#75 R.P.I. Virginia Tech @ #96 R.P.I. virginia:

Today’s word of the day is… differcult:

origin: b.speak

from: difficult and differing itself…

1. This is the 1o4th meeting in the rivalry, with Virginia Tech owning a 60-38-5 advantage. The Hokies have won two in a row and 17 of the last 18 meetings. Not too differcult here…
2. Hooever, Horton Hears a Hoo… that, and do not make this one any mo’ differcult than you have too. You let hooVa hang around that is on you!
3. That, and hoo wins come 7 PM’s?

Lè Head Coach: Antonio “Tony” Elliott: age=43, (6-15 @uVa and overall); has a rep’ for: recruiting, offense (Rb’s in particular), and unearthing Emeralds in the tall grass.
$4,100,000.oo. (+$500,000 comes from the general University fund)

Bronco refused to give in to (proposed/suggested) Staffing changes… hence, cue VeeTee short-lister Tony Elliott of V.H.T. (very highly touted) Klempson fame.

Kido Tony Elliott spent portions of his early childhood homeless on the streets of Los Angeles, California with his mother and sister. When he was 9 years old, his mother was killed in a car accident and he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in South Carolina. Where youngling TeeE began playing football and basketball. God Bless…

Baller Elliott graduated from James Island High School in Charleston in 1997, where he was a football and basketball star for the Trojans. After attending the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School as a football recruit in 1997, Elliott played college football at Clemson University under head coach Tommy Bowden. He came to Clemson in the fall of 1999 as a Wr(none) walk-on. He was selected team captain in 2oo3, a rare (if not unheard of) accomplishment for a walk-on. He finished his career at Clemson with 4 letters and 44 games with 4 starts. Elliott won All-A.c.c. academic honors as a student-athlete; as well as a CoSIDA Academic District III member. After that… Tony Elliott graduated with a mere bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Clemson University in 2oo2 with a team-high 3.55 GPA. He was also a recipient of an ACC Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship. Dang! Upon graduation, he worked as an engineer for Michelin North America for several years. CU.edp props insert (_____), here, √!

Elliott started his coaching career as the wide receivers coach for the South Carolina State Bulldogs in 2oo6. He then served in the same position for the Furman Paladins from 2oo8 to 2o1o.

After this… Tony returned to Klempson as the Rb’s Coach and quickly became co-offensive Coordinator.  Clemson’s football team won the national championship in January 2o17, beating Alabama, with Scott calling the offensive plays and serving as co-offensive coordinator for the game. In December 2o17, Elliott was the recipient of the Broyles Award, presented to the top assistant coach in college football. In 2019, Elliott again called plays as co-offensive coordinator for Clemson’s 44–16 win, again over Nick Saban’s Alabama, to secure a second national championship. Think about dat… he beat Nick not once; twice, and was still collateral, so to speak…

Tony may be blowing his first big whistle, granted. Although his record as an Offensive Coordinator stands in at nearly .9oo, or: 89-1o. That does not suck.

The coaching sewing circle whispers say that this (seemingly) square guy has assembled a staff with an eye on recruiting in the state and the 7-5-7. (Same as Pry… and that should prove Commonwealth interesting…).  He is also said to be fully ‘out’ as a: “shoe guy”. Nothing is closeted here. Including his custom Nike (u.V.a.) kicks.

As a coach, Elliott is said to be mo’ of a throwback or a Pro’ style guy— in lieu of the modern spread-sets or basketball on grass. He is also rumored to have turned down ‘several’ head coaching spots over the years, (Tenn., and VeeTee among ’em).

Or… in his very own words…

“Serving the heart, not the talent,” Elliott said. “Now that is a phrase that’s sometimes said at Clemson, but that came from me in a devotion, but it goes even deeper than that. As a player, I played from my heart because I wasn’t as talented as everybody else. You can’t measure heart, but I wanted to create an environment where you can articulate what it means to have heart.”

Daddy Ellie and his wife, Tamika, have two sons, A.J. and Ace.

2022 record: 3 up 7 down and 1- 6 in the A.c.c. (–2 canceled contests; Coach God HELP, twice!)

READERS note: K-returner1, right-Ot1, Qb1, Fs1, Lb1, were among a pretty ugly off-season fo’ the boo-hoos. As mo’ then a few got all baby and deiced to… head… out.

 Lë Defense: (starters back=6, some say 7)

