Your Notre Dame Eye in the Sky!

Virginia Tech=29, Notre Dame=32

…today’s (bonus) word of the day is… Middleocrity.

Momma told me there’d be days like these…

mid·didle·oc·ri·ty
/ˌmìdēˈ⌈äkrədē/

(b’speak):
noun. Circa: 2003.

  1. the process of being centrist.
  2. between the isles.
  3. moderate.
  4. or, next Saturday come ~ 8 PM post-Pitt???

Virginia Tech football is 60-minutes removed from being just dat.

The Hokies are a very stiff challenge from the Pittsburgh Panthers short of .5oo for the 2021 regular season itself. Then they are an even team (8 up and 8 down) across the span of the last two campaigns. They are also only 2-games north of .5oo for the last four years! Or, in other words… what if being a .5oo football club actually tastes pretty good come late in the evening on the 27th of November 2021 A.D., post-uva?

1Q 15:00 remaining:

…don’t tell us we stirred anything in this column… “location location location“… ‘K?

15:00 remaining:
Fu’rther… I wonder if any of the previews got the starting Qb1 for N.Dame correct?
Almost as if we know what we are, doing.

…well, almost.

1Q First:Two:O:scripts:
Gotta give it to Fu’ & Corny… they sure know how to frontload an offensive script when they want too.

This also teaches us just how much they trust their leg-game and stop-unit to A.B.C.
Always Be Closing. IF/when the O can just stake them to a 1.5 or 2-full-play lead, to start.

Then, however, they either run outta alpha-plays or take feet off of peddles and coast home a bit from there…

(clinical: Turtling or Aesop’s Fables notwithstanding).

1Q :32 remaining:
The other BAX ‘ding’… hand this time.

…this coulda been, worse!

The brown eclipse is the pigskin zinging forward… the orange arrow is BAX’s follow-threw hitting the hand and maybe the helmet of the hard-charging N.Dame left-Dt. The screen does not cap’ well here… not real sure where this was impact ending… tho’ just what he does NOT needs. St.Julia bless!

Which he absurdly did again, at 3Q 7:13 remaining marker, twiced!
Dang-dang.
👋

2Q 13:25 remaining:
Tré with the slight pronation here. Looks like he got away with it on the subsequent end-around run just one series later. Shew! (St.Philip bless!)

2Q 10:35 remaining:
Who do you see standing in the VT endzone right behind the color-commentators deep-strike 1999 TD throw? Well, Eye sees… me’s! (“thx” @St.Name (withheld)!!!)

2Q 6:45 remaining:
Our 2nd steal of the year (albeit in-game no.5)!!!

BOOM“, outta here!!!

As double-D, Drake DeIuliis IS likes to fight-guy (ask: hooVa post-game) and he will sneak you on returns. 3-cheers for one of the few guys left who actually… HITS!

(Fu’ hates this “thud hitting” as he calls it).
(We have stood there and heard him says so his ownself).

3Q 13:33 remaining:
Sadly, observe po’ K.King, who really wrenches his right knee on the even-side off-T play here.

Yikes!!!

St.Nikon bless!

…hate seein’ this. : (
As this is one cruel mistress this oblong-spheroid.

3Q 7:33 remaining:
Hit him in a bad place, did it not?

foreshadowing below:… this ain’t The Little Engine… that

Now you know why #23 is a very fair to middling Defensive-Back.

And less than that as a Wide-Reciever.

3Q 3:o4 remaining:
Yups… tho’ there has been nothing ‘rong with this already once acromioclavicular rebuilt throwing-wing all year. (Plus: what Oregon called: a knee surgery). So, holding it here and being one-man Pharmaceutical Committee for it is not a clue? St.Christopher bless… tho’ as you read here first in all the media, this has been ongoing for fortnights, quite plural. St.Christopher (Patron of Shoulders) bless some mo’.

