Beamer-ball: Deja vu, anyone?
Watching the VaTech-Boise State game last night, the eerily chilling reminders of Mike Debord and LC were brutal.
How many 1st and goals from the 7-8-9 yard line were runs between the tackles? 2nd and goals went for 0 or negative yards? 3rd and goals went sailing out of the end zone, on overthrown crossing routes instead of nice fades to the corners? Just a terrible gameplan and strategy throughout. Not saying that there weren't other mistakes made, just that the scheme from the coaches seemed to minimize the opportunity to be aggressive and win, instead, biding their time so they could launch bombs with 69 seconds left, down by 3.
Debord has hit his upper limit as tight ends coach for the Seahawks, coaching a single player position. Why he was our OC will forever remain a mystery. One of my all-time favorite knuckleheaded quotes from Debord in The Wolverine season 2007 preview. Asked about the philosophy of the offense, he replied "establish the run." The next years preview, Calvin Magee responded with "score touchdowns."
I'm glad we've left Beamer-ball in the past, where it belongs...
September 7th, 2010 at 8:28 AM ^
That said, the last two drives were pathetic; the second to last had the Hokies playing it safe, while that last one was like, "Panic! Aaaiieeeie!!!". They had the game in hand and simply let BSU take it away.
September 7th, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
I agree with all of your above statements. The last couple of drives seemed desperate not to lose and the last drive was uh-oh desperate to win.
However, I was very disappointed in the unnecessary roughness call on Boise's last drive. It looked like they would score anyway, but that call was very Crable-esque and to me was a very poor call. The Boise player barely touched the sideline and kept running and the whistle blew while the VaTech defender was in the air.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:32 AM ^
Probably the worst two minute offense ever on that final drive. Wow that was bad!
September 7th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
LSU fans might disagree...
September 7th, 2010 at 8:49 AM ^
needs very badly to win a game of significance. They are constantly in "big games" toward the beginning of the season and never win, at least that is the way it seems. I am actually surprised they were in that game last night. And I guess they changed their uniforms, and school colors entirely. Uuuuuggggly.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:53 AM ^
Yes, the uniforms were ugly, but the change was only for 1 game. Boise’s uni’s were also changed for this game as well. Needless to say one and/or two of the many reasons why people have changed their tune a bit about Adidas these past few years.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2010-09-01-nike-uniforms_N.htm
September 7th, 2010 at 8:52 AM ^
on that last drive by bsu. I knew that they'd get scored on. put no pressure on the qb and gave him all day.
recipe for disaster
September 7th, 2010 at 9:10 AM ^
"...bend but don't break." That was more like "bend until you break."
Michigan's current defense is a better example of "bend but don't break." It allowed a fair amount of yards, but only ten points. Also, the game has changed a lot in the last ten years. RR had a lot to do with that when he invented the spread option. Even teams that aren't using it are starting to use more spread formations in their base offense. Also, everyone has realized that, for the most part, speed trumps bulk.
When you put it all together, it adds up to more scoring and harder work for defenses. Unless a team signs around 120 recruits over four years, it's really difficult to stop everybody, even for one magical year.
Thanks to RR and all of the coaches who either emulated him or actually learned from him when he was giving most of his secrets away to anyone who asked (cough, Urban Meyer), "hard-fought, 10-7 victories" are now quaint artifacts of a bygone era. Even the best defenses are going to have a hard time shutting down everyone. I like it that way.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^
Pressure on Moore was a problem for majority of the night, but in VT's defense, their only returning starter on the DL was John Graves. Foster’s defense’s have finished in the top 12 nationally in total defense every one of the last six seasons, butthey only had 4-5 returning starters from last year’s defense.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:00 AM ^
September 7th, 2010 at 1:01 PM ^
DeBord offense - 1 National Championship
Magee offense - 0 National Championships
The silliest part of it all is, if anyone watched the game on Saturday, they were ALL about "establishing the run". In fact, until they had a QB in their offense that could "establish the run", the offense was kinda crappy.
(And may still be...we've only played one game people!)
Next we're going to hear that coaches who think "Defense win championships" are fuddy duddies, and I'm so glad we have a guy who thinks offense first.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:00 AM ^
An old teacher of mine referred to the U-M basketball team under Bill Frieder as the "Best Worst Coached Team in America". He used this moniker to describe his frustration at the endless string of early-outs in the NCAA tourneys.
I see VT much the same way. Beamer can't seem to win the biggest games. He gets a national stage, his team needs the win, and ... doesn't get it done.
That 2-minute drill was one of the worst I've ever seen. I had flashbacks to Charlie Weis, (miss you, Big Guy). And, one of his players gets two fouls on the same play, (#18 on the punt return that led to BSU's second TD) for 20 yards? WTF? That guy should be doing sprints up the stadium stairs for the rest of the week.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:02 AM ^
September 7th, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^
Hey, man, like what have you done for me latey?
September 7th, 2010 at 9:12 AM ^
um, VT and Beamer lost that game......
September 7th, 2010 at 9:16 AM ^
VT lost to FSU. Final score : 46-29.
I think someone else pointed out in an early post that VT under Beamer is 1-24 against Top 5 teams. That's pathetic.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
They are 1-24 or 25 against top 5 teams. The only win is a win at home against Miami.
