bama VS va tech

#26
#26
Teague said:
Key players VT lost:
OFFENSE: Sean Glennon-QB, Devin Perez-FB, Nick Marshman-OG, Ryan Shuman-C, Dustin Keys-K
DEFENSE: Orion Martin-DE, Brett Warren-ILB, Purnell Sturdivant-ILB, Victor Harris-CB

Key Players UA lost:
Offense: Andre Smith - OT, Marlon Davis - OG, John Parker Wilson - QB, Glen Coffee - RB, Antoine Caldwell - C

Defense: Bobby Greenwood - DE, Rashad Johnons - FS

How does VT have an advantage there? They lost as many or more players than Bama.



Yes, I agree, the offensive line is an area of concern. We lost 3 good players. However, we have talent replacing them. The first team O-line held up fairly well in the spring game against the first team D-line which is arguably one of the top five in the nation.

Our, starting QB, McElroy, is a junior and very mature. He has a good arm and is very accurate. I'm sure there will be some growing pains, but I'll take him over Tyrod Taylor behind center any day.

IF Alabama doesn't have a "pounding offense" (and I think they will) Saban and McElwain have been around long enough to know what to do - throw the ball more. Last year our biggest weakness was pass protection. Our new offensive line is reportedly better in that area, although probably not yet as good in the run blocking of last year. I'm sure you don't know much about our recieving corp, but it's a lot deeper than Julio Jones. We have some very good players who didn't get the ball much last year due to injuries, or the QB locking onto JJ, or whatever. Also some of them were young.

I'm not trying to make Alabama out to be the greatest team ever, but I do think they're going to be very good. And I think VT is just another "good" ACC team that is overrated going into the season.
Click to expand...


Alabama's season last year was a byproduct of favorable scheduling and the entire SEC West(minus Ole Miss), and most of East having HORRID and Sub-par seasons. Not to say that Bama was not improved from the previous years, but their schedule was not indicative of how "great" of a team they were.

Their last 2 games shows what kind of team they were. Bama vs VT would be a toss up at this point. It appears you are still wearing your Bear-Colored Glasses.
 
#28
#28
PandamoniumReigns said:
Alabama's season last year was a byproduct of favorable scheduling and the entire SEC West(minus Ole Miss), and most of East having HORRID and Sub-par seasons. Not to say that Bama was not improved from the previous years, but their schedule was not indicative of how "great" of a team they were.

Their last 2 games shows what kind of team they were. Bama vs VT would be a toss up at this point. It appears you are still wearing your Bear-Colored Glasses.
Click to expand...

Come on, guy. EVERY team's season is the byproduct of some luck, be it good or bad.

Bama's last 2 games showed what kind of team they were? Leading the national champs going into the fourth quarter? Yes, I agree.

Utah shows what kind of team we were after losing a disappointing game to Florida and having to completely reshuffle the offensive line. And Utah was a much better team than most of the SEC, including UT.
 
#29
#29
Teague said:
Come on, guy. EVERY team's season is the byproduct of some luck, be it good or bad.

Bama's last 2 games showed what kind of team they were? Leading the national champs going into the fourth quarter? Yes, I agree.

Utah shows what kind of team we were after losing a disappointing game to Florida and having to completely reshuffle the offensive line. And Utah was a much better team than most of the SEC, including UT.
Click to expand...

Umm..So what? Leading the eventual National Champion does not prove anything. Ole Miss BEAT the eventual National Champion. So what?
Tenn BEAT LSU in 2005, AT LSU. Did that make Tennessee a great team? NOPE. They Sucked that year. How did LSU end up?

2008 for Bama will not happen again in 2009. The chances of all the flukes that helped Bama to their nearly undefeated season will not happen again.

As for Utah, they were playing with a chip on their shoulder. They feel they should have been playing for the National Championship. However, apparently Bama thought they were going to be playing for it as well. I agree that Utah was better than alot of the SEC, including UT (not many teams were worse than UT last year). However, Utah should not have won against a "great" team that "was leading the National Champion going into the Fourth Quarter."

They exposed Bama
 
#30
#30
I do have to agree with Teague that there is a trend the last few years of Va Tech's offense being really bad, but their defense being great and it usually winning them games.

However, I don't think their special team play is off or down, they get blocks...and oftentimes several a season.

And their defense isn't going to erode in one season, so I expect them to be the same product w/ the same coach pretty much.

That said, the Defense will be good enough to stop Bama alot of the time, but they'll still lose, but it won't be a blowout. It'll be a low to mid-scorer w/ bama winning by 14 or 17...possibly winning by 20s but i don't think bama will dominate that much unless it's just running up the score near the end

But it won't be a full blowout...
 
Last edited:
#32
#32
Teague said:
Key players VT lost:
OFFENSE: Sean Glennon-QB, Devin Perez-FB, Nick Marshman-OG, Ryan Shuman-C, Dustin Keys-K
DEFENSE: Orion Martin-DE, Brett Warren-ILB, Purnell Sturdivant-ILB, Victor Harris-CB

Key Players UA lost:
Offense: Andre Smith - OT, Marlon Davis - OG, John Parker Wilson - QB, Glen Coffee - RB, Antoine Caldwell - C

Defense: Bobby Greenwood - DE, Rashad Johnons - FS

How does VT have an advantage there? They lost as many or more players than Bama.



Yes, I agree, the offensive line is an area of concern. We lost 3 good players. However, we have talent replacing them. The first team O-line held up fairly well in the spring game against the first team D-line which is arguably one of the top five in the nation.

Our, starting QB, McElroy, is a junior and very mature. He has a good arm and is very accurate. I'm sure there will be some growing pains, but I'll take him over Tyrod Taylor behind center any day.

