FBS Mission Statement:
We at FBS believe that offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring bears the largest share of the blame for years of sub-par output from some of the most talented players ever to set foot on Worsham Field. We believe the main objective of the VT football program - a national championship - will escape us as long as Stinespring is making the calls. We therefore advocate the improvement of our football program through the replacement of our offensive coordinator.
I Think He Got It
Borrowed from Dic Tailgate. But I think he got it. What's Beamer's recourse to send pics like this to the head of ACC officials, or maybe one of the horse collars on Logan?Not that I think this one play is a 28 point play, don't get me wrong. But momentum is a fickle beast. And, something as clear and blatant as this, although not worth 28 pionts - is just flat unacceptable for an official to miss. If I miss something this blatant and obvious in my job and cost my team (company), there are consequences. I'm just saying. 
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7 comments:
An athletic official is the safest job next to local weatherman.
But, at the end of the day, their (the refs) poor performance ended up helping their company (the ACC) to the tune of almost $20 million. Thus, at the end of the day, it almost makes more sense for a conference to get a #20 team to beat a #5 team and hope for the soon to be #10 or so team to get an at-large bid.
I mean, at the end of the day, if I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd suggest that the fact that every single poor ref call and ball spot (except one, where Logan was given an extra yard on a scramble resulting in a first down) for the first 40 minutes of game time screwed us is indicative of the ACC hoping for 2 spots. They just didn't think that VT would implode so much after that.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, that's what I would say. On the other hand, I think that Clemson brought their A-game, we brought our C-game, and the refs brought their F-game.
A missed horse collar followed by a dubious offensive pass interference... a missed blocked kick resulting in a free 15 yard penalty for them... and so many bad calls that the one time the refs tried to give us a call, our receiver was so fed up with stupid yellow flags that it incensed him into a 15 yard penalty in some sort of Pavlovian anti-response to the yellow flag?
I don't think we would have won anyway, but we certainly weren't going to win if every single call went against us.
I'm going with the maxim "never attribute to malice that which can be explained by extreme incompetence." And these refs were certainly that.
Interesting karma that came out of all this -- but VT could have ended up in the Weedwacker Bowl just the same, so trying to use the outcome of past performance to justify the end result just can't excuse the actions (and inactions) of the referee crew. There still should be a review and some follow-up from the front office. At the least, the two horsecollar tackles and the facemask yank could have led to player injuries. Letting teams play too fast and loose tends to escalate into problems -- it's a wonder that things didn't get more chippy on the field, especially the way the CU players were dancing and strutting around (where where the flags for unsportsmanlike conduct for some of their actions and antics? They were as bad or worse than the ball spike).
Yeah, we got beat, but the momentum change that came from bad calls and non-calls didn't help morale. When there weren't adjustments from the coaches to take that into account, then when it got to the appoint that there weren't adjustments that couldn't be made (when was the last time you saw back-to-back "block in the back" calls on kick-off returns, with TWO flags on the second one?).
The final insult was the flag on the last play, on the CU kneel-down, when the ref flagged them for too many men on the field. That gratuitous flag was a real WTF -- like it made a difference, the Hokies were going to rush and grab the ball and run and 12 men would make a difference??!!?!? Asshole refs.
Like I said, it won't matter one way or the other. Not gonna change the outcome. Also, I was under the impression that the only place horse-collar tackles aren't allowed is the NFL. I thought players won't get penalized for them in the NCAA.
LAC, NCAA banned horse collars one or two years ago. They were legal in the NCAA for a couple of years after the NFL banned them, though.
And HJB, I'm totally down with you that this officiating was terrible. I mean absolutely god awful. Every single official, including the replay official, should never officiate another ACC game. Seriously. They are an EMBARRASSMENT.
However, just as embarrassing is the fact that there is NO ANSWER in our playbook for press coverage on our receivers when a team is shutting down our run game. I will expound upon this in more detail in my recap (which is taking longer than usual because with pediatrician and dentist appointments I'm hella busy this week) but in general I thought Mike O'Cain did a very good job calling plays that tried to exploit Clemson's aggressiveness on defense , but it was infuriating to see how limited he was in those play calls by how little he has to work with in Stiney's playbook.
"it was infuriating to see how limited he was in those play calls by how little he has to work with in Stiney's playbook."
No shit. That game made it seem to show just why ncsu & clem fans & boosters were glad to get rid of him[O'Cain]. Just never got a chance to see his scheme to attack their D' be executed. Hence the term O'CAINSPRING. Smh
When I was 13, I played Pony League baseball and our team was 13-0. In the final game of the playoffs our star pitcher could not throw a strike or more like the ump wouldn't call any. I know, I played second base and slid over to see for myself. He had to abandon his nasty curve ball and just try to throw down the middle just to get guys to swing at the ball. Our pitcher ended up getting very frustrated and about lost his cool. We ended up losing to an inferior team. Make no mistake about it, bad officiating DOES influence an outcome (Remember Miami and Ohio State in a NC game?). Much too much of it went around the ACC this year. The league will continue to be considered bush league unless it is cleared up and is fair for EVERY team, not just ours. VT does a very good job of losing to really good teams, we don't need any help thank-you.
On to Stiney's play book. It sucks! Always has. How many curls did we see? How about out patterns to tall receivers? Delayed wheel routes after the back has chipped a pass rusher? Everything is a deep pattern to the parking lot. Did we see any counter runs? No. All the running plays (the few we ran) are slow developing plays that the defense have time to read, shed their blocks, and then flow to the hole where they out number the offense. We play great when we have the better athletes. But when they are our equals, such as Clemson, our Offensive coaches don't put our guys into a position to succeed. The Offense is easy to read and then react to. After the Offense struggles, goes three and out, our Defense gets worn out and we lose big.
Did anybody else get the impression watching Clemson was like watching Jimmy Johnson's Miami teams? Talented but absolutely no class. Also, it felt as if Stiney was calling the plays again.
IH: When you do your review would you look to see how many hands to the face Branch had? I saw at least one where he about snapped Lanier's head off. I would do it myself but I can't bring myself to watch yet another fiasco in a big game again.
Finally, CFB's band-aid fixes didn't get us any closer to a NC. Unless there are wholesale changes to the Offensive coaching staff, the empty trophy case will continue to be nothing more than a fish bowl. Guppies anyone?
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