1 Down, 11 to Go......Hokies fall to Bama

Much has been written, said and spoken already about the Alabama game. The offense lacks the ability to sustain drives, the defense looked out of sync at times and didn't tackle well, special teams kept us in the game.....but then cost us the game.

So here's a few hopefully unique observations from Saturday night's contest against Alabama.

1) Jake Johnson's Potential
Starting Backer, Jake Johnson, had a game of ups and downs in my eyes Saturday night. There would be plays where he was flying around, getting off of blockers and making tackles. And then there were plays where he obviously made an incorrect read, keyed off the wrong person, or took a poor pursuit angle to the ball, and it cost us. The misdirection runs that Alabama had so much success on where coming directly at Nekos Brown and Jake Johnson. I have a feeling that the play might have gotten the best of Xavier Adibi once, but not twice and certainly not as many times as Alabama was successful with it. But it was the first start for the Sophomore and he was going up against a couple of extremely good Alabama running backs. Johnson has a great amount of potential. He is one of the hardest workers on the team (something Bud Foster always finds ways to use, aka Cody Grimm) and he makes me think he could be a more athletic version of Ben Taylor. Look for Jake Johnson to progress this season and become a very solid Backer for Bud Foster's defense.

2) Tech is swimming in athletes
The Virginia Tech coaching staff has a great, but none the less, very difficult situation on their hands. They have the cupboards stocked to the brim with athletes on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Dyrell Roberts, Ryan Williams, David Wilson, Jayron Hosley and Davon Morgan all saw action returning Alabama kicks of one variety or another. Tech had a whole slew of receivers who saw game time, plus several tight ends. While in many ways this is a great problem to have, when you are an offense without a true identity, having so many weapons at so many positions on the field can actually keep a team from quickly forming an identity. Do we want to focus on the Wide Receivers to develop our passing game? Do we fold in passes to the Tight End more? How do we utilize the tailbacks out of the backfield and on screen plays? There are only so many minutes per week in practice and the more time you have to spend figuring those questions out, the more reps are spread between all of the options and you end up being a jack of all trades, master of none. As the season progresses, keep a close eye on who starts to get more touches and what positions become more prominently featured in the offensive game plan. Oh, and did I mention how we can't get away from utilizing Tyrod's scrambling ability in the offense either? Have fun squeezing that one into the mix.

3) I'll be just fine if I never hear "Roll Tide" again
I've got to give it to Alabama fans. With the exception of the Bama student body, who made it to the game, guys dressed in white button down dress shirts, ties, khaki elephant print shorts and girls in sundresses (I thought I was at a UVA game and that put me in a bad mood), overall the Bama fan base was friendly and knowledgeable about the game of football. Every school has the idiots who get way to liquored up for each game and do nothing but scream obscenities at the opposing team's fans, but in large the Bama fans were more interested in complimenting our program and talking football while waiting in line for a Coke. Bama fans also appreciate the finer things about the game of football. They really noticed when their running backs were lowering their shoulder and running through blocks rather than just stepping out of bounds or trying to avoid a tackle. And the Bama running backs obliged their fans with seeking out Tech players to hit at the end of a run (just ask Davon Morgan and Cody Grimm). However, 40,000 Bear Bryant wanna-bes walking 8 hours before kickoff yelling "Roll Tide" at each other as they passed on the street grew more than annoying. Congrats on having a slick catch phrase Alabama, a catch phrase that just might drive the opposing team nuts before the opening kickoff even takes place.


Overall it was a disappointing loss because for so much of the game it felt like victory was close at hand. I have a feeling though that Marshall won't experience the same fortune that Alabama did. Kickoff is in less than 4 days.

Go Hokies!!