IF Alabama doesn't have a "pounding offense" (and I think they will) Saban and McElwain have been around long enough to know what to do - throw the ball more. Last year our biggest weakness was pass protection. Our new offensive line is reportedly better in that area, although probably not yet as good in the run blocking of last year. I'm sure you don't know much about our recieving corp, but it's a lot deeper than Julio Jones. We have some very good players who didn't get the ball much last year due to injuries, or the QB locking onto JJ, or whatever. Also some of them were young.

I'm not trying to make Alabama out to be the greatest team ever, but I do think they're going to be very good. And I think VT is just another "good" ACC team that is overrated going into the season.
Click to expand...

Addressing player losses.
Bama lost way more important players. We can easily call the defenses a push. Both are great defenses and both will be great again next year. Bama looses one good player as does VT. The VT lbs were good but not stand outs, they will be replaced easily. Greenwood can be replaced also.

Addressing the QB situation.
McElroy has thrown 16 passes in his college career. He is obviously worse than Wilson and Wilson had arguably the best offensive line in the country last year. You cannot judge talent on a spring game. Those are promotional games to excite fans more than anything. Tyrod Talyor was and still is considered one of the best athletes in the game. Dual threat QBs always develop late. (see Vince Young)

Addressing your OL
Credit to Bama's coaching staff for recruiting very good O-linemen this past year. The problem is, no one will take the place of Andre Smith (a player I remember many bama fans blaming the Utah game on). As I said earlier, the spring game means nothing.

Addressing pounding the ball
No, you won't be able to pound the ball like last season. And you really think that passing the ball with Greg McElroy is the answer? Furthermore, don't kid yourself about Bama's receiving corps. They are solid, but they are NOT by ANY means deep with talent. Julio is flat out incredible, but they rest are average at best.

In conclusion, Bama will be very good, as you said. But many of the growing pains you speak of will be very evident in game one. They will improve as the season progresses and certainly be in contention for the West. VT is by no means another "good overrated" ACC team. They are excellent (WAY better than Clemson). They won the Orange Bowl last year in a supposed "rebuilding year." Should be a great early season match up, and to think either team will run away with it would be ignorant.
 
#34
#34
kidbourbon said:
Since as long as I can remember.
Click to expand...

The games may not be as competitive but ask 100 Tech fans who their biggest rival is and 99 will tell you UVA. The last guy doesn't know a thing about football but he just goes to the games so he can shake his keys in the air like a jackass on 3rd down bc its a "key play".
 
#35
#35
LunchPail_big.jpg
 
#36
#36
Brewerw said:
Addressing pounding the ball
No, you won't be able to pound the ball like last season. And you really think that passing the ball with Greg McElroy is the answer? Furthermore, don't kid yourself about Bama's receiving corps. They are solid, but they are NOT by ANY means deep with talent. Julio is flat out incredible, but they rest are average at best.
Click to expand...


i think bama will be able to pound the ball against VA tech, and i dont think they will count on mcelroy to win the game with his arm, bama is still pretty deep on the OL and at tail back to.
 
#37
#37
Quality depth is the key to Bama fans' guarded optimism for 2009. Granted, the first team OL probably won't be the lights-out group we had last year. However, the depth should be much better. Likewise, better depth at RB and on D. Hopefully a WR to compliment Julio. Equally important, from what we've seen of McElroy, he'll go through his progressions and won't lock onto Julio.

That being said, Bama could easily lose to VT. It could take a few games for the OL and QB to gel.
 
#38
#38
UAfossil said:
Quality depth is the key to Bama fans' guarded optimism for 2009. Granted, the first team OL probably won't be the lights-out group we had last year. However, the depth should be much better. Likewise, better depth at RB and on D. Hopefully a WR to compliment Julio. Equally important, from what we've seen of McElroy, he'll go through his progressions and won't lock onto Julio.

That being said, Bama could easily lose to VT. It could take a few games for the OL and QB to gel.
Click to expand...

Good post. Bama's D should be a strength, but I do not think it will be as good as last season's version because that offense kept them off the field and fresh. I do no not think your offense will be as effective running the football.
 
#39
#39
Brewerw said:
McElroy has thrown 16 passes in his college career. He is obviously worse than Wilson
Click to expand...

I'm not going to cover all your points because I just had surgery and need to hobble my ass back to the bed, but why is McElroy "obviously worse than Wilson???" Because you want to believe that? Because he didn't start as a sophomore? The coaches seem to love him. He's smart, knows the game, has a decent arm, and, by all reports, is more accurate that JPW. So why is he "obviously worse" when we haven't even seen him play a game yet? I know high school records don't always translate to the next level, but he DID break a lot of Texas passing records and the last I checked, there were some pretty good QB's coming out of there.

If our rivals are hanging their hats on us being down at QB, I think they're going to be disappointed. The biggest question we have is the O-line, but I'm cautiously optimistic about the talent we have there.
 
#40
#40
Axion Jaxion said:
Good post. Bama's D should be a strength, but I do not think it will be as good as last season's version because that offense kept them off the field and fresh. I do no not think your offense will be as effective running the football.
Click to expand...

You raise an interesting point re Bama's D last year vs. this year. Just looking at the returning starters and added depth, it appears a slam-dunk that Bama's 2009 D will be better than last year's version. However, you're probably right that the 2009 D will be on the field more than was the case last year. It'll be interesting to see whether a stronger D, but with more time on the field, can equal or exceed last year's performance.

Our secondary was a weak link last year. I expect (hope?) for better results in 2009. If we could borrow Mr. Berry for the season, that would alleviate any concerns I have about the D. :yes:

Our OL will be the big question mark going into the season. I expect us to be fine at QB.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top