Spring Game Eye in the Sky (part I):

Today’s word is: betterment

bet·ter·ment  (btr-mnt)

1^st quarter, 9:55 remaining:
Interesting to see Rover or Ss, #34 Jarrett up on the Line of Scrimmage (L.O.S.) as a de facto shortside OLb (outside Linebacker) deployed in heavy run-support as Bud Stout flirted with numerous quasi forty-four (44) looks all spring long and some of ‘em showcased five and six man fronts with guys cheating up. K.Fuller is a lotta things and a very smart open-field tackler is among them. Also note the use of B.Rody way more often than anyone I know expected this spring as Qb3 (third-string Qb). How much that has to do with Rody and how much that had to do with B.Motley getting hurt I do not know; though I do know that time will tell on that.

Spring Duration:
Note the sided nature of Grimes blocking schemes. More often than not, everyone executing a so-called jab-step right or jab-step left, at 45 degrees to begin most rushing plays. Such is pretty easy to key in my book as we did not see a whole lotta counter (cut-back or misdirection) action and I’m not even sure if we have a pure cut-back runner like say Franco Harris once was in the first place. However, this does put a premium on that very first 45° jab-step. It must be on-time, synchronized and properly carried out in order to get your helmet out in front of the defender. This is where the juggling act that was G-C-G needs to be cleaned up and sorted out A.S.A.P. or pronto; take thy pick. This will allow them to start to mesh and then gel as the season progresses. As the blocking onus is all about the initial footwork here and that level of choreography takes time.

Spring Duration:
Couple of new Bud Stout or should I say Shades of Gray wrinkles I caught on film. What I caught was an evaporation of the middle ground if you will. By that I mean I saw our Safeties (Rover and Fs) 18-20 yards off the L.O.S. on normal, regulation 1^st-n-10 standardized base defensive sets. Then I saw some extra L.O.S. crowding in the aforementioned even or 44-variatation looks. That tells us one thing, Bud must really feel good about his second layers ability to cover ground as there were some gaps behind Tyler and Edwards or whomever was manning the Mike and ‘backer spots, and in front of the deeper Rover and Fs at times. This validates the smaller sleeker Mike linebackers and also hints at the improving and recovering mobility of #24 Tariq Edwards in and of itself.

#44 Devin VanDyke was the surprise Linebacker of the spring; he was very aggressive, hard-hitting, and loaded with fast-twitch muscle fiber. Although, the one thing he lacks is great straight away speed; much less pursuit speed –which is surprising for such an impactful player inside the proverbial box at the point of attack. Kinda a slower Vince Hall if you will who is starchy on the L.O.S. and a bit stiff or robotic when off of the same and therefore the kinda kid you wanna isolate on a Te/Tb downfield on something long. NOTE the 5:48 epic Tackle of a Loss (TFL) hit by Devin in the first-string backfield to see what I mean –such gives a clear cut hint as to just how instinctual and therefore provocative this kid can be; as he really came on late in the spring and gave the first-teamers all kinda north-south fits to close the show)

1^st quarter, 7:20 remaining:
Here is the Sunday version of the 247 lb. lighter-weight LT3 big and bold. Note the follow-though (orange ellipse), which is to say the throwing or right-arm down where it should be near the waist. Note that the string-pulling or guiding the ball shortened follow-through from yesteryears is nowhere to be seen. Note the nose-down dart that truly threads the needle of the right-De (white quadrilateral) in zone-blitz and the Cb who had blanket coverage (white polygon) on J.Stanford on this one. (below: PIC)

Spring Duration:
One of the nuances of the Scot Loeffler offense is the renewed emphasis placed upon Wham or Iso blocking outta the VT Fullbacks (Fb’s) downfield. I for one was rather disappointed in the same when it came to getting on target or missing the mark. This is where you read other website publishing nonsense about being outnumbered at the point of attack when in fact we had numerous plays where our Fb(s) sallied forth and attacked smartly enough downfield, and simply went “mightily” Casey and purely struck out. I don’t wanna say that our Fb’s need to play under control more as such is a gentle trade-off upon the concept of effort. Our guys were busting their tails; they just need to bust the other guys’ tail instead, or get some contact (see the pun) lenses indeed.

1^st quarter, 4:58 remaining:
As opposed to beating up on LT3’s lack of field-vision or primary side lockdown tendencies here, I will instead elect to praise #23 D.Green. Mr. Green clearly has: a nose for the ball, the gumption to risk getting to such (even with his back to the goalline) and he was a surprisingly hard  hitter to only be listed at a mere 187 lbs. Green is gonna be a multi year starter folks as someone has to take over Fs for Bonner next year; and Green will be a play-making multi year starter at that. This kid has game and this kid is gonna rake in some Sunday green if he is not careful.

One of the things hold #2 D.Riley back is his open field tackling; which is not to say he is outta position, it is to say that he does not always take care of his business spot-on even if his coverage skills are solid enough. To me, this is why the other Cb spot is basically in seat-warmer mode; until Ken’ Fuller arrives or until A.Exum recovers his knee. (p.s. I hear he is ahead of schedule, heard it several times in fact)

Two sneaky good performers of the spring were #6o Woody Baron and #94 Alston Smith. Both guys have legacy D.N.A. or ex-Hokie ouble helices galore on their side –Wood is related to Jim Baron and Alston is only “Bruuuuuuuuuuce’s” son. They are also both r-freshman and they are both quick ass gap-jumpers with plenty of east-west pursuit up and down the LOS. These two look like a heritage fueled dynamic duo to me, not so much a matter of if, as it is a matter of when.

