All Glory Comes From Daring To Begin: Week 1 Thoughts

Well that was slightly unexpected. I figured the Hokies would be able to handle the Mountaineers easily, but as the saying goes, it was almost too easy. Perhaps it was the inept offense we've experienced the past handful of years, or the slow starts that became a motif last season when we did actually have a great offense, but I wasn't expecting a full on dominate performance.

Not to say that everything was perfect on Saturday. The Lieutenant played very well for his first game as the starting QB without making any obvious or hurtful errors. His passing completion wasn't as high as many were probably hoping for, but there were also at least four drops that could have helped that number. Boykin had one that appeared to be dropped when he tried to turn for the extra YAC. Davis had another huge drop on a perfectly executed post route that could have gone for 6 had the catch been made. My first thought when that happened was that he has maybe fallen back into his old habit of having brick hands. Luckily he made up for that drop later.

David "The Jet" Wilson probably played the best and most consistent on the offensive side of the ball, which was to be expected given his output in spring and fall practice. His list of goals for the season were released later after the game, and I expect him to be able to attain all except two of them. 100 yards per game, break VT single-season/game rush records, 20 TDs, 0 fumbles, All American. The two that I feel possibly won't happen are the fumbles and the game record. Zero fumbles is a great mental goal, but nearly impossible to do with as many carries as he will get. The only reason I don't think he'll break Darren Evans' 253 yards in a game is the fact that the teams we play where he would most likely be capable to get that many yards, he'll probably be pulled early in the game due to score difference.

Defensively speaking, we're obviously very different (in a good way) from last year. It felt like we were watching Foster defenses of years past where we finished top-10, and teams had problems ever getting more than a couple first downs at a time. A shutout would have been great, but getting younger guys experience will prove to be more important in the future, so nothing to lose sleep over. Keeping their AA guys in check and not letting them get any big plays off the 1st team D shows the improvement between January and September. Depth might still be an issue if there are any injuries, but if both sides of the ball do their job and get the score lopsided in games we should, the experience for the backups will come quickly.

The most talked about negative from the game (besides Frank's womanly looking sunglasses) was the punting game. Clearly we're going to be giving a short field to any team that can hold us when we're inside our own 30. The glass-half-full side to that is hopefully we never have to worry about out kicking the coverage, and can let the ball drop to the turf or be fair caught and let the D do their job.

Look Around the ACC


Unofficially, I was 10-1 in my ACC predictions this week. Between some predictions I made in my ACC preview entry, a few games that were in a football pool I'm a part of, and all the gimme games against 1-AA teams, the only wrong guess I made was mistaking Duke for being capable of beating Richmond. Even though it's pretty cliche, I'll start to make weekly predictions for any game involving an ACC team and see how I fare at the end of the season.

Starting with the two ranked teams, FSU and VT did what they needed to in order to live up to their ranking. They may or may not be there at the end of the season, but they made it through Week 1 without anything happening that would make someone question their capabilities. Now they just need to continue to do it against teams that will actually challenge them.

The biggest surprises in a good way would be UVA's performance against W&M, and UNC's Bryn Renner's completion percentage against JMU. I'm not ready to say UVA will be a good or even bowl bound team this year, as their competition shouldn't challenge any BCS level team, but like FSU and VT, they didn't do much that would make their weaknesses obvious. Renner will obviously never have a game statistically like he did in his debut, but as far as confidence goes, he can ride this one for a few more weeks.

A lot is being talked about regarding the number GT put up in the passing game against WCU. Just looking at the stat sheet it should be commended, but actually watching it didn't sell me on it. In the first quarter, twice the Jackets threw a ball right off the snap to the wideout on the sideline, who then turned it up field for about 80 and then 70 yards respectively. Both times the Catamount defense took obvious horrible angles, and displayed poor tackling ability. There was an impressive post route that struck for a TD in the second half that I wouldn't have expected in years past. So I'm waiting for them to have a game where they put up those numbers against a team that fields capable defenders before I crown them as a balanced offense.

Even though they both won, Clemson and NC State I would say put on the worst performances in terms of potential and opponent. Most teams get a Week 1 pass, especially in terms of offense, but there was enough there in my opinion to warrant concern throughout at least the next month. The problems I saw may or may not lose them any games by themselves, but they won't be fixed in just a few more practices.

Miami and Maryland was easily the most entertaining game in the league this week, and one of the best of the whole weekend. Uniform opinions aside, the Terps looked fantastic on offense on every part of the field not called the red zone. Had O'Brien ran the ball instead of trying to force a TD pass for his stats, and had the receivers been able to hang on to the ball, the game could have been over by halftime. As much as I hate Miami, they played hard without giving up when they were down on the scoreboard, which says a lot about them as a team. In the past they never appeared to have the motivation to overcome adversity, and it would have been even easier Monday night with all the players missing due to suspension. Now I guess we'll see how they react after starting 0-2 (spoiler alert!).

Final Parting Shot


I'd like to take this part of my blog to dedicate solely to one of college football's most storied programs, to express to you how much I loathe the attention and respect you receive having done nothing to earn it in almost a decade. So Notre Dame Fighting Irish, I present to you this message, courtesy of a guest speaker we all know and love:

H-O-K-I-E-S HOKIES!!!