What Other Message Boards Are Saying: Battle of Bristol (Virginia Tech) Edition

#1

KnoxRealtorVOL

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#1
A rough first week is behind us. After a poor performance by both team and coaching staff, we got one last jabbing today by the AP poll dropping us 8 spots. We desperately need to look ahead. It's Bristol time.

We've all been waiting for this game for a few years now and it's finally here. The Virginia Tech message boards look very similar to ours right now. They are unsatisfied with their Week 1 performance, and they are ready to get on the field during a real game and see what their team is made of. They are amped about being part of history, and they, like us, are focused more on what the end result will be than the actual experience itself.

Without further ado, here's what the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University faithful are saying about Saturday's historic matchup at Bristol Motor Speedway:

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-I would say there is a cautious optimism about Fuente right now. No one is extremely excited about him yet, usually discussion of him ends in debates.

-If we run our offense this week, go ahead and write our names on the Bristol Trophy, this one's over:

I'm still worried about the defense. Haven't done well with Dual Threats


-Does anyone else find it odd for a VA Tech fan to say this? Granted, they're not currently a great team, but historically as a program they aren't exactly Central Florida....

We need to show out in this game that we can at least compete with these "bigger" schools.


-On Dobbs (with a slight dig at UT):

Big guy, can run and very smart. Watching some of TN's games from last year (YouTube), he doesn't really scare me with his arm, but he does with his legs. I think he's a better runner than J.T. Barrett (as a comparison to another qb VT has played against).

More shocking is that TN has an aerospace engineering program....who do they think they are??
Dobbs has a bright future ahead of him either way.


-They really, really like Bud Foster. It's not that it isn't understandable, but when discussing the potential success of UT's offense, I'm seeing a TON of "You do know we have Bud Foster, right?" And "Does the name 'Bud Foster' ring a bell?" etc etc.

-Summary of their 2016 squad:

Many think this is a rebuilding year for VT.

Our QB position is up for grabs with a new Juco transfer and returning 2nd stringer from last year.

We have a new spread-hurry up O we need to learn.

We have a returning starter at RB and lots of depth behind him filled with 2 kids coming off injuries and a new red-shirt sophmore in the mix.

Our OLine may be our strength this year w 4 returning starters and the new face had lots of reps last year.

We have an AA potential TE and WR but other than those 2 we don't know.

Our DLine is new except one DE and our LBs and DBs are half new.

We are optimistic about our team but may be a year away from being good.


-I would say about 80% of posters thought they would lose before the Appy State game. They seemed to feel a narrow loss is somewhat of a victory. Post-Appy State, I would say about 70% think they will win.

-They ranked 44th in Total Defense last year. According to them, the low ranking is because they "tried a new defensive strategy last year where they blitzed a lot," but not to worry...... apparently this year they're going back to their "real" defense...... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-General score predictions are a bit all over the place. Most of them are predicting a VA Tech victory by anywhere from 3-10 points. Occasionally one will drop in with a UT victory by 14 or so.

-Sounds like we'll have the edge here:

Very concerned about the field position game. Our punting sucks and our punt return game was pretty week against an FCS team. We can't afford to give up 20 yds per change of possession due to ST. Our $400k a year ST coordinator needs to up his game


-As concerned as we are about our O-line play against App State, the are equally as concerned about their O-line play against Liberty (similar to us, returning starters underperformed in week 1).

-Dobbs injury rumor was brought up, which turned into a pretty big Dobbs debate:

Really hope he's healthy. He's the QB I want to play against. He looked awful
If he's healthy, he will hurt VT on the ground.
If he can't go or isn't close to 100% it's a huge break for VT.
We will also pick him off 3-4 times. I'll take my chances against him.
He threw 5 INT's in 14 games last year so I'm going to say your off base there.
Dobbs didn't run at all in regulation on Thursday. He's incredibly dangerous on the ground. Taking him out of the equation would be a MASSIVE blow to the UT offense.
Overall he is a poor QB. I hope he can play
Bud will get after him, and he will have a poor game.


