Virginia Tech 66, Appalachian State 13: Postgame Stream of Consciousness

by furrer4heisman on Sep 3, 2011 4:05 PM EDT in Virginia Tech Football

Virginia Tech was able to coast through its season opener for the first time since the last time it opened with an FCS opponent, 2006 against Northeastern. Everything worked for the Hokies Saturday against Appalachian State. The offense moved the ball at will, the defense disrupted the Mountaineer offense and they even blocked a punt for a touchdown.

More important than the final score was that for the first time since 2006 the Hokie looked crisp to start the season. Next week we'll find out a lot more about this team when Logan Thomas gets his first road start against an East Carolina team that will put up much more of a fight.

More observations after the jump.

Offense

The offensive line wasn't a disaster, even after Blake DeChristopher missed most of the preseason. That's a good sign.
David Wilson looks a lot stronger in his lower body. Was able to power through and drag tacklers for extra yards. He's going to get a lot more yards after contact than he would have been capable of last year.
Tech had a lot of success getting Wilson to the outside and utilizing Danny Coale's blocking ability upfield. Coale is the best blocking wide receiver I've seen at Tech.
Logan Thomas had some good throws and some less-than-impressive throws that he was able to get away with. He's inconsistent with his mechanics and I caught him throwing off his back foot a couple of times. He was baled out on great catches by Dyrell Roberts, Marcus Davis and Randall Dunn today. But he did have an excellent throw to Boykin for a touchdown and another bullet to Roberts.
Mark Leal has a nice arm and looked good, even if it was against FCS subs.

Defense

The Hopki were disruptive in the middle of the line, which really helped the Hokies stop Appalachian State's option attack.
James Gayle looked like a beast out there. He has a lot more speed than Chris Drager and Steven Friday had last year. However that speed got him in trouble at least once as the Appalachian State runners were able to take advantage of over-pursuit with cut-backs.
The Hokies were solid at open-field tackling against the Mountaineers, another good sign to go along with the offensive line. Hopefully both trends continue next week.
This week, Tech's ability to stay stay in its run gaps and tackle were tested. Next week, it'll be the secondary that gets tested by ECU's air raid offense.

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Comments

I know its FCS but this game felt like a game like this used to feel; never any doubt, suffocating defense, highly opportunistic offense. It felt good after underachieving agains “lesser” opponets in recent years. Bring on the pirates.

by bluecollarhokie on Sep 3, 2011 4:48 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah I completely agree

There was a calmness about me in this game. This feels like the way it used to be.

by chicagomaroon on Sep 3, 2011 5:01 PM EDT reply actions

I have no worries about the secondary. Some great veteran players back there.

by SJPhillyVT on Sep 3, 2011 5:18 PM EDT reply actions

Dominated in all three phases.

Hard to get worked up over an FCS victory. But I saw what I wanted to see. Looking forward to some tougher competition. I hope the ACC kicks some butt in non conference action.

by Frozen Fan on Sep 3, 2011 5:39 PM EDT reply actions

ECU’s lookin good against SC.

by SJPhillyVT on Sep 3, 2011 8:28 PM EDT reply actions

News Flash

DW is good.

I was also really impressed with Leal. He was poised and accurate.

by Chazz Micheal Michealzz on Sep 3, 2011 10:05 PM EDT reply actions

Great game, guys

I think Thomas was looking a little rough, made a couple of rookie mistakes- I’m upset that he’s got another ten games to get into a groove, though, because I think that’s all it’ll take, some more practice. The VT o-line was more than up to the task of helping him out (not to mention A-State, yeesh). I think this is your season, though. You can take it all the way, look at how the SEC is playing- you take it to those farking mouthbreathers!

Wahoowa!

by ragekage on Sep 3, 2011 10:46 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks

It’s nice to hear positive comments from a wahoo. I for one, get tired of the petty sniping that goes on from BOTH sides. Shows some class that I wish others would exhibit.

by rpotts12 on Sep 4, 2011 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Don't get me wrong

I still love to give you guys crap, but I expect to get crap back. It’s what a rivalry is about. I’m from Southwest, I was a Hokie before I was a Wahoo, so maybe that’s part of it. Whenever our teams aren’t playing each other, I root for the Hokies, for sure. All the petty sniping is just crap from people who use the respective teams as an extension for their own lives and frustrations. That’s why I hang around here, rather than on some other Hokie blogs- I want to hear about the teams, strategy, etc, talk with real fans rather than hear “ZOMG VIRGINIA AND EVERYONE ELSE SUCKS!!!11” over and over again.

I think this is your guys’ year, too. I think that Tech needs to take it all the way, because IMHO, UVA’s on an upswing again. Remember in 1984, UVA was ranked 100th, or 101st in the country I believe- and in 1990, they were ranked #1. Before the rivalry gets heated and we start trading wins against each other back and forth, like it used to be, I want Tech to win it all.

I think Frank Beamer’s an amazing coach, and he deserves to win a national championship- partially because of how he turned around a program that was at least as trashed as UVA’s was in the early eighties, partially because I’d love to farking stick it to those SEC a$$holes once and for all, and partially because I’m a VIRGINIAN and I’m damn proud of my state.

So thanks! Maybe we can teach other people to take a page from our book.

by ragekage on Sep 4, 2011 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Danny Coale

Couldn’t agree with you more. Every time that David Wilson had a 10+ carry, you saw #19 pushing his man downfield. May go down as the most underrated receiver ever at Tech.

by VTinACC on Sep 3, 2011 11:29 PM EDT reply actions

I'm sticking with my three word preseason prediction

Marcus Davis – manster

If the thunder don't get ya then the lightning will!!

Robert Hunter

by Buck Melanoma on Sep 4, 2011 8:01 AM EDT reply actions

logan Thomsd

looked pretty good. had a great pass dropped early in the game, it probably would have gone for a TD.

i would rather have bad throws then stupid throws. logan just needs to work on mechanics and i think we could have a special year.

: "Rip? Oh, he was funny, man. He said, ‘Boston? Dang man, Boston?’ I said, ‘Hey, you got to go with the flow.’"—F Rasheed Wallace, on the reaction of former Detroit teammate Rip Hamilton to his signing with the Celtics

by NEFOOL on Sep 4, 2011 11:03 AM EDT reply actions

Boise State beating Georgia damaged our title aspirations.

Gotta hope for them to lose, or for Georgia to suck. Baylor did us a favor by knocking out TCU. Maybe TCU will knock out Boise. Plan B would be an undefeated Hokie team, beating an undefeated or one loss Florida State team in the ACC championship. And yes, im getting way ahead of myself.

by Frozen Fan on Sep 4, 2011 8:55 PM EDT reply actions