• 95th in Total D!
• 112th vs. the run!!
• 61st vs. the throw.
• 58th in Pass Efficiency D.
• 98th in zone D!
• 2.5 in 1o in Maginot Line Havoc. ex-Wrambling-Wreck or the former De1 of Georgia Tech: Chico Bennett Jr. is a pretty fair-to-middling one out on the edge. Be he a hybrid/’bandit’ or OLb/De combo’ ‘tweener; he gets into your backfield, see? And that’s problematic. As has been his trick knee (St.Nikon bless) as you gotta wonder where this guy is on more than 1.8’ish good wheels. 7 + sacks and 25 + Qb-hurries in his last 1.7 seasons of work say so. hooVa is at least 3-deep at De. All there is quality too.
  The D-line also returns starters: Jahmeer Carter, Aaron Faumui, and Bennett. This is a solid if not spectacular front wall and it is the most solid layer of the trifecta of layers on D. De1/De1a, edge rushers Chico Bennett Jr. and Kam Butler should put enough heat on opposing Qb’s to take pressure off of the new Cb’s, and this could be a breakout season for Dt’s Aaron Faumui and Jahmeer Carter. Butler is a quality utility-De3’ish as well. This is a better than most years’ Maginot Line; jerry might wanna try an Ardennes end-run, again. Faumui is your prime-Dt1, a bit disruptive and a plugging run-stuffer as well. As Tony himself says this is a very ‘refined’ dLine and it packs a Leadership wallop upfront, down low.
• 3 of 1o in Linebacking Havoc. Stud-Linebacker1 Nick Jackson is gonzo and that’s a hole, not a gap if not a target outright. As this now Iowa-transferred-out Mike1 was Top-10 all-time in hooVa halts. That does count. Still, yet, OLb1, James Jackson is back at one spot after finishing with 6o stops. Josh Ahern made 26 halts in the rotation, and he’s got the size and tools to come up with a huge statistical season in the middle as your newbie Mike1. Jackson is one of the better cover-‘backers in the film room. Very fluid player in airwaves terms. Though the cavs are pretty thin on 2nd-layer depth here; nearly, very.
  t-Fresh., Mike1, Kam Robinson could be a budding start, the rest=”meh”.
• 4 from X in Secondary Havoc. Both starting Cb1’s and their backup caddying Cb3 are all gone here. Cornerbacks Anthony Johnson and Fentrell Cypress II were a very quality 1-2 edge punch. Fentrell Cypress (Florida State), and Anthony Johnson (NFL) combined for 25 broken-up passes last season, and now it’ll be up to transfers Malcolm Greene (Clemson), and Tayvonn Kyle (Iowa State) to go along with a few relatively untested backups. One ’22 Cb1, was Clemson replaced (Cb1, Malcolm Greene). Fs1, Antonio Clary and Nickle/Ss1, Jonas Sanker returns as starters on the back end of the hind-4 and these two are quality or solid+++ guys. Maybe not stars; though not prone to breakdowns or misQ either. They also added Sam Westfall from So.MethidiostU. Westfall played 464 snaps in his first season as a full-time starter and should provide replacement Cb3 depth here Safety is much deeper/stronger and more scheme experienced here to be most sure. As in… Antonio Clary, Jonas Sanker, Langston “Lex” Long, and Coen King all return at Safety. They tirade a solid midfield here. As Coen King and Antonio Clary are both veteran hitters in run support who can get around the ball.
  Defensive-backfield is nice at Ss1 and both Cb’s, albeit a de facto nice.
• D overall: virginia’s defense made dramatic improvements under the new coaching staff. Defensive coordinator John Rudzinski’s bend-but-don’t-break approach suited the cavaliers, hoo gave up more than a touchdown and fewer points per game in 2o22 than in 2o21. That’s the better if not good ’22 news. The offense had its problems, though the ’22 defense wasn’t all that bad under former Air Force longtime assistant John Rudzinski. The cavaliers were great at getting into the backfield, allowed 358 yards and 24 points per game, and did it all with little to no help from the offense. This makes you wonder how good they were if they ever got a breather or copped a ’22 rest. The ’23 news reads that…

• (film-study):
  As we knows… uVa hits it in a base 3-4 look. Or, hits you up over in a 2-1-3 look. Either way… and anyhoo… they serially try to keep the ball in front of ’em (Tony Bennett would be proud); they do not take much/many risks… and 2-1-3 unsurprisingly enuff… they play the man not the ‘ball.
  Locker-room humor attempts aside… this is kinda/sorta a Ng-Joe Green version of a 4o with one 2-point-stance De. Their D runs a lotta even ‘layered’ looks, or umbrellas behind that. Kinda conventional to be such a lefty of a liberal arts school. They do seem midfield centric; daring you to beat them to the edge or deep edges on the chuck. Like Pugsley and Wednesday of the not-so-monstrous Midway if you allegorically will. Their mans’ are not real tight… their zoning is kinda soft(er)… doh! Though same as what Eye saw scouting them last year… they are a very prickly D if not an impoverished one on shots. They take them right at the “echo” of the buzzer. Kinda a little streety at times even. Mouthy, talky, dancey, frolicking D. Don’t take the bait here… play your game, not theirs. They seem to be looking deeper downfield with this jumped-up rookie Qb1 to me; though behind the same play-action sets. Passing hits all 3 triangular points. Old-school 100(s)-series looks for the Pivotal among yah. D plays hi, and hi’her as the series wears along… they need some chute drill reps or some S&C help(s). And their tackling wilts a bit for it downfield the longer they are out there to boot. (Which says a LOT to be 31st in T.O.P. itself!) D does not shed blocks well; they can be manhandled and yah I know… they like that. Though they are less and less physical downfield to be sure. Less #2o as this j.Sanker will snake you as he has a little pop in his can(s).
• ∑ (summary): returning D production=64% (63rd most). is your conflict defender here. MUCHO and unlike the ’22 little-O, the ’22 hooVa D did experience betterment as a tragic (Godspeed) ’22 wore on. In point of fact, they (somehow) managed to leverage themselves 9-spots ahead of Pry-bar and Co. in an otherwise moving fulcrum of a ’22. That’s not ½-bad; not at all. As in… in ’22 and D’cord: John Rudzinski anted-up -1oo ypg less than got busted Bronco and he also cut out 1-full-play (or a TD allowed) in scoring D-tightening last year. This year u.V.a. plans to be multiple schematically under new coordinator John Rudzinski, saw both thirty and forty-man fronts are in the plans. The cavaliers used mostly a penta or a five-man-defensive-back look in the spring. So, there is a newfangled emphasis on the backend here per the extra man being placed there to be headcount sure.
  Finally, this has been a very dingy defensive all year long… health does not work here. Godspeed; as whatever they could be they have not Training Room, been.

Defensive letter-grade:

Lå Offense: (returning starters=)

