Virginia Tech at Ohio State preview!

#35 R.P.I. Virginia Tech @

#7 R.P.I. Ohio State:

urban pride
Urban renewal:

Urban Meyer (25-2 and 129-25 overall) is basically ground zero for coaching greatness. You don’t do what coach Meyer did at Utah via mistake, and the 2 national title rings at Florida may just have been courtesy of offensive savant design. Although a homegrown Db turned Atlanta Brave via personal trade, Meyer has the highest active win percentage of any coach with at least 5 years in D-1 terms and you don’t beat Urban Meyer very often and not at all thus far during his two consecutive perfect regular seasons up at “the” Ohio State!

Yes sports-fans, I’d say that his Sports Administration grad’ degree from Ohio State was rightfully conferred.

Accordingly, you only have a 16% shot at beating Urban Meyer overall, lifetime, and a nearly umpossbile shot at beating Urban Meyer as the Buckeye’s big-whistle (7%).

And yet, that is precisely what the Don Corleone or godfather of all D-1 coaches -Frank Beamer- is gonna somehow and someway do, as he will manufacture a way to steal this one out on the road in front of a mere  104,944 stunned Buckeye fans up in C’bus (Columbus) Ohio and on a made for TV national 8pm ESPN broadcast audience.

Which leads us to Today’s Word…

Today’s word of the day is… Halcyon

hal·cy·on  (hlsn)

n.

  1. a kingfisher, especially one of the genus Halcyon.
  2. a fabled bird, identified with the kingfisher, that was supposed to have had the power to calm the wind and the waves while it nested on the sea during the winter solstice.
  3. prosperous; golden:
  4. the dawning of the second or bimodal and final era of Beamerball at Virginia Tech

As this is an Atlantic Coast football program that is on the come –or maybe even a dark-horse or national championship quad play-off diamond among the rocks.

Oh.State Defense: Forty-three with ¢5 elements (starters back=6)

  • 4-3 base, did industrialize another arrowhead second-layer look (same: as W&M just did), with the Sam and Will cheating up, will bring Cb’s up into a linear formation off the Sam and Will, almost a 4-4-1-2 (though this was the RUN heavy Naval set as well)
  • Mike has hook zone drop read nearly at all times, may be some room to Cross in front of him, ditto the Sam/Will’s most plays, Te’s should find the soft-spot
  • Off man wide side, Tampa-2, tighter looking medium-man short-side. Zone under, man edges, plenty of help from either Safety
  • This defense did have some middle cover foibles deep last year, may be worth a play-action shot here or three
  • Go ahead and expect more 4-2 (or forty-two) looks like I saw in the Gator vs. Clemson based on our turbo offensive showing vs. the Tribe
  • Pretty damn pressure heavy front-4, OSU need not pass blitz a whole helluva a lot!
  • Will use the Sam or Will as a Qb delayed spy
  • penetrating middle-D (Dt’s in particular play north-south)
  • solid tacklers: tackling >>> hitting

This is defiantly not a defense that wants to give up big-plays folks; kinda has a minor Boston College element to it, as it wants to keep everything in front of it and make you sustains long-drives at all times. And similarly to the Flying Eagles yet again; it is a very bulky burly defense upfront. No down-lineman less than 260 lbs. and only one Lb south of 245 lbs. says so! Second layer stocked plum full of big ole read-n-react bunch that really fills run-fits quickly on tape despite their brawny looking size.

As said above, lottsa middle zone work, which means there are soft spots here, in particular outside the Will and Sam beyond the hash-marks towards the sidelines. Will’s and Sam’s were sometimes in a linear stack with their given sides Safety help. Same as the O, a fun looking defense to study on tape. Lottsa little subtle quirks in play here on this Buckeye defense that you’d better be up to speed for in a hurry.

Although Navy did have success spreading this oversized crew out, laterally, with wider splits. I wonder if great Scot was watching or would even be wiling to dabble in that? As Quick hitters via Shai McKenzie right at the point of attack -which only require the minimal shield or turn-block- sure look inviting on film.

osu d

Oh.State Offense: Multi Spread base set (returning starters=5)

