Hokies at the end. I will say, although the type of play was different, this ending had a similar type of feeling to the touchdown toss that Matt Ryan made to that same end zone to help Boston College eek out a win in 2007.
And like that game, in which a pretty good quarterback made a nice play in big spot, I think a lot of credit needs to go to Manuel. He made some clutch throws after being planted into the ground repeatedly throughout the night. Most quarterbacks would be gun-shy after that, but he was poised and put passes on the money on the final drive. He threw for 326 yards, 144 of which came on the touchdown drive just before the half and the one at the end of the game. Greene had touchdown catches to finish both of them, beating Kyle Fuller off the line for the first and finding a soft spot in the coverage — with a little help from a pick by the tight end — to get open for the game-winner. They were big-time plays in both situations. And while Tech can’t be happy with the way it defended either one of those plays, Greene did a solid job of getting open to make them happen.
5. From the fight the Hokies put up, it seems like this team at least has what it takes to win these last two games.
After an uninspired effort at Miami, I openly wondered if Virginia Tech had mailed it in for the season. After watching the Hokies’ effort against Florida State, I would say that’s not the case. They played hard. They played to the end. They played well for stretches. But they just came up short against a very good team. If the Hokies had lived up to their preseason billing, this kind of loss against a quality opponent wouldn’t have been too far-fetched. It doesn’t make sense, then, the notion that a struggling Virginia Tech team played FSU this close and it’s somehow indicative of everything that’s wrong with the program. It’s a third straight loss to a league foe — the first time that’s happened since the Hokies were in the Big East in 2002 –but it bore little resemblance to the defeats at Clemson and Miami. You didn’t feel like Tech deserved to win either of those games. That wasn’t the case Thursday night.
The rest of the season is laid out pretty plainly for the Hokies. Win the next two or they’ll be sitting at home in the postseason. What’s left is not a Murderer’s Row of opponents. Boston College figures to be playing its last home game under Frank Spaziani. Who know how the Eagles will react to that. Virginia, depending on how it does the next two weeks, might be playing for its own postseason life. That’d be odd stakes if both Tech and UVa were 5-6 heading into the matchup this year. It’d be big for the winner, but obviously not the greatest of accomplishments only to be going to a third-tier bowl. If Virginia Tech plays like it did Thursday night, I think it’ll win both of those games. Of course, that’s been the challenge of this season — finding a consistent level of play. Who knows if the Hokies team that showed up last night will do so the final two weeks?
November 9, 2012 - 11:52 AM
I am usually not critical of the offense I like to look at the big picture. The biggest issue I have with the offense is a lack of identity. I see Tech rushing to the line, but how often to they run a play as soon as they line up? They then look to the sideline for the call and sometimes will check out of the play again. I understand checking out of a bad call and a mismatch on occasion, but I have a problem with this becoming the play calling strategy. It sends the message to me anyway, that Tech has no true offensive identity and nothing they have confidence that they can do well. It’s a reactive style offense instead of an attacking style offense where you say this is what we are going to do, now stop us. What are your thoughts on this?
Just because Logan and the offense performed better doesn’t mean they are above criticism.
Logan loves to lock on to Marcus Davis always has. It’s good for him to finally see that it’s a lost cause
If you’ve been a VT fan as long as I have you could see the runs near the goal line coming a mile off. Passing got them into scoring position but someone (Beamer?) shuts things down to settle for a FG. I was almost hoping for a FG to win the game for FSU so Beamer would learn a lesson but who am I kidding he is going to be the way he is till he retires
The problem is not as much LT as it is McCain. Every QB since Glennon has had a tendancy to lock on and throw to the primary receiver, whether covered or not.
Both interceptions were costly. The first cost 3 points and the last sealed the game. Both were essentially the same problem-LT had made up his mind where he going to throw before he even let go. Once he let go, it was too late.
The short yardage offense is very poor. It has been for some time. The 4th down defense is also suspect.
FB coached teams don’t have a good record when trailing in the 4th quarter. They don’t have a very good record against the top 10 either.
Last night was not an aberration.
Make that O’Cain. Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night.
