ilovetheoption
Helluva Engineer
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So, we come again to the week of the year where I root against Georgia Tech. It’s my least favorite football week, because there is only one game I am interested in, so I have to spend the rest of the weekend things like “spending time with my children” and “work around the house”. A bitter time, indeed. Regardless, for those of you travelling, welcome to God’s Country, and the prettiest little town in the world not named Herndon. Please enjoy Virginia in the fall, have a great time, and extinguish your tiki torches on the way out.
MATCHUP:
TL;DR: I think UVa has a better chance than they probably should, if you were to just go on “who is the better team”. This is because styles makes fights, and GT actually matches up against UVa pretty poorly, in terms of style.
Offensively, UVa features the “Death by a Thousand Outs” offense. As Hank Williams might sing: OPEN WIDE FOR SOME HITCHES!! UVa football is coming to Charlottesville! It’s all here. Quick outs, bubble screens, and swing passes? YOU BET!
Hilarious, UVa has the sort of slow, sure handed TE that apparently has giving GT fits since the dawn of time in Evan Butts, but he’s criminally underutilized in my opinion in Robert Anae’s quest to get the ball into the flats. Fortunately, for an offense that lives to nickle and dime you to death underneath, GT has a defensive coordinator that wants to force you to nickle and dime your way down the field.
IOW, be prepared for swarm chat to be seething with the word “cushion”.
UVa QB Kurt Benkert is equally capable of throwing for 450 yards on 25 passes as he is to throw for 150 on 55 passes. It all comes down to pressure. For all you SAT fans out there Kurt Benkert:: Pressure::sand castles:tidal waves.
Recently, this has proven disastrous, as teams have pinned their ears back and dared UVa to make them pay by going over the top. As over the top is not a quick out, we have not been able to do so. Fortunately (to go back to the well) Ted Roof:Generating Pressure:: Donald Trump:Being a decent human being.
There is a very real possibility that we could dink our way up and down the field in the first half, wear out your defense, and have the run in the second half. I’m not sure I believe it, but I could see it happening. We’ve done it this year, so I know it can be done. If you get gassed, we will gladly hand off off tackle 22 times in a row. That kind of thing makes Bronco turgid. We shall see. I recognize the possibility that you COMPLETELY shut us down as well. We don’t have a ton of talent, and Roof is a good enough game planner that he might install the right defense this week and we won’t be able to do doo-doo.
On the other side of the ball, I genuinely believe we might give you problems.
1) Bronco has this personal blood vendetta against triple option football. Apparently early in his career he played navy or somebody and they took defense to pieces, and he vowed “NEVER AGAIN” and has defended it pretty well for the rest of his career.
2) We actually defended you guys pretty well last year, even if the final score didn’t reflect it. We’ve got the kind of big, quick DE in Andrew Brown that can give GT fits, and we’re not above our DL holding the f out of the OL to keep our LB’s clean and flowing to the ball. Micah Kizer might have 20 tackles.
Again, is it possible that this is a mirage, and you will run for 450 and 6 scores on us? Yes, of course, but I don’t believe it.
My heart says we surprise you in the early going, and that Marshall, coming off a disastrous outing at Clemson loses confidence, makes awful reads, Johnson goes conservative as a result and we get enough on O to sneak out a 20-17 type win.
My head says you get just enough done on offense and win a 24-20 type game that is far less comfortable than you like, triggering a huge “has Johnson peaked” conversation on the Swarm.
ON THAT NOTE:
Let me tell you about a guy named George Welsh. Unusually successful coach at the Naval Academy. Got an offer to coach in “big boy” football at an ACC program. Not a top notch program, but a good academic school, and one where he could be proud to have a career. We successful at his school. Won 7 games every year, and occasionally had a great season. One year he had his team #1 in the country, before getting flukily knocked off by some Podunk school from the deep south. Well, UVa fans got a little big for our britches. We forgot that there is no objective reason why we should be a powerhouse in football. Forgot that we could very easily suck with a below average coach. Forgot that we have an academic load for kids to handle, and a LOT of coaches aren’t prepared to deal with those circumstances, and it’s a lot easier to win when you can take any blithering idiot who can run a 4.4 40, throw them in basket weaving, and keep your APR in good shape. We thought “you know, George Welsh has peaked, he’s never going to get us to the Next Level”.
