Q&A With a Gobbler Blog
4 comments so far
September 15, 2009 by
Nebraska plays at Virginia Tech this weekend. Maybe you had already heard. Well, we think that is kind of a big deal. So, to get the straight skinny from the Virginia Tech side of things, we turned to the very fine blog, Gobbler Country. I spoke with their founder - who goes by the handle furrer4heisman - about several VT v. NU related items. We cover his view of the match ups, some key players to watch, fans sentiment about Nebraska, and some of the places for visiting Husker fans to go for good grub and refreshment while in Blacksburg. He was even nice enough to put up with a few slightly insulting questions that I had on my mind.
1) How do you see this match up? Where does either team have an advantage or disadvantage?
Gobbler Country -- I'm a lot more worried about this year's game than last year's. Going to the game in Lincoln I honestly didn't think there was any chance we could lose that game. I thought Nebraska was just too slow to compete with us. I was right for about three quarters.
But this year is different. I think Nebraska has more speed this year and has a perfect offensive weapon to take advantage of our primary weakness on defense in Mike McNeill. This year we are not very good at defending passes in the middle of the field. We have a new starting linebacker in Jake Johnson who is a great run stopper, but has miles to go in his pass defense. I see McNeill having a big day.
If Roy Helu can give you guys yards and the Huskers can convert on third and short, they'll certainly be able to move the ball and make this a great game.
On offense, there is no four-letter word that can accurately describe how bad the Hokies' pass blocking is. It's perplexing because our run blocking has been solid last year and the first two games of this season. If the Huskers can force Virginia Tech into passing downs, we are going to be in big, big trouble.
Unlike last season, neither team has a big advantage coming into this game. But if the game comes down to special teams, I like our guys. I'll put our punter, Brent Bowden, against anyone in the country and we've returned two kicks (a KO and a punt) for TDs in two games.
2) Names to know - other than Tyrod (who smoked us last year). Who should Husker fans be on the watch for? What names and numbers should we know and why?
GC -- The main guys you need to know are two freshmen. Redshirt freshman Ryan Williams is going to be a special, special player. Against Alabama, he averaged 7.5 yards per play while the rest of the team averaged 1.2. He has tremendous vision and sees what he needs to do at the second level before he gets to the hole. His was the most anticipated debut by Hokie fans since Kevin Jones and so far he hasn't disappointed.
True freshman David Wilson saw his first action against Marshall. He's a shifty back, but doesn't waste a lot of time with jukes. He just changes direction and starts and stops quickly to make guys miss. He was also very hard to bring down against Marshall and shook off a lot of arm tackles. He and Williams will probably wind up with the majority of the carries on Saturday.
On defense, watch for Cody Grimm, the Deathbacker. He's a wild man, especially when blitzing.
3) Please offer a few spots for Husker fans to hit while in town. Where should people eat, drink and be merry before and after the game?
GC -- The place I always go while I'm in Blacksburg is Top of the Stairs. It's on College Ave., just across the road from the VT student union. Be sure to order a Rail, which is just a hodgepodge of different liquors and a splash of grenadine. For food, I usually stick to my tailgate, but there's always Backstreet's Pizza, which is downtown on Main St. Hokie House has good pub fare. It's at the corner of Main and College and is tough to miss since it's painted Orange and Maroon.
And here's something I didn't give out in the visitor's guide I did for another Nebraska site (Corn Nation) - the best burger/sandwich place in town is Mike's Grill. It's just up Main from Hokie House. Go there and thank me later. Just be prepared to wait in line on gameday.
4) After having already played 'Bama, how do you expect your players and fans to react? Is Nebraska no big deal now? Or are the Huskers still important?
GC -- No matter the state of the program, if you can't get up for Nebraska you're just not a college football fan. This game is important because it's Nebraska.
I think both teams can come into this game saying that it doesn't affect the primary goal of winning the conference. We play Miami next week, which will have a much bigger impact on that goal. But, c'mon. I want to win this game, have our guys defend our home field and show that we're better than we showed against Alabama and that our offensive explosion against Marshall wasn't a product of playing a bad team.
