The Virginia Tech Offense And "Check With Me"

Like nearly every other team in college football, Virginia Tech signals plays in from the sideline. Teams don’t like talking about how they signal, and Tech’s no exception, but what teams do divulge is pretty consistent, and I don’t think the Hokies deviate too much from the norm. I also think they aren’t drifting too far away from what Penn State did in the Moorhead system, and we’ve got plenty of info there.

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4 Comments

HtownHokie October 22, 2022 at 11:42 AM

that “Football 101” / “Lessons in Situational Football” does indeed sound like a great teaching idea and 'think together like the coach(es)' to get a philosophy instilled that allows the playbook installation, situational awarenesses and efficiency to be quickly implemented. for me in Lane live or watching our away games on TV: all the looking to the sideline seems to choke any momentum we (including the fans) may have on offense AND give the opposition D chances to adjust to our formation adjustment. it just seems to take air out of the ball and sap our energy. @BP: during an "actual in-game 2-minute drill", we have to be (and seem to be) much quicker getting the play called and snapping the ball - little if any looking to the sideline. why can't most of our O series - during at least majority of the game - be that quick and efficient? sometimes quickness and up-tempo can be a real advantage, Go Hokies!
knapnhokie October 21, 2022 at 11:31 PM

seems like a lotta work for plays for guys new to a system. why not run a set play and go to a checkdown if plan A fails. Guess why the coaches get big bucks. Seems like a lot to process.
MYNAMEISHOKIE October 21, 2022 at 1:57 PM

"I bring this up because there’s been some consternation with the Virginia Tech signaling, in particular with when and how often the team looks to the sideline for play calls." Do people not watch other college football games? Or remember our offense under Fuente? Because this isn't new or anything. I seem to recall people complaining about sideline checks with the FuCorn offense in 2018/2019, and it's not like they stopped doing it in 2020 and 2021. In the wider college football sphere it seems like you're nearly guaranteed to find at least one team's offense in any given game doing this (many times both) - it's not exactly rare or uncommon.
marymoss October 21, 2022 at 1:07 PM

Thanks for this analysis. It still appears to the casual fan that Wells is locked in on one guy on most occasions for him to complete if open, force it or tuck it if not.

The Virginia Tech Offense And "Check With Me"

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