5 POSITIVES and 5 NEGATIVES

ramblinwreck24 said:
While Allen is a serious threat to break away for a TD, he is also a liability blocking and really does not get good pitch relationship consistently either. With that said, he will get better as his comfort level rises.
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Saw Allen miss a couple of blocks that would have turned into big gains. Roddy also dropped that pass on third down in the third quarter which would have resulted in a first down rather than a 3 and out.
 
I think the DL played mostly fine (look closely at Spiller's numbers, he average four per carry even though he had two or three go over 10 yards), but they were playing high for much of the first three quarters and getting pushed around because of it
 
Allen Koholic said:
I think Tarrant fair caught too many punts. There was a few times it looked like he could get a few yards on a return and waved his arms instead. Still, he scored a huge touchdown, and he didn't fumble or cause harm.
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I though so too, but then I began to think about how long our D had been on the field. He may have been a little fatigued.
 
Positives
1-4:
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5:
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mmbt0ne said:
Because Spiller ran one of the tightest wheel routes you'll ever see and Coop bit on it.
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It never ceases to amaze me how some Tech fans can't give credit. You are correct. Spiller totally dicked Coop, and made a play. I like Coop, but do you guys expect him to cover Spiller one-on-one?
As far as the D-line goes- Derrick Morgan>all other DL combined...Let's enjoy him boys, he'll be playing on Sundays this time next year.
 
the DL played great. it's more everyone getting worn down from being on the field more than half the game. linebackers struggled a bit but only because of the speed clemson has, and it didn't seem like the safeties came to play last night. i didn't see burnett do too much.
 
ramblinwreck24 said:
While Allen is a serious threat to break away for a TD, he is also a liability blocking and really does not get good pitch relationship consistently either. With that said, he will get better as his comfort level rises.
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Agreed. Allen should block or sit, IMHO. His lack of blocking killed several drive opportunities. Near the end of the game Cox was in and made a key block that sprung Nesbitt (IIRC) for a much needed big gain.
 
unforgiven108 said:
Don't think I saw the GT cheerleading coach, at least not in the corner I was in. :)

Is she 'talented' at what she does? ;)
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More "talented" than any of the cheerleaders she coaches. If you really haven't seen her you're missing out.
 
Yep, that's her! I really enjoyed her...professionalism...from my courtside SWARM seats when I was a student.
 
< LONG WARNING >

STRENGTHS
1. Find a way to win
Whatever it takes. This is what has separated VPISU from the pack in recent years. Doing this in game 2, ACC game 1, is HUGE.

2. No fumbles
This too is huge. We threw some picks, but had 0 fumbles. VERY key. Could've been ALOT worse with even 1 lost fumble.

3. Scott Blair
This guy has taken some heavy criticism over the last year. The young man was resilient and came up HUGE last night. Think about this. Before that game, how many of you have talked about how special teams, and specifically his play might affect our ability to win or lose a game this year, and how many of those instances were positive? BIG props to 14.

4. D Morgan
Wow. Color me impressed. Watch the replay. It wasn't just sacks, he was all over the dam field. Just wow. :wow:

5. Tarrant - Returns were huge again. He also came up big on pass coverage - breaking up at least 1 key pass late in the game. We are very lucky we have this young man back on the field.

Honorable mention to the crowd. It's always fun on a Thr night, and this one was great. Good job with the whiteout and good job cheering the team, not just on 3rd downs.


IMPROVEMENT AREAS
1. Line play on both sides
Excluding D Morgan (imagine that game without him), their line beat ours on both sides. Yes we didn't give up a rushing TD, but on more than 1 occasion, Spiller ran 3 yards forward, cut 45 left, hit another gear, and raced our DBs to the sideline. That's not off tackle, that's on the interior DL. Their line is bigger than ours, and our line doesn't yet understand how to use speed to beat size. I don't believe we 'can't' beat them, but we haven't yet. If you're small on the line, you need to be squirrel quick, and technique perfect, and we're not showing that yet. We need coaching and execution here.

2. Blocking
If you can't block their defenders, it doesn't matter how good JD is, he can't run the ball through 3 guys not wearing Duke unis. This is not limited to line play either. Our backs, AA in particular, but also JD himself, missed key blocks that left us getting smacked on runs. This is not new, and it's getting old. We must plug this hole to beat the elite teams in D1. Consider the injuries on the ugag DL last season, and the concern we'll have this year if they're healthier and we don't improve before we play em.

3. Passing
If we can't block to run, and the pass is open, we should pass. If we have 1 on 1 coverage, we should complete passes. If we can't make the throws we've drawn up, let's draw it differently for throws we're better at making. Note however, this is not all on Josh. On 1 play in particular, I saw Josh lob the ball to 8, and their safety come over for the pick, when 5 had a post route that he didn't run through enough. He drives that route, he holds the safety, and the thrown ball, bad as it was, is up for either 8 or the shorter and trailing CB. We need work here bad. If I'm an opposing DC, based on this game I'm going to do whatever I can to encourage you to pass and hope you'll throw picks to my DBs too.

4. D Speed
We have some fast guys, but holy Lord. Spiller, Ford, and their 3rd guy #23 are fast. Yes they're special, but there's some speed at mia and fsu too, so if we can't catch em, we better keep em in front of us. Bad angles even on 1 mistake play can cost us 6.

5. Intensity
This is a bit of both lists. It's great that we came back to reclaim the lead and win the game (that's in Strengths #1 above), but it's horrible that when up by 24, our team appears to be ready to play it out and win the game instead of thinking about how to score another 76 to see if the new jumbotron can hold 3 digits. Before the game and after the game, I'm glad we're nice. Their good character makes me dam proud of our players. During the game though, play clean and fair, but as hard as you possibly can, and win on every snap. We're not there yet.

Summary
Good to get the win
Good to get it in an unusual way, hoping that's not necessary in the future, but knowing we can find a way to win.
Scary that we're not who we want to be yet, but that's more 'good scary' for the potential improvement than it is bad for anything we haven't done yet.
We're 2-0, still undefeated in 2009.
Now let's go whip some pelicans!

GO JACKETS!!!
 
I wonder how much of Clemson climbing back into the game had to do with having a short week.

I just occurred to me that they had only 4 days off.
 
mm42 said:
We could play them again in the ACCCG, but both teams will have to improve a lot for that to happen.
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+1

The FSU Clemson game will tell us if we see them again. I think Clemson has a good team and can get to the ACCCG
 
GBurdell said:
I wonder how much of Clemson climbing back into the game had to do with having a short week.

I just occurred to me that they had only 4 days off.
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You could tell we did look sluggish at the end, but we showed heart and pushed through it. Really proud of the guys for that. Think these extra days will help tremendously
 
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