Virginia Tech football East Carolina Eye in the Sky (part II)

Virginia Tech football did get off to an offensively pirated start that was more parts Pokey and less parts Hokie two Saturday’s ago down in the New River Valley of Blacksburg Va.

Hokie, STONED!
Hokie, STONED!

Precision was not our first 13+ minute thing; and yet then a funny thing happened along the way to the blowout (54-17) VicTory O&M candy-store.

I for one found that almost audible (pardon the pun) offensive “click” that I heard to be refreshing indeed. Or to put it another way… when was the last time you heard an initially sputtering Fighting Gobbler offense suddenly and therefore proverbially go “click”, kick that Owens Dining Hall pig, and then suddenly score 54 points over a 42 minute span? Me neither, as that high octane ~40 minute scoreboard binge was about as close to basketball on grass that Lane Stadium has been since Lane Stadium opened for gridiron business way back in 1965 A.D.

3Q 9:o9 remaining:
Godspeed at five-six (BIG ole #56 the E.c.u. Ng) who had a ugly right-ankle roll up right at the end of the play. Though make no mistake, we nearly saw Sam friendly-fire Wyatt’s right-knee in the orange inflection line below, right on up at the end of the play just the same. Shew-wheee, and shew some more! As big bad five-seven is probably the 1a Hokie we an least afford to L.

shew, again!
shew, again!

3Q 7:26 remaining:
Yah; yah; I know, right in front of the Umpire might not be the best place to do this, quite, literally. Although man-o-man did Wyatt hustle his ass off and totally detonate on the poor defenseless Fs of E.c.u. downfield on this steal. WoW, just, w0w!

3Q 4:51 remaining:
So I’m in my red-shirt sixth season of middle age (at 47). And yet, I just gotta ask: #11 James Summers of E.c.u. looks how old again? I mean has that guy been carded to buy beer even once since he turned, six? Bettcha there were some opposing high schools who were none too sad to see this kid, I mean this man’s man of a Tb/Wr turned pseudo Qb hybrid, go. (BIG pic link)

3Q 4:33 remaining:
Really sweet old-school cutbacks against the pursuing grain from the less than Usain Bolt paced Jerod Evans on this massive touchdown gallop for six. The funny part is the very same move worked no less than four different times in a row; as Evans has nice speed, what someone has been calling B.Randall+ (plus) | ditto someone’s preview that hinted that E.c.u. allowed a lotta Y.A.C. (yards after contact) in particular along the edges. Although clearly Evans was a bit lame/reduced here, proving yet again that the largest muscle in the human body is still the brain. As this gimpy run was not out fought in locomotion terms so much as it was however, out …thought, per patience and field-vision. (p.s. Evans looks like he has found what weight he cut at the end of August camp again; as he surely reminds one of Sonny Jurgensen, Billy Kilmer and/or Tajh Boyd. None of whom would have made it as a runway model; all of who somehow still got it epic done while being in south of epic physical shape)

cj-foot-down
Goliath in guts!

3Q 2:00 remaining:
Did NOT like the look of the top of the helmet cervical compression on the Bradshaw crossing route snag for a 1st down here. This kid must have a really strong neck to take this kinda compaction and just stand up and walk way. As this play is the very reason why football is a terminal contact sport folks; what with about three instantaneous deaths per season and about 12-16 deaths on average within three weeks of the spinal hit; God Bless.

3Q 0:32 remaining:
C.J. Carroll may be 5′ whatever in height; nonetheless, this is a sky-scrapping play in heart. WoW, just w0w! (BONUS: see epic open-field tackle by Tremaine Edmunds two plays later vs. E.c.u. Most can I.D. that this is an epic open-field tackle, however, what most miss is why? The why is Edmunds vice like hands, as in epic hand strength, think Tommy Beasley bear paw ‘esque)

...ouch!
ouch!

4Q 12:38 remaining:
Ahhhh, yah, this ain’t good folks as here you see the true foible of the Fu’fense large and in charge. As Gallo blocks (surprisingly) adequately in space to still be a bit tubby, and Conte just had his worst game of the year. {sic: Conte} is just playing stiff as a board movement wise on tape –to the point of leaving a well trained Eye wondering if he is nursing some kinda of hidden hurt? And as you can see, the heady and gamey Gallo simply lacks enough 1st-twitch fiber to deal with a powerhouse Ng head-up o-technique wise. (i.e. go ahead and expect opposing O-Coordinators to see this and attack our even or right-side Gallo/Conte A-gap accordingly)

4Q 8:19 remaining:
Observe the dreaded non-contact De T.Hill right ankle, inward pronation on this play just running down the field in pursuit. Dang, dang, dang; this is not fun to watch as Hill was putting the stud back into the Stud-De slot and getting better and better, virtually by the play.