Bottom line is another lose to a ranked team! Close is only good in horseshoes. Florida State was not sharp except when they had too. Another 28 points on that defense. Bring on Virginia. Fans can keep hanging on that 38-0 score from last year. Go DOGS!!!
As I said earlier, move Fuller & Knowles up to starting WR’s and Davis & Roberts down. Maybe that will light a fire. Davis has all the physical qualities of a great receiver but mentally and spiritually is a zero. I don’t think Roberts has ever overcome his previous injuries mentally. When he gave up running kickoffs back, I questioned his resolve. It was a tough loss to a good team but I question their place in the top 10. The only top 10 team they match up with is ND who has been more lucky than good. They are where they are because they are ND. These next two games are going to be the hardest that FB has to coach. From a preseason ranking to 4-6 and fighting for a bowl, next two games are going to be tough.
The Hokies have had what it took to win the game all season long, they just haven’t utilized it. Whether from repeated coaching errors or player errors, they’ve not gotten it done. The effort expended by most of the team this game was their best of the year – our starting WRs being the usual exception.
Whether or not that translates into full effort for the final two games, or if it was only a response to a Thursday night game being in Lane Stadium, we’ll only know after the regular season completes. One good effort out of ten does not a season make, nor three out of twelve.
All fair and astute observations by Andy. Jerry, I disagree about Logan looking to Marcus. They’ve seemed to lack chemistry all year. I don’t think Logan can trust him the way he could Coale, Boykin, and now Fuller. Andy, 2 other late drives where VT lost the game aside from Cinci and last night would be against a Donnovan Mcnabb led Syracuse team and of course the game at FedEx against Boise State. In both of those cases you had excellent quarterbacks leading their teams.
Andy, you might want to DVR the games and go back and listen to the ESPN commentators. You know guys like David Pollack and Jessie Palmer who played football in the SEC. They made some comments last night questioning the play calling. In particular the one in the first half where VT gave Coleman the ball to gain a yard up the middle and not Logan Thomas. They said they could not understand why with Logan’s size you would give the ball to your smallest back on the team in that situation. You also answered your own question in your opening paragraph.
I think Logan played better last night , and yes I have faith that he is going to get out of this slump soon. Because I see this as a slump for him. He has shown me that he has great potential as a quarterback and that he is capable of playing the position. Logan needs help from his coaches to develop him and his throwing skills. I also think that he is feeling the pressure from defenders because of poor o line play. Tyrod Taylor had this problem at VT, but the offenses problems were masked because of his speed and great ability to elude the opposing defense.
The problem seems to be and what I have read from other blog writers is that these kids play sloppy and are mistake prone. Paying very little attention to detail. This shows me that there is a lack of discipline on that team and the players are not being developed on offense whether it’s the o line, the running backs , receivers or Logan. That goes back to the coaching staff. And I am not talking about the defense. Anybody who watched that game last night and walks away saying that the defense and Bud didn’t do a good job doesn’t know much about football.
Lots of talk about leadership or a lack thereof on this team. Yes, the players need to step it up, but so do the coaches. I am not saying pull a Mike Leach on the team, but bench some of the players with an attitude. You know the ones who won’t block for any one. The ones who want to have the ball perfectly thrown to them, and then carries the ball like a loaf of bread, just to fumble it to the other team. The ones who are performing below their potential.
I think the overall body of work for the offense is what comes into question. The three and outs and having to continually settle for field goals instead of touch downs after the defense gives gift after gift is extremely disheartening to the team and the fans. This was another offensive failure. Yes the o did play better, but not good enough to win the game. I just don’t understand VT’s constant struggle to score, especially in the red zone. This was a problem last year as well. What is the problem Coach Stinespring? Can you help fix this please?
Good write up as always AB. Re the defense on communication issues and that last go ahead TD pass, it didn’t look like they were even set? They were still talking to ea other etc. Realize that TOs are precious, but in that critical of a situation why doesn’t Bud burn a timeout?
