WF @ VT (10/14), 3:30PM on ACC Network

[tigerswood]

I’m afraid I wholeheartedly disagree. RPO blocking for an O-Line is run blocking. It allows you to get into a pas set without having to have an OLine that can hold out in PassPro.

You realize OL can’t go more than 3 yards downfield right? So it eliminates drive blocking, and has been a frequent concern in our slow mesh/inability to run consistently in years past.

I love quick hitting RPOs, and I love the slow mesh when it’s blocked at least decently well. But our QBs have had defenders in their faces immediately after pulling the ball out of the RBs gut on dozens of occasions this year.

 

[BoDeac]

But our QBs have had defenders in their faces immediately after pulling the ball out of the CENTER'S HANDS on dozens of occasions this year.

FIFY

 

[vtwhat etc]

So quit building so many damn buildings and buy a good team. Facilities don’t mean shit without talent. I am concerned about giving Clawson a lot of NIL $$$ if he thought Griffis was a D1 QB.

Show your receipts.

 

[tigerswood]

This is some shit posting. We learned today that Kern has a live arm. That wasn’t under question. But define “arm talent”
Did Drew Brees have the proverbial arm talent?

You realize arm talent isn’t exclusively arm strength right? Drew Brees had some of the best accuracy, touch, ability to throw WRs open, ability to change arm angle, etc of anyone in history. So yeah, sure, arm talent.

 

[Vegas Jethro]

You realize OL can’t go more than 3 yards downfield right? So it eliminates drive blocking, and has been a frequent concern in our slow mesh/inability to run consistently in years past.

I love quick hitting RPOs, and I love the slow mesh when it’s blocked at least decently well. But our QBs have had defenders in their faces immediately after pulling the ball out of the RBs gut on dozens of occasions this year.

This is my point of my post earlier. The mesh doesn't work if the linemen can't hold blocks long enough to read the LB/Safety. Teams have adapted and realized if you basically blitz every down, you will destroy the mesh. Something has to change, but I am sure we will hear excuses as to why it won't.

 

[vtwhat etc]

This is my point of my post earlier. The mesh doesn't work if the linemen can't hold blocks long enough to read the LB/Safety. Teams have adapted and realized if you basically blitz every down, you will destroy the mesh. Something has to change, but I am sure we will hear excuses as to why it won't.

Having a perennially top 45 football program, as a top 47 university is better than average...

 

[Henry Chinaski]

This is my point of my post earlier. The mesh doesn't work if the linemen can't hold blocks long enough to read the LB/Safety. Teams have adapted and realized if you basically blitz every down, you will destroy the mesh. Something has to change, but I am sure we will hear excuses as to why it won't.

I was saying this last year. The book is out - throw numbers at us, crash the mesh point and destroy everything. We can’t absorb it all, even with sam last year.

 

[tigerswood]

Yeah if the D is half decent and brings 6+ guys, the slow mesh just doesn’t work.

 

[Rafi]

We need to scrap the RPO/mesh for the rest of the year if this is going to be the standard for the O line. They can't hold blocks long enough or read stunts well enough to be successful. Just run downhill or get straight into your reads. The extra 2 secs would do wonders for Kern (if not hurt) and would probably help the backs too. Not sure about the stats, but it seems like every time we go to an "old school" run, it ends in a positive play. Maybe Clawson will get some inspiration from the fake punt and run some trick plays next week, since the season is over unless a lot of things change drastically.

We rarely run the slow mesh this year. And when we do it still works well, especially for the deep passes. Think about all the plays where Mitch/Kern get blown up, they occur in standard drop backs with RBs blocking, not the slow mesh.

 

[morrison2951]

I was saying this last year. The book is out - throw numbers at us, crash the mesh point and destroy everything. We can’t absorb it all, even with sam last year.

Just throw over it. But receivers need to catch the ball.

 

[Henry Chinaski]

Just throw over it. But receivers need to catch the ball.

Having a QB over 5’ 6” would help

 

[saltydeac]

everyone keeps saying go get a qb via portal, but have to think a good qb costs big $, but go finding some road graders is going to get you a better return as allows you to run effectively and make a lot of QBs look good when they have time. as much as we are lamenting qb play no one is talking about how Hokies run D has been putrid all year, but we can’t run On them. That has to be our OL as Justice and Claiborne are decent RBs. Rush O was weak last couple of years, but Hartman was able to make us forget that big gap with moving ball in air. Go recruit OL and DL with NIL and then we will compete.

 

[TheAbster]

everyone keeps saying go get a qb via portal, but have to think a good qb costs big $, but go finding some road graders is going to get you a better return as allows you to run effectively and make a lot of QBs look good when they have time. as much as we are lamenting qb play no one is talking about how Hokies run D has been putrid all year, but we can’t run On them. That has to be our OL as Justice and Claiborne are decent RBs. Rush O was weak last couple of years, but Hartman was able to make us forget that big gap with moving ball in air. Go recruit OL and DL with NIL and then we will compete.

