Hokies Week 4 Blog - Miami Preview

To start, Ryan is worthless. Totally not dedicated to this blog that we decided to do on a whim after a night on the town. We were in two different towns, but you get the idea. So here I am to save the day again, but this time with more pessimism. Starting with this: Great win by the Hokies over Nebraska! They looked amazing… On a single drive! A big return by Roberts, a long run by Williams, and a broken play led to all 3 of our scores. I thought they would score 38 points against a real school? What was I thinking? But a win’s a win, and we’ll take it.

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

Hokies Week 3 Blog - Nebraska Preview

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/09/28/PH2008092800014.jpg

Time to get ready for Week 3 vs Nebraska! I’ll do my best to set the game up for you and make a few predictions for the action on Sat. Probably not going to have a running diary of the game again this weekend because, unlike against Marshall, you have no excuse to not watch this one! I guess unless you live in London… But still, no excuse!

VT had a big win over Marshall last week running all over the Thundering Herd. Take that irony! The combined running attack gained a total of 444 yards. Ryan Williams got 164 on the ground with 3 TDs and David Wilson got 165, both averaging over 10 yards a carry. The passing game started cold, but heated up going into halftime, so Tyrod might have finally gained a little confidence after a rough start to the season. The defense dominated but gave up two big plays setting up both of Marshall’s score. And the special teams were solid, returning a punt for a TD and not giving up any big plays the other way.

Nebraska has started the season off with two softies, and beaten both handedly. They are averaging about 300 yards a game passing and 200 yards a game rushing in those two games. First year starter, Zac Lee, has completed over 70% of his passes and has thrown 6 TDs and just 1 INT. At RB, they have Ryan Helu Jr. who is a 2 year starter and ran for 154 yards and 3 TD in their opener against Florida Atlantic. So the bad news is they seem to be explosive on offense. And they have only given up 12 points this season on defense. But the good news is that it was against Florida Atlantic and Arkansas St. Both were 6-6 teams in the Sun Belt Conference.

So what does this season tell us? How will we match up?

Nothing and who knows… One thing of note, Nebraska gave up 122 yards rushing to Florida Atlantic, and 143 yards to Arkansas St. Both of their starting RBs averaged around 4 or 5 yards a carry. Of course you could flip it to the other side of the coin and see that Alabama ran for 268 yards against us and Marshall even put up 126. But here’s the difference: Nebraska basically split time of possession with its opponents (lesser opponents at that). Alabama controlled the clock, and I mean controlled the clock, and their running game was mostly held in check until the 4th quarter till at last our defense collapsed in exhaustion. Marshall’s running game was completely stopped aside from a single run for 60 yards. Just looking at the stats, Nebraska was giving up chunks of running yards all game.

But still, the best we have to go by is the matchup last year, and maybe Nebraska’s bowl game vs Clemson. But lets be honest, Clemson was a complete shit show last year and who knows why that game turned out the way it did. So, how did our game shape up last year? VT win 35-30, season high passing yards for Tyrod (171) last year, held Nebraska to 55 rush yards on a 2.2 average, kicked 4 field goals all inside the 25, and had a 10 min advantage in time of possession.

So what’s the difference between the two teams from last year to this year? To start, Nebraska only had 13 starters return, and lost key people at QB and WR. Their offense is young, with only Helu and tight end, Nike Mcneil, returning at skill positions. Both had TDs last year against the Hokies. So from an experience stand point, you can argue that the Nebraska offense took a step back from last season. But if they stepped back in offense, they stepped up in defense. They return NFL talent, Ndemkong Suh, at NT. This kid is a freak, he lead the team in tackles (76), sacks (7.5), and tackles for a loss (11.5), plus he got 2 INT, and even caught a TD pass. King Kong will be a force in the middle, but hopefully our work against Terrence Cody has prepared our line for this. I assume King Kong is his nickname, and if not it should be and shame on you Nebraska fans. They will also get good play from their safeties, but their linebackers might be the weak spot, as they lack experience starting two redshirt freshmen.

So how bout them Hokies? The offense is better this year than last year regardless of what happened in the Alabama game. With the only real loss being Glennon (and come on, is that really a loss?), the Hokies have taken a huge step forward this year. To put it in perspective, last season the Hokies scored over 30 a single time last season, and it was not against East Carolina, Furman, Western Kentucky, Duke, or UVA. You remember who it was against? Of course you do! It was Nebraska. This year we put up 52 already, and if we remember the recipe on how we did it we’ll probably run up a few more scores by seasons end. And that recipe is, of course, give the ball to playmakers. And those playmakers are Ryan Williams and David Wilson. I would also like to see Roberts get some more touches, but we’ll get to that. So last season we put up 35 points, scoring 8 different times, against Nebraska. And yes I said their defense is better, but our offense made more of an improvement than their defense. So how does our defense look? Does Bud Foster still coach it? Yeah? Its good then, top 10 in the country.

