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VMI Game Thread

I thought the defense looked better and controlled the game. a couple of breakdowns in the flats mostly.
 
IamThunderbolt said:
Not sure what to make of it re: performance, etc. but Griffis seemed to keep the mesh back further away from the LOS than Sam does - So delaying a handoff at the point of handing it off while reading rather than the moving toward the line together with the RB.
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I was just thinking the same thing. He seemed to hold the mesh for a long time, but didn't seem to move forward as much. I wonder if that is height related or just something that they will address now that it's on film?
 
ChrisL68 said:
I thought the defense looked better and controlled the game. a couple of breakdowns in the flats mostly.
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They were running some pretty aggressive rub routes. Some could have really been OPI.
 
Pilchard said:
RB pass pro was atrocious.
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This is where we are going to miss Christian Beal-Smith so much. He was by far our best pass protector at RB. It was why he played more than Walker in 2019 and 2020. And pass protection from the RB is critical in our offense.
 
Turner seemed a little lighter and faster last night than I remembered him
 
Deacfreak07 said:
We did rush for over 200 yards and more than 5ypc. OL miscues were a bigger problem than blocking.

I remember feeling really anxious after we didn't look sharp for ODU last year, and that turned out ok.
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True. But ODU was an FBS team who went to a bowl. So a 42-10 win hits a little differently.
 
PhDeac said:
True. But ODU was an FBS team who went to a bowl. So a 42-10 win hits a little differently.
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ODU was two different teams last year.

ODU started 1-6 last year. Changed QBs and turned their season around. Also, ODU had not played a football game in two years before playing the WF opener. The team that WF stumbled around with to start last season was not the team that ended up in a bowl. Think that last night's game and the ODU opener are comparable. +
 
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I think the thing last night really was mostly the penalties. Penalties cost us as much as 21 points last night, so 65-10 would've looked a lot better, although Clawson would've completely pulled the reigns before it got that bad. Other than penalties, the defensive is still a concern I think and our running game. I still don't like the sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow mesh, that's just not going to work against elite d-lines.
 
Pilchard said:
ODU was two different teams last year.

ODU started 1-6 last year. Changed QBs and turned their season around. Also, ODU had not played a football game in two years before playing the WF opener. The team that WF stumbled around with to start last season was not the team that ended up in a bowl. Think that last night's game and the ODU opener are comparable. +
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Good point.
 
slow mesh really hampers running game sometimes allows defender so long to get to point of attack.
 
liveanddiedeac said:
I think the thing last night really was mostly the penalties. Penalties cost us as much as 21 points last night, so 65-10 would've looked a lot better, although Clawson would've completely pulled the reigns before it got that bad. Other than penalties, the defensive is still a concern I think and our running game. I still don't like the sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow mesh, that's just not going to work against elite d-lines.
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The slow mesh can be annoying to watch. Really frustrating to see the QB hold the ball in the RB stomach seemingly forever, and then watch the RB get mauled near the line of scrimmage. That said, WF ran for over 200 yards last night, and the 3 RBs averaged 7.7, 6.2 and 7.0 per carry. WF also ran for a ton of yards using the slow mesh for 3 seasons now. WF is not going to stop running it.

Finally, the primary purpose of the slow mesh isn't to put up gaudy rushing numbers, its to open up the field for the passing game because opposing LBs and safeties are forced to cheat up, and then receivers are wide open in the middle of the field. Happened last night. WF will never stop running the slow mesh as long as it keeps wide open downfield passing lanes. WF's passing game is dependent on the slow mesh. That's why its so valuable (and why our receivers are so open).
 
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Pilchard said:
The slow mesh can be annoying to watch. Really frustrating to see the QB hold the ball in the RB stomach seemingly forever, and then watch the RB get mauled near the line of scrimmage. That said, WF ran for over 200 yards last night, and the 3 RBs averaged 7.7, 6.2 and 7.0 per carry. WF also ran for a ton of yards using the slow mesh for 3 seasons now. WF is not going to stop running it.