We have spent over 1/4 of a BILLION dollars on facilities in the past 5-6 years. I'd say let's pump the brakes on the buildings and start focusing on people who can play football. I get your point but we better start finding better players.

 

[deac03]

I just want more wishbone. That was cool!

 

[SkyDivingDeacon]

I'm not for firing Clawson. But this team is a much hotter mess than just the Griffis debacle. We use absolutely ZERO imagination on offense. Haven't since we had Kendall Hinton and couldn't throw him a pass an entire season. Our OL is a friggin disaster and for some reason our wide receivers can no longer catch passes!

I'm all for keeping Clawson (for now) but something absolutely needs to change QUICKLY. And I hope John Currie has a review in January of this shit-show. The guy is getting paid millions for this!

Fair, and I agree it’s overall bigger than Mitch vs. Kern. But if we are being honest, the OL has played well enough for us to be 5-0 coming into today. I don’t think the program/fans overall would be nearly as gloomy as they are now if we lost to VT today with Kern at QB. We would likely be 5-1 and just have beaten Clemson at home for the first time since a lot of us have been watching. 5-1 is very different than 3-3. The OL would still have a lot of work to do, no doubt, but we wouldn’t be blaming losses on them at this point. Today’s loss would have been on a group that has otherwise been the only reason why we were in most of the games we’ve played this year. So yeah, the program has its problems right now, but so does every other good ranked team - which is exactly what we would be under different QB circumstances.

And I disagree about us not using imagination on O - we have broken multiple O records the last few years, and frankly that doesn’t happen if you don’t use imagination (which I would say coach R does in particular). That said, what I do think we do is stick with a game plan even if it’s not working. Clawson is one stubborn SOB, and this by itself has cost us games many, many times. I think what’s a little different this time is that this was one of the first hard QB decisions Clawson has had to make that didn’t work out. Sam and Jamie worked out and so did Wolford - holy shit, though did he get it wrong in so many ways for this season (and I may also argue last season when we opted for Mitch to start over Kern when Sam had his blood clot surgery. Clawson made two bad calls and his stubborn SOB attitude is what forced us to watch Griffis for eight games before seeing a change. Hell, it’s even somewhat plausible that it kept us from working to keep Sam. It’s classic Clawson. He refused to believe that the plan wouldn’t work, just flat out refused - right until it was obvious that it hadn’t. So, I lay today’s blame at Clawson’s feet. He also shouldn’t get a pass by not trying to keep Hartman because he thought we had a good chance of winning with Mitch - I mean, that’s almost unforgivable. But, I do not forget how far we’ve come as a program under him. He’s going to get this fixed just like he had to fix the defense and special teams. I actually think we can win games with Kern if the defense plays well. That’s what I mean - Clawson massively fucked up with Griffis V. Kerns. Today we saw him start to own that error and I’m confident he’s going to fix it. Our program isn’t melting before our eyes as it seems some think it is.

 

[TripleDeac21]

Glad to read the comments from Clawson. At least he's taking responsibility and not giving us the usual coachspeak, i.e., "we competed, we're getting better, proud of our guys, we competed, we competed, we competed."

Yeah but he ain’t doing anything about it.

How about something drastic, like he did several years ago when our defense was dogshit and he fired new DC Jay Sewell like 3 games into the season. Took balls and it was the right move. Where the hell did that attitude go?

 

[morrison2951]

Yeah but he ain’t doing anything about it.

How about something drastic, like he did several years ago when our defense was dogshit and he fired new DC Jay Sewell like 3 games into the season. Took balls and it was the right move. Where the hell did that attitude go?

Got paid.

 

[BlackjackMc]

I haven't read this thread so this may have been mentioned. It is my two cents regarding the woeful offense the Demon Deacons have displayed in the first three conference games.

The Deacons have lost seven of their past eight ACC games. Part of the problem seems the inability of the coaching staff to accept the idea that the slow mesh, run pass option is no longer the weapon it once was. Last year Liberty stayed in the game by sending nonstop pressure to disrupt the timing and effectiveness of a featured aspect of our offense. Clemson and FSU didn't follow up on Liberty's lead and Army and BC didn't have the personnel. Louisville did follow the Liberty lead, had the personnel and made the Deacons look lousy. Since that defeat every ACC opponent has made a concious effort to maintain pressure on the mesh point and the Deacs have lost seven of eight conference games. Last year an experienced OL and QB kept putting points on the board but not enough to win games. The Deacs went from averaging 41 ppg the first seven games (6-1) to 30 ppg the final six games (2-4).

