Just got back from Va Tech's scrimmage

[Tidewater]

The defense was laying the lumber. A couple of hard hits out there.
Coach Beamer was coaching special teams. He stopped several offensive drives on second down in the red zone to practice kicking field goals.
Tyrod looked mobile (as expected), but still seems to have trouble reading defenses. (He had a couple of picks).
The second string QB, Juju, was a substantial drop-off in talent from Tyrod. Not terrible, but not yet in the same ballpark as Tyrod. The third string QB, Logan Thomas, #3, is tall and lanky. Fast when running north and south, but not as shifty as Taylor. Thomas passed fairly well, but obviously needs more polish. Logan threw a couple of picks as well.
Ryan Williams ran the ball with authority. He is a bruising runner. Oglesby (apparent #2 RB) did not have as good a day as Williams. David Wilson (true freshman) ran well, until a DB or LB put a lick on him, then they pulled off Wilson's pads and he spent the rest of the practice listening in on the offensive huddle, but ran sprints at the close of practice.
The DBs had a number of picks. This is an athletic group of DBs. No surprise here. Tech's d-line was solid, and linebackers appear to be developing still.
A good afternoon. Temperatures in the low 80s. About 6,000-7,000 fans in attendance. (Most students are not on campus yet).

 

[Rueben]

Thanks for the "behind the lines" report. Looks like we have our work cut out for us.

 

[BigEasyTider]

One of the Virginia Tech boards had a bit of a miniature meltdown thread over Taylor's bad showing against their second string defense.

Of course, when you expect a guy to go from literally being one of the worst passers in the country to a bona fide superstar in the course of about eight months, that sort of thing is bound to happen...

 

[sanjosecrimson]

One of the Virginia Tech boards had a bit of a miniature meltdown thread over Taylor's bad showing against their second string defense.

Of course, when you expect a guy to go from literally being one of the worst passers in the country to a bona fide superstar in the course of about eight months, that sort of thing is bound to happen...

EXCATLY!! VT scrimmage went the way we Tide fans thought it would go.

a solid D line and a good secondary, but unspectacular LB play.

hard running from a touted freshmen RB, but mediocre QB performance..

btw, their mostly sophomore WRs corp. will have to step big time in order to help TT out against our Defense, otherwise it will be a very long day.

 

[VTimHokie85]

One of the Virginia Tech boards had a bit of a miniature meltdown thread over Taylor's bad showing against their second string defense.

Of course, when you expect a guy to go from literally being one of the worst passers in the country to a bona fide superstar in the course of about eight months, that sort of thing is bound to happen...

thats a normal thing after any scrimage on our board, just people being too worried...i think tyrod will be fine...we are on the edge of our seats over there especially when it comes to injury reports ever since Evans went down.

 

[VTimHokie85]

heres some friendly stats if yall are interested..not alot going on, i expected this much on an open scrimmage..typical VT scrimmage, some plays were blown dead before they were TDs.. not alot in the stat sheet.

QB Tyrod Taylor: 4 of 7, 31 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
QB Ju-Ju Clayton: 11 of 17, 84 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
QB Logan Thomas: 6 of 14, 128 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
RB Tony Gregory: 11 carries, 53 yards
RB Ryan Williams: 6 carries, 27 yards; 2 catches, 9 yards; AND an 82-yard punt return TD
RB Josh Oglesby: 2 carries, 8 yards
TE Randall Dunn: 1 catch, 48 yards (great, leaping grab over three defenders)
WR Dyrell Roberts: 1 catch, 33 yards
WR Nubian Peak: 2 catches, 33 yards
WR Jarrett Boykin: 4 catches, 21 yards
WR Ben Barber: 2 catches, 20 yards
WR Xavier Boyce: 1 catch, 18 yards
P Brent Bowden: 3 punts, 130 yards, 43.3 avg., 53 long
K Matt Waldron: 4-for-4 field goals (42, 25, 46, 25)
DT Dwight Tucker: 7 tackles
LB Lyndell Gibson: 5 tackles, 1 INT
DE Steven Fridday: 5 tackles, 2 tfl, 1 sack
CB Cris Hill: 5 tackles

 

[Roll_Tide_Gal]

According to those stats, Taylor only threw 7 passes. Thomas Darrah had that many completions today. I hope those aren't the full stats for today's work.

 

[Tidewater]

According to those stats, Taylor only threw 7 passes. Thomas Darrah had that many completions today. I hope those aren't the full stats for today's work.

Tyrod did not see much action today.
I gather the coaching staff knows what he is capable of.
2nd and 3rd string QBs got most of the reps.
Hokies run the ball well, even with young RBs.
They have solid D, especially DBs and (to a slightly lesser extent) D-line.
Beamer coaches the special teams (yikes!).
Bama had better bring its A game (unlike the Sugar Bowl).

 

[VTimHokie85]

According to those stats, Taylor only threw 7 passes. Thomas Darrah had that many completions today. I hope those aren't the full stats for today's work.

Taylor wasnt on the field long. Today was mostly testing some guys out. Alot of Logan Thomas in todays scrimmage. Not alot of first string work. If the first strings played, it was mainly to plug some people in to see how they played.