So here’s how it all shakes out. Nebraska will be tossing it all over the field, so they will get their first downs. It’s just how our zone works. But with a new QB and new WRs who haven’t faced a road game or a big time opponent, can you think of a worst test than Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. This will likely lead to 2 or 3 picks and a couple sacks. And I’m sure VT will come out gunning down the field because we never learn, but we’ll settle down as soon as Williams gets a few touches and breaks a big gain. Then we’ll control clock, run the ball and complete short passes and win by a few scores.

And here’s what I personally want to see more and less of, in no particular order: more runs early in the game, more screens to Williams, Wilson, Roberts, and even Coale, less Ogelsby (no offense to the guy), more option, more play action, more short passes, way less deep throws, more sacks (where are you Worilds), more healthy Boone and Virgil (especially Virgil this game), more fans like Nebraska fans and VT fans, less Lou Holtz except when they talk about Notre Dame this weekend, less dramatic and inspiring commercials from oil companies, insurance companies, and IBM, more funny beer commercials, and less arrogant beer commercials. I don’t care that you’re triple hops brewed Miller Light, you still taste like corn and ass!

More Erin Andrews!

http://cache.deadspin.com/assets/resources/2007/10/erinandrewseatsasandwich.jpg

Less Holly Rowe (who we’re stuck with this week).

http://mtimages.cstv.com/runandshoot/*HollyRowe.jpg

And finally, more VT wins!

Just looked up Worilds stats, 7 tackles, 1 sack (4 yards), and 7 hurries. That’s actually pretty good for 2 games, but he still seems quiet. Maybe from the upper deck of the Georgia Dome and on a laptop it’s hard to notice…

Final score: 38-20 VT. This isn’t too far fetched is it? I mean, they don’t play any defense at all in the Big 12 right? I’m such a homer. And I don’t know why I’m doing this, but player of the game will be Tyrod Taylor. I should really say Ryan Williams… Sticking with Tyrod against my better judgment, 3 TDs (2 in the air, 1 on the ground) and over 300 total yards. Yikes, I sound like a lunatic.

Hokies Week 2 Blog - Marshall Diary

So my good friend and roommate, while we were at VT, and I decided to start a Virginia Tech sports blog for a couple of reasons. We both are knowledgeable fans. We think we can offer some humor and entertainment to writing about something we both enjoy. We can write about VT without worrying about being extremely biased (especially me). And we’ve been drinking. That said, we’re off! Be warned I ramble…

3 hours before kickoff – I’m glad we started this week instead of last week so we don’t look like huge homers that think we’ll destroy Alabama...

I’ve decided for this first article, I would just do a game diary for several reasons. But mostly because we decided to start blogging for VT last night and the game is today. So that rules out any pregame nonsense, and this just makes sense since not everyone could go to the game or get ESPN 360.


Anyway, some quick thoughts going into the game. I think our defense is absolutely sick. They played well against Alabama, but when you’re on the field for 80% of the game, you are going to give up some points. The new inside linebackers looked pretty good, but they couldn’t stop the sweep last week (when it even seemed obvious that it was coming). But that was Alabama with big time playmakers at RB and WR and a big line. I don’t think Marshall scores more than 13 points on us, and I think they only have a single sustained drive. All of their few points will come off of turnovers or field position.


The offense looked horrible against Alabama. Credit to Alabama’s defense and McClain, but the Hokies had to do something on O, and they couldn’t. The only bright spots were the few carries they gave Ryan Williams. Williams showed he can be the man to carry the offense on his back as Evans did last year, but they didn’t give him enough chances. I mean, he ran 13 times for 71 yards. That’s and average of 5.5! Give the kid some touches. The passing game was just difficult to watch. We have the playmakers, but Tyrod needs to step up and hit them. And at what point is our offensive line going to be as good as they’re hyped up to be to start the season. “The Hokies have a lot of experience on the line this year; they should be the strength of the offense.” We’ve heard this before. I can’t believe I fell for it again… Year after year I do. If we struggle to move the ball today, a certain offensive coordinator should be on the hot seat. But I think the offense gets it together today and the game isn’t close.


