Do you see what I see?
Lottsa fun things to watch whenever you settle into film-study a wide -freaking- open program like the Boise State Broncos. These doods fear nothing. 0% phobic. Anything and everything goes here folks; and the Field side of the revamped 2010 Hokie defense really does need to mind their assignment Pints and Quarts in this game folks. Bo.State will throw the whole entire Bronco offensive play book at them; per such, go ahead and expect Bo.State to test the field (or wide) side of the VT defense early and often.
So lets kick around a few things I have seen that will make for some tasty Sitzkrieg pigskin nuggets as we beginning to ponder and analyze our Labor Day match-up with the likely pre-season A.P. #3 ranked Bo.State Broncs.
Less is Moore:
Moore is a dang good Qb folks. He will be a 4 year starter at Bo.State -well, unless he goes Pro after this year- and he can surely wing that ball. A 39:3 passing ratio is all you need to know; well, expect for the fact that that works out to a unheard of 13:1 pure passing ratio. If I were a betting man -and I am- I’d wager that most coaches would take 13 TD throws for 1 Pick in a New York second.
Pretty dang good huh?
Yup, pretty much.
Though I did note one peculiarity in Moore’s game.
Check out the pic on the right of Moore’s wind-up. To say it is a looping windmill of a throwing motion is to be Quixotic indeed. Moore has a slow release for such and he is very much ripe for a strip attempt when the football is being held palm down. Further note the Terry Bradshaw signature looking grip on the pigskin (Index separation from middle-finger is way too wide) and the oddball Euclidean geometry of the football itself as the pigskin is horrifically past the point of being parallel to the ground; the ‘rong way! Moore’s throwing-motion is begging on bended knee for someone O&M making a slap-attempt or trying to get a hand on the rock and causing a fumble or hopefully two. If I am already seeing this in June, you can bet you bottom dollar that Coach Wiles will coach this up this August folks.
The pain game:
A perfect 14-zip season does not suck — and this just in, rain is rumored to be wet.
Not half bad when you run the regular season table and then win your B.C.S. bowl game to cap an unbeaten campaign.
Not half bad at all when you consider the amount of Bronco starters who fell down and went “boom” for Bo.State last year. Check it out:
- 4.43 speed merchant and 1st-string Rb D.J. Harper (#6) blew out his A.C.L. in game#3.
- 63 catch and likely all-W.A.C. Wr one Austin Pettis fractured his leg late in the year.
- 2008 part-time oLine starter Cory Yriarte blew out his A.C.L. for the second time.
- starting Middle-Linebacker Daron Mackey nuked his A.C.L. as well.
All of that starting insalubrious training-room crowding from a perfected 2009 football team folks!
IF Bo.State was 14-zip without those studs — how good is Bo.State in 2010 with all of ’em (except Yriarte) expected back? Note the skill position attrition and then note the fact that Bo.State finished 10th in Total Offense and 1st in Scoring Offense despite so many star studded offensive hurts. Go fig’ on that?
More is more:
Pre-Bo.State film study; it had been my O&M thesis of thought that we/VT might just be able to test the Broncos manhood right at the point of attack. Punch Bo.State right in the mouth with a healthy (hopeful pun intended) dose of D.Evans right up the gut and check the Bronc’s chin from the get-go. Emulating what ‘Vada (Nevada) and FSU-West (Fresno State) were able to do by attempting to bust these smurf-turf Bronco’s by running right over them between the A-Gaps. I still somewhat subscribe to this notion -as the Bo.State defense is not the physically biggest one you’ll ever see- however, I had no idea just what a stop-unit numbers game the Broncs were playing out in the Spud State. Pretty tough to wear a team down when they substitute as liberally as Bo.State does and return their entire 2-deep in their front-8 on defense.
In point of fact; Bo.State returns:
- 19 of it’s Top-20 tacklers from 2009
- 26 ballers with 10 more more tackles from 2009
- and a grand total of 744 stops courtesy of those top-19 returning tacklers!
Dang.
We all knew the defensive experience gap was gaping; now we know how wide it truly is. Bo.State has waaaaaay more defensive experience than VT does; and they have quite a bit of depth in their top-22 stop-unit players too boot. This means that new Bronco Defensive Coordinator Peter Kwiatkowski has a genuine ability to platoon his defensive ballers in and out on Labor Day nite and thereby very likely keep the Bo.State stop-unit as fresh as possible in the thick District heat and humidity that tends to dot the late summer calender that time of the year.
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Bo.State fast facts:
- The Broncs have six different 1 L or better seasons since 2002 — which includes 3 perfect regular seasons in the last 4 years! “Winning is habit forming.” -Vincent Thomas Lombardi-
Bo.State knows how to win.
- +21! As in Bo.State enjoyed a highly unusual positive twenty-one Turnover Margin in 2009; good for 3rd best in all of D-1 football. However, Bo.State’s wide-open attack had not finished better than +11 in Turnover Margin since 2002. Watch to see if this 2009 outlier corrects itself a bit in 2010.