• 71st in Total O.
• 99th in ground O.
• 49th in aerial O.
• 58th in Passing Efficiency O.
• 86th in zone D.
• Qb1: Armstrong is stung out down @Nc.State and Relief-Pitcher1 is now Qb(n)one or hung his jock-strap up for baseball: Qb2/RP1, Jay Woolfolk. That’s not good as that is a LOT of pure arm talent that is pitching or hurling for someone else or in something else as sports go respectively. Cue: ex-Monmouth-Qb1: Tony Muskett. (Who the springtime coaching sewing circles panned back in April/May). Muskett is a buckshot Qb1: at a (maybe): 6′2″, 2o8 lb., transfer to: C’ville from Monmouth. Did Eye mention he is from: Monmouth? Monmouth of seven, that’s (7) whole entire Next Level guys in ~114 seasons worth of football itself. Mmmmm-k. That outta the way… Muskett was a 2-time 1st-string All-Big South pick and threw for 51 passing touchdowns during his career. Whereby, he finished as the Hawks’ all-time leader in passing efficiency at 150.14. So, this is something of a HIGHLY-glorified game manager. As he holds eight, that’s (8) different Monmouth all-time passing marks checking in at 5th best all-time or better. That does not suck; though does it suggest a level or a ceiling? (A.K.A., their very own lowercase Grant, Well?) Anyhoo… the book here reads that: 7,000 career yards and 69 touchdowns in two H.S. seasons @Springfield, Va., (West Springfield, H.S.), does not suck either. Hooever^2, he has made it threw 4, then 11 then 8 games as a Monmouth Qb1 starter. So, there are some dings/dents and likewise concerns here at a high-velocity, P5 All Crunch Conference level. The whispers say: ‘trick-knee’ here (St.Culbreth bless); although that does not encourage P5 D-1 velosity, either. Also, had a kinda cantilever end to his wind-up @Monmouth which it appears has been coached outta him at hooVa. As the ’23 Splits go: …we see that this Muskett fires away better/worse on… as insiders inferred he has a history of a trick-knee. (St.Culbreth bless).
  And the ‘whispers’ here do say he is a “confident” sort; Leadership 1o1. Sets the tone; puts peeps in place. We shall see… though they also did remark that he ‘throws a very catchable ‘ball’ and that he is good in bad weather. That’s typically code for mitts-size or opposable thumbing strength. A real live c.Heston “filthy paw ¦ damn dirty ape” Qb1.
  UPDATE: Has had a bum-(right)-foot for a spell… St.Sebastian help. Said to be closer to PROBABLE this week F.Y.I.
  Qb2: … Behind Muskett we did see: j.Woolfolk. Jay is 5-foot-11, 2oo pounder. He has 22 career completions on 43 attempts (51.2%) for 245 yards (5.7 yards per attempt), no touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions. Woolfolk does have solid mobility behind his 1o4 rushing yards on 26 attempts. While Armstrong had a down year in 2022, there are few circumstances where the current situation provides an upgrade to the offense. And then he kicked P1 rocks and took his G.Q.-maxed out luxury look to the Diamond or Mound exclusive and hung up his (football) jock.
  Qb3: …would be Mister… Grady Brosterhous. With no word on his 1 pass-attempt this year from Aunt Ester or Woody.
• Rb1-Rb2: The ground game has to work. That’s what the coaching staff is trying to force, and that’s what has to steady the program that needs to get more on first and second downs. Former Qb1. Brennan Armstrong led the team with just 371 rushing yards, although the three top ‘backs returned.
  Kobe Pace came over to fatten the Rb1 room as CU Tiger feelers went. Running back Perris Jones was the best of a modest to so-so at best/at most ’22 Rb lot. This mamba has a history of high-ankle rolls (St.Phillip bless) and these dings and dents have curtailed his rushing tale more than a little bit. Efficiency-wise, Pace averaged 3.22 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 21% of his attempts. He is said to have v.Hebron (high) caliber hands as well. Pace is by far the bluer chip here. He can return KO’s as well. He was also a pretty fair-to-middling scholastic Lb1; so, you’d have to think him not all that soft. He is also a nifty-looking 80% passer as an Rb1 at all levels great for 14 points. So, trickeration is in the mix from this Pace car. Ironman Award winner, so you’d further have to think S&C is not a 4Q issue here. Used to be named: “Pryor” prior to the chance of surname to: “Pace”. (…a paternity move, Godspeed!) And he did have a history of being dinged-up a big over at Clemson; (Godspeed, again). Stronger guy than his metrics suggested in the southern hemisphere; does a lotta quad/hammie leg-work to look like this.
  Note: Jones is the most elusive one here, more parts scatback and he is the littlest one to boot. Pace is the closest thing they have to a grinder or short-yardage hitter ‘back as well.
  Or in old-school green-slate chalkboard theory… Elliott wants to establish the running game, and with Perris Jones, Mike Hollins, and Xavier Brown returning (’21=79o combined yards), Amaad Foston back from injury, and Clemson transfer Kobe Pace joining the group, the Rb unit figures to be the (relative) strength of the offense. Or at least the deepest most inviting part. Still, the run game may only be as strong as the offensive line, and that group is a major question mark. Now, with the ’22 season 11/12ths in the books and we see that…
  COACH GOD HELP po’ Jones!!! A cruel mistress this oblong spheroid.
• Wr(s)/Te1: u.V.a. must break in a new group of Receivers after departing downright steady and leading ’22 producers: Keytaon Thompson and Dontayviion Wicks. C’est-la pass after deaparting Wr1, k.Thompson (graduation), Wr2, d.Wicks (Green Bay Packers), and a true lack of all trades -including dynamic special-teams work(s)- Billy Kemp IV (Nebraska). Hence, middleocore Te1 Grant Misch is the leading returning receiver with 17 grabs. Dang/snap. After him, it is now up to a slew of relatively untested options to go along with Northwestern transfer Wr2, Malik Washington, who snagged 1o9 passes for close to ≅1,3oo yards and five scores in three seasons. Malik is a Z-guy or a Slot worker via trade; and a pretty sharp/useful one by my very own Fl1 standards. Tallish (6′4″, 218 lb.) Malachi Fields is back for u.V.a. albeit on a blow-A.c.l. (St.Nikon bless). He is a reasonable possession Charlie Joyner kinda guy. The other names in the two deep are unproven players like Ethan Davies and Dakota Twitty. Twitty is particularly interesting; after tearing his A.c.l. (St.Culbreth help) last year. He originally came to the program as a 4-star **** VHT (very highly touted) recruit. Still, yet, this Wr-room is experiencing a ’22 departing Talent(s) drop-off to be sure.
  virginia returns their top two ’22 Te‘s: Grant Misch and Sackett Wood Jr. Woody is basically a passing look Split-Te1 and Misch is the blocker, Te. Solid, not great, solid here.
  This is a very tradecraft-savvy 1-2 Washington and Fields punch. Klitschko Lyte if you will.
  Tho’ MUCH thinner behind those two here.