Recipe for Success: What the Hokies should do is give the ball to the running backs all day, and rack up 300 yards on the ground. This will open up the passing game for later games as teams will start to respect our run. But here’s what we will do, come out passing to try and boost Tyrod’s confidence. But it will fail. We’ll get our touchdowns, but with a lot of 3 and outs and a few turnovers. If I were calling the game, Williams would have 100 yards in the first half, and then Wilson would get 75 in the 2nd half with Ogelsby getting 40 throughout.


We will win 38-10, with Williams as player of the game


2 hours till kickoff – Sweet new TV comes sometime between now and 1 according to Brian from Best Buy. We will now watch football in a sexy 50” version of fun. Except for our game today… Because our game is on ESPN 360 and we don’t have an HDMI cable to connect the computer to the TV. So thanks ESPN with your monopoly of screwing over local broadcasts of games. This means we’re watching Stanford destroy Wake in 50” goodness, while we are going to watch the Hokies on 12 inches of fuzzy ESPN 360 computer.


1 hour and a half – Holy shit this is a big TV. Time to get cooking. I’m making ribs and Hungarian Wax Poppers (it’s a type of pepper) to celebrate the Hokies home opener and the new TV.


20 min – But with Wake and UNC struggling, the ACC looks horrible. Any respect for the ACC is riding on the shoulders of Miami and FSU these next few weeks.


5 min – Been cooking frantically and everything is now complete. After 2 hours and 45 min the ribs are done and they are amazing!


Recipe for Oven Baked BBQ Ribs! (skip this section if you don’t care)


This is more of a method of cooking ribs, as I have failed to make good ones before. So I felt you wanted me to share how to make terrific, baked ribs. With only 3 of watching I only got 1 rack of baby back ribs, so double, triple accordingly. Also, you’ll want to refrigerate the ribs overnight in the BBQ sauce, so be prepared.

Dry Rub:
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp of salt
1 tbsp of pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp cayenne

Sauce:
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup chile sauce
¼ cup rum
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire
2 cloves garlic

Directions:
Simmer all ingredients for the sauce for 20 min on low-med heat (or just use your favorite BBQ sauce instead). Apply dry rub liberally to all surfaces of ribs and rub it in. Make sure you have big enough pieces of aluminum foil for the ribs (cut ribs into manageable sizes if not), and spray foil lightly with cooking spray. Place ribs in aluminum foil. Pour the BBQ sauce liberally over ribs. Wrap tightly and put in the fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 300. Then cook the ribs for 2 hours 45 min. If I didn’t live in an apartment, I would cut the time by 30 min and grill them for 15 min. But alas. Add more sauce if you want, let them cool a little bit, then devour.

The Hungarian Wax Poppers are pretty good too (stuff with Italian sausage, cream cheese, parmesan, and a few spices and baked at 350) but it’s going to hurt to poop later.


KICKOFF!

1st Quarter:


12:30 – It’s like I know how Steinspring thinks… We force Marshall to punt, and then open the game with a bad pass down the field.
12:10 – See all you have to do is give it to Williams. Huge gain the first time he touches the ball. And they follow this up with? Another deep pass of course…
11:05 – First drive is over with 4 of 5 plays being pass plays. Got around 20 yards on the one run, and 6 yards combined on the pass plays. On Tyrod scrambling…
9:00 – Pretty soft zone on D with back to back open WRs down the field. Luckily both were ugly passes.
8:00 – Get the ball back, and Tyrod breaks a huge design run for 46 yards. When did Steiny start running the spread? We haven’t been under center yet.
6:30 – Running is so easy on these guys! It’s like I expected this.
5:30 – Uggghhhhh… Just run the ball. Tyrod intercepted in the endzone. Now we’re around 80 yards on run plays and the same 6 yards on passing plays (with 0 actual pass yards).
4:20 – 3 and out, then on the first play a 57 yard run by Williams for a TD! Man, I like being right.
2:30 – Haven’t talked D much. They’ve done a good job especially on the line. The secondary is letting people get open, but no damage so far. Special teams is looking good too.
1:00 – Hey! First completed pass! And it was a really good looking pass to Jarrett “Sausage Fingers” Boykin for 20 yards and a first down on 3rd and 14.
0:30 – Glad we brought the option back. It seems like it’s been a while since we ran it, and it’s not like we’ve had a shortage of mobile quarterbacks the last decade. Big gains by Taylor and Ogelsby to close the 1st quarter.
Overview – VT leads Marshall 7-0 with a big advantage on total yards at 191-34. Taylor has 20 yards passing completing 1/5 and 56 yards on the ground. Williams is leading the way and has 6 carries for 96 yards already! That’s an average of 14.3 yards a carry. And it’s only 7-0?


