Hokies Week 6 Blog – BC addition

I didn’t do a preview of our game last week, but maybe I should have. Although it would have been completely wrong. To my credit though, I was telling people all week that Duke is better than people think. They have a pretty good defense and a playmaker at QB. That said it’s still Duke! I am still shocked how they were able to shut down the running game 3 quarters, and I’m even more shocked that Tyrod went 17-22 for 327 yards! What a game for the young man. But a win’s a win, and you should be happy with it regardless of your opponent. Just ask Houston and Michigan. You should play better after I hype you up Houston. I’m very disappointed in you.

So what can we expect this week against BC? To be honest, I really don’t know. On paper they’re good, but I really don’t see the talent, and the jury is still out on how good any of the teams they played are. They have 2 noteworthy wins against Wake Forest (in OT) and Florida State. But Wake Forest lost to Baylor, who doesn’t have another convincing win, but beat NCST and Stanford who I think are both decent teams. Wake even put up around 500 yards in their OT loss to BC, but turnovers hurt them throughout. And don’t even get me started on FSU. I think they’re a good team, and this is a good win for BC, but FSU could win out or lose out, and I wouldn’t be surprised either way (except for the beating Florida part). And then BC loses to Clemson? A team, that despite having one of the best playmakers in the country, has no offense. Clemson lost to Maryland! Maryland!

So yeah, who knows what BC brings to Blacksburg? Me, of course!

We will start with their offense. The offense is lead by Uncle Dave Shinskie who after 6 years of minor league baseball decided to go play QB at BC as a 25 year old freshman. He’ll graduate at age 28 and plans to teach and coach elementary school. He is a very atypical college player and has shown a lot of poise so far, and now that he knows the playbook he is playing well and winning games. He only played for a small part of the Clemson game going 1/1 for 2 yards, but in the last two games against Wake and FSU, he has gone 30/50 for 231 yards, 5 TDs, and 1 INT. He is a true pocket passer that won’t make too many plays with his legs, but the line has been sturdy for him so far. This is a good time to point out that the offensive line is the strength of the team. The other weapon BC has at its disposal is sophomore running back Montel Harris. Harris was held in check against Wake averaging 3.0 yards per carry, but bounced back for a career day against FSU running for 179 yards and 2 TDs on 25 carries (7.2 average). With runs of 42 and 48 this season, Harris has big play ability against a team that has given up big plays. And did I mention he’s running behind the strength of this strength of the team, offensive line. This is a good offense, but the Hokies have already faced 3 better offenses against the likes of Alabama, Nebraska, and Miami. You could also make the argument that Duke has a better QB, but we’ll settle with the previous statement. I know Shinskie was out against the Clemson game, but how many total yards do you think BC’s offense got that game? You’ll never guess it, and now I’m going to make you wait till later in the article.

The defense for Boston College has performed pretty well so far this season holding its 3 ACC opponents to 21-25 points each. The loss of last years ACC defensive player of the year, linebacker Mark Herzlich, has certainly hurt the Eagles, but the team has stepped up in his absence. That said, this is not the same defense that was #1 in the country last year with the likes of LB Herzlich, DT Raji, DT Brace, and LB Toal all missing from the lineup. The secondary might be the strength of the team, but they have given up 300+ pass yards in the last two games. Also, Clemson and Wake ran for 140+ yards. I said VT has faced 3 better offenses than BC, they’ve probably faced 3 better defenses as well.

Small aside. Good news on Herzlich, he announced on some radio show that he is 99.9% free of cancer and has been able to start hanging out with the team on the sidelines. Also, VT is planning on presenting Herzlich with a check for $9,400 (he’s #94) to help with the treatment costs at halftime of the game. I think that’s pretty neat. Oh and that’s twice what Clemson did, so hopefully we beat them twice as bad?