Yikes!
Yikes!

Longfield Management (Lo.FM)©:

Virginia Tech:
positive: |||| |||| | (1VT TD, 1 ECU penalty)
negative: |||| |
Swiss (neutral): |||

East Carolina:
positive: ||||
negative: |||| |||| |
Swiss (neutral): |||| ||


In Lo.FM terms… I hit the stop-unit pretty hard last time out; although I do wanna add that a crippling 16 TFL and 6 Bud Stout sacks will do just that Lo.Fm wise to any opposing offense. Also observe what you are missing in your perusal of the Lo.FM metric. What are you missing you ask? Well for one you are missing all the bonehead yellow laundry or self-inflicted Hokie wounds at critical times. That and we may just be starting to see Evans learning how to make BIG plays happen; when chasing the sticks dialing long-distance on second or third and long situations. Or in other words, at least our first year starting Qb1 is not wetting the Hokie bed when the chain-gang is way out in front.

***

Someone on the pay side message board said something about coach-Fu’ needs to get his run-game going; or there will be trouble ahead. After breaking this game-tape in particular, I gotta respectively, disagree, as from my perspective it breaks down something like this… riddle me thus: which part of the 2016 Fu’fense has more talent?

vt-o-rankings-b4-unc

  1. Evans+Bucky+Ford+Phillips …through the air?
  2. Or, Evans+Sam+T.McMillian+Shai/Mars’ …on the ground?
  3. …you do the maths.

If that lacks instruction, ask thyself this… is our c-(right)-G internal blocking duo of the very middleocore Gallo plus the barely modest Conte better at generating a healthy internal run-push or at maintaining a decent enough V-shaped pass-fit cup? As Wyatt Teller is a blocking animal, Wr/Te blocking has improved and is still improving; Ot blocking on each side is adequate and sometimes even flirts with being good. So -and with all of that reality in mind- what would you do if you ran the coach-Fu’ play-calling zoo? Me? I do what asks the least of those so-so or lesser two internal blockers, and which simultaneously utilizes the shinier version of my skill-position baller(s). Or in other words I’d damn sure play quick-hitting pitch-n-catch offense until the ag’ school cows across the street on 46o came home. As try as we might, football still ain’t rocket-surgery people. Or in other words, why ask guys who can not block for very long to, well; have to block for very long? Or did that just make too much sense… up on Chestnut Hill?

Reported run-game hand wringing:
So a near bicentennial savvy or almost two bills or ~200 yards per game and being ranked a vastly improved 49th best in the run-game is just not enough? Well, for starters, (foreshadowing intended) these is the same publishing peeps who convinced themselves and then told all of you that the 2016 Virginia Tech defensive line was the strength of the team. Huh? Such is the worst form of journalism there is, as here at: http://bourbonstreet.sportswar.com real men congregate and speak truth to the power.

And right now this is a Hokie run-game that has improved by about 32 spots and by nearly 40 yards per contest in only four games of the Fu’fense thus far. Or in other words, “don’t worry, be Hokie.” Our run shape will only improve under coach Corny and coach Vice. 195 rushing per game does not suck; and that’s not bad mileage when you consider that two of our top-3 Tb’s have four blow A.c.l.’s (both suffering twice same side, mind you) among them. Now mix in average at best c-(right)-G play; not playing T.McMillian full time; and guess what? 195 rushing never looked so good. The real story is not found in the run-game nag itself; the real story for the other writers to copy would be found in writing about whether or not Gallo/Chung and/or Conte at right-G will get any better (…or not)? Me? I’m not so sure on that, almost to the point of being undersold. However, I feel pretty solid that the Fu’fense passing-shape will only improve; and if it does improve, I know that that will only open up more rushing room underneath. Improvements to the ground-troops may be marginal to incremental at best. That does of reality firmly in place the good news is that beyond injury– I do not see any real regression in the run forecast and I do expect McMillian has a couple more 100 yard games in him as well. So in summary is this an epic unstoppable rushing attack? No. Though since half past when is noticeably above average the new, bad?!? Such is the realm of poppycock.

