In Week 2, the Hokies showed they can have an offense, even when playing a bad defense. Don't laugh, it's been a while since we've seen the Hokies roll huge numbers against a bad team. The ACC avoided complete disaster thanks to several comebacks and we had our first two real heart-stopping games of the season. Enjoy our trip around the world of calllage foot-bawl.
Virginia Tech 52, Marshall 10
Mainstream Media
Beating Marshall, Hokies Regain Their Footing (Mark Viera)
"Taylor did not display a deft passing touch early, but settled as the game went on, because he said he "just kept playing the game." Taylor connected with Danny Coale on a high arcing 43-yard pass. At the end of the second half, Taylor found Dyrell Roberts for a 21-yard touchdown pass after tap-dancing away from pressure."
Tech hopes to stay on the run vs. Nebraska (Randy King)
"While it's easy to see that Williams and Wilson are indeed something special, the fact remains the Hokies' offensive explosion -- they finished with 606 total yards -- came at the expense of a Marshall defense that has finished 100th or lower in total defense the past three years."
Notes and Game Graphics (Darryl Slater)
"KAM CHANCELLOR’S CONFIDENCE: A week after getting beat by Alabama for passes of 35 and 48 yards, the senior free safety seemed to play much better, albeit against a weaker opponent. Tech’s coaches will determine just how well he played after they grade the video, but Chancellor didn’t allow any long plays. He also is partly responsible for aligning Tech’s defense before plays. The Hokies held Marshall to 252 yards – 121 of which came on a 61-yard touchdown run and a 60-yard pass. Besides that, Marshall gained 131 yards on 59 plays – a 2.2-yard average."
Reaction, Rejoicing (Kyle Tucker)
"As I said yesterday, Tech really needed to ring up the Thundering Herd, pour it on, light up the scoreboard. They did ... and their comments afterward say that they did, indeed, need this kind of game badly."
Wilson and Williams Make History (Norm Wood)
"Against defense-deficient Marshall, Wilson and Williams became the first running back duo in Tech history to each eclipse 160 yards rushing in the same game. Wilson had 12 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown, and Williams added 16 carries for 164 yards and three touchdowns. That's an average of 13.8 yards per carry for Wilson, and 10.2 per carry for Williams."
Hokie Blogs
Thoughts on the Hokies (College Game Balls)
"Tyrod still looks average at best. He had two to three good throws the entire day. Although the touchdown pass when he scrambled to his left, then right, then set his feet and went back end zone was something out of NCAA 10."
Immediate Impressions (VT Fan)
"Don't get me wrong, yesterday's win over Marshall was a breath of fresh air. These games over Furman, ECU, Ohio, Central Florida, etc. don't always go this smooth, or give us the sense of comfort we are looking for and that we got yesterday. 600 hundred yards of offense is 600 yards of offense, and I've witnessed plenty of Hokie football games against bad opponents where VT still had to rely on defense and some special teams plays to win."
Hokies Get Back on Track with 52-10 Win Over Marshall (VT Hokie Fans)
"The Hokies were led by a pair of freshman running backs; Ryan Williams and David Wilson. Williams, who was the ACC’s Rookie of the Week, rushed for 164 yards on 16 carries and scored three touchdowns. The redshirt tailback now has five TDs in his first two games. Wilson, a true freshman, rushed by 165 yards on 12 carries and scored one touchdown."
ACC and Opponents
OTB’s ACC Power Poll: Week 2 (On The B.Rink)
"The week in ACC football seems like it needs another couple games, but it is indeed over and we know nothing. The conference is such a crap-shoot at this point. Best in Atlantic? (0-1 in ACC Clemson?) Best in Coastal? (Um, Richmond?) Who wins this thing? (a 7-8 overall, maybe 4 conference win team at this point) And on to the rankings…"
What we learned in the ACC: Week 2 (Annette)
"The ACC is resilient. It wasn’t always pretty (more like Ugly Betty), but the ACC did what it had to do to bounce back from last week’s losses. Wake Forest responded from its loss to Baylor against a tough Stanford team, Duke rebounded from its loss to Richmond on the road against Army, Maryland was able to stave off James Madison after its loss to Cal, and both Virginia Tech and NC State took out its aggression from Week 1 losses to the SEC and beat up on Marshall and Murray State, respectively. Florida State also got a win after losing to Miami."