#93 Justin Taylor made some very quiet noise here and there this spring as a disruptor goes as this kid plays much stronger than his relatively mere 268 r-sophomore lbs. suggest. Although his 390 lb. bench and his 4o5 lb. front-squat might have something to say about that as well; in fact, I did not realize how well J.Taylor had done, until I began to breaking the tape. (MEMO: file this kids name away as your sleeper pick next spring now; thank me later)

1^st quarter, 1:12 remaining:
This particular call may not have worked all that well, though I do like the play-design itself. When was the last time you saw a well faked Tb Draw right up the gut from the shotgun set? Me neither. Really liked the salesmanship from #86 the off-set Te (McCray) on this one; as eight-six rocks back and acts more like a pass protection Ot before easily sealing the right-De up and while driving him down the line of scrimmage on a textbook crash-block moving from his left-to-right. (think: pulling to the inside to trap or seal a Dt, as opposed to inside-out on a De)

#98, D.Hop is just a problem. Nothing more, nothing less, in A-gap occupation terms; as it is gonna take an all-conference caliber G or C to dislodge big ole D.Hop who looks more and more like a Ng and less and less like a Dt every day.

2^nd quarter, 9:50 remaining:
Dangnation if there are not some young scrappers or nearly a few outright brigands on this 2013 defense folks. Don’t believe me? Just ask poor #33 (Darius Redman) who only weighs a mere 258 lbs. Notice that it was thirty-three who had trouble getting up after this reverse roll-out hit out on the flat by #3o, one Mr. Donaldven Manning who tipped the Toledo’s a a Light Middleweight savvy 155 lbs. last season! Right now Mr. Manning has gone out and found 19 lbs. or right-mass and currently weighs right at a buck-seventy-five (or 175 pounds). Or about 85 lbs. less than Redman does! WOW! That’s not real sizey for boundary-Cb; to be true. Though this kid plays bigger than he looks and he ain’t a softie who self-protects or plays contact adverse football either. (big HIT link)

2nd quarter, 8:47 remaining:
LOVE the use of so-called “influence blocking” here via the deceptive reverse roll-out look from Logan Thomas. Observe that the oLine has more than just pure Euclidean geometry on their side in this one, as the dLine starts downhill (or L to R) and then the Grimes oLine seals them up good and tight with nothing more than entry level or elementary school seal-blocks on what turns out to be the the front-side of the play. If Trey and our Tb’s can establish a frontside presence, this reverse bootleg “roll-out style play”, will open up and it will be wide-freakin’-open at that. Finally observe that LT3 had plenty of real estate out in front of him on several of these calls. So go ahead and look for a few duck-n-tucks and a few opposing Cb’s to get Mack Trucked by LT3 after he breaks contain and plows his way downfield.

Spring Duration:
Note the not so stubble increase in sideline velocity of LT3’s throws. if you wanna critique the real or perceived Loeffler bio-mechanical improvements; look no further than some of these deep sideline-outs. As these close of business 2012, these throws best resembled a shotgun or spray-can paint approach. As they landed everywhere and anywhere at times last season. Gone is the grounder and the trailing throw alike. Here is a nose down smart looking textbook dart with plenty of spiral and likewise plenty of zip to it as these new and improved LT3 throws get there in a hurry. PROPs @Scot for that!!!

VT Defensive letter-grade(s):
Like what I saw here by-the-bye men. This starting or top-10 defense (less A.Exum at the moment) is pretty thorough right about now. Yes, I know, Florida State may wanna piece of me for saying this … and yet this 2013 Bud Stout floor is no lower than third best or the bronze medal defense in 2013 stop-unit Atlantic Coast terms. This ’13 defense also enjoys a gold-medal ceiling with the benefit of total health for the duration of the campaign. The De’s and the top-3 Dt’s are that damn good and they are that damn deep. Really, this Coach Wiles defense is simply hell on wheels upfront. The starting Linebacking corps is quietly third best in the A.c.c. and the hind-4 or Coach Gray’s boys in the secondary are first-best the moment A.Exum gets well soon, or if need be, just as soon as **** or five-star recruit Ken Fuller sets foot on campus; or gets his feet wet later this August camp –take thy timetable pick.

All that sans #1 in our hearts and the Best Buy available, one Antone Exum and Coach God bless his return; he’s a good egg- this remaining Top-10 defense was relatively healthy for the duration of the spring campaign. Jack Tyler’s minor foot injury was no major biggie and Tariq Edwards moved surprisingly well overall, which posits a return to 2011 forum.  Or in other words, this 2013 defense, really was not that far removed from it’s opening ceiling vs. three outta four and twice defending national champion Alabama. Think about what I just wrote men … I’m not typing about the end of November with the top-11 100% back intact  and in full flight; I’m typing about what this perennial top-everything stop-unit has to offer in steaming a certain Crimson Tide from the word go.

To put it another way, VT+24 is a lock. You read it here first. Virginia Tech may not pull the money-line upset outright; though they will do no worse than hang-around vs. a Alabama offense that just departed four of its top-7 blockers from last year and accordingly will need a game or three to reload before the start to whoop some So.Easter arse.

(tentative Forecast)
Alabama=28, Virginia Tech=16

“LETS GO!“

“Hokies!“

bourbonstreet**