Let us revisit just where we were at this junction of the CFA Bowl down in the ATL…
7-zip favor of VT to begin the second stanza … one that saw the VT lead shrink to a meager 3 points once these 15 minutes of play were through.
That said, I was feeling no pain at this point in the CFA Bowl.
Nothing UT was doing was overwhelming to me, despite the fact that the scoreboard was painting a 1 play picture — which would suggest that the issue was very much in doubt. Recall also that we had numerous reports of UT living-it-up down in the ATL with numerous curfew violations and in general terms having a good time pre-game.
VT however was focused, deliberate and business like in their approach to the CFA Bowl … thanks to a revamped bowl preparation after our vacation rewards approach vs. KU in the Orange Bowl a couple of years back.
To me, all that was beginning to show itself as the second quarter wore on. The second quarter was not exactly VT’s best, neither was it VT’s worst. Both teams left points on the field in this quarter yet only one team was close to turning the outcome deciding corner. So lets take a look back at the second quarter which actually set the tone for a 20-0 Hokie second-half.
2nd Quarter 15:00 remaining:
One thing I will add to balance out my block-shedding critique of ‘Quell and Gibby in part I — namely, that their diagnostic abilities’ are better. Improved read and react as you can see on this particular play as Gibby correctly shoots the left-side A-Gap and drops #2 for -3 yards; Gibby in particular has the speed to do this. (note to reader, Gibby has now bulked up by 12 lbs. of right-mass … watch his speed vs. Bo.State for that) Neither one will ever be V.Hall in terms of cowboying up nor in terms of shedding blocks; though they can win the war not by having out-fought people – rather by having out thought people. Nice to see both of them advance beyond the midpoint of the so-called learning-curve — watch the game continue to slow down for both of them in 2010.
2nd Quarter 10:54 remaining:
Note the first of 2 Offside’s that senior Qb Crompton draws vs. our DLine in this game. Note that this had happened all year long as well. Thereby giving Coach Wiles something to work on this August. Finally note that senior Qb’s are the best at this use of voice-inflection on the so-called “hard count”. Go ahead and expect TT to add that to his repertoire this season.
2nd Quarter 8:48 remaining:
I said on the Pay MB that I knew the Cb blitz was in the mix as a compensatory move for Virg’ having to sit this one out before the CFA bowl tipped-off. This play proved me correct; however, when you see a Cb lined up OFFSIDES, that might be a pretty good hint that Hosely is gonna blitz! Note that this was along our/VT’s sideline; which is fortuitous and even a bit covert; as you’d have to expect the UT sideline would have been screaming bloody murder on this one. Finally, I can see why some UT fans were calling for helmet-to-helmet on this one. That’s a softie rule to me; football ain’t called band for a reason; yet that no-call is indeed what the Rulebook reads.
2nd Quarter 8:02 remaining:
This is so very welcome indeed; check out ‘Quell fighting off the leftside Ot’s block and making the tackle from his freaking knees! First time I’ve seen this all year folks; as ‘Quell ate his Wheaties and stepped his physical game up bit by bit all year long. Though he could stand to buckle up his chin-strap. I’m pretty sure that chinstraps are a good thing; even better when buckled. That’s a new one I’ll never understand outta today’s baller.
2nd Quarter 7:11 remaining:
Don’t wanna hit this too hard; though here I am about 40% through the CFA Bowl and Hill has bitten on 3 routes (Stop-n-Gos) or pump-fakes already. He also plays the run too far to the inside; which negates using the sideline as the de facto twelfth defender. This lacks “inside leverage” as the well esteemed Raleigh Hokie is want to say. I’ll just say that Hosley did not hurt himself with this CFA performance and Hill did himself no favors in 2010 terms. The gap between Hosely/Roc’ and all the rest is no small thing — Hosely and Roc’ really do need to remain upright and good-to-go for this season folks.
2nd Quarter 5:26 remaining:
Watch the left-side Ot for UT give ‘Quell a straight left-jab right in the chops at the end of this play! If this is not a Personal Foul then rain is no longer wet. This play and the B.Taylor vs. Maryland oLineman tête-à-tête are the kinda things that muddy an otherwise clean game. If the Zebras would only sit on skirmishing like this; they would eventually mute some of today’s woofing and trash-talking. Verbal sanitation engineers if you will or an ounce of prevention … is worth a pound of cure — and ‘Quell got pounded right in the mush on this one.