- Bo.State enjoys an all-conference quality Kicker and Punter; all rolled into one #35 Kyle Brotzman who handles both kicking duties for the Broncs. Kyle has a big leg (3-4 career beyond 50 yards) and is a whopping 100% passer! Yes, I said “passer” as Kyle has nailed all 3 of his fake attempts and averages a lofty 30 yards per throw off of Bo.State kick game trickeration! Frank may wanna check on his Special Team’s coaches execution for this one; and go ahead and expect this level of Bronco special-teams chicanery to limit most VT attempts at blocking a given Bronco kick.
- To elaborate on the Experience Gap even further … last year Bo.State had the fewest scholarship seniors on any D-1 football roster in the land. 4, as in Bo.State just saw f-o-u-r guys 2009 eligibility expire at the end of last season! Four, no more, no less.
- Bo.State allowed a highly parsimonious 1.1% sack percentage on Bronco passing attempts! VT via comparison allowed a user-friendly 12.3% last year.
“LET’S GO!”
“HOKIES!”
b’street
Competition, Competition, Competition… What kind of numbers do you think TT could have put up against he same schedule that BSU played..?
I think Moore is a good QB (not a great one) who plays in a system that works in his favor, but I think the tale of the tape will be Bud’s adjustments in the 2nd half…
Whatever “kitchen sink” they may throw at us in the first half, I think Bud will have the answer for in the 2nd half…
Plus, I like our chances of ball control O and keeping their O off of the field for most of the game (w/ DE and RW)
Not so much TT; it would be what would the Frank-n-Stiney offense do vs. Bo.State competition.
I’d say we’d run all over most of ’em.
Might not need to pass as much as we do in the A.C.C. — which ain’t a lot to begin with. TT’s numbers might even drop just a smidgen.
O&M ball-control is the key for VT.
Keeps the VT rook’s off the field and therefore less exposed to novice misQ’s as much as possible being the hidden gem there.
b’street
But I am comparing “apples to apples” here… TT put up decent #s (passing efficiency) against REALLY GOOD defenses this last season, imagine what he could’ve done against the Bronco’s schedule…?
I agree with you, with the talent we had in RW last year, we run until they could stop it (which they wouldn’t have) or until RW tires out and then J.O. and DW pad their yardage stats…
Mine was more of a statement concerning KM being a decent QB in a good system. I imagine he will have “some” success on VT early, but I think we get ours (D) in either turnovers (as you mentioned) or in just Bud making adjustments that shut down their O by the second half…
We are flattered by your eval of our humble team…. We love our Broncs and we travel in big numbers no matter where they play. My wife and I are going to spend some extra time in the capital as many of our friends are too. It’s a fun bunch and I hope we get to meet and have a few laughs with Hokie fans.
Do doubt – game time is serious stuff and this should be one heck of a game. See you in September,
Bronco-Doug
Bronco-Doug:
Welcome to TSL.com.
Have a safe trip up to the District.
Looking forward to a helluva a opening week match-up.
b’street
Great write-up of Boise State. It’ll probably be better than the Idaho Statesman’s (seriously).
One thing, though @ socalhokie: I don’t think you can compare TT’s offense to Boise State’s. Last year, TT attempted an average of 51.3 passes per game. BSU averaged 32.2. TT only averaged 24.0 rushes per game, compared to BSU’s 36.6. Basically, TT is a very pass-heavy offense, whereas BSU utilizes a more balanced attack.
Of course, I’m sure that TT would do very well against WAC defenses, although eventually TT would suffer the downsides of playing in the WAC. Those downsides include less money, less exposure and much much less respect. After a few years, TT would most likely stop getting the recruits necessary for its prolific passing game.
That was a great write up of Boise State, looking forward to a great game. Its always good to notch another win against a “quality opponent. Southern California Hokie should know that Moores best numbers have come against their best opponents. You should check out what he did against Oregon in there house as a freshman, maybe what he did against Oregon last year at home. That was the same Oregon team that punched the team from “So. Cal” right in the face. Also TT will not face a defense like this the rest of the year except for maybe against NC, and until your confernce can win a few big games lets not throw out “look who they play each week” because as far as I’m concerned the ACC is a long way from the SEC and just a smidgin above the Big East. You’ll be surprised how Bronco Nation travels!
statueleft41:
Thank you and welcome to TSL.com.
Yah; I to expect this could indeed be great football game.
Possibly a good ole fashion shoot-out; or at least a close game in the mid to upper 20’s. Interesting on Moore. I will look into his rise to the occasion. I’m not party to Bo.State plays nobody — or whatever that line of tripe is. When you are 14-zip and ranked that high in so many important Team categories; that tends to have nothing to do with luck.
bourbonstreet
Fully in agreement with B’Street here. Can’t overstate what a good program BSU is, they win the big games whereas we don’t have such a sterling record in this stat. They have a huge experience edge and they win on the road. Forget about “quality of opponent” nonsense, just ask TCU, Oregon, and OU fans. This is a huge game for VT. I think we can win and believe we will win it but the caliber of opponent doesn’t get any better than BSU. Go Hokies!