Nebraska 49, Arkansas State 3
Nebraska vs Arkansas State Post Game Over Reaction (Corn Nation)
"Overall it's hard to find any fault with the offense. The offensive line gave up a couple sacks, but even that can taken as be positive as they let Zac Lee know that he was mortal, furthering his growth process as the team prepares for it's first road test next week against Virginia Tech."
Huskers Howl at the Red Wolves (Husker Mike)
"Anybody seen a Husker linebacker recently? The defensive line did an excellent job snuffing out much of the Wolves' running plays, but the linebackers seemed to be out of position to back them out. Will Compton did have a better second half, though."
Nebraska Continues Sun Belt Dominance (Big Red Network)
"The Huskers wasted little time in putting distance between themselves and the Red Wolves. NU needed just eight plays to go eighty yards and take a 7-0 lead. Nebraska's defense held after a 12-play drive by Arkansas State put them in NU territory. Then it was another eighty-yard drive by the Huskers that put them out in front 14-0. A three and out by ASU ended the opening quarter. Just four plays later Nebraska stretched the lead to 21-0 and the game was all over but the final score."
Georgia Tech 30, Clemson 27
Clemson Post Game Pandemonium (From The Rumble Seat)
"I agree that Scott Blair was crucial in making his 3 kicks but the play of Jerrard Tarrant and Derrick Morgan kept Georgia Tech from getting blown out at home. Tarrant's 7 tackles, 2 pass break ups, and a HUGE punt return for TD made up for our secondary's inability to stop Jacoby Ford in the second half. Derrick Morgan is a sack machine. All-American defensive end? I think so. Anyone that has to be constantly double teamed and is still racking up 10 tackles plus 3 sacks is gonna get some mean media time come end of season selection committees."
Immediate Reactions (Block-C)
"That wasn’t holding. That was an absolute horseshit call. It was a great block and in some ways, that cost us the game. Thanks for nothing, Rob Spence disguised as an ACC official."
Defensive breakdowns against GT (Clempson Football)
"In the play against Clemson, Bowers crashed inside, trying to stop the Dive, his first key. But the DE is not supposed to tackle the FB on a play unless he sees him coming to him with the ball. He took him anyway. The Linemen are also supposed to get a forearm shiver on the Tackle and Guard to help the scraping LBs behind them."
North Carolina 12, Connecticut 10
UNC 12, Connecticut 10 (Carolina March)
"I'm not entirely convinced the offensive line didn't miss the flight north. They sure didn't play like it; T.J. Yates was sacked six times and surrounded by navy jersies on most every play. Shaun Draughn had fourteen carries for a whopping 21 yards and never had a carry longer than four. It wasn't until a late fourth quarter drive that the running game had any purchase at all, when Ryan Houston had six of his seven carries to power UNC to the goal line. And even that scoring drive didn't come without a price, as Zach Pianalto was lost for the game celebrating his touchdown reception."
Wake Forest 24, Stanford 17
Skinner and Lovell save the day (Blogger So Dear)
"For all of the ups and downs, Wake Forest is 1-1, and finally had solid play on both sides of the ball, with 459 yards of offense on the day and no scoring from Stanford in the second half. Josh Adams and Kevin Harris combined for over 100 yards and Chris Givens and Devon Brown also racked up 98 yards on their own. Skinner was 18-26 for 187 yards, had a rushing touchdown of his own and a 20 yard reception."
Boston College 34, Kent State 7
Second viewing thougths and grade report: Kent State (Eagle in Atlanta)
"Although not as bad as I initially thought, the offensive line was not good. Castonzo did not dominate the guys across from him and totally blew his assignment that got Shinskie planted into the turf. Cleary struggled in the run packages (both zone and man). He shared snaps with Richman who looked ok. Tennant was pretty good but did have few unfocused moments in the pass blocking. He also didn’t look great when pulling during our running game. Last year many of the holes came from Tennant’s area. Not so against KSU. Claiborne had some rough moments early in the game. Admittedly he got better later in the game and did a great job picking up oncoming Safeties when KSU delayed blitz. Lapham, in his first game of the year, was the most consistent of the starters. The second teamers got in and looked adequate. As I said, the mistakes weren’t as plentiful as they felt watching live. However, they were going up against a small Kent State front seven. We should have dominated but didn’t. The grab bag approach (some zone, some man) doesn’t seem to be working as the traps didn’t open much and the zone stretches didn’t create much. This group had four guys return and were great last year. They shouldn’t struggle this much, even when the other team is crowding the line. If they don’t get things together against Clemson, we will have real tough time going forward."
