Belk Bowl

[swmrappell]

Greetings from Virginia Tech fan. Am looking forward to seeing you guys play in Charlotte. Have not had an opportunity to see you play live so should be a treat. What do you think of the matchups?

On defense side we have a long-tem DC in Foster. He is known for having multiple looks on defense with lots of blitzes. He often gambles with the backs leaving them on one-on-one matchups. Works sometimes if we can bring pressure on the QB. We have a decent line and fair to mid backs. We are vulnerable to a mobile QB and strong running up the middle.

On offense we are decent primarily due to QB Evans. He is a big boy and is not afraid to run it up the middle. Not too fast but has enough moves to squeak through. He is our main rusher and we have almost no running game outside of the QB. We have experienced receivers that is a strength of our offense. Fuentes is our first year HC and has shaken up our offense which was quite vanilla under Beamer. Expect some options plays, jet sweeps, and shorter crossing routes. Evans has a strong arm but is not accurate beyond mid distance.

Hope to see y'all at the game.

 

[Count Hogula]

Hi, welcome to the board. I'm looking forward to the game and think it should be a good matchup, and it's always nice to get to play someone we've never played before. We have developed a sort of Jekyll Hyde mentality the last half of the season, so how good the game will be will depend on which team shows up. The Jekyll team shows up ready to play and keeps their intensity for all four quarters, should be a fun game to watch if they show up. The Hyde team leaves us scratching our heads and wondering what's wrong with them as they just go through the motions and seems pretty lethargic in their play, looking like they would rather be doing anything other than playing a game of football. If they show up you can start planning your victory party.

We do have a good, solid running game with a pair of top notch backs we can interchange and keep fresh throughout the game and if you are a bit weak against the run up the middle then they are built to take advantage of that. Our QB is not exactly mobile, more of a pocket passer type. When the OL gives him time he can be very accurate and has an arm that let's him throw good short and long, finishing second in the SEC with just over 3000 yards passing and 23 TD passes. He is a first time starter and when rushed has made the expected bad decisions which has him tied for the number of ints at 12. We have a solid set of receivers and the TEs are a major weapon in the passing game, should give your secondary fits if the QB has time. The OL has been a building project all season. One of the starters decided late to come out early for the draft so we've had to scramble and experiment replacing three starters instead of the expected two. Our QB has been sacked 28 times, leading the SEC.

The def is pretty solid against the run and plays decent zone pass defense, but teams that hurry up and makes us spread out in a lot of man def has had a lot of success in the passing game as our secondary is average at best and pitiful at worst when playing man. They also have proven vulnerable to mobile QBs gashing us for good yardage up the middle when we're in man coverage, so your QB should have a good day running the ball.

 

[Reason_01]

Welcome. Bread and butter - run up the middle. Play action to some good receiving corp.

Defense: One day Auburn makes us look like high school, then the next day we hold Florida to 28 yards rushing and then LSU gets a world record (almost). I still can't figure out how we lost to Mizzou.

 

[swmrappell]

Should be interesting. Seems like we match up where each team is weakest. We are vulnerable to smashmouth running up the middle. Running up the middle is a strength for you. You play zone and are vulnerable to quick outs and slants which we will run.
I think a key for us is how our O-line holds against your defensive front. If we are able to open lanes for running game then I think we will give you a game. Same thing on defense - if Foster can take away your passing game he will load the box to stop your running game. He is not afraid to throw in different blitzing packages and leave his backs out on islands in man-to-man coverage. Hoping for a great game and no injuries. And of course hoping for a Hokie win.

 

[Count Hogula]

Hopefully the team that plays hard for all four quarters will be the one that shows up, if so it should be a fun game to watch. I haven't seen you play so not sure exactly what sort of offense you run but we're weakest against the spread them out hurry up no huddle stuff. Teams that run that on us have good days passing against our weak one on one coverage and the middle tends to be left open for a good mobile QB to gash us. One of our better LB is back from an injury and may shore up the middle some, if we can contain your QB I like our chances. If you can put pressure on our QB then it will improve your chances, our OL line is big and heavy but their run blocking is better than their pass blocking, but, if they can give AA some time he has several good targets to choose from. Should be a good game and hopefully both sides can avoid any serious injuries. I like it when we play a team we've never played before, you can't be sure of what to expect from them.

 

[swmrappell]

I think Collegefootballnews has you as 7 point favorites. Seems about right. I think you are probably the best team with your record in the country. Just not consistent as you have said. That seems to be our problem as well. We beat Tennessee in many areas yet managed to lose the game - turnovers (5 I think). And we managed to lose to Syracuse - a real head scratcher there. Guess I need your "C" team to show up and our "A" team and then maybe . . . .

 

[Cosmoc]

Talk about a take of two halves. It's almost like the teams switched uniforms at halftime. I sure like the way Allen spins it. Tough day for the Razorbacks, but all season there's been bright spots. It's like @Count Hogula said, just have to be able to do it for four quarters.