Orange Bowl Thoughts

I ended up watching the full game last night between Notre Dame and Penn State (plus, I was getting live reports as my brother got to go for a work trip with Capital One and pre-gamed with Dan Marino and Larry Fitzgerald.) What a terrific football game. Penn State was zone blocking to perfection in the run game (their other tight end, No. 16 was terrific and the right tackle scooped a one-tech from the backside, a truly awesome feat, on one of the SIngelton TDs). Meanwhile, Notre Dame had nothing going and then turned to smashmouth gap scheme power blocking with a lot of QB keepers mixed in, only to make the biggest play of the game because a corner got twisted up on his bump in single high coverage. There were mistakes, drama, everything that makes football good.

And at the same time, it was a bit saddening. The game showcased how far behind Virginia Tech is as a football program. The size, the closing speed all over the field, the focus on dominating the line of scrimmage by both teams... it was sobering. We spent an entire season banging on scheme and playcalling, but the stone cold reality is, there were two players on the 2024 Virginia Tech roster who would contend for playing time on these two teams, Aneas Peebles and Bhayshul Tuten. The size, strength, and most importantly explosiveness and physicality I saw on that field blew me away.

The only thing that I did see that the Hokies have in common was the tightness Brent Pry's mentor, James Franklin, showed at the begining of the third quarter. I got weird feelings as Notre Dame had their opening drive, and it was strange that the Penn State defense, after dominating the first half, had awful body language during the drive, like they were dead tired. They bounced back, but then the offense went into a conservative shell and didn't stretch the field. Singleton, Warren, and their terrific offensive line kept churning, but the inability to stretch the field (not a single completion to a wide out) allowed Notre Dame to load the box and get just enough key stops.

And boy, how many times did I think to myself "man, I wish Pry had made an attempt to flip Abdul Carter." Even though he is the best edge rusher in the country now, he was an amazing WILL and would have been a four year starter at WILL or DE at VT.

Thanks everyone for the morning therapy. Back to waiting for a DC decision until the game this evening. Stay safe with the storm coming.
-French