Fu‘…

Recall— Eye am one of three members of the VT-football media who have (actually), balled. I am almost assuredly the only member of the VT-football media who has a State and a National Championship bling from balling (“thx” @Coach God) -AND- who has had his very own throwing shoulder completely Achromoid-Clavicular resected. I had a 50+ arm before I could not throw a tennis ball over a tennis court cage. Now I have a 50’ish throwing shoulder and mime (“thx” @Doc God) is in the 99th percentile of healing. Or, in other words… is it any wonder that po’ BAX bleeds velocity as the game wears along and his (now) clearly damaged wing leaks passing fancy? As this latest humerus ding is not, fu’nny!

deals

Check it out…

NOW: show us love TSL! We made these BAX Qb1 Splits up to ‘stir-the-pot’, rights?!? (LOL)

…and this just in from Coach: Waylon Jennings and his Offensive Coordinator: Willie Nelson… 🎼”Mamma’s don’t let your babies grow up to be Fu’ throw-boyz!!!🎵

drugs!!!
Coach Nancy Reagan: Just say “NO” BAX!!!

3Q :52 remaining:
Fu’ and Coach Saul can name their sword “ego” and fall upon the same here all they damn well wants…

…as the only thing we know about abdominal sword-swallowing is?

Swords; don’t, feel… pain.

That, and we also knows that “pressure bursts” VT Steam Tunnel… “pipes“.

As Fu’ has a history of jumpiness with seconds remaining in whatever inning, stanza, set, round, quarter, half, or whatever it may chronometrically be. And as the O&M pressure will only mount as 2021 time runs out, from here on out… As in, how do you bet the O/U on his single-mindedness regarding our very own remaining temporal mechanics with four outta our closing 2021 five played @Away?

4Q 5:23 remaining:
Then this Qb2 happened…

…look what he’s holding… might be a “lowerbody“, clue?

As the likable highly hirsute aTm Te/H-back now turned back to battering-ram Qb2… Connor Blumrick gets dented upon impacting Worsham Field at the end of the even-side mad-lib scrambling footloose play.

As his dang anterior right-foot caught inward, and his right knee slid posteriorly outside over top of the planted orthodox-foot itself. This is a truly bizarre-O looking hurt when you do it frame-by-frame upon breaking tape. And this one was seriously close to ‘catastrophic. As 2-major joints gave/moved on this one! St.Philip and St.Nikon and St.Culbreth bless, bless, bless Mr. aTm. As this one was seasonally bad enuff, and it coulda been game-of-life, even worse.

wowzo!
IF, #4 gets back this year?
Colour us Chicago-Maroon, impressed!
(as he dinged his clavicle in the 3Q prior to all of ^this^)

3Q :11 remaining:
Can I gets a: “LOOK OUT” block call here, please?

As someone should ‘sounded off to try to save po’ Tis’ gettin’ cracked here.
Although this is a Terminal-Contact sport ladies.
And this is nobody’s flag.

As Coach Pol-Pot did not throw you in the back of his turnip truck and declare thee a farmer.
If you’ve not suffered this Termimal Contact sport?
Well, there’s no need to get all, well; bitter…

Football is volunteer duty. (Not: conscription).
You don’t have to play tackle Andy… you can always play… tuba.

4Q 420:17 season and (possibly) contractually remaining:

…mmmmm-K girlfriend’s… riddle me thus?

^^^Will^^^ says…

@Brandon Patterson… cue up your ‘lack of aggression and @Will -freakin’- Stew‘s “lack of physicality” ThemesOfTheWeek… ‘K?

^^^B.P.^^^ says…

Granted, Eye’da kicked the P.A.T. earlier— tho’ not to be risk-averse. To be breaking momentum adverse as the obvious underdog vs. big-bad N.Dame, right?

Tho’ this shit(e) here?!?

Who are the hind-4 guys covering or FGSafe doing here?!?

LOL… I mean, seriously, who are we our Liberty-Bell got rung kidding here?!?

As do observe… Eye ain’t the ONLY member of the media *this* time picking up on something more clinical… mo’ Applied Sports Psych up @Illionois under the Dr.Minnix, subtle. Normally I am the lone-(beware)-wolf… tho’ not today. Today me and Coach Jack London have some pasty-fang company indeed. And fo’ a change we have it IN spades…

IF, and yes, I know… “IF is the middle word in life.” Granted…

Tho’ if N.Dame goes Apocalypse Now and FG-fakes this one to the house on me?
Well, me and H.U.D. and Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac’ are all homeless together.

