To Beat Virginia Tech

#27
#27
Rock33 said:
Anyone who thinks UT wins on talent is wrong, anyone who thinks VT wins on Spec Teams alone could be right ! Anyone who thinks that VT can line up and run down our throat all night might be right ! Anyone that thinks EB will be a factor is wrong, they have scheemed(sp) around him(as we would). This event comes down to HEART/DESIRE and the will to win. The lines are even, the quarter backs are sooo different, the VOLS have a chance but only a small one. We NEED everything to go our way.........
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Wellllllllllllll... I wouldn't go that far. Even if we scheme around EB, it's still Monte Kiffin coordinating the defense. Ryan Williams will break off some runs, but if Bryan Stinespring calls runs between the tackles all night then expect a lot of short drives by us.

I agree that special teams alone might be enough to carry us to a victory, but only because it got us within 10 points of beating Alabama. (Seriously, 155 yards of total offense and we led in the 4th quarter?)

I'll actually go out on a limb and make this prediction: if Ryan Williams has more rushing yardage than Montario Hardesty then VT wins; if Hardesty tops Williams, Tennessee wins.
 
#29
#29
Two things, while we're on the topic:

1) It's been said already in this thread, but special teams will be huge. We've had trouble staying in our lanes on kickoffs, our (pre-Mathis) fg problems are well-documented, and I've heard people complain that Cunningham looks like he's getting his punts off juuuuust a bit slowly. All that, AND we don't have a special teams coach. I hate to say it, but over/under on VT special teams TD's = 2.

2. Longtime VolNation lurker but non-participant T. Larry Harris made this point to me the other day - Lane may be "done" with this football team. Not saying he doesn't WANT to win, but it may not be a priority. We all know that priority one--for program building--is recruiting. Priority 2 may be finding just the right RB coach. Priority 3 is, perhaps, getting the returning players some extra work in this system. What else can this team do to help him reach his goals? I mean, a win in Atlanta would be big, but a loss to a top 10 team is certainly excusable as long as you show well. Thoughts? Flames?
 
#30
#30
Rock33 said:
Anyone who thinks UT wins on talent is wrong, anyone who thinks VT wins on Spec Teams alone could be right ! Anyone who thinks that VT can line up and run down our throat all night might be right ! Anyone that thinks EB will be a factor is wrong, they have scheemed(sp) around him(as we would). This event comes down to HEART/DESIRE and the will to win. The lines are even, the quarter backs are sooo different, the VOLS have a chance but only a small one. We NEED everything to go our way.........
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Seems to me that if they are scheming around him he is already a factor. In my opinion, Berry made a bigger impact this year than last year just because of what he forced other defenses to do and I imagine the same will be true of VT
 
#32
#32
UT beats Va Tech---mark it down. As bama showed, Va Tech can't deal with SEC size, speed and power.
 
#33
#33
VolsRule said:
UT beats Va Tech---mark it down. As bama showed, Va Tech can't deal with SEC size, speed and power.
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I wouldn't be that confident.

If we've got a bunch of backups running around on defense we may be in a bit of trouble.

The good thing is our backups are probably at least as fast and strong as Tech's starters, though, the problem just arises if they can't make their reads.
 
#34
#34
Bama had to block two FGs to beat TN. Bama had to win the 4th quarter to beat VT. Both were tough games.

IMO the new Crompton is a much better passer than Taylor. Taylor is hands-down the better runner. Against Bama, for whatever reason Taylor didn't attempt to run very much. IMO that hurt VT's chances to win the game. It's as though the VT coaches were determined that Taylor was going to be a pocket-passer regardless of whether he has the skills for it. TN will have to contend with Taylor running the ball much more than he did against Bama.

Ryan Williams is an outstanding back and will cause problems for TN all evening. Hardesty evens the ledger re RBs though.

Both defenses are well-coached and will make the offenses work for every yard.

I like TN's offense better than VT's. Seems to me the VT offense lacks imagination. After about a quarter, folks watching the game can generally predict what play VT will run.

TN's offense appears to me to be more disciplined than VT's. Fewer niggling penalties that stop drives or create 3rd-and-long situations.

This will be one of the better bowl games of the season IMO. So long as the new Crompton shows up, I expect TN to pull this one out,. But I wouldn't bet money on it either way.
 
#35
#35
tums said:
Give Monte another off season and I'm sure we will be much better against the spread next year.
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I think personnel had as much to do with our problems this year as anything as far as the spread goes. Losing middle lbs to an already thin group didn't help anything.


Can't wait to see our D in a couple of years
 
#37
#37
Just curious, I noticed on your depth chart that other than Dan Williams your defensive line is really small. Can anyone comment on that? Stronger than they look or just really fast?

Another thing I thought would be a point of emphasis would be to take advantage of your MLB situation. As we like to run between the tackles I thought this work work nicely, but in order to do that you first gotta go through Williams again. (Might see a lot of Williams on Williams tackles. I hope not) From there I thought that if Williams can get beyond the DL he ought to be able to shake your 3rd string MLB giving Berry a lot of tackles which is fine with me.
 
#38
#38
IV_Hokie12 said:
Just curious, I noticed on your depth chart that other than Dan Williams your defensive line is really small. Can anyone comment on that? Stronger than they look or just really fast?

Another thing I thought would be a point of emphasis would be to take advantage of your MLB situation. As we like to run between the tackles I thought this work work nicely, but in order to do that you first gotta go through Williams again. (Might see a lot of Williams on Williams tackles. I hope not) From there I thought that if Williams can get beyond the DL he ought to be able to shake your 3rd string MLB giving Berry a lot of tackles which is fine with me.
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Our defensive line is pretty good. Fast and strong. Not huge, but good.

Berry will probably be playing up like a linebacker, so if he gets tackles within 3-4 yards of the line that's ok with me too.

If Tech has to fall back on Tyrod to win the game, I like our chances.
 
#39
#39
rockytop9808 said:
Our defensive line is pretty good. Fast and strong. Not huge, but good.

Berry will probably be playing up like a linebacker, so if he gets tackles within 3-4 yards of the line that's ok with me too.

If Tech has to fall back on Tyrod to win the game, I like our chances.
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So did Nebraska. :)
 
#41
#41
I think the biggest key to success for us is sure-tackling. If we can keep them (mostly Williams) from making big plays I don't see them moving the ball on us with consistency.
 
#45
#45
How many last year players does VT have looking forward to their pro careers? In all my years that's what I find to be the biggest factor in meaningless bowl games (which they all are now with the exception of one).
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#46
#46
I hope someone can answer this but why is almost every SEC team playing higher ranked opponents? Is it because everyone knows that the SEC so much better?
 
#47
#47
volunteerlane said:
I hope someone can answer this but why is almost every SEC team playing higher ranked opponents? Is it because everyone knows that the SEC so much better?
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I would say it's because of bowl tie-ins and the fact we have 2 teams in the BCS. You automatically start with the #3 SEC team when you start picking teams
 
#50
#50
VT has a very active, aggressive defense which will present a lot of looks and will make adjustments well. Crompton has come along very well this year, but will need to bring his "A" game. Taking a play off can be disastrous against a Bud Foster defense - mental focus will be critical. UT is capable; much will depend on the teams' level of desire.

Tyrod is a good QB, but the real back-breaking threat from the VT "O" is Ryan Williams. Ryan has really developed over the year and is a much better back than he was when we played VT (and he was pretty good then), so you know what you will face there.

This is a good match-up. I pull for the SEC in all bowl games, so good luck, practice hard, execute on the field, and all will be well.

Go SEC!
 
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