  • Pistol, full gun, single back, short-T, 2-4 wide or 1-3 Te’s, H-back, whole lotta moving parts here folks, an OPEN week would not hurt
  • Good spread fits at pass-catchers, speed, and guys who can turn 5’s into first-downs and first-downs into 6 (points); will bubble screen here accordingly
  • Read Option elements; will play-action off of such, and J.T. aint no bad runner. (recall our 1-Gap system does not naturally account for a rushing Pivot or Qb)
  • Will counter or solo crossbuck off the very same Read Option look with naked Qb short-side | will Qb Draw as well! (again: who has Qb in our system?)
  • Love the jailbreak screen with full side clear-out on Zooms out in front of the bubble. We’d better tackle on edge or else!
  • Triangle passing elements;  will triangulate a short-side flood as well. (easy reads for the OSU Qb’s passing tree)
  • Bit more C-Gap and inward rushing attack than I expected; and OSU does field 2 different >225 lb. big-Backs!
  • J.T. Barrett -like so many rookie Qb’s- has a definitive tendency to keep the pitch on tape. (gotta helmet him for this, early, late, often!)

osu o

Honestly? This is a quicker hitting RichRod offense brought back to life folks! And do recall that RichRod gave Foster some fits in his Mo-town days. As my spy’s report that Meyer is a big RichRod guy! This is a run-first Spread look, with a buncha short work and enough mediums sprinkled in here and there. Very quick hitting offensive set, with the emphasis on very. Also saw some play-action passing on vertical stretch routes, right down the RichRod signature 2 or 3 seams; same as it ever was.

J.T. was a bit bouncy with his footwork at Qb on film at times, like he’s doing a grass-drill or something. Hence he sprays a few throws, and he misses more in the dirt than he does long. VERY unusual mechanics, has the ball vertical on his wind-up which creates wasted motion or short-armed throws. Maybe harder to pick for this, though he can be forced into misses as well. J.T. ain’t slow, though he ain’t a pure blazer; either, meaning we can get to him with our defensive speed and we must physically punish him when we do. oLine is mixed all-star candidates at left-Ot and right-G. A 1/2 zone over set with fluctuates closer to man than most zone schemes do on film. Lottsa trust to be found in that, that their Alpha can whip your Alpha with no beta help. A good envelopment blocking oLine, albeit it not quite a black-n-blue signature BIG10 oLine, either.  Nice vertical and horizontal stretch within about 20-25 of the L.O.S. (line-of-scrimmage).

Bud Ultra’s gotta run that entire box in defense of Urban Sprawl 1o1; which does bring defensive fatigue into play late. As there are a lotta moving parts to this version of the Meyer Spread set; which does morph to fit the skill position talent –savvy enough (i.e. not the other way around). Although one has to wonder about said morphology with an all-conference senior year Qb done for the duration? As we are surely catching this Buckeye offense at the right time — vis-à-vis having to face this crew in November when J.T. will have settled down and coach Meyer will have figured then maximized every single thing that J.T. does do well, right on out.

Buckeye Special Teams: (P returns)
Call me crazy, though I’d say having the best Punter in the Big10, and the best special-team’s player overall (#8) J.T. Moore must count for something. Well, at least he was, according to Lindy’s and now he has left football due to knee-injuries. God Bless Jay.Tee on that.  Punter Cameron Johnston is the best Punter in all of Australia and in all of the BIG10 alike, and he is a game and field position changer all by himself. K Sean Nuernberger, he of 233 lbs., was so good in high school that Coach Urban was his red-carpet recruiter his ownself. 6 for 6 on all kicks as his rookie season goes thus far. Only missed 2 FGA’s in high school that were not blocked; has a 60 yard leg; and can P if need be in a pinch! The Buckeye return teams are 27th in KO Returns and 47th in punt returns already. Dontre Wilson found 20 lbs. of right-mass this off-season, and was promptly beaten by a regulation OSU student in a 40-yard dash?!?

https://vine.co/v/MJmhaXttXMK/embed

Ahhhhh-ok? Still yet, Dontre Wilson is -or should I say was-,  he was said to be the fastest footballer in the BIG10, period. I’d say that still counts for something; albeit just a scosche less than it did before. OSU is 37th in KO return defense and 11th in punt return defense, thus far. WILL fake-punt as well!

Special Teams letter-grade: A+++, (this is a stacked Special Team’s unit and Frank had better serially mind his Pride & Joy store on this one, as OSU may field the best ST’s we will face all year)

X-factor(s):
Clearly “the” Ohio State must guard against looking beyond Virginia Tech and to their third game of the season vs. Kent State. Or maybe not. Although I am sure that of all 127 2014 D-1 football teams in the land, nobody has a better chance to beat “the” Ohio State on o9.o6. Nobody!

That attempt a humor aside, I’d have to file this one way under the old-school adage of:  “Finish what you start”.