As I’ma dealing all eleven that’s (11) on my best FG-block call here.
(Twelve even, if I can sneak an extra guy out there).

Time To Throw (TTT)©:

Virginia Tech:
Qb pressured=16
Qb hurried=1
Qb hits=19
Sacked=1

Notre Dame:
Qb pressured=6
Qb hurried=nil.
Qb hits=12 (1 INT)
Sacked=2

Vice-Squad:
Well, 2-dots do only make a line… this is true.
And “aye” it could be premature for me to assign this to being a: ‘trend’.

Nonetheless, our blocking front-line has backed up for two straight weeks with so many dings, dents, and reshuffling upfront. Good to get big ole Salis D back to block opposing-De’s at Ot. Good to get Brockwørst back at his home position of C1. That all to say… it was NOT that N.Dame just plum whooped us upfront. In as much as it looked more so like they out-scouted our run-fit tendencies per their really Summa Cum Laude halt-unit run-fills on film.

Understand… this is not even so much rallying to the flag or scraping to the ball; this was lock-smything 1o1. Or skeleton-keying the play head-game-wise pre-snap. Really sharp level coaching from the Irish D here and I’d take my cyber hat off to them… if I only wore a hat.

***

Overall, this one LOS (line-of-scrimmage) wise seesawed back-n-forth reminiscent of Wilder vs. Fury III.

Each set of front lines had their moments (and their modest ills) on a very uneven night as trench-warfare went. Neither side did enough to TKO stop the fight; although both sides landed some cleaner power shots here in there. Lotta stalemates, more than a few chicken fights really muddying the grading of the Vice Squad and O&M eggs and j.Ham.

Nobody really won… every bit as much as nobody really got beat. a 7-5, or 5-7 or 6-6 push of a sister-kisser fight as 12-rounders go.

Making for not a bad night of VeeTee frontline play, so much as it made for a split-vote night of play from two offensive sides with 7-starters gone between ’em from last year and 40% of their 2021 collective Top-10 dinged, dented, or just plain blocking OUT.

i.e., did you not think that each defensive front coulda (or, even shoulda) done mo’?

And I gotta add… that was one serially grabby N.Dame oLine on film. VERY handsy set of guys on the 1st-date. As 2nd-n-3rd-she-base(s) you are F’n Irish front-line warned!

(guess they ‘let ’em… play?)
🙃

(o) (o)
V

TTT Analysis:
Well, N.Dame surely won this… and frankly you could prolly argue that they should won this {sic: game} by even mo’ than they actually did.

As we/V.Tech did sneak an INT in for a major (C.F.L. parlance for a TD) on the pick-6. So, Irish lurkers here could reasonably say that they beat us closer to 1.5 full plays than the scoreboard suggests.

As both O&M Qb’s took a near beating and yet only the scrambling back-up N.Dame Qb2 took much of anything as real-live heat as incoming fire went.
VT Qb room 1o1: …

So, if they are serious about Tahj Bullock “not” being “ready”… (and recall: we ghosted for you on the pay-MB that he was not there yet playbook literacy or hooked on Fu’onics just yets)…

Whiskey Tango Hellen is our Qb3, now?!?

Qb3 Profile:
Ben Locklear: 6′5″, nugget/rookie-year voter (t-Fr.), 226 lbs.

Said to be a pure Pro-Style (not a dual-threat) Qb4 now gone Qb3. Ranked as a (**) or two-star recruit by 247Sport. As Bennie was rated as the 192nd-best Qb in the country and 69th-best player in Virginia H.S. football by 247Sports. Locklear (no Heathers’ relation that Eye could find) … chose a preferred walk-on opportunity with the Hokies over a full-schoolie from Bill & Mary. Ben’ was also a pretty decent T&F guy in scholastic terms. So, hopefully, his athletics have some air in ’em here. 40 Yard Dash: 4.93, Shuttle: 4.4 secs, Vertical: 32″, Powerball: 39′ (that’s pretty good, kinda strong even), Bench: 285 lbs., Squat (lbs): 375 lbs., Clean (lbs): 275 lbs.