Andy: It isn’t about innovative play-calling. Who is calling for innovative play-calling. Here are my two issues with play-calling: (1) the 2nd down and goal by Coleman. To me that was worse than running LT on 3rd down. Three straight runs against a speedy defense. Not a single attempt to really go for the TD. But an example of playing calling issues that i have that are not about whether they work or not. There is a trend over time that on 2nd and long…VT runs the ball (or maybe throws deep). Not every time but much of the time. There were two straight 2nd and longs last night that VT ran the ball setting up….3rd and long…setting up you got…a PUNT. We must love to punt because our goal in life is to get to 3rd down and punt.
The reason why people are having problems with the offensive is that L Thomas can’t be the only one making all the plays. If that is the case it should be just a one man offensive. What happened to the running Game? What happened to L Thomas’s wide receivers? I have no problems with Logan Thomas but how his offensive coordinator and coaches around him are the problem. You see him making all the plays and the others just standing around he needs help and its the job of his Offensive line, offensive wide receivers, and the rest of the coaching staff to give him that and if that can’t change with the 2 games left you will need logan Thomas trying to play hero and find himself on the ground hurt because he can’t do it by himself!
It was the best performance of the year for the Hokies and Bud Foster clearly showed he has the fire, energy and determination to motivate his defensive unit.
On the offensive side LT had good and bad moments as usual, but EJ Manuel was the better QB. We should bench Davis for his trifling ways and lax ball handling and utilize Corey Fuller more. I finally saw VT throw some short throws over the middle and let the receivers turn the play into 10 to 15 yard gains. We should have been doing this all year long instead of just trying to throw the long ball, because LT is just to inconsistent in his throws. WE need to have plays that take less time to develop because of our weak O line.
Move LT to TE next year if we have a good QB in the wings. Promote Bud Foster to head coach and let him give the OC’s their walking papers. Frank Beamer can be moved into an administrative role. I hope we win over BC and UVA, and should if the team that played last night shows up for the last two games.
Eagle, why are you constantly on a VT blog site when you claim to be a Georgia fan? With the season Georgia is having I would think you would want to be participating in their discussions. Georgia is having a great season. Did you go to UGA because most people know that they are not dogs. They are dawgs. I question whether you even went to Georgia.
I took last night’s game as a great moral victory. I thought the players had completely given up, and not without good reason. Surely, they have little faith in the coaching staff. So maybe the players can go on without good coaching, and finish the season with a few wins. I do not wish for Tech to go to a play off or bowl. I do wish the players well and have good memories of time at Tech. Of course Fl St was not at their best, but they played hard and well, so what we saw of the VT players was real talent.
Some of the play calling is obviously very bad. Like cited above, to wit: giving the ball to a 170 lb. back up the middle on 3 & 1. And over using the QB as your primary running back. If you are not going to use your starting running backs, replace them with the 3d sting of. guards and gain 300 lbs of blocking for the QB . God, please send us new coaches ! !
Andy, Couldn’t agree more with all 5 of your points. Some offensive play calling was questionable in my mind, but over all I know I couldn’t have done better although there are many who think they could. Three fairly heavy drinkers behind me would complain on every play. If it was a run, they said they should have passed, if it was a pass, they said it should have been a run. They also kept saying that the Hokies should have gone for it on 4th down instead of kicking the go ahead field goal with 2:19 to go. Some like to complain for the sake of complaining or just because others are doing so.
Bob H., My guess would be most teams don’t have a good winning percentage when trailing in the 4th quarter and most don’t have very good records against teams in the top 10. Not to simplify things too much, but that’s why those teams are in the top 10.
I am torn, as much as I love Tech, a part of me wanted it to be a blow out and expose more of the problems with the O. Bud Foster blew my plan by having one of the best games ever. Why Bud? Why? if you had let FSU score their 48 points and our Offense only score 22 we could all be calling even harder for heads to roll. Bud, your job is not in jeopardy so you you could have helped us throw Stinespring under the bus. But you didn’t. At least last night we all expected the big loss, and then they come in and play like we wanted them to all year. It was like if I ever got an “A” in school. My parents now expected “A’s” from me and that was not what I wanted. We now expect the Tech that played last night to show up and humiliate BC as well as UVA. If you don’t, then we know you don’t really care.