• Malik Washington: stud-Z-Wideout1. BIG little-man. Worthy of his own bullet point. Possibly the best we will see all X, Y, Z… season. He little little too… does not look his anything listed upon breaking-tape. Tho’ a mighty mite to be sure. Someone gotta get on this #4, fo’ sure.
• Lè Line: The hoo O-line had problems keeping defense out of the backfield ’22. And now there’s some reworking to do with the entire Odd side gone -left-Ot1 Logan Taylor is off to Boston College and left-G1 John Paul Flores is going to Louisville. Understand as well, this is now the blindside that just went Exit Stage Left what with the Koufax ’22 hurler of a Qb1 now gone as well. That said, they are nothing if not sizey/big for ’23…
  virginia’s ’22 offensive line  departed: left-Ot1, left-G1, and right-Ot1.
  There are seven players in the mix for starting positions with virginia. One or both of the Tackle positions could be held by transfers. Ugonna Nnanna comes over from Houston after playing 28 snaps over the last three years. Jimmy Christ also comes over from Penn State after playing 72 snaps in the last two years. The potential in-house replacement at Ot1: is McKale Boley, who played 135 snaps as a rotational piece last year. At G, virginia landed Brian Stevens, who will make the jump from Dayton. He posted two years of elite production at the D-1aa level. The other G should be Noah Josey, who played well on 277 rotational snaps last year. C, has two players with experience in: Ty Furnish and Jestus Johnson III. Furnish started ahead of Johnson last year and ended with 5o5 snaps. Neither “Hiker” has stood out; although, Furnish has received more hype. With virginia also changing offensive line coaches, this position remains a liability. However, they cannot get much worse than last year after ranking 127th in pass blocking.
  Houston transfer Nnanna Ugonna is a good ∼3oo-pounder and 6-4 in height for the interior at G; 6′8″, 316 lbs., with Penn State transfer Jimmy Christ is looking to take over one of the vacated Tackle jobs, and it’s all around a few 2o22 backups who need to rise up and rock. Christ is an interesting one, as it looks like he could find even mo’ right mass than the nearly 45-lb.-plate he has already cuffed up. And every bit as much as the 1’s are nothing if not sizey; the 2’s are nothing if not: ‘questionable’ itself. As this oLine needs time or another year give/take.
  The odd side at least tries to approach serviceability; right or even-side=out-of-service mo’ often than not. C1, Stevens is the best of a modest lot.
• O overall: Not an epic, O… tho’ it can throw a mite… and it is not threw throwing with a new youngling Qb1 in ’23.

• (film-study):
  Although surely a puerile/nubile-Qb1 set of hurlers right now… uVa will open with power leads and Iso/Whams with George Michale and… wait a minute… with the Fb/hybrid guy in the lead on plunging G-c-G looks; and they ain’t the worst at it, when they do occasionally hit it. hooVa has a lotta little wiggles, movements & wrinkles pre-snap. They have Pistols and whatnot and this newfangled upstart Qb2 now gone Qb1 seems pretty comfortable in them. He moves/slides well, he is pretty dang quick; has good long-speed too. Nice footwork. They have some 2-wide on each side Hb more today Spread/’gun looks. They do a LOT of cutting. Kinda P.J. Gah.Tech; in particular on the backside of the play. St.Nikon beware/help. They will toggle this Qb1 debut kid into some Option looks, and he is spry/nifty at times on the same. He is clearly getting his tradecraft to microbrew of late… as he averaging ≅6.6 per tote since the Qb1 Read-Option took over. They do at least try to block on 45°’s downhill on Gap-over looks. Their motion guy keys a lotta things; including backside counters to himself. They also have a bunchy double-Wb look. Not bad on zone-stretch (see: Hollis below). A little better than expected; tho’ it is a relative better compared to Pass-Pro’. Nice medium gainer who has to save himself from the same size-wise at times. Tho’ close to 2-large (2oo) in his last three rushing does not suck. Their Ot-zonings are adequate at times. The harsh part is, this oLine has their fingers in a lotta dykes… Zima be leaking all over the place. Not a very talented block bunch. Patchwork, patched up… A Great American Quilt look. Another thingy is… this rook’ Qb has to look for his throwing lanes at his size and all their unsealed no-caulk Passing-Cup Vee. You gotta wonder what he is if he had any help upfront at all.
• ∑ (summary): returning O production=40% (123rd most!!!). In ’22, you know hoo was last in the A.c.c. in Scoring-O and nearly 1st-worst in the all-important Turnover margin maker. Yikes! Or you had best have the Steel Curtain out in front of that on the other side to lower your ppg needed to win the margin of error. Tony Elliott and offensive coordinator Desmond Kitchings are said to be prioritizing the how-to, to kick up the running game. As the 2p21 offense was too pass-happy, the 2o22 attack was plum unhappy and left trying to find anything that worked. Now we come to the close of ’23 and this year there should be a solid balance to make things move a bit better. At least that was the theory they put to me back in the end of July ’23. And oh ’22 yes, this was the last-place ’22 O in TOP (Time of possession) to hoot.
• 55% run:pass 45% mix. Rb2: Mike Hollins is your secret sauce offender here. He is better of late. His light hath come on.
  So, in brief, and to be quite direct… Tony Elliott’s offensive background didn’t exactly pay dividends in Year 1 as the head coach at virginia. The transition from a ’21 Air Raid-style attack to Elliott’s ’22 pro-style, timing-based offense was a disaster. Think: F.E.M.A. speed-dialing u.V.a. Year 2 could be even worse. As the hoos are breaking in a new Qb1; they have to replace their Top-4 Wideouts; and they must rebuild their offensive line. That’s August Camp ’22, all. Thus… this is An American Quilt or patchwork O. The vibes here say that ‘continuity’ and ‘buy-in’ (systematically) are both up this year. They hinted that last year this James Joyce Ulysses-sized playbook was messin’ with ‘understanding’ itself. This year they say they have that downloaded, Kindeled, and can now: ‘play free’. Now maybe they can be hands-free after being penultimate to last in All Catch Conference drops in ’22.
  In the meantime… O will fumble a bit as b.Simpson fave Candybar or Butterfingers. Go to the strip-club here.
• Barbi’s B.F.F.: Anthony Colandrea: Ken… is a 177 lb., nugget or rookie-year, 5′1o″… Ken. Sissy. Pansie. Sissy. Did Eye call this boy-toy a sissy or pansie yets? K… anyway… this sissy here is a pansie and I sure hope our guys sees what Eye sees on breaking tape.
  In non-beachy terms… when not being driven in his Crockett & Tubbs pastel Beetle, with his collar turned ALL the way… up. Well, this Ken is something of a dual-threat Ken. He likes fondue and he likes guacamole too! LOL.
  Though he can run and pass a bit… 7,311 passing yards with 6o majors scholastically. The 14.3 ypg (that’s: yards-per-catch) caught my eye as well. Clearly, a Qb-pass could be in play here. *** Star guy who drives at least a 6-star life. No joke… he looks like some kinda beach model. 1,524-ranked in the Nation by On3. Somewhere between 45th and 98th ranked Qb-recruit by all services I could find. Did get a few Db looks on D too. Hence the 1,524 ranking if you were wondering…
  Anyhoo… he committed to Mid-Tenn. if that tells you anything… and then flipped to hooVa. Had a lotta Middle Tennessee-caliber love/looks too. He is/was a kinda streaky Qb1. He did cook hawt for Barbi in some H.S. games. Hitting 425 to close to 5oo-yards per contest threw the airwaves numerous times. The 1,6K+ H.S. rushing and his famous hurdling a Cb out on the edge video speak to his supsringly ATH hops and wheels alike. Has a (4o) laser clocking of 4.51, so, he can move. Did win a LOT of FLA H.S. games; just never the big ones. Runner-up all the way. Keeps a moppy-flop cut, ‘bro’. Looks the Ken life… needs his chin checked when he does run as he is NOT even g.Wells sized. Not even close at that.
  Though his g/f?!? WOW. I mean… all-time ponytail danceHer wow. Truly. Find her and do yourself a favor… never seen anyone sling/cut the air with a ponytail like dat. She has truly weaponized her hirsute game, here.
  NOW all that Rivalry week said… tony is their Drones. He has successfully rallied their sagging troupes. Maybe they have found a Qb1; keeper, here?
  (Splits/Analysis): see below… as in a manner of speaking… he is their vanilla-“Pop”. Squirty good guy who makes things happen.
  Though this is a dangerous kid who prolly does not (yet) BIG-game pressure know any better— very good play extender too. Like he is a couple% Fran Tarkenton or something.