2nd Quarter:


14:15 – Steiny’s starting to figure it out. Williams runs in from 4 yards and gets TD #2. Offensive line is looking really good, and Tyrod is under center more now. (And Wake is finally starting to look good, not just because it’s on my sweet new TV in HD, but they’re moving the ball on O and not giving up anything on D.)
14:00 – Ha! Marshall’s running back’s name is Marshall. It took me this long to figure that out? That’s how you know this blog will be good. Nothing gets by me. Give me a break though, they haven’t been on the field at all today.
13:00 – Cam Martin out of Martinsville (this is fun) gets a stop and another Marshall 3 and out.
12:15 – Jayron Hosely runs back a punt 64 yards for another score! Special teams looks solid. Great blocking for Hosely on that run back. (Also, Wake ties it up 17-17! Come on ACC credibility!)
10:40 – Good drive by Marshall, the team, including a nice 60 yard TD run by Marshall, the RB. Two missed tackles and a bad job at containing him. He just ran into a mess of people the popped out to the right and was gone. 21-7 VT.
9:35 – Tyrod sacked on 3rd and 2. You know because we didn’t want to run for the short yardage because the pass is working so well and we aren’t averaging over 10 yards a carry. Tyrod’s stats so far: 1/6 passing, 20 yards, 1 INT, 1 sack. So we’re forced to punt.
7:35 – Another 3 and out and you can kiss Marshall’s momentum good bye.
7:20 – Guys on ESPN 360 reveal that apparently we’ve returned our entire coaching staff 3 years in a row. We are 1 of 5 FBS teams to do that. We’ve done so well on offense the last 3 years too, I can see why we would keep everyone.
6:30 – A nice scramble and dive by Tyrod extends the drive on a 3rd and 5. And Williams is looking slippery as he is dodging all these tackles.
5:40 – Great toss downfield to Coale. Finally! Williams follows it up with TD #3 for 30 yards. If you’re counting at home, that’s 5 TDs for Williams on the year, 2 TDs on returns, and well that’s it. Williams is just plain sick. I don’t really want Williams to be a backup in our running game this year or next year. Don’t take this the wrong way though, I mean I feel horrible for Evans, but I don’t want Williams splitting time. Except maybe with Wilson…
5:00 – Cam Martin is playing well today and just picked up another big tackle. And another 3 and out.
2:30 – Ogelsby in for Williams on this drive, and Tyrod comes out passing. Ogelsby gets 3 yards on a 4th and 1 at the 40.
1:50 – Couple of good passes and a great catch on the sidelines by Roberts.
1:30 – Wow. Tyrod just got 10 seconds of protections from the line and by scrambling around which leads to a 21 yard pass to Roberts for a TD. I think Roberts is a legit talent and could play at the next level.


Halftime – The Hokies’ D holds, and Tyrod takes a knee to take us into halftime. After 4 scores in the 2nd, the Hokies now lead 35-7. Hokies winning the total yardage battle 346-143. Tyrod is 6/12 with 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks, but he is showed a lot of improvement on the last drive and completed his last 4 passes. Williams gets 144 yards in the first half (12 yard average) with 3 TDs! Marshall already has 8 punts. Aside from a single breakdown on D, they are looking really sharp. Offense is banging on all cylinders now too. As is special teams.


3rd Quarter:


12:30 – ESPN announcer just had this nice little ditty: “Ogelsby and Williams sounds like a law firm, and they’re really making Marshall pay,” as Ogelsby runs for a first down. I laughed. As the little lady, my roommate, or anyone that has watched a game on TV with me ever could tell you, I despise most announcers. But I kind of like these guys. The color commentator seems downright giddy watching these athletes and this game, and has already lost his voice he’s so enthusiastic. But he’s not overly enthusiastic, just the right amount. And they have great chemistry together, and have made a few snappy one-liners. Here’s to you Sam Smith and Sonny Randle. You might be the only announcers I ever give a shout out to.
11:55 – Williams takes a screen 35 yards after what looked like a sure tackle. Just bounced off him and kept going.
10:45 – The Williams reception sets up a TD pass to Boyce on a great pass and catch. Tyrod put it low and in front of Boyce keeping it away from the defender on a well thrown ball. This capped off a nice drive with the only error being a 15 yard chop block which was the Hokies’ first penalty.
6:10 – Defense plays a soft zone and gives Marshall a long drive to the VT 16. But on 4th and 1, Cody Grimm hits Marshall (RB) behind the line and forces a fumble which VT recovered.
5:25 – Hokies have started to sub people in on both sides of the ball, and Wilson breaks a huge gain breaking several arm tackles for 50 yards.
2:50 – Matt Waldron hits a 28 yard field goal after Wilson is stuffed twice and Ju-Ju Clayton throws an incomplete pass. And during the commercial break, my roommate and I decide that the Nissan Cube is the ugliest automobile ever, even worse than the PT Cruiser and the Pontiac Aztec.