If VT has turned into a passing team maybe they should put in the passing QB Leal
I am a Hokie fan from way back and can remember when were elated to be in the top 20 but now we are looking for the top 10 and even the top 5 and looking for the elusive national title. I understand the concept of a “rebuilding” year but I really wonder how the seemingly perpetual residents of the top 5 (the LSU’s, Alabama’s, etc)can continue to be ranked in the top 5 WITHOUT having a rebuilding year? What is our football administration missing? Though I am a strong Beamer supporter I have to now ask does Coach Beamer have what it takes to become the perpetual contender? Can they make Tech the football team that does not have a rebuilding year? Is that a reasonable expectation in the present day college football environment? It appears LSU/Alabama have found a way.
Andy, Tech’s D should not have been so far off of the FSU receivers on the final Seminoles touchdown play because their line of scrimmage was about the Hokie 40 yard line and they only needed a handful of yards to be in field goal range for their outstanding kicker. If I remember the pass did go to the underneath rcvr and would have probably been close enough for a potential game winning FG right there. That seems like a bad situation to be in a prevent defense. Or maybe that wasn’t the defense called and the players just misplayed the call. I will recheck my DVR on that. Although Manuel got the ball to the right guy our defensive set sure helped him a great deal. At any rate the play went for a six and so much for the prevent.
We were 4-5 with a chance to beat #10 FSU, we whiffed on 3rd and 3, why not roll the dice and go for it on 4th and 1 – Les Miles would have! Even if you miss, they are start on their 3 yard line against a D that has played lights out! Just more evidence of the conservative, complacency that exists – things are different when you are 4-5 – coaches should coach differently!
Now would be an excellent time to get rid of Stinespring, Newsome and O’Cain. If the rumors are true and Tennessee removes Dooley VT should take a serious look at UT’s offensive coordinator. They put up more points in a quarter than VT can put up in a game. There will be several quality OC’s available once the head coaching changes have been made in the SEC. If no changes with the coaching staff take place after this year VT has a Bowden/Paterno sitatuion on their hands and this program continues to decline. Either make a move now or become irrelevant in college football.
Heads won’t roll just because you and some other fans want it FIZ. Heads will roll when contributors dry up and there are no butts in seats.
I do wonder where the impassioned play that we saw last night was all season long.
Andy – the two minute drill defense is a long standing issue with VT. We have lost a few last minute games (the Matt Ryan, USC and Boise games being prime among them) over the years. The Nebraska game is the only last minute win I remember.
My kingdom for a broken tackle.
Great game between two big time programs. I’d love to see FSU and Va Tech in the Big 12. Any chance that may happen in the foreseeable future?
So the Hokies will humiliate the Wahoos? Interesting comment
The issue is not talent. The Hokies have top ten talent as players. The defense played lights out for 59 minutes. The offense had moments of brilliance. The problem is management. This has gone on for over 10 years and this year is worse than any of the past years. Even as highly criticized as Newsome is, the offensive line played pretty well last night. Until Frank figures out an offense that can score points the goal of a national championship will have been lost. Back in 1992 we had an athletic director that ran the show. Frank was told to make changes, and when he did a run of successful seasons was launched. For as short of time as Dabo Swinney has been head coach, he seems to have figured it out. My hope for the Hokies is a total overhaul on offense. You cannot win games without scoring points.
Nice write, Andy.
Thomas is pretty much all we have on offense. Fuller is looking really good.
The defense played a great game. Foster is..!!
Tech ‘supporters’ screaming for changes should do just that. Go away. Teams have ‘bad’ years. Tech has been very good, and very lucky. Many years we go without major injuries. This year, different.
#19, I’m wondering the same thing. With the supposedly top recruiting classes we are getting we should be reloading, not rebuilding. I just can’t understand if we have had this success in the recruiting arena, why are we short on offensive linemen, DB’s,LB’s. We have plenty of RB’s,TE’s & QB’s lined up. I see no parity in recruiting across the board for different positions. I’m working from memory but I don’t remember more than 2 or 3 OL’s listed in the future classes. Tech likes to turn TE’s into OL & DL’s. We see how that’s worked out. Interior linemen are cut from different cloth that the rest of the players. It takes a special personality to want to work in the trenches. We need to recruit more and reload instead of rebuilding.