Offensive letter-grade:

(NOTE: Eye was humble and contritely granted permission to sit in on a Tony i-view: “great question” is his lead tag over and over and over and over…”

Overall Bonus: So, to me, this is a kinda wet-powder-looking squadron. Kinda like, well; VeeTee in the last few years. As in… neither team has had any real major play-makers on either side for several seasons.
The hoo-O gave up Turnovers and the hoo-D lacked the very same aforementioned ‘play-makers’ to
make-up or cover for the same. ^^^that^^^ means you must play a perfect game and
hang around and try to nick or sneak one, late.

Equipes Spéciales: (both return)

All-A.c.c. P1 in ’22, Daniel Sparks ranks 119th in Net Punting; and so does u.V.a.

Sparks -whose name you may or not be hooked on hoo’incs enuff to get(s)- is a N.b.a. S/F sized towering P1, at: 6′7″, and 2o8 lbs. Aim block-point (very) high here Hokies! D.S. is also a Sr., technically; although he only logs 2-prior seasons of D-1, ‘ball. Go fig’ on this? Anyhoo… this is one that actually really fit a nearly cut-up-looking P1. Has that “Darrell” of Red Dawn look Martha Quinn totally down bang-on too. Eye do not know if this H.S. Prez has a taste for Cuban bugs— or, not(s)? Be he VeganU or herbivore NKVD notwithstanding… he is Academic All-A.c.c., (+un uva.edu), he has been named to seven, that’s (7) 1st or 2nd-string pre-season ’23 All-A.c.c. teams. And no matter how much matty wants to kick his azz I’d say that has to count. As does his nearly ST’s unheard-of Team Captaincy. So, clearly, this Daniel is sparky enuff. He is also an ex-of-University of Louisiana-Monroe, then ex-of-Minnesota. Prior to that, he was possibly a better scholastic K1 than P1; maybe? And he is his high school’s all-time foutball (soccer) leading-scorer! Likewise, his daddy is only Lee University’s best soccer player, ever. So, the Converse D.N.A. is multi-footsie sport diverse here indeed.

As in… in ’22 he only matched the u.V.a. single-season punting average record, he only punting led the A.c.c. and he only and 8th-best in the country with a 45.9 yards per kick. That’s all. So, is his rarefied 7, that’s 7 career punts north of 62 yards! Oui-oui, Eye’d have to say that passes the kicking Leg-Talent test. This is prolly a Sunday P and he is possibly the best we will see all year. A weaponizing P1 for u.V.a. Or everything that Beamerball ever wanted a P1, to; be.

The only foible I could find was… he had 2-career punt blocks coming into ’23; as long legs take well, longer to wind all the way drop-point, up. (Ditto the drop-point being higher/longer itself)!

• 114th in Punt Returns | 93rd in KO returns.
• 12oth in punt coverage | and 76th in suicide-squad.
• va. has blocked o kicks and allowed duex (2) kicks to be blocked. wow!
• va. has blocked o punts and allowed deux (2)  punts to be blocked. wowow!

Bran’ Farrell is now a So.Bull. So, this leaves K2: now K1: Will Bettridge PK1, was only All-A.c.c. K1 in ’22.

