BLACKSBURG, Va.– Some Observations compiled during the Terps’ 23-13 loss at Virginia Tech…
-After all the speculation, Hokie quarterback Sean Glennon started under center. It didn’t really matter, anyway. It was the Hokies’ running game that wore down the Terps. Running back Darren Evans ran through huge holes all night, and finished with more than 200 yards rushing.
-After not quite as much speculation, Terp running back Da’Rel Scott was in the backfield on the Terps’ first offensive play of the game. It didn’t really matter, anyway. Scott had nowhere to go the entire night, and the offensive line was terrible.
-On the Hokies’ long scoring drive in the first quarter, the Hokies’ offensive line opened up massive holes for Evans to run through. The outmuscled Terps had to respect the run, and they were caught off guard when Glennon passed to tight end Greg Boone on third and goal at the 5 for the touchdown.
-Each of the Terps’ first two drives were killed by the lack of an effective running game. Both times, quarterback Chris Turner led the Terps’ crisply down the field before a poorly-designed running play put the Terps in a third-and-long situation. Obi Egekeze missed a field goal the first time, and made one the second time.
-Impressive kick coverage by Egekeze. Dyrell Roberts nearly broke a kick return after the field goal early in the second quarter, but Obi got to the sideline to knock him out of bounds. The touchdown-saving tackle was even bigger after Glennon threw for a five-yard loss, then was sacked, and almost sacked again before he just ran back to the line of scrimmage for a three-and-out.
-It was smart for the Hokies to get back to running the ball on their next possession. Evans bounced outside for a 50-yard run on the first play of the drive, and finished it off seven plays later with a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 14-3. Definitely more effective than Glennon getting repeatedly knocked on his butt.
-Turner putting the ball on the ground on the first play of the second half trailing 17-3 didn’t help the Terps’ cause. The defense bailed him out a little bit when they held the Hokies to a field goal, but the Terps needed to do some positive on that first drive, not go immediately in reverse.
-Darrius Heyward-Bey can still fly. His 63-yard catch and run for a touchdown midway through the third quarter quieted the crowd in a hurry. He can take a hit too. He looked like Scott the way he jumped around after taking a vicious hit from Beau Warren later in the quarter.
-The Hokies are supposed to be known for their special teams, but it was two huge special teams gaffes that gave the Terps some life in the third quarter. A blocked punt (great game for Torrey Smith, by the way) and a muffed punt in the same quarter is unheard of for the Hokies.
-The third quarter plays made it look like the Terps could win, but the Hokies were the better team Thursday.
-This was a tough loss, but the Terps still control their own destiny with three games to go. They need to win out.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
These are the articles that need to be in the diamondback. Drive analysis is great. That being said, the thing that killed us was our weak defensive line. We have a great recruiting class and some young players on defense where I think our secondary is going to be one of the best in college football, and we always have a solid linebacking corp. The question is whether we can get more physical up front. Right now, we have 8 freshman defensive lineman with an average weight of 290 lbs, so it’s clear that Friedgen is trying to beef up and hopefully some of them step up. I love players like Navarre for our team, but with a larger line, the offensive line won’t be able to throw us around like they did yesterday and some of the blockers will be held up, allowing the linebackers to roam freely and make the plays. Our problem against the run was that their line was able to just knock us back, opening up big holes while sometimes getting blocks on our linebackers so that they couldn’t make plays. As far as offense is concerned, our line needs to be more physical there as well. I think we should run Meggett a lot more because of his ability to stick it in the middle
November 9th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Chris Cosh = very bad Defensive Coordinator.
I don’t know why it has not been mentioned yet, but Ralph gave Coach Cosh an earfull at one particular moment in the game that tv caught. I don’t think Ralph was very pleased with the defensive scheme used Thursday night. We will have a new D-Coord. next year or the year after.