From uncrate.com

1:35 – Whitley gets beat deep and Brian Anderson from Marshall delivers a 60 yard bomb to Antavious Wilson from their own 20.
0:00 – Since the clock hit 0:00, we have had a VT late hit, a Marshall illegal formation, and a VT offsides. So it’s still the 3rd quarter 10 minutes later. A 2 yard screen and we’re finally done. Marshall will have 2nd and 7 from the VT 25 to start the 4th.


4th Quarter:


14:05 – Defense holds Marshall to a FG, and looked good aside from the 60 yard pass. 45-10 VT.
11:50 – Wilson flat out amazes me. He’s a freak. He just had a twisting, turning, reaching catch. It was called back, but he just put on an athletic display. He follows it up with a 15 yard run breaking through more arm tackles and just bouncing off of people.
9:45 – Wilson just ran 36 yards through defenders for a touch down on a 4th and short. Announcers call him “Houdini.” Ta-da, 9 carries 119 yards for an average of 13.2. I still like Little Sweetness as a better nickname. 52-10 VT.
6:00 – Not much going on, Ju-Ju Clayton neither impresses me nor depresses me with his performance. Still hasn’t completed a pass though. But we just punted for the 3rd time this game, compared to 9 for Marshall.
4:30 – Make that 10.
2:45 – Wilson is simply playing at a different speed than Marshall right now. Another 30+ yard run. And in classy Frank Beamer fashion, they are taking a knee for the final 3 plays from inside the opponents red zone to run out the clock.


Final stats – Wow! Hokies win 52-10 with 605 total yards compared to 253 for Marshall. The Hokies racked up an astounding 444 yards on the ground with Williams gaining 164 yards and 3 TDs on 16 carries (and 1 reception for 26 yards), Wilson gaining 165 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries, Ogelsby gaining 60 yards on 12 carries, and Taylor ran for 58 yards on 7 carries (which includes the 2 sacks). The team rush average was 8.4. This was also the first time ever that VT has had 2 rushers with over 160 yards. Tyrod ended the day 9/16 passing with 161 yards with 2 TDs, to Roberts and Boyce, and 1 INT, to DeQuam Bembry.


No real analysis needed, not that I could provide it anyway. The Hokies ran all over Marshall, which opened up the passing game in the 2nd quarter. The defense gave up 2 big plays, but completely dominated otherwise. And special teams performed well with a big return from Hosely and solid work by everyone on the kick offs, punts, and returns. My prediction turned out to be pretty good, but Steiny figured out that all we need to do to put up points is to hand the ball off to our playmakers. And I’d give Ryan Williams player of the game, but Wilson is certainly debatable.

Highlight of the week: Will it be Ryan Williams breaking a long run? How about David Wilson? So many to choose from!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTjAppTguMY


Neither! It’s the pre-game to the UVA/TCU game! Not even the Cavalier’s horse wants to root for UVA this year, and I really can’t blame him…

Quote of the week: During the OSU/USC game, the Little Lady said this about Jim Tressel:
“You know how Jim Tressel looks really clean cut and conservative? He seems so clean cut that it’s creepy. I wouldn’t want to sit next to him at a bar for fear that he would rufie my drink as soon as I turn around.”




And maybe she's on to something...