Cooking up (Bob), Jerod Evans:

Does Qb1 Jerod Evans have a few foibles to his throw-game textbook app’s. Yes. Do we deny this? No. And in point of fact, here they are…

...how bad does this, look?!?
…how bad does this, look?!?
  • footwork: not bad bad, though it gets a little happy at times, and then -of all things- it narrows a bit (hence stepping on one’s own left-foot).
  • weight distribution: #4 does shoot a fall-away J in N.b.a. terms on his release point when under Playboy ‘esque full-frontal pressure.
  • wind-up: unless you industrialize a Chuck Yeager 15-15 type field-vision; this may be hard to see in real-time, although do try to observe the peculiar corkscrew cocking of the football at its most hind, or deepest point. Very odd looking angularity or tilt/twist to the football at the apogee of Evans’ wind-up; mea culpa, I gotta confess, it is almost Whiskey Tango Foxtrot odd looking at times.
  • release point: our Qb1 does slide clockwise or to his right about a quarter past 1 o’clock from time-to-time. Evans does throw square (not textbook more/less perpendicular to his target; thereby making his own onrushing bull’s-eye body target harder to miss for any hard charging defender)
  • fitness: not quite in elite knifed up, or in Fight Club’s  “carved out of wood” fighting-trim just yet. (although he does wear a heavily side-padded rib girdle as well)
  • in summary: Evans lacks overthrown accuracy on his homerun throws; and although he has a Bryan Randall+++ (or better than average arm); he will never have a Bradshaw or Cunningham or Elway pure howitzer strapped to his right-shoulder.

Yes, some of that (above) happens some of the time, and yet none of that happens all of the time. Nevertheless, in spite of being south of a passing camp schematically perfect looking robo-Qb, Evans hits some freaky throws… into traffic, into coverage, with people draped all over him in the pocket. He also manages to chuck the ball downfield in near textbook form more often than not (see: pic). And his electrifying 68% passing and likewise being just one mere drop removed from a perfect 13:0 passing ratio all conspire to tell all of us what?ecu-drops-misses

It tells that yes, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet, although too many chefs spoil the gumbo and the word to the wise here connotes… don’t over-coach this kid IN-season and gum up the 2016 works. The time to overhaul any passing technique foibles (plural in Evans case) is best spent in the off-season. Yes, there are several little things here that need at least a little work; though I say eschew that, at least for now. As methinks this would be an in-season case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Ergo, to wit, you deal with these mechanical looking Corinthians in the off-season if you deal with them at all.

33% of the way, odds and (split)-Ends:

  • VT has 179% more 1st downs this year than our opponents have! And the precision of the quick hitting Fu’fenese should only improve.
  • With 25 more total 1st-down generated courtesy of passes than opponents have. WOW! Who are you and what have you done with Virginia Tech?!?
  • VT has 733 more aggregate yards of Total O than Hokie opponents have.
  • VT has allowed 30′ (that’s feet) worth of Punt Returns thus far.
  • VT has not fumbled in 8 quarters. (fingers, eyes and toes all crossed here)
  • the snappy quick-hitting Fu’fense is actually +5:20 in Time of Possession (TOP) per game; bang!
  • VT’s top-5 pass game rotational pass-catchers all average 12 yards or more per catch. Or at least a first down with six feet to spare per grab.
  • As Oktoberfest is upon us… Bud Böck is holding opponents to a brickish 20% on both 3rd and 4th down conversion attempts allowed.
  • VT has 34 miscellaneous yards thus far | and the next time I know what that means will be the, first.

The #1 thing that needed the most OPEN week work, was what???

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the takeaway
The takeaway here is… that 3-1 is what basically everyone (not named me) hoped for and 3-1 or precisely 75% is exactly what we got; sans what we gift wrapped for Tennessee.unc-hawtie

Up next however is the very difficult to key U.n.c. offense; (at 32nd in total O, 12th in passing O); that  returns the thus far stymied former near 1,500 yard rushing 2015 Elijah Hood at Tb (as U.n.c. is a paltry 1o1st in rushing O thus far).

Also up next is the sieve otherwise known as the U.n.c. defense itself; checking in at 1o5th worst in total D and an abused 116th in run D itself!

