I am excited/ecstatic/overjoyed that KU is in a BCS Bowl. Having watched every snap of KU football over the last 5 years, it is really cool to see how far they have come since I was a freshman here.
I covered the team a bit for the newspaper this year, and I have had a pretty good read on them so far. Bowl games are notoriously hard to predict, because all the players go on winter break for a little while and get X-Mas's off, etc., before convening in a strange place... but this is one game where I feel qualified to discuss this season, so I decided to make my own thread where we can discuss this game (i am definitely not wagering on it, but have studied the matchup for the paper). I have seen a variety of VT games on TV as well (the whole gambit, from the LSU fiasco to the clemson blowout, to the ECU emotional game to the BC games).
Here were my initial thoughts from the other thread. I am going to go over this game and the individual matchups later on and I will post whatever I think is relevent:
I dont see KU scoring many points. The speed on both sides of the ball HEAVILY HEAVILY favors VT.
The only team that we played this year that was even close to as athletic as VT was Mizzou. And VT is a lot faster than Mizzou--- ya'all saw how that went.
I sincerely hope I am wrong, but I was 12-0 picking KU's games this year... I think it will be a very low scoring game, one that VT controls because of their speed. Reesing is going to struggle with VT's corners, too. Our receivers arent very good, contrary to popular belief.
On the radio this week I said VT 24-14.
The layoff also helps VT a lot more than it does us. Hall and Ore and others can get healthy. We dont really have any key injuries that needed tending to.
Our gimmicky offense (no huddle, fast paced, spread) will also be given time to be dissected by Beamer & company. We snuck up on everyone in the B12 because they hadnt seen it before (especially from us... our O-coordinator before, Quartaro, was terrible). VT should have their substitutions down, a key against that offense, and be able to spot trends.
Again, I hope I am wrong. Regardless, there is just about no way we score anywhere near 40 points.
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P.S. You are right about the run. We should continue to be stout against that.
But VT, if they watch enough film, should be able to spot a few things: we are suseptable to the pass almost everywhere. We can get beat deep often, and that is why their speed at WR slcares me.
Also, we do very good defending physical run teams (like TAMU, K-State, and teams that like to pound it up the gut, etc). What we have problems with are teams that spread us out and can create either a.) seems up the middle or, b.) get speed on the perimeter.
Our linebackers are very physical. They arent fast, at all. And Rivera is always going for the knockout blow and will miss at least 2 easy tackles in this game. If VT is smart, they are going to play 3-4 WR's the whole game... and use Glennon to stretch the field and then bring in Taylor to move the pocket.
If they try to pound it inside with Ore & company, that is when they are going to stall.
I covered the team a bit for the newspaper this year, and I have had a pretty good read on them so far. Bowl games are notoriously hard to predict, because all the players go on winter break for a little while and get X-Mas's off, etc., before convening in a strange place... but this is one game where I feel qualified to discuss this season, so I decided to make my own thread where we can discuss this game (i am definitely not wagering on it, but have studied the matchup for the paper). I have seen a variety of VT games on TV as well (the whole gambit, from the LSU fiasco to the clemson blowout, to the ECU emotional game to the BC games).
Here were my initial thoughts from the other thread. I am going to go over this game and the individual matchups later on and I will post whatever I think is relevent:
I dont see KU scoring many points. The speed on both sides of the ball HEAVILY HEAVILY favors VT.
The only team that we played this year that was even close to as athletic as VT was Mizzou. And VT is a lot faster than Mizzou--- ya'all saw how that went.
I sincerely hope I am wrong, but I was 12-0 picking KU's games this year... I think it will be a very low scoring game, one that VT controls because of their speed. Reesing is going to struggle with VT's corners, too. Our receivers arent very good, contrary to popular belief.
On the radio this week I said VT 24-14.
The layoff also helps VT a lot more than it does us. Hall and Ore and others can get healthy. We dont really have any key injuries that needed tending to.
Our gimmicky offense (no huddle, fast paced, spread) will also be given time to be dissected by Beamer & company. We snuck up on everyone in the B12 because they hadnt seen it before (especially from us... our O-coordinator before, Quartaro, was terrible). VT should have their substitutions down, a key against that offense, and be able to spot trends.
Again, I hope I am wrong. Regardless, there is just about no way we score anywhere near 40 points.
------
P.S. You are right about the run. We should continue to be stout against that.
But VT, if they watch enough film, should be able to spot a few things: we are suseptable to the pass almost everywhere. We can get beat deep often, and that is why their speed at WR slcares me.
Also, we do very good defending physical run teams (like TAMU, K-State, and teams that like to pound it up the gut, etc). What we have problems with are teams that spread us out and can create either a.) seems up the middle or, b.) get speed on the perimeter.
Our linebackers are very physical. They arent fast, at all. And Rivera is always going for the knockout blow and will miss at least 2 easy tackles in this game. If VT is smart, they are going to play 3-4 WR's the whole game... and use Glennon to stretch the field and then bring in Taylor to move the pocket.
If they try to pound it inside with Ore & company, that is when they are going to stall.