Kent State Game Observations (Eagle All Access)
"After an impressive debut last week our young group once again excelled. Nick Clancy and Dominic LeGrande each recorded their first career interceptions and Luke Kuechly recovered a fumble. They were a big reason why Kent State managed just 60 yards on the ground."
TCU 30, Virginia 14
I have the urge to poke things listlessly with a stick (From Old Virginia)
Brendan with the headline win. "The offense. One of those impressions I mentioned that didn't survive actual viewing of the game was this: "Jameel Sewell gets one more game and if it looks like that again, then turn the reins over to Marc Verica." False: Sewell was not the problem. It's worse than that. Way worse. How much worse? Here goes - Heather Dinich was right: the wide receivers are garbage. Sewell officially carried the ball 21 times, and I didn't keep track, but probably at least eight or ten of those were because the receivers weren't open and he had to scramble and/or eat a sack."
NC State 65, Murray State 7
NC State 65, Murray State 7 (Backing The Pack)
"Murray State had as many drives gain zero or negative yardage as they did drives that gained positive yardage. They managed more than four plays on a drive just once--at 13-play march late in the game that resulted in their only score."
Florida State 19, Jacksonville State 9
Florida State Survives Jacksonville State 19-9 (Tomahawk Nation)
"But the real story of this game was sloppiness. The Noles offense moved the ball well enough to win, Gaining 407 yards on only 61 plays. But they were very sloppy and had terrible attention to detail, which means that many of those yards didn't turn into points. The Noles missed a field goal, two extra points, had a turnover on downs, fumbled twice in Jacksonville State territory (including one on the 2-yard line after a 30 yard run), had a muffed punt allowing Jacksonville State to resume their only scoring drive, and also had a roughing the punter penalty to extend a Jacksonville State drive. The defense allowed 330 yards on 69 plays, which outside of the 3rd down conversions through the first three quarters, isn't bad (4.9 allowed per play, albeit to Jacksonville State)."
I Sat Through FSU / JSU And All I Got Was A Lousy Game (Scalp 'Em)
"The Seminoles of Florida State looked like garbage throughout the game in almost every facet of play. On defense, players didn’t look like they had a clue where to line up. When they did, they didn’t execute well and allow Gamecock receivers to get open. It consistently took two to three guys to tackle someone. Perhaps that’s acceptable against Miami, but against Jacksonville State? Come on! All the yelling in the world by Mickey Andrews isn’t getting the job done. The Noles do not appear to have the talent across the defensive board nor do they have the smarts to make up for the lack of talent. It’s going to be a long, long season FSU fans."
Maryland 38, James Madison 35 (OT)
Maryland Sneaks By JMU: It's a Win, But Worries Remain (Testudo Times)
"I'll be frank: Maryland probably shouldn't have won this game. If JMU had a decent kicker, or if they didn't commit 105 yards of penalties, or if they didn't - for some reason I am still yet to grasp - share phenomenal QB Drew Dudzik's time on the field with Justin Thorpe, James Madison probably wins the game."
National Games
USC 18, Ohio State 15
Any Questions? (Conquest Chronicles)
"In the end it was all about Matt Barkley. He showed us a lot of poise. he also showed the rest of the world what may on the coaching staff have in practice. There is so much more to look at but that is for tomorrow...tonight we celebrate a very hard fought win in a very nasty environment."
Pride And Dignity (We Will Always Have Tempe)
"Uh, Pryor? Dude, you got off to such a hot start. I mean, after that pick and everything, but... settle down, man. There were times when he wasn't even getting pressured and the Todd Boeckman Happy Feet came out. I give him a solid B-minus on the day - that 3rd down conversion on the ground was magnificent, as were his passes to Dane Sanzenbacher, DeVier Posey and Brand: Insaine. But he's just not a consistent quarterback right now. The arm-punts have mostly gone away, but he's still overthrowing 6'7" guys like Jake Ballard and tossing prayers off his back foot. He's just a sophomore, so I'm not even close to worried about his progress yet, but seeing such greatness trammeling itself with boneheaded mistakes is heartwrenching."
Michigan 38, Notre Dame 35
One For The Ages, Hail To The Victors! (Maize n Brew)
"Tate Forcier, I mean what can you say? An epic performance. The play before the winning TD was one of the greatest individual efforts I have ever seen, for him to avoid the sack and get the ball to Savoy in the corner of the endzone was nothing short of ridiculous. The ensuing drop was soul-crushing for approximately 5 seconds, and yes it was tipped."