Or to put it another way; … now would be a great time for T.McMillian and the worrywart Virginia Tech rushing offense to prove me right; and sit much vaunted much ballyhooed U.n.c. chip stud Qb Mitch Trubisky on his arse, on the T.Heel bench; and thereby give opening point-spread six point underdog Virginia Tech a chance to steal this one out on the road. Because if we let this truly stellar former 226 (in 2015) now a mere 182 Qb rating, 1,711 yard passing, 76%, aerial phenom’ get his throw on –much less if we allow Elijah to see the Light?

We loyal readers are in for a long day at the visiting Coastal office at best. As this ascent to the apex of Chapel Hill may prove longer than it looks.

Virginia Tech=54, East Carolina=17

LETS GO!

Hokies!

bourbonstreet**

V.A.D.A. approved

footballleaves

15 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. pleased with the coming together on the field and off —the transition of celebrating the beamer led accomplishments of the past that took VT from state independent to the point we not only got into THE ACC – winning the conference championship and the National Championship game…..and the transition and acknowledgement of honoring the past
    with Beamers #25 award to player that most emmulates Beamers – VT’s spirit , perseverance- and Fuentes drive &
    determination to carry the program to further heights while honoring the past.

    1. Yah; they have handled that about as well as you can.
      Piously acknowledging Frank; and yet NOT putting Frank on the forefront.

      b.street

  2. Good stuff as always!!!
    Question on the running game: do you see us as a 3rd and 2 throwing or running the ball going forward?

    Section 5 viewpoint: the lack of interior push has me feeling we’ll be throwing from the gun on 3rd and short this season.

    Wear your rubbers in Chapel Hill on Sat, looks to be quite wet!

    Let’s Go…Hokies!!!

    1. Both.

      Or maybe better stated, R.P.O.s.
      Run pass option with Evans, who can run, and has the bulk to bulldoze if need be.

      Unless Teller is in vs. a weak left-side Dt?
      Maybe plow the field right up his backside if they see some favorable blocking match-up
      for a pure rushing destination only.

      b.street

  3. Thanks for keeping it real on the running game. It’s not the 50’s anymore. We’re passing and scoring at will, if ain’t broke don’t fix it!

    1. Yup.
      Fu’ is not a 300 yard per game rushing coach.
      His throw-game is above that.

      b.street

  4. Thanks for taking the time to do these !! Bingo on the run game and we are averaging 449 yds per game ! ECU .BC and Tenn are pretty good defenses, not a bunch of chumps that some teams have built there stats up on . The 449 is 2 yds per game off our all time high for a season 451 in 1999 . Also FU said he was surprised at how close teams were playing us bunching at the box and on the WRs. He also said” especially with the guys we have out there” . In other words they have game planed to shut the run game down and make us beat them with the new QB through the air. We have made them pay for that plan!!! You are right the efficiency of this team is very high and I think coach Fu is exactly what we need because the team is going to be greater than the sum of the parts . VT looks to be really well coached on both sides of the ball and Fufense will take advantage of short fields to deliver knockout blows to opponents thinking they are playing the old VT style game . Don’t know what the total W and L will be for the year, doupt we lose more than 3 if that, will depend on how the close ones fall . I will say though we will smoke some future teams that will surprise everyone. I look forward to this emerging team it is going to be fun because no one expects much.

    1. far out!
      6′ beat by some kid named Michael Vick?

      That’s keeping some pretty fair company.
      And I’ll be borrowing that stat.

      (m.s. scheming kinda like they are still playing…. V.P.I./Frank)

      b.street

  5. Hey b-st., you seem pleased with the offensive production. Have you changed your stance on “running up the score” any?

    1. Not much.
      I get the repetitious neediness of the the O.

      Though go downfield, take 4 knees.
      (how bad would that be on both ends? Got the work in, did not RUTS)

      b.street

    1. Poorly.
      Sloppily.

      Those mesh-points are finite on a dry, clear, warm day track.

      Never mind wind, snow or wet.
      (plus this only increases any Evans inaccuracies)

      b.street

  6. One would think the obvious would be to develop another at center. No word on this. Way too critical to mess around with.

    1. Do we have one?
      A true scholastic C who already gets the 1 hand tied between your legs limitations of Centering. Very diff’ animal from the rest of the G’s and Ot’s linemen.

      b.street

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