Will tips the Toledo’s at a Super-Middleweight or football puny 173 lbs., hung upon a modest 5′1o″, in Sophomoric height. That metrically rightfully struck, this is a mighty mite who packs a lb. 4 lb. punch. Think: very mini-me: Naoya ‘monsta’ Inoue the shock hitter @121-lbs. over in Japan. This kid winds up and the football go: ‘boom’. His mussy-looking Arya Stark ‘do not withstanding… Academic All-A.c.c. always counts. As does his vitals of: being a rarefied: ***** or penta-star K1 H.S. prospect. Ranked: No. 1 kicker in the country by Kornblue Kicking the only Ranked the No. 3 kicker according to 247Sports. As getting this slick-Willy is something of a footwork recruiting coup. Said to have a legit range out to (at least) the mid-50s as he has multiple 50+ makes at all levels of play. Can get too wound-up and over-kick a bit and slice/hook a P.A.T. Fast-ball pitcher only. Though his heat is legit. Even if this punch kicks a few lower-line-drive punches from range and gives you a shot at a block. (His height is not upping his chances of getting it over the LOL (line-of-scrimmage) one-iota (1ι), either). Though still, most any D-1 K1 wishes they had this wahoo K1’s problems. As Bettridge is a fringe Pro’ at the moment. And this baby-face dood gonna get carded into his 40’s, and there are worse things you can say than that. This is a very legit K1 here, the only calculus is… is he: ‘good’ or is he… “great”?

Well, my 36 hours of Calc’ & Stats say… oui, he seems a mon ami to me.

This year Will has 1 rush for o′. He has zero tacs, passes, and catches. He also has hit 85% of his 3-pointers. Not quite Assocaiton logo-3 range; tho’ very accurate out to: 45 or so. With a max’-make of 47 thus far. That, and the fact that they have NOT deployed him on anything beyond 47-yard FGA might just be a range, hint. That, or a hard cap itself. Tho’ he does have a slick Willie style into the mid-4o to be sure. Very reliable maker there.

Kick-off Returner Demick Starling is back as well; tho’ useful Punt Returner Kemp IV is ’22 gonzo.

Special Teams letter grade: Poor. That’s how 4 sendbacks against, zero sent-backs, and no real covering or returning game spark grades. D-.

BONUS: overall, this was not the set of hooVa unit(s) I expected to see… they have not Q-word, and frankly they seem improved to me in the last fortnight of film study.
@Tony+1 for keepin’ ’em on the come.

Unit Rankings:

1. VT D.
2. VT O.
3. french O.
4. french D.

X-factor(s):

• motive: hoo knows? As hooVa seems new Ken-Doll Qb1 recharged. They are @home and kayoing our Bowl hopes would give them mo’ than a little bit of ’24 hope. Pry and Co. are coming off an L, le team is coming off a W. Oui-oui. EDGE=hoos.
• weather: Not that bad to be narrowing in on December itself. May not help the quality Wr’s of uVa; cold or could help anything downhill from Drones/Tut/Thomas. EDGE=VT, a little.
• health/off-field: the cavs are kinda dingy/denty… S, Rb, and Qb among ’em. VeeTee is nicked up; however, Nc.State did us NO uber physical favors. EDGE=pretty dang close to a push.
• penalties: both are below average here. Not awful, D+++/C— level teams EDGE=ChapStick.
• intangibles: T.O.P. (time of possession) on separate by three, that’s (3) spots. So, we’ll call it a draw. Tho’ V.P.I. is a bit better in all-important Turnover Margin.  EDGE=“ni!” Or, VeeTee by a little.
• fatigue: hooVa is actually up a useful 12th-round +4 in R&R in the last couple of fortnights of runs. They sleep in their own la beds and that gives them a clear checkmark here. EDGE=hoos, by a very solid amount too.

 

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of  french who could  toast @Tech=9+

the takeaway:

…the takeaway here is that we do NOT have any data points on either Big Whistle in any rivalry game at all.

Between the two they have conspired to allow us zilch, zero, zip looks.
And Nadda, none, nil reads.

As they are both rivalry rookie game guys looking to break their maidens… it would shock me not to see one team or the other either too amped up and therefore too tight to start. Or, one team or the other deals poorly with in-game archrival adversity and wets a bed that they would otherwise hold their water upon.

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It literally just depends on which head coach you find to be mo’ precocious or which coach you find to be mo’ puerile… and that depends upon about 8 PM to tell the tale…

As of right now… based on their mutually incoming in-game gaffed-up and yacked-up track record… neither outcome would shock me… not at all.

Each head honcho could use a poncho as gameday management/adjustment goes…

***

formulae here favors

…NOT playing eleventeen teams in a row with a winning record of you want a winning record thy self!
We are u.V.a.’s softest touch of the year… with their only opposing negative record of the year, a.c.c.ordingly! wowowow-zo!

permutations:

1. Δ1=6o% that the Techsters are the straw that stirs the Commonwealth Cup post-game drink. We are the gamier club and at least a few of the match-up advantages are advantageous to Pry leveraging this one.
2. Δ2=33% that being said… hooVa has improved mo’ than we have of late. They are running ‘ball on their home court. They do have the most recent BIG-Mo’ on their side. You’d have to think they would love to foreplay their ’24 by sniping our ’23, here.
3. Δ3=6% Eye keep waiting for this to hit… as it does every other year or every third give/take… and being the traveling team does bring this mo’ into play than an even in Lane would to be sure.

#ChallangeA.c.c.epted… there are 1,440 minutes in a day and yet again; per depth-chart thinning always… we gonna need to be Ric Flair on babydoll and 6o-minutemen all nite long here. (Maybe even mo’?)

the optics…

Eye see that… last year hooVa won the turnover margin just twice -and yet still got beat by: Illinois and Syracuse when they did! Thus,  finishing –11 on the season. There were just two games -Miami and North Carolina- with fewer than two turnovers, and the D didn’t do its job with no takeaways over the last three games. Yikes!

Then… over the last 32 u.V.a. foutball games starting with the 2o19 season opener against Duke with seven takeaways, virginia failed to come up with more than one Turnover forced a whopping 2o times.

