Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech football preview!

 #51 R.P.I. Georgia Tech @ #38  R.P.I. Virginia Tech:

au natural Tech
Tech savvy 1o1…

The team that everyone wants to beat, and yet that nobody wants to play in on tap next. As the Wrambling Wreck of Georgia Tech with their whacky and likewise choppy Flexbone signature triple-option offense is back in Blacksburg Virginia this Saturday afternoon.

And yah; I know, I’ve never seen coach Paul Johnson and Cyrno Jones of Star Trek fame in the same room at the same time, either.

Frank may or may not have Trouble with Tribbles, though the rookies on the Bud Ultra defense are on the ‘rong side of the Flexbone Experience and Learning curves alike. And Virginia Tech sure just expended a whole lotta emotion bullets in the most recent 120 minutes of play.

Not to mention the fact that the other Tech (Georgia thereof) holds a major training room or health advantage coming into this one….

…is that enough however to pull the 8 point upset in the 24060?

GT Defense: (starters back=7)

Set: 4-3 over-shift base with a true Ng most of the time

  • 4 downlineman, De’s will sometimes play a stand-up or 2-point-stance
  • Lb Quayshawn Nealy is the stud of the second-layer or Linebacking crops, bit of a drop off after him.
  • Will Lb is more East-West offset to the wide-side than most
  • did see some Will and Sam cheating forward more transnational arrowhead looks; with both Safeties outside eye of the edge in-line blocker, about 7 off the LOS (line of scrimmage). Almost a trapezoid effect if you will.
  • Cb’s can be beaten long, as they were the same on tape
  • saw some Jack Tatum era “jam” coverage short-side where the Cb is almost off-sides he’s so close the the Wr … with much more liberal or even loose-man on the wide-side; mostly Tampa-2 behind all of that, though the Fs is so deep I can not see him on screen to tell you just how deep he truly is! (20+). (did on occasion see double Tatum + Atkinson jam’s on each side as well; in particular in accompaniment of the Will/Sam arrowhead mentioned above)
  • NOT the most physically punishing tacking defense on film, Shai and Mars’ should have some Y.A.C. (yards after contact) here!

GT Offense: (returning starters=6)

Set: Flexbone or triple-option offense

  • This just does not look like as talented of a Flexbone skill-set on film. Smaller, less dynamic, in overall broad-brush terms.
  • 1 true bulwark stud of an O-lineman (#7o, Shaq Mason), bit of a drop off after him. Though this unit is pretty close to going 10 deep all in the same breath.
  • Although this is a bigger than normalized P.J. o-Line, even if it is a year maybe even two away from it’s matriculating zenith.
  • Same at Wideout, one stud (#15, DeAndre Smelter) bit of a drop off after him.
  • bigger, physically stronger Wingbacks and Halfbacks alike, though less sizzle or game breaking ability to their steak
  1. Belly play: Fb plunge or Qb keeps
  2. 2nd option: pitch to Hb or Qb keeps
  3. 3rd option: pitch to Wb or Qb keeps
  4. Basically 6 plays to each side
  5. Rinse, recycle, repeat, in a 4-down offense!
  • Did see a few more actually Veer hand-off elements on film, more countering or reverse pivot wide side plays to the Wingback sweeping AGAINST the pre-snap motion element
  • The “flex” element is the always play-action passing attack, which really makes the Wishbone extra dangerous when you actually field a competent passing Pivot
  • More clear out passing underneath this year.
  • Qb Thomas has a history of shoulder injuries, does have nice arm strength, is a cat-quick first-cutter with the rock, ONLY has a career best 10.79 second 100m time! WOW!!! (5’11” 181 lbs.) Effortless looking thrower on film. He must have a big arm as sourcing hinted above indeed.
  • Does rely on his arm a bit too much; can be baited into throwing into disguised or rolling coverage’s.
  • Some sourcing suggests that ^this^ is P.J.’s best option Qb, ever!GT honeycomb helmet

p.s. (my gridiron mind finally caught up to something P.J. on film, observe how infrequently P.J. goes right back to the very same Gap well, on subsequent plays I mean, there is a not so subtle Inside-out or outside-In effect as P.J. toggles the given gap to pressure an opposing defense East-West, internally (A-gap) then medium (B or C-gap) then outside with a Wingback or even a reverse behind the play. i.e. this is P.J.’s version of keeping you horizontally off-balance, and he prolly MUST do this, with no true Nesbitt or Dwyer internal Belly carry Brahma bull to be found on this team; whereby he could redundantly pound the 1st-Option as much as he wanted)