Virginia Tech has never beaten a Top 5 team away from home. I believe the statistic is 0-23, following yesterday's loss
Virginia Tech is simply an above-average decent program which consistently wins 10 games or more every season. The only thing stopping them from being elite is their tendency to choke on the big stage, with the nation watching.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:16 AM ^
September 7th, 2010 at 9:22 AM ^
He did win the Orange Bowl in 2009...against Cincinnati. Not that impressive considering that UC was something of a paper tiger coming out of the Big East (sort of like last season, but to a greater extent).
He also lost to KU in the 2008 Orange Bowl.
In '95 VT beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:16 AM ^
1 win in 20 games against Top 5 or 10 teams (the commentators said it)?
September 7th, 2010 at 9:02 AM ^
You almost get this feeling with the philosiphy that say, take me too that warm, cozy 8-4, 9-3 destination. You have all this talent left on the table. It's like asking Sir Edmund Hilary to scale Boyne Mountain, once to get to the summit of 9-3 you shout out. WTF!!!! Beamer will be gracefully wisked away in 2-3 years.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:12 AM ^
Precisely my point. Reading the numerous threads and angry posts pro/anti-Boise, one thing I had difficulty with was the whole "well, if BSU was in XYZ Conference, they'd have similar talent to the top teams therein." Seriously? So Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin all have similar talent to OSU or U-M in the past, let alone currently? And will all beat OSU next time they play?
I don't buy the "establish the run" when you've got the talent the 2007 Michigan offense had. The unicorn TOP stat doesn't win games, the run being established doesn't win games, scoring early and scoring often allows you to win games by putting the other team on their heels, taking them out of their rhythm/scheme/comfort zone.
Love the Boyne Mountain/Edmund Hillary simile.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:25 AM ^
I can't tell if this was written in an attempt at irony or sarcasm, so forgive me if it was. If it was written in seriousness, I can't think of a dumber reading of Beamer's situation in Blacksburg. Since 1995, Beamer has had ELEVEN double-digit win seasons, including six in a row through last year. To suggest that the VaTech AD will get rid of Beamer in the foreseeable future is stupid.
People around here seem to conveniently forget that a certain legendary coach's record in bowl games was a "pathetic" 5-11, and a miserable 2-8 in the Rose Bowl.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:26 AM ^
"You almost get this feeling with the philosiphy that say, take me too that warm, cozy 8-4, 9-3 destination."
8-4? You obviously haven't been paying attention to VT's W-L record.
"Beamer will be gracefully wisked away in 2-3 years."
This is a naive and silly statement. Beamer IS VT football. When he started there they were independent and looking to be taken seriously. Now a win over VT propels teams into the national championship discussion. They get the best game from their opponents in the ACC. Would they like to win more big games? Sure, but I don't think anybody in the VT leadership is dumb enough to think they can do better by casting Beamer over the side. They have the head coach in waiting basically signed up.
September 7th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^
Wait just a freaking second. Frank Beamer built that program. Before he got there they were absolutely freaking nothing. Mediocre independent school. He built that thing. They are where they are because of Frank freaking Beamer. The man's not coaching Michigan, he's not coaching Texas, hell he's not even coaching a program like MSU.He built that thing, and he's got the 3rd longest bowl streak in the country, and he's had plenty of double digit win seasons in the last decade, and he'll leave that program when he's good and ready.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:22 AM ^
I won't blame this one on Beamer or his OC. Tyrod Taylor left the game twice with injury in the second half, it was pretty clear to me he was limited on those last two drives. When your QB is hurt, what can you call besides deep passes or handoffs? Their best weapons are their RBs who are obviously not useful on a comeback drive. The healthy TT probably would have led a scoring drive, but that's the breaks of football.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:39 AM ^
I still think there were a bunch of missed opportunities to score TOUCHDOWNS, and instead, FG's or missed FG's, were what cost them the game. To my thinking, VT should have been up by more than 4 with 3 to go in the 4th. Again, playing to win in the 4th leaves yourself a thin margin for error on either side of the ball, and continues to give life to a team that shouldn't even have a chance late.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:07 AM ^
I think that going for two was stupid so early in the game. My belief is that you only go for two if it's late in the fourth quarter. They ended up being down by 4 instead of 3--bad move.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:11 AM ^
He pulled a Charlie Weis on their last possession and went for it - calling a passing play on 3rd down instead of a running play. He went for the win, but it was stupid because it gave Boise State 2 full minutes to drive the field instead of about 1 minute if VaTech had run the ball. With Tyrod as their QB I think they should have told him to drop back then take off. But that's just me.
Boise still might have scored (especially if you are going to give them the BS late hit call), but they would have had a lot less time to work with.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^
Surprised also, that Tyrod seemed to not have authorization to make the quick read and run earlier in the game...had to wait for the passing play to die first. I thought there were at least a couple occasions where the lane/field was open, and he waited so long, that instead of a 10+ yard gain, it was more of a 2-3-4 yard gainer instead.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:12 AM ^
While watching that 2nd to last drive last night, I couldn't help but be reminded about Weiss' dumb play call last year - throwing up a long pass in the hopes of sealing the game. Beamer just ran 2 straight times to kill the remaining BSU timeouts, and could have run off another 40-50 seconds with a 3rd run and punt. That would of left just over a minute left for BSU.
I guess it doesn't matter, considering the poor defense played by VT. But still, dumb coaching move, in my opinion. And reminded me SO MUCH of Mr. Weiss!