B
Bunger Henry
Guest
Virginia's strength has been their running back tandem of Lundy and Pearman. Pearman has been getting most of the carries and yardage, but the slightly larger Lundy has been getting the touchdowns. Straight up running plays will play into our defense's strength, which is why I think they will shift strategies into another little known strength of Virginia's... Pearman's ability to receive. Almost a third of his overall yardage is as a receiver, so I expect to see a lot of safety valve passes to capitalize on our trio of weaknesses... screens, draws, and passes to the backfield. They may also go with passes to tight end Miller. Miller single-handedly destroyed the Tech defense last year.
Hagans is an excellent quarterback, one of the best in the ACC, but his last 3 games have stank. Since Florida State, he has been throwing a lot of interceptions, taking a lot of sacks, and making of a lot of incomplete passes. We have to hope the trend continues, otherwise we will be in heap big trouble.
Here's some good news... Virginia is not a pass defense threat. Reggie should be free to throw wild without much fear of interceptions. This could end up becoming a HUGE advantage for Tech with Calvin Johnson lurking around out there able to catch a lob ball from almost anywhere on the field.
Here's another little known fact. Virginia has been relying heavily on field goals, which tells me their drives are stalling out. If we can keep up the effort to pin them back on punts as we have been doing quite effectively now, we may be able to end their drives outside of FG range and get the ball in good field position.
Here's some really bad news however. Virginia is excellent at ball control. They are outstanding in 1st downs and 3rd down conversions. This could wear out our defense by the 4th quarter and result in a late game meltdown as with Va Tech. If I were Tenuta I would start rotating 2nd and 3rd stringers in from the very beginning of the game. It may cost us at first, but it would help prevent a late-game meltdown.
Hagans is an excellent quarterback, one of the best in the ACC, but his last 3 games have stank. Since Florida State, he has been throwing a lot of interceptions, taking a lot of sacks, and making of a lot of incomplete passes. We have to hope the trend continues, otherwise we will be in heap big trouble.
Here's some good news... Virginia is not a pass defense threat. Reggie should be free to throw wild without much fear of interceptions. This could end up becoming a HUGE advantage for Tech with Calvin Johnson lurking around out there able to catch a lob ball from almost anywhere on the field.
Here's another little known fact. Virginia has been relying heavily on field goals, which tells me their drives are stalling out. If we can keep up the effort to pin them back on punts as we have been doing quite effectively now, we may be able to end their drives outside of FG range and get the ball in good field position.
Here's some really bad news however. Virginia is excellent at ball control. They are outstanding in 1st downs and 3rd down conversions. This could wear out our defense by the 4th quarter and result in a late game meltdown as with Va Tech. If I were Tenuta I would start rotating 2nd and 3rd stringers in from the very beginning of the game. It may cost us at first, but it would help prevent a late-game meltdown.