Finally, the primary purpose of the slow mesh isn't to put up gaudy rushing numbers, its to open up the field for the passing game because opposing LBs and safeties start cheating up, and then receivers are wide open in the middle of the field. Happened last night. WF will never stop running the slow mesh as long as it keeps wide open downfield passing lanes. That's why its so valuable (and why our receivers are so open).
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Yeah I know, but I just can't get used to what you pointed out in your first sentence. Still would like to see a little more variety with the run game and at times we do with some pistol formation and designed handoffs that gets the ball to the RB quicker. Just really hard to do the slow mesh against a defense like Clemson, you've got to have time for what you described very well in your 2nd paragraph.
 
Every team has plays that get hit in the backfield. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to watch the slow mesh get blown up, but any team putting that much pressure in our backfield would likely blow up more plays out of any other scheme. At least that’s what we’re banking on, and all in all, it seems to be working.
 
The slow mesh just won't work for anywhere close to 60 min against teams with great/elite front 7s. It's been proven time and time again. I'm hopeful Clawson will finally adjust in those rare games.
 
Pilchard said:
The slow mesh can be annoying to watch. Really frustrating to see the QB hold the ball in the RB stomach seemingly forever, and then watch the RB get mauled near the line of scrimmage. That said, WF ran for over 200 yards last night, and the 3 RBs averaged 7.7, 6.2 and 7.0 per carry. WF also ran for a ton of yards using the slow mesh for 3 seasons now. WF is not going to stop running it.

Finally, the primary purpose of the slow mesh isn't to put up gaudy rushing numbers, its to open up the field for the passing game because opposing LBs and safeties are forced to cheat up, and then receivers are wide open in the middle of the field. Happened last night. WF will never stop running the slow mesh as long as it keeps wide open downfield passing lanes. WF's passing game is dependent on the slow mesh. That's why its so valuable (and why our receivers are so open).
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I agree that penalties were a big reason for the discomforting feeling we have. If you told me Mitch would throw for near 300 and 3 TDs with no INTs I would thought we would blow the doors off and looked impressive but we didn't thanks to some bad penalties. The reality is our O got the same point and yards for the game as we averaged last year but going against a vastly inferior team vs what we faced on average for last season. You would hope for an Army type production given VMI's D is FCS and would expect not to the level of Army as Army had some good games on D vs other FBS opponents last year. Wouldn't expect the same for VMI if they were to play other FBS teams as think any FBS team rolls them.

So you feel the O is underperforming and the D had its moments but again signs we would could be a repeat when your DL can't get pressure on a QB until 4q and felt VMI moved the ball at will early on with the quick passes and runs so you get worried to think how it holds up against a Vandy or LIberty who will be bigger and faster and likely more skilled.

We will see!
 
saltydeac said:
I agree that penalties were a big reason for the discomforting feeling we have. If you told me Mitch would throw for near 300 and 3 TDs with no INTs I would thought we would blow the doors off and looked impressive but we didn't thanks to some bad penalties. The reality is our O got the same point and yards for the game as we averaged last year but going against a vastly inferior team vs what we faced on average for last season. You would hope for an Army type production given VMI's D is FCS and would expect not to the level of Army as Army had some good games on D vs other FBS opponents last year. Wouldn't expect the same for VMI if they were to play other FBS teams as think any FBS team rolls them.

So you feel the O is underperforming and the D had its moments but again signs we would could be a repeat when your DL can't get pressure on a QB until 4q and felt VMI moved the ball at will early on with the quick passes and runs so you get worried to think how it holds up against a Vandy or LIberty who will be bigger and faster and likely more skilled.

We will see!
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I do think we will clean things up and hoping Lambert was holding back various blitz packages we might otherwise run against good teams thinking our DL would dominate and get pressure on its own without bringing a LB or DB. Hoping Griffis gets more comfortable with deep passes as have to have those when teams are pushing up so close to the box to stop the mesh and we have awesome WRs to go up and get it.
 
tigerswood said:
The slow mesh just won't work for anywhere close to 60 min against teams with great/elite front 7s. It's been proven time and time again. I'm hopeful Clawson will finally adjust in those rare games.
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it's hard for everyone to run against great/elite front 7s

that is why they are elite

but yeah, I'm assuming we will struggle to run the ball against Clemson, just as we have since Chris Barclay went off on them almost 20 years ago
 
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