Ergo, therefore, to Whit… do you see a twitchy, burst, or kinetically lacking pattern here?
This is a pretty well-inert club.the skinny…

WWI: “The Great War”…

Trench Warfare favors… the O&M.

Lo.FM (Long-field Management©)

• VeeTee is a modest looking 77th best in 1st-down O | whereas france is an inviting looking 1o9th best in 1st-down D allowed.
• france is a bit better than average at 55th best in 1st-down O | whereas VeeTee is Trojan looking 19th best in 1st-down D allowed.
• VeeTee is a pretty piss-poor 115th best in 3rd-down O | whereas france is a pretty suspect 9oth best in 3rd-down D allowed.
• france is a lowly 1o2nd best in 3rd-down O | whereas VeeTee is relatively sharp looking 33rd best in 3rd-down D allowed.

Lo.FM Analysis:
Well, here we see that… although neither O is epic, and that while both O’s sure struggle on the money-down… It is the hooVa defense that is sloppy at best. Or perhaps at most. As you could say that uva L this Lo.FM analysts mo’ so than that VeeTee outright won it. Either way, however… EDGE=NOT uva’s D.

TTT (Time To Throw©)

• the hoos are an entirely user-friendly looking 123rd best in T.F.L. (Tackles for a Loss) allowed O | whilst the Hokies are Spartan 17th best in T.F.L. inflicted D! (nice!)
• the Hokies are a centrist-looking 59th best in T.F.L. allowed O | whilst the hoos are a flaccid-looking 111th best in T.F.L. inflicted D.
• the hoos are sieve-looking 116th best in Sacks allowed O | whilst the Hokies are a hard-charging 12th best in Sacks inflicted D! (snap!)
• the Hokies are a moderate 70th best in Sacks allowed O | whilst the hoos are in no rush whatsoever at a pitiful penultimate 129th best in Sacks inflicted D.

TTT Analysis:
Well, here we see that… the F’n Gobbler D had better Foxtrot Ulysses this ding-dong hoo O. Truly! What mo’ are you waiting fo’? The Gobbler O puts the “o” in just okay itself; though the frigid hoo D seems ice-queen incapable of contractions themself. EDGE=Hokies by lot here!

3–game splits,
Well, here we see that… the VeeTee O is within right at one 1st-down of being total O static in their last 3 games. The run-fits are a little better and yet the pitch-n-catch battery has discharged a mite; nearly a canceling effect. For da hoos we see that… the boo-hoo total O is not drawing as many “boos”. As they have amped up a notch or notch-n-a-half of late on O. A little better on the ground and mo’ than a little better threw the airwaves. Over on D, we see that VeeTee’s halt-unit is showing some signs of wearing down a bit. As our rushing allowance is up by close to 30 ypg to the user-friendly worse. Pass-D is only a few ypg worse. Though both are sagging as Eye type. Over on le D we see that u.V.a. is off by a nearly ugly-looking –6o ypg to the nearly worst. As they have really let-up on run-fills and on pass-shapes nearly alike. Though their groundings are unsounding’s and that is Ty.Bow and King-Tut/Drones invitings to be sure.

3-game splits analysis:
Neither team is on point of late… hooVa is better on O, so Eye’ll ‘punt’ this one to the next one to see how they do @home.

H/A splits,
Well, here we see that… although the Hokie O does clip-clop a bit better down in the dirt, their airwaves are making nearly no waves at all; resulting in over a –3o ypg reduction in total O. The hooVa O betters itself in C’ville by a bonus of +25 ypg in total. Most of which was hurling betterment itself. On D we see that the Marvelous ones are nearly downright ‘sorry’ in defense of opposing rushing attacks in opposing house(s). –6o ypg to the just plum bad; or, truly road all nite and hung up, wet. Our pass-D actually improves just a scosche as nobody has to throw at us in their house. The cavalier D is a bit improved in T.J.’s stomping ground. As they mow the lawn and really constrict their homesteading passing stop-unit @home. Their run-D only wavers by about a 1st-down to the ‘rong in Monticello. Which is covered by the tighter secondary play.

H/A splits analysis:
Well, this was what I thought/feared… hooVa is covering a few extra bets @home and we (mostly) just ain’t as chippy out on the road. As our visiting Aerial assault is only assaulting itself. As it ranks 123rd best in all the 133 reclassifying D-1 team land! Meaning… we prolly got ground-chuck our way rather than chuck it up. EDGE=the french.

Our handy dandy friend, the so-called: Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is merely calling for a… single, solo, one, that’s a (1) point VicTory dance here. It was literally all over the place… very disparate round-robin in common results. This really does make this a quaky or tremulous look to be in the 12-round of a Fourm Guide round-robin itself. Very unexpected… tho’ yet again; this is why you run the maths no yo’ moufs.

Triangle Theory says that… hooVa upsets us by a… Safety! Or by a 2-pointer on some P.A.T. It too was eerily similar to the much-vaunted Triangle Theory above. Second time all year we’ve seen a very strong nearly point-to-point or near enuff 1:1 correlation between the two. Wild…

the call…

the sportlight… we see that chicks dig doin’ splits…

• Ken: 11:8 passing ratio… the game is still slowing down for him proverbially and literally. Tho’ tony seems to be mo’ of a Tiger of late. He has improved in film study over the last handful of games. Cutting down on misQ’s and Picks ever since Maryland. Coming of a pinnacle or career day to be sure. Bet the Over on just how much Ken Confidence packs and how many Pony polo shirts he wears no matter the weather, here. As there is no denying it… Tony is both, run and throw-game warming up late. Buster Poindexter 1o1 as a Qb1… hot-hot-hot.
  The +7% @home is a concern, perhaps a… problem.
  However… his passing crashes all game long! 1Q 7o.3% all the way down to 5o% passing in the money-stanza! Or, a –13% cut in throwing from 1H to 2H of work. wow… and that kinda seems to hint at something nagging or an arm-throw-out to old-school me.
• Drones: so, the haggle here is plain-n-simple… Drones have been pretty good vs. the pretty bads and pretty bad vs. the pretty, goods. Simple as that. State, Cards, and Noels all whooped his azz.
  Additionally, Drones is… +3% @home and yet –3% @away. That has normalized a bit or settled into a mean, median, mode. Though he is still a pretty fair-to-middling closer or relief pitcher in M.L.B. terms. Or, rather he was! Now he is way way way 4Q down. Nearly –14% lowercase in the last fortnight of work alone! (Dingy… in a real run-shape heavily contacted way). He is a better midway or Adm. Fletcher kinda passer in 2Q and 3Q terms now for the duration: cooler or lower percentage guy on the 1Q and 4Q bookends.

