Analyzing Virginia Tech's Game vs Liberty

#26
#26
VT was not getting a lot of pressure on the Liberty QB. The VT receivers were much bigger than the Liberty DBs

Liberty ran out of steam near the end of the 1st half. They were way out sized.
 
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#27
#27
Milerd said:
VT was not getting a lot of pressure on the Liberty QB. The VT receivers were much bigger than the Liberty DBs

Liberty ran out of steam near the end of the 1st half. They were way out sized.
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This is true, but if you watch the game film, there were not a lot of stunts, blitzes from the Foster D. I can just assume that this was planned to not show the Vol's what they are capable of.

The VT wide receivers were a lot bigger then Liberty's DB's and that probably why they were able to throw the ball up for grabs. That wont work in Bristol with the bigger, better Vol's DB's. I would also just assume that the passing game was being held closer to the vest also.
 
#28
#28
They have a big receiver (Ford) who caught a lot of balls against Liberty and could start just about anywhere.
 
#29
#29
DiderotsGhost said:
Watched through some of the Va Tech game versus Liberty on ESPN3's replay site. I didn't watch the whole game; just fast-forwarded through to interesting possessions. VT won the game 36-13. Liberty is a I-AA (FCS) team. Sagarin had Liberty ranked #159 for the 2015 season; in comparision App State finished #60. Here are some observations.


VT Had Difficulty with Pressure. Surprising how much pressure Liberty got on the QB in the 1st half. Jerod Evans panicked a few times with the blitz and Liberty was able to storm through VT's O-line early in the game a few times.

Special Teams Good. VT's special teams did pretty well. Lot of good kick and punt returns. I didn't see any big mistakes. VT also managed to pick up a safety against Liberty on a punt; however, the Liberty returner should've never caught the ball inside the 10.

Utilizing the Outside. VT's offense utilized the outside passing game heavily. Lot of quick passes to outside receivers, hoping to take advantage of mismatches. This is interesting, but we also know that the speed of our secondary is a big advantage, so VT could have more difficulty on the outside against us.

Picked On Secondary. VT found a few one-on-one match-ups they liked and picked on Liberty's secondary repeatedly. Once again, however, they are going to have more trouble finding those types of match-ups against us. I thought our secondary was our biggest strength vs App State.

Jerod Evans. Evans was a 4-star JUCO recruit from the 2016 class. He's a Junior and is listed as "Dual Threat." VT's offense with Evans actually looks a bit like ours with Josh Dobbs two years ago. Jerod Evans did a good job taking off with the ball when nothing was available. He only had 5 runs for 46 yards, but he had a very good sense of when to run. However, Evans made a lot of poor decisions in pressure, and made a few risky passes. Some of those passes, he got bailed out on by good receivers, but could be more problematic against defenders like Cam Sutton and Micah Abernathy.

VT Defense Played Well. Not too much to complain about with the VT defense. Bud Foster's defenses have been among the best in the nation for years. VT's defense had 3 interceptions and also recovered a fumble. They held Liberty to 90 rushing yards and 70 passing yards. Not too shabby, eh? Even against FCS competition, those are good stats.

Hokie Receivers Looked Good. Saw VT's receivers make a lot of very good catches.

Lot of Mistakes. VT had a number of big mistakes in the 1st half, as well. In fact, thought they had a lot of similar issues as we did versus App State, except that App State is a much better opponent than Liberty. Liberty led the game 13-10 in the 2nd Quarter.

4 Fumbles Lost. The game stats list on ESPN list 4 fumbles lost. I saw a few of them. Not sure if they had any more that were recovered (and didn't make the stat line), but regardless, looks like VT was having similar first week issues as we were.



The Takeaways

VT's D and Special Teams Will Be Tough. Moving the ball against VT will be difficult. It always is. I have to think our best shot is to just keep pounding away at them in the rushing game and try to wear the defense out. Given that Fuente runs a fast-paced offense, this strategy is viable against VT. And yes, this means using Dobbs as a runner much more frequently than last week against App State.