So, we eased him out, and went for a series of new, shiny coaches, who would bring us to the Next Level.
Turns out, screw the Next Level. We’d KILL to have a guy like George Welsh. We’d be tickled pink with bowls every season and the occasional conference championship, and big time bowl. We have been reminded that we have not right to expect football success, and that getting sick of success when you’re not a football factory is the height of arrogance. We learned our lesson with 2 decades in the hinterlands, and having our rival pound us for a generation. It really, really, really, really sucks.
I don’t know if this has anything to do with you guys…but it might.
TRASH TALK:
I don’t get to do this much, but it’s my week, so here goes.
1) Your uniforms are lame, and they always will be. It has nothing to do with Russell, and everything to do with the fact that your two colors are Gold and White (and that you use a particularly uninteresting shade of Gold).
It doesn’t pop. It’s boring. It’s boring on you, it’s boring on BC, it’s boring on Notre Dame, it’s boring on 75% of the catholic high schools in America. That said, other teams at least have home jerseys. You guys are white and gold at all times, and it’s a total yawner. LSU can do it because people in Louisiana have no choice about who to root for. People in Atlanta do, and if you don’t think being in white and gold all the time doesn’t cost you high school sidewalk fans, you’re kidding yourself. I know it’s in your song, and tradition, and yadda yadda. Doesn’t stop it from being lame.
Stop wearing white all the time, or accept having permanently lame uniforms, one or the other.
2) Atlanta hipsters are the worst. YOU LIVE IN THE DEEP SOUTH! YOU DON’T GET TO BE A HIPSTER! DECONSTRUCTED GRITS AND “TAKES” ON COLLARD GREENS ARE RIDICULOUS!
3) I have not seen enough evidence from T.D. Roof to make me 100% sure there is not a small degree of subconscious nepotism going on, there.
MATCHUP:
TL;DR: I think UVa has a better chance than they probably should, if you were to just go on “who is the better team”. This is because styles makes fights, and GT actually matches up against UVa pretty poorly, in terms of style.
Offensively, UVa features the “Death by a Thousand Outs” offense. As Hank Williams might sing: OPEN WIDE FOR SOME HITCHES!! UVa football is coming to Charlottesville! It’s all here. Quick outs, bubble screens, and swing passes? YOU BET!
Hilarious, UVa has the sort of slow, sure handed TE that apparently has giving GT fits since the dawn of time in Evan Butts, but he’s criminally underutilized in my opinion in Robert Anae’s quest to get the ball into the flats. Fortunately, for an offense that lives to nickle and dime you to death underneath, GT has a defensive coordinator that wants to force you to nickle and dime your way down the field.
IOW, be prepared for swarm chat to be seething with the word “cushion”.
UVa QB Kurt Benkert is equally capable of throwing for 450 yards on 25 passes as he is to throw for 150 on 55 passes. It all comes down to pressure. For all you SAT fans out there Kurt Benkert:: Pressure::sand castles:tidal waves.
Recently, this has proven disastrous, as teams have pinned their ears back and dared UVa to make them pay by going over the top. As over the top is not a quick out, we have not been able to do so. Fortunately (to go back to the well) Ted Roof:Generating Pressure:: Donald Trump:Being a decent human being.
There is a very real possibility that we could dink our way up and down the field in the first half, wear out your defense, and have the run in the second half. I’m not sure I believe it, but I could see it happening. We’ve done it this year, so I know it can be done. If you get gassed, we will gladly hand off off tackle 22 times in a row. That kind of thing makes Bronco turgid. We shall see. I recognize the possibility that you COMPLETELY shut us down as well. We don’t have a ton of talent, and Roof is a good enough game planner that he might install the right defense this week and we won’t be able to do doo-doo.
