| 10 September 2007
First, pretty much nobody, not even the Almighty Appy St, could have gone into LSU on Saturday night with the crowd and environment and won. I bet the New Orleans Saints would have struggled mightily in there too. That was indeed a great homefield advantage, one the Hokies have come close to in recent marquee home games.
Second, LSU has some sick talent. The game really showed how far away VT is from a National Championship. Great teams find a way no matter where/who/when they are playing. Just look at the recruiting classes to show the difference in talent level. In 2007, VT had the 25th best class with 1 5-star, 5 4-star, 12 3-star and 7 1/2-star players. That same year, LSU pulled the 5th best class with 4 5-star, 15 4-star, 5 3-star, and 2 1/2-star players. In 2006, VT finished with the 31st class and LSU finished tied for 7th with Oklahoma. In 2005, VT’s 18th ranking actually did beat LSU’s 19th, until you consider that LSU only accepted 13 total commits that year. Add to the fact that a fair amount of our highly touted players have not panned out. It is amazing that our coaches can find so many diamonds in the rough and turn 2-star players into NFL players, but it feels like there is a ceiling when you start at a certain level with talent.
Third, our coaches take a large portion of the blame for this game. There was a lack of preparation, both physical and mental. There was, again, a lack of intuitive play-calling to keep the opposing defense off balance. We’ll start first with the easiest target, Stinkspring. VT’s offensive game plan is normally to try and test out the defense and see what they are doing. Well, while we wasted 6 plays (2 3-and-out series) doing so, LSU was racking up points already. If you can’t figure out how to scheme pre-game, then it isn’t going to happen during the game. I am staying semi-neutral on Glennon-Taylor, but when the masterful plays being called are 1) run into the pile of LSU DL, 2) WR screen, and 3) a sack, something needs to be changed. And if you are down multiple touchdowns with no momentum, you need a “Game-Changing” play to get back in it. That would be a trick play, a downfield attempt, anything to catch the D off guard and keep them from blitzing Glennon to death.
Yet, Stinkspring continues to call the same gameplan. And that leads to the second coach responsible, Beamer. Beamer is just too nice a guy. He doesn’t make tough decisions well. If he wants to win a championship, he needs to cut ties with some of the coaches that don’t get the job done. I think seeing him crying (or close to) Saturday night was a sad thing, because he only did that to himself. Sean Glennon is another example. All offseason, we heard about how much improvement he made. How he was light-years away from everyone else. And yet, he struggled against ECU and was taken out within a half against LSU. Some perspective… Michael Vick sat out his whole freshman season redshirting behind a committee of QB’s. If Taylor was indeed that close and our offensive line that bad, why wasn’t the tough decision made to bench the incumbent Glennon for the mobile QB before the season started.
Other coaches share blame too, but the old saying goes, “It’s starts at the top”. The players also share blame. Flowers was a pivotal part of LSU’s opening drive by giving up 2 drive extending plays, a personal foul and a key 3rd down reception. Our defensive and offensive lines were manhandled all night. Glennon we know (even though I put a lot of offensive blame on Stinkspring).
Some other food for thought. When was the last time we played a top ranked team early in the season and lost? USC in 2004. And what did we do that year? Won the ACC. The cup is definitely not half empty Hokie fans. The best part of playing top teams early in the season is that it exposes your weaknesses.
One weakness may have been changed by removing Glennon and putting a mobile QB in the backfield. Beamerball is about great defense, great special teams, and the often downplayed portions, controlled offense. We run the ball, control it, limit turnovers, and give the defense rest. And to do that, you need a mobile QB who can grab a few first downs by scrambling for 5-10 yards. Randall and both Vicks did it, and our offense was semi-productive. Another weakness showed was how poor our DL is this year. It really reminds me of 2003 with the massive 220 pound Col Colas trying to stop the run. We just couldn’t stop anything that year (even 4 db’s that are now in the pro’s.) Hopefully Foster realizes that we need to fix that, especially before James Davis and Tashard Choice face off against us.
We have 3 games coming up to work on our problems: Ohio, William & Mary, and UNC. Then, we have an away game at Clemson that will be our next test. Let’s see some changes, some progress. Let’s not see the same old thing anymore. Let’s see VT improve, and reclaim the ACC title (as well as top defensive ranking)!
Yet, Stinkspring continues to call the same gameplan. And that leads to the second coach responsible, Beamer. Beamer is just too nice a guy. He doesn’t make tough decisions well. If he wants to win a championship, he needs to cut ties with some of the coaches that don’t get the job done. I think seeing him crying (or close to) Saturday night was a sad thing, because he only did that to himself. Sean Glennon is another example. All offseason, we heard about how much improvement he made. How he was light-years away from everyone else. And yet, he struggled against ECU and was taken out within a half against LSU. Some perspective… Michael Vick sat out his whole freshman season redshirting behind a committee of QB’s. If Taylor was indeed that close and our offensive line that bad, why wasn’t the tough decision made to bench the incumbent Glennon for the mobile QB before the season started.
Other coaches share blame too, but the old saying goes, “It’s starts at the top”. The players also share blame. Flowers was a pivotal part of LSU’s opening drive by giving up 2 drive extending plays, a personal foul and a key 3rd down reception. Our defensive and offensive lines were manhandled all night. Glennon we know (even though I put a lot of offensive blame on Stinkspring).
Some other food for thought. When was the last time we played a top ranked team early in the season and lost? USC in 2004. And what did we do that year? Won the ACC. The cup is definitely not half empty Hokie fans. The best part of playing top teams early in the season is that it exposes your weaknesses.
One weakness may have been changed by removing Glennon and putting a mobile QB in the backfield. Beamerball is about great defense, great special teams, and the often downplayed portions, controlled offense. We run the ball, control it, limit turnovers, and give the defense rest. And to do that, you need a mobile QB who can grab a few first downs by scrambling for 5-10 yards. Randall and both Vicks did it, and our offense was semi-productive. Another weakness showed was how poor our DL is this year. It really reminds me of 2003 with the massive 220 pound Col Colas trying to stop the run. We just couldn’t stop anything that year (even 4 db’s that are now in the pro’s.) Hopefully Foster realizes that we need to fix that, especially before James Davis and Tashard Choice face off against us.
We have 3 games coming up to work on our problems: Ohio, William & Mary, and UNC. Then, we have an away game at Clemson that will be our next test. Let’s see some changes, some progress. Let’s not see the same old thing anymore. Let’s see VT improve, and reclaim the ACC title (as well as top defensive ranking)!
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