2nd Quarter 3:39 remaining:
It is cliché and all too easy to verbally mug the Refs in-game or in-print. However; this is an excellent no-call by the official named Referee; as #6 Worilds simply freight-trains the far-right UT protector right on into the UT Punter that prompted a 45,000 chorus of disagreement from the UT fans and an inaccurate “OHHH!” on-air from Matt Millen down in the Georgia Dome. Be real nice to have Worilds back — all the more so now that End-De Jake Johnson has left the O&M building.
2nd Quarter 3:16 remaining:
Watch Smitty with the smallest “steal” ever recorded as he barely knocks #96 back down, as #96 is attempting to get back up on the left-hand side of the play. This is too funny to watch folks; pretty much like stealing a ¢1 from Donald Trump. No big deal — yet it does ultimately count.
2nd Quarter 1:35 remaining:
Watch how it is actually TT who sets Boykin up for a much easier seal-block along the UT sideline on this scrambling run. TT cuts inside; Boykin blocks outside, then TT scampers out of bounds for a bonus 8 yards or so on this impromptu and unscripted pull-down and take-off scrambling carry. I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again, football ain’t rocket-surgery people — and it is the little things like this set-up rushing move by T-mobile that means so much.
2nd Quarter 1:11 remaining:
This is the one, single, solitary throw that TT missed on the night (the INT was a misread); as he lead Boykin too far on this abbreviated Post Route. That works out to 6% on the night (1 out of 17) as less than exactingly precise throws go. However that one time 6% misfire is exactly where this pattern was going to go if TT puts the ball on the money. i.e .for 6! That said, I don’t know about you, though I will take 94% accuracy as passing goes and I won’t give it back.
2nd Quarter 0:56 remaining:
Watch poor N.Brown suffer the heinous and now fully infamous downfield chop-block by #86 for UT downfield. Don’t look too close if you just ate, this is a squemish looking screen-cap — though Brown did take one for the team and got back in the fight. Which is pretty amazing; when you see just how far his left-knee inflected inwardly on this illegal chop-block. Watch ‘Quell loose his head (helmet) for the second time on the night on the very next play. (see pic below)
2nd Quarter 0:19 remaining:
Quite possible the best play-action fake of the year, delivered by Crompton of UT as he gets not one, not two, yet three Hokies to bite on this mini-me Post-Pattern for 6 points. Hill, Kam and Morg’ all took the Goaline play-action bait to Hardesty. Excellent play-calling and salesmanship by little Kiffin and Crompton.
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2nd Quarter outtakes:
- UT dropped 14 total points on this night; jus’ sayin’.
- We/VT missed a wide open TD throw as well. That’s 21 points left on the field for you O/U total players right there.
- Recall that we/VT were only up 17-14 at this time heading into the CFA Bowl halftime show. One could say that the issue was very much in doubt as this was a less than 1 full play margin entering the 3rd Quarter.
- “Taco” and Graves easily and hands-down had their best collective Defensive-Tackle outing of the year and it was not even close. Recall that the UT oLine was a bit undersized at left-G and and Center. “Taco” and Graves came to chew bubblegum and kick ass. They were all out of bubblegum.
- Per my above bullet point — Graves should be fine in 2010 if he can avoid being bitten by the injury bug that is. After Graves there is indeed a drop of about a full notch down to the current level of play of Hop’ and Battle. Hop is the greater play-maker of the two, more athletic, more nimble and more mistake prone as well. Consistency is not (yet) Hop’s middle name. Battle is more of a pure run-plugger and not much in the way of a pass rusher. Neither guy has yet to develop into a complete Dt, watch Bo.State target these two early on when they do run inside on September 6th.
- Not exactly a superlative 2nd Quarter on paper for TT. 5 incompletions and 1 INT says so. Nevertheless, note that a now veteran T-mobile remained dialed-in and focused on his job. I did not witness the sideline pouting and isolation on the bench after a few plays did not go his way. I did however see TT nail the home-run 63 yard throw to Boykin which set Wladron up for a chip-shot Field Goal that gave us our 3 point margin at the half. Hanging in there and shaking himself to come correct to close is a signature of a more mature and precocious T-mobile.
- Also note that we did depart Mr. Waldron and his all-A.C.C. caliber 87% on the season. FG-Kicker remains up in the air post-springball 2010 as neither Hazley or Journell has yet to seize the day. Hazely has the lead, he has great height on his kicks — making them very difficult to block. Hazely is the 5th year senior. To me that is code for our starting Place-Kicker in 2010 … though it remains to be seen if that is code for 87% (or better).
“LET’S GO!”
“HOKIES!”
b’street