So, as you can see, Bennie is not fast every bit as much as he is not weak. Broke some tape on him just fo’ all of you…

…long-ball-lover.
3.48 G.P.A. is not hurting.
Size or depth of throw matters here.
Has a good enuff arm, tho’ not the cannon all the HR throws connotes.

Has found nearly 20-lbs. of muscle since he VT arrived.
Might be something of a Baltic Ave. man’s Druck of sorts.
Does move roll-out a bit, tho’ kinda clunky heavy-stepped about it.
(apparently: tried/offered himself to Klempson as a walk-on, the Tigers did not, bite).
Tho’ one coach did tell me he’s: “…a late-bloomer” and the dead-period messed his offers up.

ΧÒ ΧÓ

That all said… we did catch some newfangled countering or cross-buck mesh-point looks planted by Corny and the Fu’fense. And frankly, they looked pretty sporty/snappy upon breaking-tape.

Clearly… Fu’ and Corny were ‘saving a few plays’ for N.Dame.
+several awarded here…

Longfield Management (Lo.FM)©:

Virginia Tech:
positive: |||| |||| ||| (1 TD flagged, 1 TD tallied)
Swiss (neutral): ||||
negative: |||| |||| |||| (1 INT, 1 Qb injury, 1 ND flag, 1 VT fumble)

Notre Dame:
positive: |||| | (1 VT penalty)
Swiss (neutral): ||
negative: |||| || (1 ND flag)

Well, the Total Yardage 1st-school rule-of-thumb (1 point awarded for every 10-yards gained) says we shoulda been beaten by ≅8-points.

So, (pitiful as this may glean), holding N.Dame to a last-sec’ FG VomiT is something of a lowercase (statistical) or metrical victory of sorts.
Sorata. Kinda. A mini-me little.

And if my Aunt Kim had nutz-n-a-bolt she’d be my Uncle… Tim.
Tru dat. And true enough we found a way to get, beat.

Nonetheless, Eye also found the following upon breaking-tape…
…tackling itself was really tight for about the opening 40-odd minutes of scrumming. In point of fact, I have it in my notes (in two places no less) to point out how O&M eggs and j.Ham has improved this by-the-bye this season.

Then tackling itself really fell off.
Like Wilie E. Coyote holding the acme anvil (off a cliff) fell off too close.

Why though?
Can’t (much) be fatigue. Not off an OPEN week. As you should have ‘fresh legs’ and fresh everything else here @Home vs. high as the proverbial kite BIG named N.Dame to close, right?

So, what was this?
N.Dame is not off the charts physically. That’s Toledo scaling #facts.
’cause if anything they were less physical— what with all their injuries/underclassmen upfront.

This leaves us phobic… what if it was something else?

What if something in the least 3-hard-un-won years and not always even soft-fought seasons is starting to creep back in? (i.e., leadership/hygienic, or something chemistry or locker-room or sideline enterHERnal?)

As the truly sage among you will be quick to point out… that tackling was actually improved this week on a per/play basis!

It is just that it really slipped up and then spun-out, late.

(o) (o)
V

Lo.FM Analysis:
Well, N.Dame won as they infected mo’ Lo.FM’s on Corny and the Fu’fense. So, that does have to count. The curious part is… both wounded V.Tech Qb(s) made mo’ Lo.FM plays (happen). To their gimpy and gamey credit alike. As BAX is surely playing some Mister Scott football… or, “giving yah all she’s got.”

BAXcination 1o1.
Too bad he just did not have one mo’ big-play in his banged-up body to be squeezed out.
(as he and Deontay Wilder both surely did all they could Saturday nite, do!)

the takeaway...

1st-gen’ spreadsheets 1o1

🏈 👁️.Q. Award Winner:
Well, it sure ain’t the F’n Irish… ’cause if any Staff did worse than the Hokie Staff on Saturday night? It was surely the Irish offensive staff itself.

As their Qb2 and his nearly pitiful lack of passing targeting software were old-school Dallas Cowboy Tex Schram punched card I.B.M. era predictable.