So my good friend and roommate, while we were at VT, and I decided to start a Virginia Tech sports blog for a couple of reasons. We both are knowledgeable fans. We think we can offer some humor and entertainment to writing about something we both enjoy. We can write about VT without worrying about being extremely biased (especially me). And we’ve been drinking. That said, we’re off! Be warned I ramble…
3 hours before kickoff – I’m glad we started this week instead of last week so we don’t look like huge homers that think we’ll destroy Alabama...
I’ve decided for this first article, I would just do a game diary for several reasons. But mostly because we decided to start blogging for VT last night and the game is today. So that rules out any pregame nonsense, and this just makes sense since not everyone could go to the game or get ESPN 360.
Anyway, some quick thoughts going into the game. I think our defense is absolutely sick. They played well against Alabama, but when you’re on the field for 80% of the game, you are going to give up some points. The new inside linebackers looked pretty good, but they couldn’t stop the sweep last week (when it even seemed obvious that it was coming). But that was Alabama with big time playmakers at RB and WR and a big line. I don’t think Marshall scores more than 13 points on us, and I think they only have a single sustained drive. All of their few points will come off of turnovers or field position.
The offense looked horrible against Alabama. Credit to Alabama’s defense and McClain, but the Hokies had to do something on O, and they couldn’t. The only bright spots were the few carries they gave Ryan Williams. Williams showed he can be the man to carry the offense on his back as Evans did last year, but they didn’t give him enough chances. I mean, he ran 13 times for 71 yards. That’s and average of 5.5! Give the kid some touches. The passing game was just difficult to watch. We have the playmakers, but Tyrod needs to step up and hit them. And at what point is our offensive line going to be as good as they’re hyped up to be to start the season. “The Hokies have a lot of experience on the line this year; they should be the strength of the offense.” We’ve heard this before. I can’t believe I fell for it again… Year after year I do. If we struggle to move the ball today, a certain offensive coordinator should be on the hot seat. But I think the offense gets it together today and the game isn’t close.
Recipe for Success: What the Hokies should do is give the ball to the running backs all day, and rack up 300 yards on the ground. This will open up the passing game for later games as teams will start to respect our run. But here’s what we will do, come out passing to try and boost Tyrod’s confidence. But it will fail. We’ll get our touchdowns, but with a lot of 3 and outs and a few turnovers. If I were calling the game, Williams would have 100 yards in the first half, and then Wilson would get 75 in the 2nd half with Ogelsby getting 40 throughout.
We will win 38-10, with Williams as player of the game
2 hours till kickoff – Sweet new TV comes sometime between now and 1 according to Brian from Best Buy. We will now watch football in a sexy 50” version of fun. Except for our game today… Because our game is on ESPN 360 and we don’t have an HDMI cable to connect the computer to the TV. So thanks ESPN with your monopoly of screwing over local broadcasts of games. This means we’re watching Stanford destroy Wake in 50” goodness, while we are going to watch the Hokies on 12 inches of fuzzy ESPN 360 computer.
1 hour and a half – Holy shit this is a big TV. Time to get cooking. I’m making ribs and Hungarian Wax Poppers (it’s a type of pepper) to celebrate the Hokies home opener and the new TV.
20 min – But with Wake and UNC struggling, the ACC looks horrible. Any respect for the ACC is riding on the shoulders of Miami and FSU these next few weeks.
5 min – Been cooking frantically and everything is now complete. After 2 hours and 45 min the ribs are done and they are amazing!
Recipe for Oven Baked BBQ Ribs! (skip this section if you don’t care)
This is more of a method of cooking ribs, as I have failed to make good ones before. So I felt you wanted me to share how to make terrific, baked ribs. With only 3 of watching I only got 1 rack of baby back ribs, so double, triple accordingly. Also, you’ll want to refrigerate the ribs overnight in the BBQ sauce, so be prepared.
Dry Rub:
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp of salt
1 tbsp of pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp cayenne

Sauce:
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup chile sauce
¼ cup rum
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire
2 cloves garlic