Or rather that the start is the key to Virginia Tech’s upsetting hopes of victory in this one. As the very last thing Frank and such youthful and downright inexperienced company need …is an early or sudden o-10 or o-14 deficit. We chase in this one early on and this one could be over in a hurry. We hang, hang, hang around, and hang in there some more, and we will become an O&M millstone around mighty Ohio State’s national championship contending neck. In point of fact, I’d damn sure take o-o at the intermission and play a 30 minute dead even game; and you’d have to think Frank Beamer would too. Go ahead and play a first-school game of hangman with the game-clock and let the Buckeye’s feel some noose-knot home-standing big time favorite pressure as this one tightens up late.

Beyond turnover margin, the critical determining factor for a very determined VT football team in this one ... is???

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Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:
Mea culpa, I’m here to confess my sins. As I know that “the” Ohio State really should win this football game. ESPN says there is a 79.9% chance the Buckeye’s win, Vegas says there is an 80% chance State wins, and I myself even proffered a 75% chance of Urbanization on the TSL pay side message board on Tuesday night. Nevertheless, I suppose that does make me the half full member of the pigskin prognosticinti  lot.OSU lid

Now that being said, and that statistical probability firmly in place, recall it was a horse named Upset who was the only horse to beat the legendary Man o’ War (as a 2-year old) as Man o’ War went on to finish 21-1 for his much ballyhooed equine career. Eerily similar to a certain youthful football team from Blacksburg Va. and nearly a mathematical isomer of a certain pure thoroughbred stud head coach’s mark up at Columbus Ohio. And yet, don’t look now, though there is more than a slight chance of showers up in C’bus Ohio and precisely the same as the great go for broke Man o’ War, pure unbridled hell bent for leather sprinters do not like wet-tracks!

I can tell all of you waiting with baited O&M breath this much right now …there are several whispers, vibes and hints being oh so delicately dropped behind the Techster scenes …that the O&M powers than be can NOT wait for this one to tip-off! Just like when you see a fighter digging away with the toes of his boot -just like a wild ass Brahma bull set to charge- during the pre-fight instructions; that fighter? That fighter’s corner has found something on film; something they view as favorable or maybe even something they feel they can exploit.

***

Am I feeling so froggy as to gar-ron-damn-tee a victory in this one; as I have in the past? (because after all, try as you might, you still can’t spell victory without V, T) No, not quite, as we’d prolly still be a 7 point dog even at home inside of Lane Stadium. I will however relate to you that I found nothing terrorizing on film like I kinda/sorta expected too. I’m told that Vee.Tee has found something they like. Some may have me say somethings; plural. We shall have to ask 11:30pm Saturday night how that one tastes; although, and in the mean time, the powers that be are quietly feeling no pain about their chances behind the O&M scenes; and neither should you!

OSU knock knock
WAR Buck=EYE’s!!!

I see toes digging in, raking canvas backwards… someone tell yell the Ref’: “RING THE DAMN BELL!


   Those of you who know me, know that I’ve been more than a little affected by my on-going study of Classical Lit’. Penguin Classics is everywhere I wanna be. And although I may not even be a chapter IX bankrupt man’s  version of Jack London …however, a penniless White Fang I gots.

I’ve been the lone-wolf my whole F’n life. So no man is an island you say? Well some men are peninsula’s! Thank you Robin Williams tribute blast, insert here? Check!

I know, as I just looked and I can not find one, single, solitary Virginia Tech upset victory pick; really? Not one?!?

Was it over when Art Schlichter bombed the local-sports book?
Was it over when Woody Hayes bombed Clemson?
Hell no! And it ain’t over now!

 

It’s impossible.” said Pride.
It’s risky.” said Experience.
It’s pointless.” said Reason.

Give it a try…” whispered the Heart.

So someone’s gotta be the kingfisher here, someone’s gotta be that aforementioned halcyon fabled-bird. Welcome to my Island buckeyes! Buck you!!!

“Die empty Vee.Tee!”

Virginia Tech=23, the” Ohio State=22

LETS GO!

HOKIES!

bourbonstreet**

2 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. B’street. When I went to Churchill Downs for a tour years ago, the tour guide told us that it has long been rumored/known that Man-O-War was loaded into the gate backwards for the race that he lost. It seems improbable but Man-O-War is like a god in Kentucky.

    1. I’ve heard a few “stories” on that L MoW took.

      Though never that one.
      Nice share.

      And that’s so long ago; and such a loooooooong grapevine?
      Who knows???

      b.street

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