Oh yeah, and the
Covers Investigative Team has this to report:
"
37-6-1
Alright, guys. Thanks for
coming along for the ride. It's going to be a fun one, and as
promised, here's your pick. Just deposit 25 dollars into my paypal
account and I'll send it....I'M EFFIN' KIDDING. No, the Lu does not want your money, just your loyalty. That's it. Moving on...
I've been looking this game over for the past few days.
It's been quite a challenge for me personally. Obviously, with the
Hokies coming off the loss to JMU Saturday night was a real monkey
wrench in trying to cap this game properly. But the more I've looked
at the tape from the BSU game and the replay of the JMU game on ESPNU
the other night, one thing has become very clear to me. The Hokie
defense you see out there isn't the Hokie defense of ole'. Those
defensive players are lost. They're young, they're confused, they're
running in opposite directions, and unfortunately for them, they're
about to face an offense that likes to get in space and cause confusion
in the secondary.
The Virginia Tech Hokies we've all come to know and
respect are not on the field this year in Blacksburg. In the past, the
Hokie teams who have been successful have been reliant on superior
special teams who could flip the field and a defense who could keep the
opposing teams offense from marching down the field. This typically
put their mundane offense in a great position to be successful. They'd
run behind a stable of backs and pass enough to mix it up. But VT was
never a team that lit up the scoreboard. In fact, the Hokies are only
averaging 18.3 points per game the last 3 times out against ECU.
That's not a statistic that's an anomaly. Virginia Tech ranked inside
the top 3 in points allowed by the defense for several consecutive
years. The offense didn't have to do much.
The Hokie's just got bitten by their own strategy. There's no longer a defense to bail this offense out and
all of the sudden, the offense is being asked to outscore other teams.
That's a fundamental problem with this group. They're not designed to
work that way. Not only that, the offensive line for the
Hokies is just not very good and their offensive coordinator is about
to be burned at the stake by the maroon and burnt orange faithful.
Now let's not get carried away. The Pirates are
brutal on defense as well. They've got problems, but fortunately for
the Purple and Gold, they have an offense that's up to the task and can
bail out the defense when they need to. When this ECU team needs to
score, they do it. We saw that in week one against Tulsa as the
offense continually answered the bell against the Golden Hurricane. We
saw that against Memphis when ECU needed to put in some separation at
the second half. When they play with a sense of urgency, they're
dangerous. The Pirates have put up 100 points in two games. It took
the prior coaching regime over 5 games to get to the 100 total point
mark. The offense for the Pirates is clicking and is gaining more and
more confidence. The running backs are superb with Jonathan Williams
averaging over 6 yards per clip.
Head coach Ruffin McNeil said yesterday that the
Pirates had a very sharp Sunday practice and that the team is licking
their chops at this opportunity to head into Blacksburg and play in
that environment. They would've been licking their chops even if VT
was 2-0, in my opinion. The coaching staff has been pumping in crowd
noise all week to simulate the noise environment they'll get inside of
Lane Stadium. It's been really loud for a little while each night in
that neighborhood as they go into silent count/cadence practice. The
kids are fired up and BELIEVE they can win this football game. That
might be the biggest reason for taking ECU. They're mentally prepared
to get after it. The Hokies on the other hand don't know who they are
yet.
Reports out of Blacksburg are that coaches are
arguing with players, players are arguing with coaches, quarterback
Tyrod Taylor has had several heated discussions not only with his
center who he can't seem to get on the same page with, but also the
offensive coordinator for his play calling. The fans are about to
throw in the towel. It's just an extremely frail and fragile situation
up in the Virginia mountains.
Now look, the game is difficult to cap because of
the JMU game...and a little bit because of the BSU game. I think the
Hokie's aren't as bad as the loss to JMU, but they're not nearly as
good as their miracle come back against Boise State in D.C. in which
they needed 3 turnovers to make it a game late. There also not 19.5
points better than this version of the Pirates. They simply don't have
the pop to get that far out in front, if they can get out in front at
all. ECU's offensive line is strong and deep and will give Dom Davis
(who is leading the country in touchdowns) plenty of time to pick apart
the Hokie D...especially with the loss of VT's best defensive lineman
Kwamaine Battle.
I'm not going to over think it any more. I've done
my due diligence. I've watched the games. I've seen the confusion on
the VT defensive side of the ball...confusion that was never there with
the winningest VT programs of the past. Their offense isn't as good as
ECU's. I have to trust my instincts and my eyeballs. The new Hokie's are in trouble on Saturday.
I'm making my call.
ECU +19.5 for 2 units. You might also consider the over, but I don't play totals.
Best of luck, gentlemen. Let's get the money."
There ya go. Why can't that be posted in his thread in here? Or maybe even in a new thread in the college football forum?
For the man that has all the answers, what is the answer to that?
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