Directions:
Simmer all ingredients for the sauce for 20 min on low-med heat (or just use your favorite BBQ sauce instead). Apply dry rub liberally to all surfaces of ribs and rub it in. Make sure you have big enough pieces of aluminum foil for the ribs (cut ribs into manageable sizes if not), and spray foil lightly with cooking spray. Place ribs in aluminum foil. Pour the BBQ sauce liberally over ribs. Wrap tightly and put in the fridge overnight.
Preheat oven to 300. Then cook the ribs for 2 hours 45 min. If I didn’t live in an apartment, I would cut the time by 30 min and grill them for 15 min. But alas. Add more sauce if you want, let them cool a little bit, then devour.
The Hungarian Wax Poppers are pretty good too (stuff with Italian sausage, cream cheese, parmesan, and a few spices and baked at 350) but it’s going to hurt to poop later.
KICKOFF!
1st Quarter:
12:30 – It’s like I know how Steinspring thinks… We force Marshall to punt, and then open the game with a bad pass down the field.
12:10 – See all you have to do is give it to Williams. Huge gain the first time he touches the ball. And they follow this up with? Another deep pass of course…
11:05 – First drive is over with 4 of 5 plays being pass plays. Got around 20 yards on the one run, and 6 yards combined on the pass plays. On Tyrod scrambling…
9:00 – Pretty soft zone on D with back to back open WRs down the field. Luckily both were ugly passes.
8:00 – Get the ball back, and Tyrod breaks a huge design run for 46 yards. When did Steiny start running the spread? We haven’t been under center yet.
6:30 – Running is so easy on these guys! It’s like I expected this.
5:30 – Uggghhhhh… Just run the ball. Tyrod intercepted in the endzone. Now we’re around 80 yards on run plays and the same 6 yards on passing plays (with 0 actual pass yards).
4:20 – 3 and out, then on the first play a 57 yard run by Williams for a TD! Man, I like being right.
2:30 – Haven’t talked D much. They’ve done a good job especially on the line. The secondary is letting people get open, but no damage so far. Special teams is looking good too.
1:00 – Hey! First completed pass! And it was a really good looking pass to Jarrett “Sausage Fingers” Boykin for 20 yards and a first down on 3rd and 14.
0:30 – Glad we brought the option back. It seems like it’s been a while since we ran it, and it’s not like we’ve had a shortage of mobile quarterbacks the last decade. Big gains by Taylor and Ogelsby to close the 1st quarter.
Overview – VT leads Marshall 7-0 with a big advantage on total yards at 191-34. Taylor has 20 yards passing completing 1/5 and 56 yards on the ground. Williams is leading the way and has 6 carries for 96 yards already! That’s an average of 14.3 yards a carry. And it’s only 7-0?
2nd Quarter:
14:15 – Steiny’s starting to figure it out. Williams runs in from 4 yards and gets TD #2. Offensive line is looking really good, and Tyrod is under center more now. (And Wake is finally starting to look good, not just because it’s on my sweet new TV in HD, but they’re moving the ball on O and not giving up anything on D.)
14:00 – Ha! Marshall’s running back’s name is Marshall. It took me this long to figure that out? That’s how you know this blog will be good. Nothing gets by me. Give me a break though, they haven’t been on the field at all today.
13:00 – Cam Martin out of Martinsville (this is fun) gets a stop and another Marshall 3 and out.
12:15 – Jayron Hosely runs back a punt 64 yards for another score! Special teams looks solid. Great blocking for Hosely on that run back. (Also, Wake ties it up 17-17! Come on ACC credibility!)
10:40 – Good drive by Marshall, the team, including a nice 60 yard TD run by Marshall, the RB. Two missed tackles and a bad job at containing him. He just ran into a mess of people the popped out to the right and was gone. 21-7 VT.
9:35 – Tyrod sacked on 3rd and 2. You know because we didn’t want to run for the short yardage because the pass is working so well and we aren’t averaging over 10 yards a carry. Tyrod’s stats so far: 1/6 passing, 20 yards, 1 INT, 1 sack. So we’re forced to punt.
7:35 – Another 3 and out and you can kiss Marshall’s momentum good bye.
7:20 – Guys on ESPN 360 reveal that apparently we’ve returned our entire coaching staff 3 years in a row. We are 1 of 5 FBS teams to do that. We’ve done so well on offense the last 3 years too, I can see why we would keep everyone.
6:30 – A nice scramble and dive by Tyrod extends the drive on a 3rd and 5. And Williams is looking slippery as he is dodging all these tackles.
5:40 – Great toss downfield to Coale. Finally! Williams follows it up with TD #3 for 30 yards. If you’re counting at home, that’s 5 TDs for Williams on the year, 2 TDs on returns, and well that’s it. Williams is just plain sick. I don’t really want Williams to be a backup in our running game this year or next year. Don’t take this the wrong way though, I mean I feel horrible for Evans, but I don’t want Williams splitting time. Except maybe with Wilson…
5:00 – Cam Martin is playing well today and just picked up another big tackle. And another 3 and out.
2:30 – Ogelsby in for Williams on this drive, and Tyrod comes out passing. Ogelsby gets 3 yards on a 4th and 1 at the 40.
1:50 – Couple of good passes and a great catch on the sidelines by Roberts.
1:30 – Wow. Tyrod just got 10 seconds of protections from the line and by scrambling around which leads to a 21 yard pass to Roberts for a TD. I think Roberts is a legit talent and could play at the next level.
Halftime – The Hokies’ D holds, and Tyrod takes a knee to take us into halftime. After 4 scores in the 2nd, the Hokies now lead 35-7. Hokies winning the total yardage battle 346-143. Tyrod is 6/12 with 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks, but he is showed a lot of improvement on the last drive and completed his last 4 passes. Williams gets 144 yards in the first half (12 yard average) with 3 TDs! Marshall already has 8 punts. Aside from a single breakdown on D, they are looking really sharp. Offense is banging on all cylinders now too. As is special teams.
3rd Quarter:
12:30 – ESPN announcer just had this nice little ditty: “Ogelsby and Williams sounds like a law firm, and they’re really making Marshall pay,” as Ogelsby runs for a first down. I laughed. As the little lady, my roommate, or anyone that has watched a game on TV with me ever could tell you, I despise most announcers. But I kind of like these guys. The color commentator seems downright giddy watching these athletes and this game, and has already lost his voice he’s so enthusiastic. But he’s not overly enthusiastic, just the right amount. And they have great chemistry together, and have made a few snappy one-liners. Here’s to you Sam Smith and Sonny Randle. You might be the only announcers I ever give a shout out to.
11:55 – Williams takes a screen 35 yards after what looked like a sure tackle. Just bounced off him and kept going.
10:45 – The Williams reception sets up a TD pass to Boyce on a great pass and catch. Tyrod put it low and in front of Boyce keeping it away from the defender on a well thrown ball. This capped off a nice drive with the only error being a 15 yard chop block which was the Hokies’ first penalty.
6:10 – Defense plays a soft zone and gives Marshall a long drive to the VT 16. But on 4th and 1, Cody Grimm hits Marshall (RB) behind the line and forces a fumble which VT recovered.
5:25 – Hokies have started to sub people in on both sides of the ball, and Wilson breaks a huge gain breaking several arm tackles for 50 yards.
2:50 – Matt Waldron hits a 28 yard field goal after Wilson is stuffed twice and Ju-Ju Clayton throws an incomplete pass. And during the commercial break, my roommate and I decide that the Nissan Cube is the ugliest automobile ever, even worse than the PT Cruiser and the Pontiac Aztec.
From uncrate.com