One of the primary reasons the slow mesh was developed was to mask deficencies of the OL. This year the Deacons have an inexperienced OL and QB. The means to overcome the benefits of the slow mesh have been discovered and are being used consistently, especially by our conference opponents. The result is an average of 14 ppg rather than the 30+ the Deacs have enjoyed. I suspect the coaching staff has maintained their belief in the slow mesh and believes poor execution is the reason for diminished offense.They have been tinkering rather than developing an offensive game plan consistent with fact that the "unique" aspect of the offense is no longer the weapon it once was. The cat is out of the bag and probably won't return. There is always a time when an offensive "wrinkle" no longer works and becomes a a weakness rather than a strength. The ability of a coaching staff to adjust accordingly determines the length of time it takes to return to winning rather than losing. The time for tinkering has espired.

 

[Rafi]

I haven't read this thread so this may have been mentioned. It is my two cents regarding the woeful offense the Demon Deacons have displayed in the first three conference games.

The Deacons have lost seven of their past eight ACC games. Part of the problem seems the inability of the coaching staff to accept the idea that the slow mesh, run pass option is no longer the weapon it once was. Last year Liberty stayed in the game by sending nonstop pressure to disrupt the timing and effectiveness of a featured aspect of our offense. Clemson and FSU didn't follow up on Liberty's lead and Army and BC didn't have the personnel. Louisville did follow the Liberty lead, had the personnel and made the Deacons look lousy. Since that defeat every ACC opponent has made a concious effort to maintain pressure on the mesh point and the Deacs have lost seven of eight conference games. Last year an experienced OL and QB kept putting points on the board but not enough to win games. The Deacs went from averaging 41 ppg the first seven games (6-1) to 30 ppg the final six games (2-4).

One of the primary reasons the slow mesh was developed was to mask deficencies of the OL. This year the Deacons have an inexperienced OL and QB. The means to overcome the benefits of the slow mesh have been discovered and are being used consistently, especially by our conference opponents. The result is an average of 14 ppg rather than the 30+ the Deacs have enjoyed. I suspect the coaching staff has maintained their belief in the slow mesh and believes poor execution is the reason for diminished offense.They have been tinkering rather than developing an offensive game plan consistent with fact that the "unique" aspect of the offense is no longer the weapon it once was. The cat is out of the bag and probably won't return. There is always a time when an offensive "wrinkle" no longer works and becomes a a weakness rather than a strength. The ability of a coaching staff to adjust accordingly determines the length of time it takes to return to winning rather than losing. The time for tinkering has espired.

We’re running very little slow mesh this year. And when we do run it it’s the only thing in our offense that works.

 

[TheAbster]

I haven't read this thread so this may have been mentioned. It is my two cents regarding the woeful offense the Demon Deacons have displayed in the first three conference games.

The Deacons have lost seven of their past eight ACC games. Part of the problem seems the inability of the coaching staff to accept the idea that the slow mesh, run pass option is no longer the weapon it once was. Last year Liberty stayed in the game by sending nonstop pressure to disrupt the timing and effectiveness of a featured aspect of our offense. Clemson and FSU didn't follow up on Liberty's lead and Army and BC didn't have the personnel. Louisville did follow the Liberty lead, had the personnel and made the Deacons look lousy. Since that defeat every ACC opponent has made a concious effort to maintain pressure on the mesh point and the Deacs have lost seven of eight conference games. Last year an experienced OL and QB kept putting points on the board but not enough to win games. The Deacs went from averaging 41 ppg the first seven games (6-1) to 30 ppg the final six games (2-4).

One of the primary reasons the slow mesh was developed was to mask deficencies of the OL. This year the Deacons have an inexperienced OL and QB. The means to overcome the benefits of the slow mesh have been discovered and are being used consistently, especially by our conference opponents. The result is an average of 14 ppg rather than the 30+ the Deacs have enjoyed. I suspect the coaching staff has maintained their belief in the slow mesh and believes poor execution is the reason for diminished offense.They have been tinkering rather than developing an offensive game plan consistent with fact that the "unique" aspect of the offense is no longer the weapon it once was. The cat is out of the bag and probably won't return. There is always a time when an offensive "wrinkle" no longer works and becomes a a weakness rather than a strength. The ability of a coaching staff to adjust accordingly determines the length of time it takes to return to winning rather than losing. The time for tinkering has espired.

I think we have far bigger problems than the slow-mesh. We cannot block against a junior high school team. Our QB position is obviously depleted with no replacement in sight. Our receivers appear to have lost all confidence. We show almost zero imagination on offense. We seldom run the slow-mesh. This team has far bigger problems than a scheme IMHO.

I'm sure I'll catch hell for this but we are IN YEAR #10 with this coach. In year 10, we are still struggling with fundamentals such as an OL that can actually block other people. I could see if we had a QB-only issue and everything else was in great shape and we could solve this ONE issue with the portal. But, this entire team looks like dog shit.