-Their "5 players to watch out for" were Barnett, Sutton, Malone, Hurd, Dobbs.

These were some replies to the list:

might want to add their DT now that Petit is starting again. The left side of the line with Petit and Yosh scares me a bit against UT's #9 and their DT.
Agreed. They rested Shy Tuttle last week and from Butch Jones' presser today, he's expected to work back in to the lineup this week. Him against Petit and Gallo could be ugly if he's anywhere near 100%.


-It seems they are working on gamespeed and taking more snaps this season. They are referring to their "New hurry up offense" a good bit:

Tweet of day:"VT had 89 plays against Liberty, school record in a game is

100 plays which came in a 4 OT game" For those worried about our pace of play on O.


-General attendance predictions have the 150K Bristol allotment as UT 90-100k, Tech 50-60K.

-They are trashing the SEC after opening weekend. For those of you that don't have conference pride, just know that "Tennessee plays in the 'mighty SEC' which is a joke of a conference," and "The SUC, I mean the $EC" are phrases being tossed around frequently.

-Week 1 discussion of both teams from what seams to be a reasonable fan:

I actually would have preferred them to have a 52-14 kinda game that was over by halftime. Instead, they got a reminder that they have to bring it every week. Though I do think there was some looking ahead to us... before they realized that Appy is no joke.

The fact that Liberty broke a few moderate runs wasn't encouraging though and IMO, that's where UT beats us. I think the game will be lower scoring than initially predicted. But I see us having some growing pains on offense and I see UT's OL eventually breaking down our D.

Tennessee 24 Virginia Tech 13

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An absolute slaughtering at Bristol is exactly what we need right now. I will be in the stands, and I know several posters here will as well. We need to get loud. Let's light that place on fire and move to 2-0.

GBO. No matter what.
 
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#6
#6
Yes sir
Thank you very much.
I've been waiting on you and fingers each week.

Often imatated but never duplicated... Great write up.

GO Vols
 
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#11
#11
Nice piece, Chatt. Unless VT's improved quite a bit since last year, I can't imagine a focused and motivated team 120 losing to these guys. Whether or not the Vols overlooked Appy, this is week 2 and another UT vs. ASU performance by our guys would lead to total disaster. Impressive victory by the Vols, then all will be like before and by Tuesday the polls will have them back closer to or back into the top 10. Hey folks. Let's don't forget that while half the teams in the USA are winless, the Vols are undefeated. AMIRIGHT?:yes:
 
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#12
#12
Thanks for the post. Definitely interested in seeing this game start. Techs game was blacked out here so I couldn't watch.
 
#14
#14
Its not like thew blew the doors off Liberty so I don't see where the confidence comes from. Tennessee played a very un-Tennessee game last week (as compared to last year for the most part).

I think that close of a game is exactly what this team needed. It needed to see that they could pull through during an adverse time
 
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#17
#17
Its not like thew blew the doors off Liberty so I don't see where the confidence comes from. Tennessee played a very un-Tennessee game last week (as compared to last year for the most part).

I think that close of a game is exactly what this team needed. It needed to see that they could pull through during an adverse time

I agree. Eveyone is freaking out over that horrible performance last week. I think that struggle and embarrassment was great for this team. At the end of the season we will be thankful that the Vols had an awakening on week 1.
 
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#18
#18
It's Bristol time.

bristol-baby-1.jpg


:rock: :rock: :rock:
 
#21
#21
We just need a big win so I don't have to hear about how great the jokies are every day here in SWVA.
 
#24
#24
Coming away with a win in a game where Dobbs didnt use his legs at all until ot isnt as bad as it's being made out to be. It wasn't the perfomance we all wanted but i think its exactly what we needed. VTech will get our full Offense.. I think Kamara needs a few more touches too.
 
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