Andy, I have to disagree with you on LT. There are real problems there that may not be correctable. He is consistently inconsistent. He is throwing 2-3 pics a game. I do not care how bad the line is or how much pressure he gets. It is inexcusable. The second pic last night was all LT. No pressure and he throws behind the receiver. Same in the Miami game. The measure of a QB is not how he can make a good throw once in a while. The measure is how consistently he can throw day in and day out, and know when to throw it away to play for another down. Along these lines LT has been horrible. Bad decision making on the field and horribly inconsistent. He missed high and low again last night on many occasions.
I think you are giving him too much credit for his periodic successes. His inconsistency, unfortunately, reliably and consistently cuts off the ability to score.
We need to be able to kick the ball into the end zone . How many times did fla state catch the ball on the ten yard line and return it to the thirty or more? How many times did twinkle toes kick it into the end zone and eliminate a potential big play from d.knowles . Too dam many, it cost us the game. Bad coaching. Also we should have gone for the first down at the end of the game. You knew you were leaving fla. state, too much time when they only needed a field goal to win, and have the best kicker in collage football. Of course it wasn’t even that close. We were 4&5. Go for it on fourth down. Thats why they call me the short coach!
Am I correct to conclude that Foster puts 7 in the box on a running down to limit the run at the cost of giving up the long ball with single coverage ?? It seems there are a lot of 1 & 10, 2 & 8, 3 & 6; and the opponent hits a slant for 7; or a long pass for 50 yrd. Or, they hit a 40 yrd pass on 1 & 10 with single coverage, there is no deep safety. I am not necessarily critical but it seems what works against us. I’m listening ??
the big picture – i’ve played, coached, ref’d, and watched football for 40 years and it is plain as the nose on my face that tech’s offensive coaching (as exemplified by their play calling and play design) is inadequate and inferior. as my father used to say, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while. i feel the same way about vt’s offense. sad sad sad.
Andy,
I have to disagree with you on LT; I think there is a real problem there. The issue is consistency. He is missing high, missing low, and regularly throwing 2-3 pics per game. And the issue is not pressure. The last pic in the FSU game was just a bad throw behInd the receiver. There was no real pressure.. The Miami game saw the same.
The measure of a QB is not the ability to make good throws once in a while. The measure of a QB is to consistently hit his target, and if he covered, read the field and find someone else. Failing that, throw the ball away. LT has failed that measure..
LT is reliably inconsistent. Throws high, throws low, and throws pics. He has snuffed out way too many drives, and way too many opportunities. The reason he has so many yards and so few points is that. He in not consistent enough to sustain a drive.
Not sure the issue is correctable, but the coaches need to look hard and fast at doing so.
I have seen lately on televised games that the comments on tv are questioning strategy. I can’t believe beamer just saying thats their tv job to critique the game. BS. If Frankie were not so tenured he would be fired at years end. Simple. Sports would not such. Gutter guard Frankie. Looks pretty lame during the game. I hate to rip ole fancy gap but this is life. This program will continue to decline every year. Donations will decline. People will be pissed. Please retire to lake Lanier while you still have your clout. Sorry you are too old for college football 2012. And stinespring- go teach phys ed at Blacksburg high. You will NEVER be a head football coach unless new river comm college gets a team. The play calling is pitiful for years.
Tech has the talent but the coaching staff does not know how to utilize the talent. Don’t tell me what a great coach Beamer is. The only time he is a great coach is when he plays a cupcake.
Finally someone recognizes our terrible kickoffs. This is the worst K’er we’ve every had, he rarely reaches the endzone. Still we’re doing okay in preventing kick returns. On the flip side, Hughes has had a few gaffes but I think he’s going to be a great punter.