GT Special Teams: (Kicker returns)
Georgia Tech has an average looking punt game on tape right now; middleocre in all three aspects in point of fact. The punt, the coverage and the return are all nearly perfectly pedestrian. However, being 116th in KO return defense suggests there could be some returning room to run here vs. the Jacket suicide squad. Gah.Tech can however return a punt and they are not too shabby in KO returns either. Beau Hankins is a real live problem here, as any Lb with a 44 yard return average rightfully should be viewed. Well, actually, that was a fluke play anomaly on tape. So rest easy, this is not quite so educated a punt-return team as their lofty 5th best national ranking might suggest prima facie. Sophomore Kicker Harrison Butker is off to a shaky 50% start this year, after going a vaguely decent 71% and change last year. Harrison does have at least a 55 maybe even a 60 yard leg; and he can kick it from here to Kentucky –only thing being it might land in Tennessee.  Georgia Tech has notched on punt-block already; so be ready for that as well. Punter Harrison Butker is a academic stud (PROPS on that) who arrived more parts linebacker and less a 30 lb weight cut was more parts Punter, later. Butker only has a career long of 52 yards; and is more of a directional or coverage punter by trade.  Special Teams letter-grade: meh? This is a very average looking lot, beyond a sneaky ability to block kicks. A flat C letter-grade and maybe a C+ if you are feeling .5 full

X-factor(s):
The rookie chaste Felxbone defenders have been documented; our Dt’s and their physical maladies pinching vs. the Belly-play have been documented; the new Jacket rushing quirks and wrinkles have been aforementioned, and documented. The weather looks shiny enough –this is a double-dip A.c.c. and Coastal Division game, and these two Staff’s don’t exactly like each other; or so last time I checked. Now, be transparent here, there is not much more I can say, even if you ask, as when you get right down to it, all a real man has is his word. And my word has been given. However, and that caveat firmly in place, my X-Factor? M.Leal. If he has to play, the other Tech is gonna pull the upset vs. so many newbie triple-option defending faces with so many O&M Dt dings and dents. If my boy M.Brewer somehow makes it to the final bell, our Tech will win by 1 or maybe even 1.5 plays.

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Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

“Worry, the misuse of imagination”
-Dan Zadra-

 After back-to-back completely bipolar emotional hijack games –where is the collective sporting psyche of gridiron Virginia Tech coming into this one? Accordingly, I can fashion two credibly competing tag-lines in procurement of two opposing outcomes…

  1.  Tech wins! Georgia thereof. Why? Because clearly coach Paul Johnson is catching his least favorite football team at the very right time. After a bifurcation and some would have me say very depleting 120 minute emotional roller-coaster ride? Check. With both of our Belly-play pinching Dt’s south of 100%? Done. With 5 stop-unit rookies in first time defense of the Flex-bone? Yup. And with no less than 37% of our starters dinged and dented and wonderment if the starting Qb is the finishing Qb? Bingo that.
  2. Tech wins! Virginia thereof. First of all, this is not the fastest Flexbone I’ve seen in breaking tape; not named Qb. And although I may not be the Triple-Option demigod that a Gah.Tech sports-writer may be, even I can see a lack of explosion here on film. In point of fact, Bud Ultra holds a man-for-man speed advantage over the opposite given Yellow-Jacket when taken head-to-head by a 10-1 overall track-n-field head-count.  (i.e. the Qb has the speed edge, the rest? Not so much). That helps, as does the fact that this is prolly P.J.’s least best top-11 over on defense in about five or six years. 105th best in rush defense and a nearly likewise as user-friendly 88th bet in 3rd conversion percentage allowed would seem to agree. As would the fact that -and coach God Bless here- that the one truly speedy Georgia Tech Hb is lame (with a trick knee) and that should make this tricky Flexbone offense just a little more, inert, or easier to defend.

    Cyrno Johnson, indeed!
    Cyrno Johnson, indeed!

Or in other words, this game is all about our Tech, not theirs. Anyone who says any different needs to de-fragment their mind; as there is lottsa missing data here sports fans. IF our walking wounded survive, if we land our A+ punch, Georgia Tech does not quite have the whiskers to take our best shot. However, if we are a bit too physically beat-up and emotionally worn-down, one could cogently argue that coach Pea-Jay may indeed be catching us at just the right time.

So take thy pick here, flip a coin and if you don’t like the results, flip it best 2 outta 3. As I have this game that close, and my final score is a bit lower than everyone else is, as well. Am I worried? Affirmative, yes I am. Can I imagine or envision a win for each side in this one? Affirmative, yes I can. As the only thing that I am sure about here, is that Tech is gonna find a way to win this football game, even if this is a one-play football game -24-21 either way- that comes down to whomever scores last laughs last.  That is indeed the Trouble With (flexbone) Tribbles.

Virginia Tech=24, Georgia Tech=21

LETS GO!

HOKIES!

bourbonstreet**

4 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Spending emotional bullets is one of your pet phrases, so, to continue the metaphor, let’s ask a more difficult two-part question. How does the size of Virginia Tech football’s emotional magazine stack up with that of other programs, and does Virginia Tech need to spend more of its clip to put down a given opponent than other programs?

    1. Our emotional clip is………………….lower caliber.
      (due to so many underclassmen)
      This is objective.

      Damn!
      That’s a tough second question!
      And this is, subjective.
      However, the answer is not “no”.
      Bud’s 1-gap system is about as hustle-max as it can be.
      Norman Maclean got it backwards, the mind fuels the body.
      (not the other way around)

      Prolly the offense as well, with such a bad rep’ which is incoming emotional; at best.

      helluva a question Synaesthesia!
      (best I’ve got on here)
      b.street

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