Biggest take away from last night:
- Thread starter EERs 3:16
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We committed some key penalties at times in the game that either stopped us from scoring or helped them to score. Tech was able to play the entire game without being called for a single hold or block in the back....even though they were doing that at times. We need to find out their secret for being able to disguise penalties from the zebras...
Not to mention fumbles that aren't, our non-holds that are, and how to get PI's for balls tgrown 10 feet over the receiver's head out of bounds. We have work to do before we can beat the Hokies.
On a sad note, B12 gonna rip our D to shreds.
On a sad note, B12 gonna rip our D to shreds.
It is much more than the punting game.
For some last nights game is a bit of a shock. This was not supposed to happen; WVU was finally around the corner and everything was looking up. Except it isn't. Tech won the game but by the end of this season we will discover that they really aren't anything special and will likely have another typical year for them, but they looked and performed well last night and that is what counts in each game.
For the rest of us, this is an affirmation and not a criticism. Dana has not been growing; he grew to his level of ability in the 2014 season. I will say he is not a bad coach and will likely be successful in a smaller limelight, but he is not a coach for this level of play and I do not think he ever will be. So long as WVU retains his services, last night is the sort of 'product' we should expect. A better coach would not have only won that game but done so in dominant fashion. Now we have 4 more years of this mediocrity.
I believe we played very well at times but to me the thing that hurt us the most was our field position. This was a direct result of special teams. The punt game was terrible. We gave up short fields as a result. Punting from deep we punt it 33 yds? The weak kick-offs led to VPI having great starting field position.
WVU DEFENSE DID BETTER THAN THE DEFENSE OF BUD FOSTER, THE #1 DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. GRIER WILL SHRED THE BIG 12 DEFENSE FAR MORE THAN THE BIG 12 OFFENSES WILL SHRED THE WVU DEFENSE. SPECIAL TEAMS IS ANOTHER STORY. THAT HAS TO BE FIXED. EAST CAROLINA, DELAWARE AND KANSAS WILL GIVE DANA TIME TO DO THAT BEFORE THE BIG 12 SCHEDULE GETS TOUGHER.
If you truly believe that WVU's defense played well last night, then I can't help you, Cuyahoga. WVU's defense was good only when it crowded the line of scrimmage, and Va. Tech was either afraid to call vertical pass plays or attempted to chew time off of the clock. A freshman QB with very raw passing skills was able to expose WVU's weak defense. Something tells me that Fuente would have been elated, if you had told him before the game that his Freshman QB-led offense would put up 235 passing yards, 234 rushing yards, and not commit a single turnover.
Not necessarily trying to defend Dana, but I doubt any coach was going to beat them in dominating fashion with this team. They were bigger, faster, and stronger than we were. Our offensive line was getting absolutely wrecked in the first half.
It's more than just the punting game. We are giving up huge returns, kicking the balls out of bounds, shanking FGs of the cross bars, and we don't even attempt to return a punt.
There is no area of our STs that is even average. Also, wtf is up with our punter getting hurt every time he kicks it?
WELL, YOU ARE AN OHIO STATE GRAD SO I'LL EXCUSE YOUR IGNORANCE. THE WVU DEFENSE MADE VT FAIL TO CONVERT ON 3RD DOWN EITHER 6 OR 7 STRAIGHT TIMES. THAT IS PLAYING WELL. VT HAD MUCH BETTER FIELD POSITION THAN WVU, THANKS TO THE AWFUL WVU SPECIAL TEAMS, BUT YET BARELY SQUEEZED OUT A VICTORY. THAT'S GOOD DEFENSE BY WVU, WHICH WILL SHRED BIG 12 TEAMS IF THE WVU DEFENSE PLAYS AS STRONGLY AS IT DID AGAINST VT. MY NEARLY 2 DECADES AS A SPORTSWRITER TELLS ME THAT THIS REBUILT DEFENSE (1 STARTER BACK ON THE FRONT LINE) WILL ONLY GET BETTER AS THE SEASON PROGRESSES UNDER TONY GIBSON'S COACHING. YOU CAN GO BACK TO WONDERING WHY OHIO STATE HAD SO MUCH TROUBLE AGAINST A MIDDLING INDIANA TEAM.
Not sure what game you watched but our Offensive line was not getting wrecked. They gave Grier all day to find open receivers. Hard to run when VT loaded the box. Grier was off target early and we had a few drops but no way this was a bad performance by our O Line.
LOL, Yeah, Ohio State had so much trouble that it won by only 28 points! You had better hope and pray that Oklahoma doesn't get thumped by Ohio State again on Saturday, as the Big 12 will be buried for good, if the Sooners lay another egg vs. the Buckeyes. Back to the subject, as you seem to have hijacked your own thread: Were you napping when Va. Tech's kicker missed two easy FG attempts, which allowed WVU to stay in the Game?
You're correct, especially with respect to the First Half when Grier had all day and night to survey the field, and find the open receiver.
WVU OFFENSE HAD THE MOST YARDS AGAINST A BUD FOSTER DEFENSE IN 10 YEARS! THAT IS NOT A LIABILITY BUT AN INCREDIBLE ACHIEVEMENT. I WILL REPEAT: WVU OFFENSE WON THE GAME. WVU DEFENSE WON THE GAME. WVU SPECIAL TEAMS LOST THE GAME. HANDS DOWN.
M angy special teams caused loss to Virginia Tech, 31-24
O bliterate East Carolina
U nhinge Delaware State
N apalm Kansas
T errorize TCU
A nnihilate Texas Tech
I ncinerate Baylor
N ullify Oklahoma State
E masculate Iowa State
E rectile dysfunction Kansas State
R eam Texas
S avage Oklahoma
Yards don't win games. Points win games. Red font and capital letters don't change these facts. The End.