If the players aren't treating Nebraska like a big deal, that will change after the opening kickoff when they realize this isn't the same Husker team we faced last year.
5) Slightly insulting quick hitters:
- Dorkier mascot, honestly - Hokies or Cornhuskers?
GC -- Since Herbie got a makeover, sadly it's the Hokie bird.
- Jim Drunkenmiller - alive or dead?
GC -- Alive and from what I've heard can still bench press a small car.
- More shameful alum - Michael Vick or Lawrence Phillips?
GC -- Thunder Collins. But seriously, it's Vick for a couple of reasons. He made it in the NFL. And when you combine that with how media has become since Phillips had his legal troubles, Vick's case has led to far more media saturation that Phillips'.
Thanks again, Gobbler Country, for providing quality answers. Husker fans, check them out and show them the respect good opponents deserve. Personally, I hope it is one hellava game Saturday, so both sides can enjoy the intensity of big time college football.
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WyHuskerFan Sep 15 09
Good article. I enjoyed the Hokie D article too you linked to. You gotta love the way the Hokies play defense; fast and physical. I'm sure Bo invisions his Blackshirts matching that physicality. Will it be on Saturday? I'm not sure they're there yet. Physically we match up well, but don't play with the same swagger VT seems to. But Alabama man handled VT on both sides of the ball. If not for Bama mistakes (which VT can take some credit for) the game would have been an embarassing blowout. I know we're not Alabama, at least not yet. The Hokies live on an opportunistic defense and special teams. I think basically they try to overwhelm teams with fast physical play and get them out of their game plan early. The VT offense is not overwhelming ("says who?" said the trampled Herd)because it doesn't need to be. I went back and looked at stats over the last two years. The defensive and S-Teams put TT & Co. in very short fields much of the time. If Huskers can maintain ball control and force VT to play the long field, I believe they have an excellent chance. Our WRs matchup well against their DBs, and our TEs are more than a match for most LBs if Lee has time and Helu runs enough to keep them off balance or at least respecting the run, it could be special. Just another game? Hardly. VT may be the highest ranked team we get a shot at until the Big XII championship.
GBR!
Hoagie Sep 15 09
I'm really excited for this game-Nebraska has some of the best fans in the country and it should be a fun game to watch. Anybody coming to Blacksburg for the game, feel free to ask us where to go, stay, etc. We'll be sure to return the favor for the excellent treatment last year.
Bill in Iowa Sep 15 09
Any of you Hokies feel that this year's V-Teach team is better, worse, or about the same as last year's?
I can't speak for all NU fans, but I think our offense is going to come out a lot stronger this year and play all four quarters. Our running game is better than it was when we played you last year. Our QB is inexperienced, but performing well, just like your freshmen running backs. And our WR's and TE's look very solid. I would say we are better on offense than last year at this point in the season.
On defense, I am a little concerned. We are certainly better in the secondary and I should hope our DL plays just as good if not better than last year, the ability is certainly there. I am skeptical of our young LB's and our ability to stop the run, but as other BRNer's have pointed out we have played pretty vanilla defense so far. We have two seniors who are not as speedy as our younger LB's, but could be used for stopping power against the run. We have a lot more speed overall on defense. I would have to say we are a little better on defense than last year when we played you, but I am not confident we can stop your run game.
Hoagie Sep 16 09
I think the Hokies are better than last year. They have two home-run hitters at RB in Williams and Wilson, which is huge for the offense. These two can bail the team out when Stinespring makes stupid playcalls. Tyrod isn't any better passing this year (probably more of a pass-blocking problem, though). Our defensive line looks excellent, and our linebackers and defensive backs are very good but inconsistent. We have one of the best punters in the NCAA (laugh if you want, but a good punter is key for VT's ball control/field position style of play) and 2 return TD's in 2 games.
Generally speaking, if you let VT run on you, they will beat you. If you force them to pass, you'll probably win (although defensive/special team TD's often make the difference even if you stop the run).