On the other side of the ball, I genuinely believe we might give you problems.
1) Bronco has this personal blood vendetta against triple option football. Apparently early in his career he played navy or somebody and they took defense to pieces, and he vowed “NEVER AGAIN” and has defended it pretty well for the rest of his career.
2) We actually defended you guys pretty well last year, even if the final score didn’t reflect it. We’ve got the kind of big, quick DE in Andrew Brown that can give GT fits, and we’re not above our DL holding the f out of the OL to keep our LB’s clean and flowing to the ball. Micah Kizer might have 20 tackles.
Again, is it possible that this is a mirage, and you will run for 450 and 6 scores on us? Yes, of course, but I don’t believe it.
My heart says we surprise you in the early going, and that Marshall, coming off a disastrous outing at Clemson loses confidence, makes awful reads, Johnson goes conservative as a result and we get enough on O to sneak out a 20-17 type win.
My head says you get just enough done on offense and win a 24-20 type game that is far less comfortable than you like, triggering a huge “has Johnson peaked” conversation on the Swarm.
ON THAT NOTE:
Let me tell you about a guy named George Welsh. Unusually successful coach at the Naval Academy. Got an offer to coach in “big boy” football at an ACC program. Not a top notch program, but a good academic school, and one where he could be proud to have a career. We successful at his school. Won 7 games every year, and occasionally had a great season. One year he had his team #1 in the country, before getting flukily knocked off by some Podunk school from the deep south. Well, UVa fans got a little big for our britches. We forgot that there is no objective reason why we should be a powerhouse in football. Forgot that we could very easily suck with a below average coach. Forgot that we have an academic load for kids to handle, and a LOT of coaches aren’t prepared to deal with those circumstances, and it’s a lot easier to win when you can take any blithering idiot who can run a 4.4 40, throw them in basket weaving, and keep your APR in good shape. We thought “you know, George Welsh has peaked, he’s never going to get us to the Next Level”.
So, we eased him out, and went for a series of new, shiny coaches, who would bring us to the Next Level.
Turns out, screw the Next Level. We’d KILL to have a guy like George Welsh. We’d be tickled pink with bowls every season and the occasional conference championship, and big time bowl. We have been reminded that we have not right to expect football success, and that getting sick of success when you’re not a football factory is the height of arrogance. We learned our lesson with 2 decades in the hinterlands, and having our rival pound us for a generation. It really, really, really, really sucks.
I don’t know if this has anything to do with you guys…but it might.
TRASH TALK:
I don’t get to do this much, but it’s my week, so here goes.
1) Your uniforms are lame, and they always will be. It has nothing to do with Russell, and everything to do with the fact that your two colors are Gold and White (and that you use a particularly uninteresting shade of Gold).
It doesn’t pop. It’s boring. It’s boring on you, it’s boring on BC, it’s boring on Notre Dame, it’s boring on 75% of the catholic high schools in America. That said, other teams at least have home jerseys. You guys are white and gold at all times, and it’s a total yawner. LSU can do it because people in Louisiana have no choice about who to root for. People in Atlanta do, and if you don’t think being in white and gold all the time doesn’t cost you high school sidewalk fans, you’re kidding yourself. I know it’s in your song, and tradition, and yadda yadda. Doesn’t stop it from being lame.
Stop wearing white all the time, or accept having permanently lame uniforms, one or the other.
2) Atlanta hipsters are the worst. YOU LIVE IN THE DEEP SOUTH! YOU DON’T GET TO BE A HIPSTER! DECONSTRUCTED GRITS AND “TAKES” ON COLLARD GREENS ARE RIDICULOUS!
3) I have not seen enough evidence from T.D. Roof to make me 100% sure there is not a small degree of subconscious nepotism going on, there.
