Monday, October 5, 2009

Really? Duke?

Yeah... Duke. They're not as bad as they would appear at first glance. Their two losses before this past weekend were against Richmond and Kansas. Despite being in the FCS, Richmond is 4-0 and could run the table this year. They're good enough to hang with at least half of the the FBS teams. Kansas could also be decent in the Big 12 North this season... they're 4-0 at this point and have some talent. I don't think VT's coaches are the least bit surprised that Duke put up a fight on Saturday, and we shouldn't be surprised either. Their depth is terrible, but Thad Lewis, Vince Oghobaase, and a few other Duke starters are quality ACC talent and could end up being selected in the NFL draft. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was a trap game, so I'm glad to see Tech come out on top.

As usual, Cody Grimm was all over the place. He is our best player at this point of the season with 14 tackles (2 for loss) and a forced fumble. Jason Worilds is a close second and he's making a real case for himself to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft. He had 3 tackles (.5 for loss) and 5 QB hurries. Steven Friday also had a coming-out party with 2 tackles for loss, 2 QB hurries, and a sack. Let's hope Friday is good enough to replace Worilds when he leaves.

The offense looked competitive and you have to hand it to BS for getting another solid performance. I really liked the effort we got from Tyrod Taylor in that game. He played with confidence and threw with a chip on his shoulder. 17-22 with 327 and 2 TDs is nothing to scoff at, even against this suspect Blue Devil defense. We can't expect to get this kind of yardage from Taylor every week, but I would love to get this type of completion percentage from week-to-week. Duke obviously keyed on the run, limiting Ryan Williams to 83 rushing yards. Williams did a nice job with what the offensive line was able to give him. I am also being forced to eat a little crow in regard to Josh Oglesby. I didn't think we'd get much of anything from him this year, but he's been a good Darren Evans clone so far this season. Not much in the break-away speed department, but man is he running with power! Jarret Boykin and Danny Coale quietly had monster games with 144 and 97 yards respectively. They also each had EXCELLENT touchdown catches. Those catches were extremely difficult, and I love that they were able to give Taylor a reason to put the ball in the air.

Honestly, I think we are going to crush Boston College this weekend. The players want revenge for past losses, and there's no better place to do that then at home on Homecoming weekend. Nobody is going to overlook BC's defense, so our Hokies should be fired up and ready for the challenge ahead of them. I would still like to see more play-action from Stinespring, and I think he really needs to key on that... especially when we're racking up yardage on the ground! We'll see what the offense has in store for us next weekend. No let-downs, boys!

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