I got a few.
1st game of the year.
No preseason.
A couple of WV dropped passes and 2 missed defensive assignments (1. QB keeper X 2 up the middle and 2. Corner abandoned WR on easy rub screen.). Lots to work on. Grier has to get the deep ball better.
Add in Bad officiating on both sides. That head official is a former Big East official (6 years back) and he was horrible then and he still sux. I don't know about the rest of the crew. The B1G hired that idiot?
The WVU holding call (10 yds) which lead to Dana getting penalized addnl 15 was total BS. The 5 yd false start penalty on VT which lead to Fuente getting penalized addnl 15 was total BS. We got our penalty on 3rd down. VT got there's on 1st down. The WVU defense still gave up a 1st down with a starting situation of 1st and 30-INEXCUSABLE!
I still don't get how the replay messed us over on the fumble that wasn't but was. That's a fumble WV recovered. Then the VT rb grabs on. What do they even have replay for? I have seen one replay situation worse (Oklahoma at Oregon with the On Side Kick Oklahoma recovered but was awarded to Oregon).
All in all close game. Play that game 10 times and it's probably a split 5-5 in Week 1. Week 13, who knows?
1st game of the year.
No preseason.
A couple of WV dropped passes and 2 missed defensive assignments (1. QB keeper X 2 up the middle and 2. Corner abandoned WR on easy rub screen.). Lots to work on. Grier has to get the deep ball better.
Add in Bad officiating on both sides. That head official is a former Big East official (6 years back) and he was horrible then and he still sux. I don't know about the rest of the crew. The B1G hired that idiot?
The WVU holding call (10 yds) which lead to Dana getting penalized addnl 15 was total BS. The 5 yd false start penalty on VT which lead to Fuente getting penalized addnl 15 was total BS. We got our penalty on 3rd down. VT got there's on 1st down. The WVU defense still gave up a 1st down with a starting situation of 1st and 30-INEXCUSABLE!
I still don't get how the replay messed us over on the fumble that wasn't but was. That's a fumble WV recovered. Then the VT rb grabs on. What do they even have replay for? I have seen one replay situation worse (Oklahoma at Oregon with the On Side Kick Oklahoma recovered but was awarded to Oregon).
All in all close game. Play that game 10 times and it's probably a split 5-5 in Week 1. Week 13, who knows?
My takeaways:
1.Special Teams - still big problems. We don't seem to set up for a return at all and our punt returner only fair catches - but at least he catches it. I don't think the staff has a lot of faith in our K to make anything beyond 33 yards.
2. Our CBs don't play the ball - too much contact, getting caught on play action and not looking for the ball in the air. They need to spend less time on bravado and more time on revamping their skills. Would like to see what Winfield can do. Could he be worse that what was out there last nite?
3. Coach -still can't figure out what he's doing with time management. Why did he let the run so much time off the clock on their last drive and use only 1 of his 3 timeouts?
4. MacDougle is a stud. He needs to play more.
5. Crawford is looks great. I know Spavital was going by how many they had in the box, but somehow Justin needs the ball more. He's too good of a player to only touch it 13 times.
6. Kyzir White is going to make an NFL team happy. Kid just wrecks people. Needs a little more work in pass coverage but he's a monster.
7. WRs on 3rd down breaking off their routes too short? How many times did a pass get caught only to have the wr catch it 2 yards short of the sticks. Not sure whether they were doing what they were supposed to be and then expected to get YAC for first down or they are breaking route off too soon on those. Either way VT DBs were on a different level than ours. Both in coverage and in tackling.
1.Special Teams - still big problems. We don't seem to set up for a return at all and our punt returner only fair catches - but at least he catches it. I don't think the staff has a lot of faith in our K to make anything beyond 33 yards.
2. Our CBs don't play the ball - too much contact, getting caught on play action and not looking for the ball in the air. They need to spend less time on bravado and more time on revamping their skills. Would like to see what Winfield can do. Could he be worse that what was out there last nite?
3. Coach -still can't figure out what he's doing with time management. Why did he let the run so much time off the clock on their last drive and use only 1 of his 3 timeouts?
4. MacDougle is a stud. He needs to play more.
5. Crawford is looks great. I know Spavital was going by how many they had in the box, but somehow Justin needs the ball more. He's too good of a player to only touch it 13 times.
6. Kyzir White is going to make an NFL team happy. Kid just wrecks people. Needs a little more work in pass coverage but he's a monster.
7. WRs on 3rd down breaking off their routes too short? How many times did a pass get caught only to have the wr catch it 2 yards short of the sticks. Not sure whether they were doing what they were supposed to be and then expected to get YAC for first down or they are breaking route off too soon on those. Either way VT DBs were on a different level than ours. Both in coverage and in tackling.
But..................but...............Dana was the 'coach in waiting' that WVU couldn't wait to elevate to HC status. What in the heck went wrong? Warez
Now why are you here? I realize that an OSU is boring as hell, but shouldn't you be expressing your moronic opinions on your own board?
Speaking of morons, what the he!! does "an OSU" mean? There would be no point in posting about a WVU/Va. Tech game on an Ohio State message board because, unlike me, very few Ohio State fans live in West Virginia, let alone care at all about WVU athletics. Somebody has a butthurt rash today, doesn't she?
You shouldn't talk about yourself like that. Seek therapy before it becomes a serious threat towards suicide.