A blind man could see it with a, cane.”

So, with VeeTee very likely to be 3-3 or .5oo in a few mo' days... we R.A.T.T. say, what(s)???

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

(clinical): xxx‘s & ooo‘s:

…there are a few chemistry-set rumblings from the in-game sideline here is all I will ghost here. Some may have been proverbial: “heat of the moment”. Some may have been: just pure… “frustration(s)” boiling over. Tho’… we saw a pretty truncated on-field display. Not an S-ton of emotion that you’d expect vs. the hawtest tix in town in the last few seasons. Measured. Calculated. Structured. Slide… ruled.

Abacus >>> cuss

The caveat being… no matter how comfortable our Myers–Briggs Coach is with that? His Leadership or white-hat council is gonna have their V.P.I.  I.N.T.J. work cut out
for them if Pitt distempers them on the 16th.

formulae football:
…favors nobody here.
…as we did not serially see any advantage(s) to truly take.

The Rest of the Story...

Do you see a trend here… men?

  • @N.Dame 2019 (14 play drive wins it for ND in the final seconds)
  • @hooVa 2019 (tied inside of 2 min and lose on an FG)
  • ‘tucky 2019 (last-minute TD drive wins it for UK)
  • Liberty 2020 (beat on last sec’ FG)
  • Miami 2020 (4Q TD, beaten by 1)
  • @W.Va. (9′ more yards wins it in the final seconds, yet we cannot punch it in)
  • N.Dame 2021 (FG to win it in the final 30 seconds)
  • do you see what I mean???

As we sees: “sugar punches” and “butterfly-kisses”.
Which (can) have a likable place(s)…

…jus’ not out on the hard-fought/hard-won gridiron itself.

As one could be forgiven for saying that you sees the proverbial Little Engine That Could… not.

As Fu’ and camels everywhere seriously needs to go’on and get over this damn hump.

(Or, go’on and get… humped… either way… this cannot go on much longer).
It’s not fair to the r-State nice-guy Justin and it ain’t any mo’ O&M fanbase fair either.

The closer...

Whether he knew it or not… Will -freakin’- Stew’ danced around all of this a bit in his signature: Monday Thoughts… or to extend the Boxing Heavyweight Nite all-time fight metaphor…

Virginia Tech and Fu': "...never let their hands go".

Where you stand is where you sit and as things stand right now?

We are 60-minutes removed from middleocrity itself indeed. As…

As Pitt = an onsides… punt.
We ain’t the fave— and we prolly won’t win.
And this just in… rain is (still) rumored to be… wet.


As the 9′ removed from being the last-place All Charmin Conference O vs. the blue-ribbon 1st-best O in the A.c.c. and in all of D-1 tends to work (out) jus’ like dat.

Tho’ Syracuse=Fu’s very own Century-42.

An all-in 6th of 7 opening 2021 regular season contests @Home of life-n-death football scrum. His very own 60-minute ‘contract season’ all rolled into one.

Fish or get off the pot Fr.Fu’.

’cause the fence-sitting on or near .5oo is nearly a cry for @Miami and @uva to close to go’on and put you outta our misery.

To go’on and put an end to the end to paraphrase the North Carolina Winston Churchill preview’s closer. As Syracuse will prove to be the beginning of the end… be that a winning-ending or a L’ing-ending either way.

As no matter how fu’gly it may be… the ‘cuse contest will prove to be sapiosexual in full frontal Fu’ture tense revealing terms indeed.

Or… in other words: what do you call the prettiest girl at an ugly girl contest?

“Pretty much”.

💯

#wimps!

Virginia Tech=29, Notre Dame=32

LETS GO!

Hokies!

bourbonstreet**

12 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Another FU night of too much corn. I hope come December VT gets a new X-mas tree with more lights and less corn..don’t Fu around this time..

    1. …well, Fu’ goes 6 up/6 down and Whit will fence sit, what???

