I don’t even know where to start with Miami though. I mean have you seen them play? I watched both of their games in their entirety, and I am scared. Florida State and Georgia Tech both have good defenses, but Miami has been able to do as they please on offense. The defense looked a little suspect against FSU, but then they turned around and held Georgia Tech to under 100 yards rushing. And during this time, the Hokies have lost to Alabama, destroyed a poor Marshall team, and struggled on offense against a Nebraska.
On paper, this does not look like a good matchup. The Hokies’ defense has given up several uncharacteristic big plays and has had someone rush for 100 yards on them three games in a row. Miami’s running backs, James and Cooper, might be the best duo the Hokies have seen this year. They are certainly better than Marshall from Marshall and Helu from Nebraska. Also, The Hokies also play a soft zone, which so far Harris has picked apart twice. And the Hokies have only gotten 3 sacks so far this season. Miami has only allowed a single sack on Harris, and Harris has been hurried an additional 0 times. 0! Teams have only gotten to Harris once in two games! And Georgia Tech has one of the best defensive ends in the country.
Aside. According to some experts Georgia Tech’s Derrick Morgan is the real deal and one of the best DEs in the country. He has already had 5 sacks in his 3 games. But I’m not buying it because the dude doesn’t play something like 90% of the game! Watch a GT game and count how many times you see him huffing and puffing on the bench. You’ll run out of fingers if you go that route. Although he did good working with Patsy Todd to put out this song in ‘61:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXYIzGnserI
Ok, aside over.
On offense, the Hokies have struggled against teams not named Marshall. They have been completely shut down throwing the ball, although maybe that deep ball to win the game against Nebraska boosts Tyrod’s confidence. And although, Williams and Wilson have broken big runs and gotten a majority of our points, they were quiet for large parts of the Alabama and Nebraska games. But there is a little good news. Miami doesn’t have a Terrance Cody or King Kong Suh at NT! They have Allen Bailey… At what point do teams stop having freaks in the middle of their D line against us? The strength of their D is certainly their D line (sounds a lot like someone we just played…), but they have athletes at every defensive position. This will be one of the fastest, if not the fastest, defense the Hokies face this year.
So you want some good news by this point don’t you? You don’t think I’ll continue to write off the Hokies in this game saying things like “don’t forget, Miami had a few extra days to prepare for the game after their Thursday night game against GT,” or “Mark Whipple may be the best offensive coordinator we face, or possibly in the country,” or “Miami looks to have it’s swagger back on both sides of the ball.”
Oops, sorry.
But there are a few things working for us! First, the game is in Blacksburg. Home field advantage coupled with the fact that Miami is around 900 miles away helps (that’s a long flight! And that is an advantage!). Miami uses their speed to play mostly man-to-man on defense. This is an advantage in two ways. It will open up the running game a little more than against zone, and Tyrod has been historically better against man defenses (credit to Kyle Parker of HamptonRoads.com for that one, as if I knew that, ha). Although you couldn’t tell it from the GT game, Miami is susceptible to giving up big runs, and we certainly have two backs capable of doing it, as well as big passes, GT had only 6 complete passes but for 113 yards and Ponder had 294 yards passing. Also, we’ve only given the ball up 1 time on offense. The other two turnovers were a muffed punt and a turnover on downs in the 4th quarter, both against Alabama. So as ugly as our offense has looked, they aren’t turning the ball over. Also, we have Virgil back which brings back our best cover corner and best tackler at that position. And even though we only have 3 sacks on the year, we have many hits on the quarterbacks. The best example is Zac Lee from Nebraska. He didn’t get sacked, but he did get hit around 10 times and had to throw the ball away. He ended the day going 11 of 30 passing with 2 INTs. Which brings me to this weeks Recipe for Success!
Recipe for Success:
This is multiple parts, because we’ll probably have to do all of them in order to win.
1. Red zone defense: We have to keep up the pressure and force Miami to field goals inside the red zone. We’ve done it once against a good offensive team, and we can do it again.
2. Wrap-up tackles: We have given up too many big plays so far this season in each game and mostly in the running game. Everyone but Cody Grimm “the Reaper,” needs to step up and wrap up.
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/157215/grimmreaper.jpg
3. Force turnovers: Doesn’t seem like VT football until we get a TD on defense does it? We’ll need points off turnovers this game to win.
4. Pressure Harris: I haven’t talked about Harris much for a reason. Because everyone is all over his nuts right now when I think it’s the O line that is doing all the work. When you have only had pressure once in two games, it’s not hard to take your time and throw a good pass. Unless you’re Glennon or something…
5. Play to our strength!: If we come out heaving the ball down the field because it worked once when our QB called an audible, scrambled, and found a wide open Coale, well I’ll probably just sulk and cry on the inside. But our game plan needs to be this. Wait for it. Give the ball to our playmakers! And I mean Williams, Wilson, and Roberts of course. But not right after a 75 yard return. Idiot…
6. Be less predictable: For the love of God, quit running the same 5 plays over and over again. The dive, toss, sweep, design QB sneak, and deep ball aren’t enough… Still want to see more screens and play action. By more, of course I mean any, because we haven’t run either. Also, we need more slants and quick passes to open up the run and the deep ball for our big play receivers.
7. No turnovers: Our defense is probably going to be on the field more times than not. Turnovers would kill any chance we have of winning.
So here’s my prediction. Wait. First let me remind you I’m a huge homer. Ok, let’s continue.
31-27 Hokies! We force a lot of key FGs, break open a few big plays, and help ourselves out winning the turnover battle. Player of the game: Williams, with a healthy Virgil getting consideration (6 tackles and 1 INT?). Let’s not forget, Miami has been upset in Blacksburg before.
http://www.behindthenet.org/imgs/miamiFailure.jpg
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