So like I was saying earlier, I am shocked by the Hokies performance against Duke last week for good and bad reasons. We’ll start with the good: our offense can throw the ball! Wait, what? Yep, Tyrod was putting the ball right where it needed to be and the receivers time after time went up and made big plays. And Ryan Williams got shut out through 3 quarters? I don’t understand… That’s a lie, I do. Duke put 8 in the box which explains both. But still! This is very un-Stinespring! To recognize what an opposing defense is doing, and then change up the game plan to take advantage. What!?!? Nothing about this season makes sense. And I can’t believe I’m going to say it. No I shouldn’t jinx it… But I want to give credit where it’s due. Hmm. I’m doing it. Since the Nebraska game, Stinespring has done a great job at play calling. I can’t believe I said it… Where was I? Right, our offense. Our offense has looked pretty solid the last 2 weeks, and we have shown the ability to run and pass. This is something we haven’t shown, umm, since I decided to go to VT in 2003. And since it’s only been the last 2 games, I should probably reel my hope and amazement back in. I’ve had my hopes crushed before (I’m looking at you Marcus), but right now things look good. I mean Tyrod threw for 327 yards! And Ryan Williams is the best RB we’ve had since Kevin Jones!

But now the bad… The defense continues to give up big plays (to Duke!). And now they are giving up long sustained drives (to Duke!). I am still completely impressed with how the defense (and especially the line) played against Miami. And I’m am a huge fan of Cody Grim “the Reaper” as he continues to make play after play. And the defense continues to lock down in the red zone (after the Alabama game we have only given up 2 TDs in the redzone). But 359 yards through the air to Duke! Unnecessary and costly penalties to extend scoring drives to Duke! Overall poor performance in the secondary to Duke! Also we have shown the inability to stop the run against Alabama and Nebraska. I’m not a fan of the inconsistency shown so far by the defense as a whole. So here’s my Recipe for Success!

Recipe for Succes:

1. Keep it up Stiney – I didn’t just say that… If we can continue to draw up good offensive game plans, we should have no problem scoring 30 on BC. And against BC, I think that means hand the ball off to our trio of backs as BC is soft up front, then pass over the top when they stack the box.
2. Stop Montel – The show and RB. Harris behind their O-line is probably BC’s biggest weapon. Make Shinskie throw on our secondary. Regardless of age he is still a freshman that hasn’t seen a defense as good as ours.
3. Pressure Shinskie – He hasn’t been pressured yet, but I think it’s about time. As good as their line is, they haven’t faced the likes of Jason Worilds (or Bud Foster).
4. Study the Clemson tape – I know it’s a different QB, but do whatever Clemson did to hold BC to 54 yards! See there’s the stat as promised. Reflect on that for a second. 54 yards throughout a whole game. Do you realize that’s less than a 1 yard per minute in the game?
5. No more big plays – Probably the most important factor for VT to win this game. We can not give up big plays. If we don’t, expect a score like we had against Miami, if we do, expect more of a score like Duke (hopefully with us being the winning team).
6. Get a turnover – I thought we lived on forcing turnovers. We are currently 92nd in the country averaging 1.4 takeaways a game. WTF Beamer Ball?

Prediction:

I really don’t know which way to go on this. The homer in me wants to look at the matchup and say our offense is better than their defense, and our defense is better than our offense, we should win big. But the pessimist in me says, I don’t know what to expect form our offense or defense and this is BC, and they always find a way to beat us or make a hard game out of it at least.

27-17 VT. 50% chance of showers, 95% chance of Ryan Williams getting 150 yards and 2 TDs and being the player of the game.


http://jacksonwest.files.wordpress.com/2006/01/250px-FlutieFlakes1.jpg

And I must say I’m thrilled that Flutie quit working for ESPN and won’t be covering our game this year. I’m still pretty sure the ESPN2 announcing will enrage me with its Boston bias. I mean how many BC/VT games did Flutie cover? And how many times did they interview and show Matt Ryan? They gushed over him more last year than anyone on the field, actually more than all the players from both teams combined. If you’re playing at home and into this sort of thing, drink any time they say Flutie or Ryan. Chug the entire time they show a replay of Ryan’s winning pass or Flutie’s hail mary. We could make a game out of this… Drink any time they say how big Boykin’s hands are, say how “mature” Shinskie is, any time they praise Herzlich and mention cancer, any time they mention Tyrod’s scrambling ability, any time they say “Beamer Ball,” show the lunch pail dude in the stands, mention how well Frank Spaziani has done in his first year, mention how the Atlantic Division is up in the air, and how the ACC needs a national champion contender, and finish your beer if Herzlich cries at halftime. Yes the announcers are this predictable, and no you won’t be sober.