      Eye mean, cruel as this may read… it needs to get going 8 wins+, or get, gone.
      4 or 5 wins and force Whit’s hand into a damn old-school G.I. Joe,
      Kung-Fu gone Kung-Fire grip fist.

      b.street

  2. Still finding it hard to get over “just one good play more” and we win. Bad luck? Bad karma? Skills not there? Season seems like a slow motion train wreck. And Pitt, our cancer even in the best of times, up next. My spirit seems broken. Looking forward to basketball. Even watched the men’s soccer win over Davidson on the ACC channel last night to get a good vibe. Hokie to the core guy but struggling with football’s “not quite enough” season so far. A.H.

    1. well, and in all fairness to Fu’… that might not be entirely untrue.

      1 real stud on O?
      Yah; maybe he at least overtimes the 1-full-play @W.Va. game?
      Or, maybe he just nicks the @Home 1/2-of-a-full-play N.Game?

      That’s not umpossible… as you could say they are game-managing games in which
      they vend inferior Talent (overall) rather well.
      (and yes, that’s a hard-fanbase-sell).

      b.street

      p.s. +several for: “Slo-Mo”. Yah; no shite on that; it kinda is, ain’t it?

  3. It would take me a book to list all the reasons for why Pitt will be an L for our beloved VT. I figured this season would be a 6.5 win season. I think if Fu can make UVA the 6th or 7th W he will be back for year 7.

    1. 7-wins AND he clips @uva?

      hmmmmm, yah; oui-oui.
      French-toast might just buy him one mo’ year. Agry.

      b.street

  4. Thank u as always ‘street.

    Question: this idea of no “thud” hit and tackle. What problem is this trying to solve? The only things that come to my aging brain is protect health or avoid targeting calls (e.g. response to change in what’s allowable in this contact sport)?

    One area that is maddening is the lack of adjustments/learning in game and from game to game. We’ve had trouble punching it in from inside the 5. A few years back, I halfjokingly wished for a super heavy jumbo smash using Tim Settle as lead for Rambo, or with Tim doing a reprise of the fridge his self… I would have loved to see in this game some learning from wvu. 1st and goal at the 1? Line up heavy, with whomever we got that fits the bill and pound it. Maybe theres a rule against that now, idk…

    I look into the sky and see a few swans circling. Can’t quite tell their color, White? Grey? Or Black? They are going to land in hokie-ville. Decisions made years back seemed like a good idea at the time. Now times have changed. Somewhere the accountants see the $ ins and outs. The trendline can’t be positive.

    Be well and keep to the fairway

    1. Question: this idea of no “thud” hit and tackle. What problem is this trying to solve? The only things that come to my aging brain, is this to protect their health or avoid targeting calls (e.g. response to change in what’s allowable in this contact sport)?

      …^that’s^ what the party-line is.

      Penalties… a little safety.
      Tho’… that’s kinda thuggy/streety as well… and that’s not (r)-O&M Fu’s thang.

      b.street

  5. What has the EYE seen to explain why our vaulted Vice Squad goes, ” beep beep beep” once ball is snapped, regardless of run or pass?

    Then going up 33,000 ft view into 2022, what does Justin’s squad look like as can’t see this improving with the seventh QB at helm and no RB #1 on roster and only one real playmaker at WR ( less he transfer). Is this offense more bleak forecast than 2017?

    Final insight ??? Is losing such a contagious infection that need transfusion to remove from one’s blood? Amongst Brandon’s mandates for vaccine–think he’s got a jab for Fu-Flu?

    1. Well…

      “o-ver-ra-ted” (clap-clap-clapclapclap) by TSL is some of the stink.

      Ot’s are in flux. So are C’s.
      NOT a good or well-ordered blocking set.
      That said… if SD is mo’/less okay… run-fights should fitten-up.

      b.street

  6. I personally think the coaching this year has been above average considering the talent level. The problem is that the coaching is directly responsible for the talent level. If this was year two, close losses are a positive sign of a positive trend in a program. The same results in year 6 with the peak of recruited talent on the field indicates a major developmental problem. If this whole staff had a mulligan, things could possibly improve but there is no chance that happens with the current temperature of the fanbase.

    1. agry!!!
      Fu’lly too!

      tho’ yes Sir… it is chicken vs. egg and the eggs vs. the… chicken!

      b.street

Comments are closed.