As far as your post on how does LSU, Alabama and all those perrenial top 5 teams do it? Well first of all they’re LSU, Alabama, etc. Secondly they’re in the SEC. SEC academic requirements for athletes are very very low. They spend ungodly money on coaches and players are pampered like nobody’s business. Look VT is getting the majority of the top 25 VA athletes, but they’re missing on the Phillip Sims of the world (look how it worked out for him). Those teams you mention recruit only NFL prototypical athletes, it’s much hard for them to miss and when they do there’s pleny of hits standing in the wings. Offensive lineman are not easy. God doesn’t make that many 6’5″ 18 year olds that can carry 300lbs. It takes a program like VT a couple of years to get a kid that big whereas many of those O lineman in the SEC come ready made at 18 vs 20 or 21. Still Miami is loaded with the same athletes and can’t make it work so coaching is obviously very important. We went through our tier one running backs very fast and the kids we have now are just not big enough yet. You have to feel for guys like Holmes who’s taken a step back, but there are plenty of players on VT’s team that will never see meaningful snaps and may have been highly regarded as High School players.
Let’s not forget that these are kids and they’re our kids too. I need to be reminded of that.
it is time for a change…..keep foster…..let the rest of the coaches go….this team is no different than the previous ones….time to move beamer into a job that promotes VT and move into the 21st centuryith a new head coach and offensive guru
Andy I have long been a critic of the O but rarely the play calling. For one I’m not smart enough to know what plays to call and neither are most of the folks here IMHO. I watched Bama the other night and thought there were many similarities in the O. I recently saw (where I can’t recall) videos of the 2 teams running similar plays. Bama was much quicker, crisper, VT’s plays took too long to develop. It’s execution, execution. The O is trying to cover for its deficiencies by too many different “looks” and schemes. And after 11 years and your O still is mediocre and your trying to get the program to the “next level” and you keep the same OC? How dumb is that?
On the 3rd down before the go ahead field goal, if Tech gets the first down with a more aggressive play call (it was not third and goal), then FSU has to burn their time outs, and Tech has a chance to kick the game winning FG at the gun. Very frustrating, but a coach’s decision to make a conservative call, then for the defense to hold on.
Still haven’t seen a replay of the third-down play at the end, but some folks have said Benedict just whiffed on a block and it was otherwise pretty well set up.
I realize it’s a conservative call. But it’s a conservative call they had success with earlier.
I enjoy reading your blog as always, Andy. I have to agree with Hokie SC. I think there are some real problems with LT. He is very inconsistent and aside from the interceptions, some of his short passes are incredibly poor. I think the defense played one hell of a game to be honest. I think our secondary needs some work, but I was really proud of those guys.
I would like to comment on the atmosphere in Lane Stadium and see if anyone agrees with me. For most of the game, it seemed rather quiet (for Lane Stadium on a Thursday night that is) and empty. There were also a lot of older fans who were quite intoxicated and seemed more interested in getting up and down in the stands than watching the game. Did anyone else seem to notice this? I understand that Hokie fans are frustrated. I am too. Maybe fans are trying to send a message? I’m not sure. I’ve been going to VT games for the past 12 years, and this is one of the first where I saw multiple people giving away their tickets at the gate. The whole situation makes me sad.
Does anyone really watch VT play and think that’s a really well coached team? Didn’t think so. That’s the problem with everything. It’s not one play or two here and there. It’s the overall bigger picture with the direction this program seems to be headed. COACHING MATTERS, and we aren’t very good at it. Our players are good enough and the talent is certainly there year after year. I always think of what if a Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Chip Kelly type were coaching the same players at Tech?? They would probably dominate. I can assue you we would be a lot more detail oriented, sharp, do the little things well, and most importantly have an identity and be confident in what we are doing. All of those traits are massive weaknesses of this current staff and it is beginning to drag the program down. This program has had ample opportunity to elevate itself into the upper eschelon nationally. But instead its stayed in relative obscurity because this staff overall can’t seem to figure things out. It’s always something and it’s becoming painful to watch. Our first game next year is against Alabama which should be exciting for a great program to take on that challenge. But it’s gotten to the point now where I just hope we can maybe hang around and not completely get run out of the Georgia Dome.
VTredwolf – Good points except that it’s possible to have a good offensive line even if you’re not a SEC team. VT had good ones back when they were in the Big East