 

[Tidewater]

heres some friendly stats if yall are interested..not alot going on, i expected this much on an open scrimmage..typical VT scrimmage, some plays were blown dead before they were TDs.. not alot in the stat sheet.

QB Tyrod Taylor: 4 of 7, 31 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
QB Ju-Ju Clayton: 11 of 17, 84 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
QB Logan Thomas: 6 of 14, 128 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
RB Tony Gregory: 11 carries, 53 yards
RB Ryan Williams: 6 carries, 27 yards; 2 catches, 9 yards; AND an 82-yard punt return TD
RB Josh Oglesby: 2 carries, 8 yards
TE Randall Dunn: 1 catch, 48 yards (great, leaping grab over three defenders)
WR Dyrell Roberts: 1 catch, 33 yards
WR Nubian Peak: 2 catches, 33 yards
WR Jarrett Boykin: 4 catches, 21 yards
WR Ben Barber: 2 catches, 20 yards
WR Xavier Boyce: 1 catch, 18 yards
P Brent Bowden: 3 punts, 130 yards, 43.3 avg., 53 long
K Matt Waldron: 4-for-4 field goals (42, 25, 46, 25)
DT Dwight Tucker: 7 tackles
LB Lyndell Gibson: 5 tackles, 1 INT
DE Steven Fridday: 5 tackles, 2 tfl, 1 sack
CB Cris Hill: 5 tackles

I thought Tyord had two picks.
Good day in Lane Stadium. Nice crowd, good weather, got me a small football fix today.

 

[VTimHokie85]

I thought Tyord had two picks.
Good day in Lane Stadium. Nice crowd, good weather, got me a small football fix today.

he did..at least i thought.. i wasnt at the scrimmage..did he? A LB got one that i heard was a great play, i dunno what the other one was.

 

[Aries]

Beamer has always coached the special teams. His teams used to a big factor, but the last few years they are only a solid team unit.

Bama will run the ball and throw short/intermediate passing. VA tech will have to show it can stop this before Bama changes game plans. Even with the "new" line, Bama will roll.

 

[Tidewater]

he did..at least i thought.. i wasnt at the scrimmage..did he? A LB got one that i heard was a great play, i dunno what the other one was.

The other was a DB, but I did not catch the number.
It was typical first scrimmage "knocking the rust off" kind of play, at least on Tyrod's part.
Not bad, not spectacular. About what I expected. Good to see some football, however.
I thought Logan Thomas (#3 and third string QB) played better than Juju (the 2nd string QB).

 

[Tidewater]

Beamer has always coached the special teams. His teams used to a big factor, but the last few years they are only a solid team unit.

In a recent newspaper article, Beamer commented on how difficult it is to block a punt when teams go to the formation with three blockers in front of the punter.
Bama does not use this formation. If there is a gap in the blocking scheme, Beamer is sure to exploit it.

 

[buzzincuzzin]

All of their backs hovered around 5yds per this time. Their first scrimmage it was 7+. Today it was Upchurch by a long shot at 4.25. Richardson was next at 3.0. I just don't believe their backs are better than ours. I believe our backs can do as well as VT's against their D. I believe the VT's backs will find the sledding just as tough as ours does against the Bama D. I still believe Tyrod can't beat Prattville throwing the ball. I believe I feel good about the match-up.

 

[T-Mobile05]

TT only threw for one INT the other was a play in which the defense had jumped offsides so he chucked it down the sideline and our safety picked it off. But, the penalty negates the INT.

 

[T-Mobile05]

All of their backs hovered around 5yds per this time. Their first scrimmage it was 7+. Today it was Upchurch by a long shot at 4.25. Richardson was next at 3.0. I just don't believe their backs are better than ours. I believe our backs can do as well as VT's against their D. I believe the VT's backs will find the sledding just as tough as ours does against the Bama D. I still believe Tyrod can't beat Prattville throwing the ball. I believe I feel good about the match-up.

Our first scrimmage was just 3rd string and freshman. Today was only 3 series on one's. Mainly 2s and some 3s. Our Rbs are good as well.

 

[THE BAMA IRISHMAN]

Hokies hold first full scrimmage of preseason

Thomas put up solid numbers for the second straight scrimmage. He completed 6-of-14 for 128 yards, with the touchdown and an interception.

Tyrod Taylor, seeing limited action, hit on 4-of-7 for 31 yards, with an interception

Middle LB dropped one INT. The two Corners knocked down 4 passes. Not a good day for the VT QB squad. (Inside VT Football)

VT defense did fine.

 

[Tidewater]

TT only threw for one INT the other was a play in which the defense had jumped offsides so he chucked it down the sideline and our safety picked it off. But, the penalty negates the INT.

Yes, I recall that, not that you mention it. Athletic play on the part of the DB. His foot landed about a foot or two out of bounds.
Great play, though.

 

[Tidewater]

Play by play analysis
On every play that looked like a long play or score, the coaching staff blew the play dead.
Tyrod had a really good scramble, but once he cleared the bulk of the defense, they blew the whistle.
One kick-off return probably would have scored, but they blew it dead.
This skews the stats in favor of the defense.
Something to bear in mind.