1:35 – Whitley gets beat deep and Brian Anderson from Marshall delivers a 60 yard bomb to Antavious Wilson from their own 20.
0:00 – Since the clock hit 0:00, we have had a VT late hit, a Marshall illegal formation, and a VT offsides. So it’s still the 3rd quarter 10 minutes later. A 2 yard screen and we’re finally done. Marshall will have 2nd and 7 from the VT 25 to start the 4th.
4th Quarter:
14:05 – Defense holds Marshall to a FG, and looked good aside from the 60 yard pass. 45-10 VT.
11:50 – Wilson flat out amazes me. He’s a freak. He just had a twisting, turning, reaching catch. It was called back, but he just put on an athletic display. He follows it up with a 15 yard run breaking through more arm tackles and just bouncing off of people.
9:45 – Wilson just ran 36 yards through defenders for a touch down on a 4th and short. Announcers call him “Houdini.” Ta-da, 9 carries 119 yards for an average of 13.2. I still like Little Sweetness as a better nickname. 52-10 VT.
6:00 – Not much going on, Ju-Ju Clayton neither impresses me nor depresses me with his performance. Still hasn’t completed a pass though. But we just punted for the 3rd time this game, compared to 9 for Marshall.
4:30 – Make that 10.
2:45 – Wilson is simply playing at a different speed than Marshall right now. Another 30+ yard run. And in classy Frank Beamer fashion, they are taking a knee for the final 3 plays from inside the opponents red zone to run out the clock.
Final stats – Wow! Hokies win 52-10 with 605 total yards compared to 253 for Marshall. The Hokies racked up an astounding 444 yards on the ground with Williams gaining 164 yards and 3 TDs on 16 carries (and 1 reception for 26 yards), Wilson gaining 165 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries, Ogelsby gaining 60 yards on 12 carries, and Taylor ran for 58 yards on 7 carries (which includes the 2 sacks). The team rush average was 8.4. This was also the first time ever that VT has had 2 rushers with over 160 yards. Tyrod ended the day 9/16 passing with 161 yards with 2 TDs, to Roberts and Boyce, and 1 INT, to DeQuam Bembry.
No real analysis needed, not that I could provide it anyway. The Hokies ran all over Marshall, which opened up the passing game in the 2nd quarter. The defense gave up 2 big plays, but completely dominated otherwise. And special teams performed well with a big return from Hosely and solid work by everyone on the kick offs, punts, and returns. My prediction turned out to be pretty good, but Steiny figured out that all we need to do to put up points is to hand the ball off to our playmakers. And I’d give Ryan Williams player of the game, but Wilson is certainly debatable.

Highlight of the week: Will it be Ryan Williams breaking a long run? How about David Wilson? So many to choose from!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTjAppTguMY
Neither! It’s the pre-game to the UVA/TCU game! Not even the Cavalier’s horse wants to root for UVA this year, and I really can’t blame him…

Quote of the week: During the OSU/USC game, the Little Lady said this about Jim Tressel:
“You know how Jim Tressel looks really clean cut and conservative? He seems so clean cut that it’s creepy. I wouldn’t want to sit next to him at a bar for fear that he would rufie my drink as soon as I turn around.”
From sportsillustrated.cnn.com

And she might be on to something…

From theescapepod.wordpress.com