Blitz Early and Often. If the VT O-line and Jerod Evans were having difficulty with Liberty's pass rush, I have to think we should be applying a ton of pressure. I don't expect VT to be as mistake-prone against us as they were against Liberty, but Liberty's pass rush will also seem like a walk in the park compared to ours. Hope to see Shoop go very deep in our bench, bringing out guys like Shy Tuttle, Kyle Phillips, Jonathan Kongbo, and Darrell Taylor. Keep our D-line fresh and keep the pressure constant!

Contain Jerod Evans. We do have to find a way to prevent Jerod Evans from taking off for big gains. We've struggled with dual threat QBs in the past.

Don't Panic. As much as our fanbase wants to panic right now, VT had similar issues as us in Week #1. The only difference is that they played a cupcake game and we played quite possibly the best G5 team in America.

Both Teams Will Play Better. More of a prediction than a takeaway, but I'd be surprised to see either our Vols or VT making as many mistakes as during Week 1. Both teams will be laser-focused for what is a historic game.
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Solid analysis. I'm sure Butch is ripping a few new as$holes right now in practice and hopefully the team captains are getting in people's faces. VT is going to show up for the game, cause they know what it means for them if they can upset an over-inflated TN team. Hopefully we show up and knock a few heads off (without getting ejected from the game ... too soon??)
 
#32
#32
I'd be SHOCKED if TN loses this game. I'm not worried about our defense. We will SMOKE them. You can't be a HUNH offense unless you consistently get downs. Too many passing plays. Our CB's will be locked down.

I'm just worried about our offense not producing.
 
#34
#34
Watched it today. VT let them hang most of the game. Then put them away. I think App St is a higher quality opponent than Liberty but it's the first week. Lots of teams struggle that first week.
 
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#35
#35
Volsick said:
Watched it today. VT let them hang most of the game. Then put them away. I think App St is a higher quality opponent than Liberty but it's the first week. Lots of teams struggle that first week.
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App state is 10 times better than Liberty. Vols win big in Bristol.
 
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#39
#39
Dougie_D said:
I'd be SHOCKED if TN loses this game. I'm not worried about our defense. We will SMOKE them. You can't be a HUNH offense unless you consistently get downs. Too many passing plays. Our CB's will be locked down.

I'm just worried about our offense not producing.
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Same is being said about us.
 
#40
#40
I watched the liberty VT game, and honestly I wasn't impressed. Volnation might it also be possible that... Appalachian State is better than Virginia Tech right now. Appy has the same coach as last year, continuity, and also some NFL talent. I believe Appalachian Stte is better, but we shall see!
 
#43
#43
Most of VT's big plays were back shoulder throws to their WR's. Given, the corners that were covering were vastly undersized in both height and weight. I just don't see that happening with our secondary
 
#45
#45
Power T-Rev said:
Most of VT's big plays were back shoulder throws to their WR's. Given, the corners that were covering were vastly undersized in both height and weight. I just don't see that happening with our secondary
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The Liberty DB covering Ford was 6'3" and actually made a few plays that show he wasn't that bad. And Ford himself isn't a bad receiver, but his coach this week wasn't especially happy with his play. Playing your guys will definitely be a far greater challenge. I don't know what's in store, but we'll definitely have to step it up a couple of gears to produce against your D.

BTW, no doubt Appy State and Liberty are in two different states.
 
#46
#46
Volsick said:
Watched it today. VT let them hang most of the game. Then put them away. I think App St is a higher quality opponent than Liberty but it's the first week. Lots of teams struggle that first week.
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you think?
 
#47
#47
CNeagleVolFan said:
I watched the liberty VT game, and honestly I wasn't impressed. Volnation might it also be possible that... Appalachian State is better than Virginia Tech right now. Appy has the same coach as last year, continuity, and also some NFL talent. I believe Appalachian Stte is better, but we shall see!
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I think App State is just as good as Va Tech
 
#50
#50
golfballs said:
I think App State is just as good as Va Tech
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Hard to draw many comparisons. App State was running that pistol option with a lot of misdirection and chop blocking the back side defenders. VT will run the "Memphis" hurry up, spread the field get the ball to their guys in space. In a way VT plays O to our D's strength, the Vols would rather be in nickel and dime packages and I'm sure the players would rather run to the ball than play "assignment" football and fight off chop blocks.

The biggest question remains, where do the Vols find some consistent offense against what will be a very good VT defense. If I could answer that I would be making 4 mil a year:)
 
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