Splits Analysis:
Hmmmmmm, this is a hard-to-parse one… tricky like 31.Oct.23 even. Both Pivots really wiggle statistically at times. The ultimate H:A split does favor Tony/uva by +1o%. And that could mean (pardon the quantification pun) mo’ than you think if this one is close.

And tho’ I hate this… and Eye had thought this one had Drones checkmark on the make… however, it is Edge=tony/uva @paris if anything. (Though yet again— here’s why you run da maths not yo’ moufs)…

u.V.a. Projected S&P+: 91st.
u.V.a. Projected S&P wins: 3.8 W’s.

Cavaliers or cadavers?

Seven of the Cavaliers’ 11 games this season have been decided by one score. Virginia is 2-5 in those games. Hooever, they have also split their last six at 3 up vs. 3 down and seem to be bettering of late.

So, I (yet again) decided to go Holden Hall (MINE) and dig, deeper…

• UTenn. and Maryland both mugged hooVa. By 30 in the Box Score margin for the Vols. On point here.
• As turtling goes and not as/so much… The Terps won the Box Score by ~11 points. (Not the near 3o-points up in the bright lights)!

Then it got even nuttier and yes, some of them like nuts…

• J.m.u. reckoned as a 2-point u.V.a. win; tho’ this was a 1-point outcome and an FG-swing-vote is pretty centrist indeed.
• State was a ½-play L that works out to an 8-point box score win.
• BeeCee was another ½-play L; tho’ this one coulda been just a bit worse against u.V.a.
• OT Miami was actually a near 9-point box score W that they yacked up on-field.
• Gah.Tech ran over them. That one was only off a 3-pointer box score vs. the scoreboard itself. (Albeit to u.V.a’s favor, actually).
• L’ville and hooVa could won by a box score 3. Instead, they dropped a 1-full-play decision.

Do you see what Eye means?
What I mean is… hooVa has surely left one full win -prolly two- on the table here.

That, and you could argue they have improved the most of these two teams here in the last couple of fortnights of play… as our margins have been pretty well accurate, or capped.

-oOo-

The VerdicT:

So, and from above… hooVa is in the right place here. As everything they do, they do better on their home potato. We are mo po-tah-toe @away. The caveat is… the real swing vote is our inability to stuff the run @away. Whereas hooVa serially improves @home via the airwaves.

That’s not a canceling effect and that may not even be in either squad’s wheelhouse.
Possibly a non-sequitur or a non-starter here.
Null or Empty Sum vs. the same.

Not quite a faux-positive… mo’ like non-applicable.

♥  ♣  ♦ ∪

The Digits:
Soooooooooo, although Eye surely would favor the hommie Hokies; and I’d prolly (still) favor us on a Swiss or on a neutral turf… this one is over in gãy-paris and that may or may not make for many merry O&M men here. As that pretty much has pushed this one to closer to even-steven or not more than a full-play game either way.

hooVa is feeling no pain -strangely enuff- for a lowly 3-win team looking to play the backyard arch-rival spoiler role. Where their O is least weak; is exactly where our D is weak. C1/Qb1/Plunge vs. our Mike1 and four, that’s (4) lame-o S’s who are not better than dinged-up. Godspeed!

βetas are Betters...

On O&M O we see that… SHOCKINGly enuff… the Ty.Bow’ O is alphaing the verb all the way up to no.38 of late! wowow! As we know… lying is for rugs and I’d be lying like the same if I said Eye saw that one coming. The hOkie O is far improved on rushing efficiency, and now at least sorta disallowing a few negative drives against. 66th or better on O straight across! Mind-numbing, truly. Le D scored far far better than I anticipated as well… 59th best overall. Nearly solid all over less the lack of negative drives inflicted. Pass D scored 1st-best.

On O&M D we see that… INSANEly enuff… the Hokie halt-unit is the 90th best! WOW-zo! I’da bet and L coin on that. Scoring lowly vs. the run (duh=98th best); tho next-to-last in: Drive Efficiency. Which basically means we suck in: explosives, yards per play, and 3 and outs & turnovers (passes pilfered in particular). Hoowever, hooVa is on the offending move (positively) of late. As they are now 59th overall. Solid less rushing efficiency and drive-efficiency itself. Everything else is not all that bad; or pretty dang middleocore.

Sooooooooo… these βetas are calling for a far more even game than anyone or anything else!

(READERS note: this is the KenPom/RPI of football that adjusts the MOST for strength of schedule (S.O.S.); and for Recency Effect as weighting goes).

Carpe lé NOW! V.P.I. A.S.A.P.!

Eye says that as things are set to Gobbler drop… on Defending in ’24 in particular. There will be off-$eason offers to King-Tut and Drones alike. So, NOW would be the best time, maybe even the only time to get post-season qualified as the next 13 months or so go…

Ergo, therefore, to Whit… start=finish here.

Let u.V.a. hit a couple of plays or even hang around and it will be much tougher to hang on later on. Go’on and put them outta their ’23 misery early on. And they could begin to act up and then crack up a bit in the final 10 minutes or so of overheating on a chill November evening of backyard Rivalry volleying back-n-forth.

Start=finish, remember that here men.

As Drones needs to set the tones and uppercut this possibly differcult looking contest from the jump.

🙏>>>🏈

upset Index=38%

#EarthEatsPandora!

#wimps!

Techmen=39, desperate hoowives=17

“LETS GO!“

Please support the VT F.C.A.!

“HOKIES!“

bourbonstreet**