Texas 41, Wyoming 10
Postgame React: Texas 41 Wyoming 10 (Burnt Orange Nation)
"Heading into next week I feel: Demanding. Two games down, two comfortable wins, and two performances with lots to like and a few lingering questions that need resolving for this team to achieve its goals. I'll be the first to hush someone who tries to tell me I should panic, but neither will I deny that the current level of play leaves the team vulnerable to upset."
Penn State 28, Syracuse 7
Glass Half Empty Or Glass Half Full (Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician)
"If your glass is half full, you saw Syracuse cover the spread (+28) against the #5 team in the nation. You saw Syracuse hold Penn State to 14 points in the first half and keep things relatively competitive into the fourth quarter. You saw a defense hold it's own against the Nittany Lions high-powered offense, disrupting many drives and keeping the team in the game."
Pittsburgh 54, Buffalo 27
Maynard Shines in Defeat (The Goose's Roost)
"That "anything" starts with Bulls sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard. Maynard is silencing the pre-season skeptics who weren’t sure if he could step in and replicate the scoring juggernaut Buffalo had become under graduated senior Drew Willy. If anything, in only two starts, Maynard has made the Bulls even more dangerous – even without senior running back James Starks."
UCLA 19, Tennessee 15
A Program Defining Win (Bruins Nation)
"There are so many heroes in this game. So much to discuss. We might as well just start the Rahim Moore for Heisman campaign, given all the hype we were barraged with on the greatness of Eric Berry. Berry is a great player but Moore is now on a journey (if he stays on course) to become one of the greatest Bruin defenders in the tradition of Easley and Turner. Moore once again put together a monster game with 2 picks and would had 3 if not for the homerrific SEC (how do you say that slowly again?) officials who seemed to be making terrible calls and giving Bruins bad spots all game long."
Crompton and the Vols Trade Perception for Reality (Rocky Top Talk)
"Lane Kiffin is a man of his word: he said he would not rotate quarterbacks, and he didn't. He's held true to everything he's said thus far in his tenure, so don't be surprised if Nick Stephens doesn't see any action next week either (plus, if you think Stephens is going to give us the best chance to win the rest of the year, perhaps you don't throw him to the Gators in The Swamp in a game Tennessee has less chance to win than any I can ever remember in my lifetime...perhaps Crompton takes the fall next week and Stephens starts against Ohio)."
Oregon 38, Purdue 36
Oregon 38, Purdue 36: Well, we won (Addicted To Quack)
"And you know, for everything that went wrong, I can say that over every single half we've seen this year, our team has improved. So, for tonight, let's celebrate that improvement, the fact that we have a coach that's not a zombie, and that we a real QB again."
Georgia 41, South Carolina 37
Stepping Back from the Ledge and Trying to Find Some Positives (Garnet And Black Attack)
"All in all, it's hard to know what this game means in the grand scheme of things. I don't know how good Georgia really is, so it's hard to know how good the Gamecocks really are right now. However, I can say with confidence that if our offense continues to play like it did last night, this team will be dangerous. If that happens and the defense comes back around, this team can win any game on the schedule. We're now 1-1 after a tough pair of road games. Let's tune up this week against FAU and then take out Ole Miss the next week. If we do that, every reasonable goal for this season will be in reach."
Stuff Only I Care About
Ask Amalie: A two-horse race (Globe)
Amalie Benjamin (who I love and in a heartbeat would give up my hard-drinking, road-tripping bachelor ways for) discusses the Sox Wild Card race with the hated Texas Rangers. "It appears that the wild card race will not be decided any time soon, though it will be interesting to see how the Rangers-Angels games go down the stretch. At the moment, though, one of the most crucial aspects of the race is the development of two young and inexperienced pitchers, Clay Buchholz and Scott Feldman. Both will be crucial to the fortunes of their respective teams, and both have demonstrated quite a bit of promise this season, though Feldman certainly has the better numbers of the two."
Burning Questions (Die By The Blade)
"I think Miller could play 100 games this season and still be good if he plays the game he played last season. He was always i position (although he still goes down too early), he played with confidence and most of all his teammates trusted him."
Throw Them Stones! (The Lost Ogle)
"The Canadians are invading Oklahoma, and they’ve brought their sports with them. No, no, not hockey — curling! You know, that ice-based Olympic sport that combines big rocks with handles, brooms, and a giant dart-board target? Okay, you don’t? Well, curling has arrived in Oklahoma at the Arctic Edge Ice Center in Edmond."