Inside The Seminole Film Room: Virginia Tech Hokies 20, Florida State Seminoles 30 (Second Half, with Pictures)

by Bud Elliott on Oct 30, 2008 12:50 PM EDT in FSU Football Comment 6 comments

As always, we use these terms to denote formations:

"Chollie" is shotgun, 3 wide, 2 backs, like Charlie Ward ran.
"KGun" is what the Jim Kelly bills teams ran, with 3 WR, a TE, and back.
"BAMA" is Singleback, Twins WR, Twins TE (we sometimes line up in this with the FB acting as an HBack or second TE)
Hawaii is a 4WR GUN Trips Overload look out of Hawaii's playbook. It's Shotgun, with 3 WR and a rb all on the same side. This is great for forcing defenses to show their hand early.
Wendy's is 4 WR, or 4 Standing players, stacked behind each other in groups of 2, on each side of the offensive line. This is usually run with a tight alignment. I named it Wendy's because it's effectively a "DoubleStack"

Fs	1/10	at Fs44	Start of 3rd quarter, clock 15:00, VT ball on VT30.
			Virginia Tech will kick and defend the south goal.
			Myer, J kickoff 57 yards to the FS13, Parker, P return 19 yards to the FS32 (Whitley, E), PENALTY FS holding (Carr, N.) 10 yards to the FS22, 1st and 10, FS ball on FS22.
Fs	1/10	at Fs22	FLORIDA STATE drive start at 14:56.
Fs	1/10	at Fs22	Ponder, C rush left for 2 yards to the FS24 (Porch, D;Warren, Br).
Hawaii. QB Off Tackle. Designed run. Takes a big shot.
Fs	2/8	at Fs24	Ponder, C crossing pass complete to Parker, P for 13 yards to the FS37, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds (Porch, D).
For everyone who says he doesn't step up or stay in the pocket… watch thus clip at 14:18. 5 Step Drop, steps up, throws a strike. Good protection.
Fs	1/10	at Fs37	Timeout Florida State, clock 13:46.
I don't think Ponder called this play correctly. Jimbo was livid.
Fs	1/10	at Fs37	Ponder, C screen pass complete to Smith, A for 12 yards to the FS49, 1ST DOWN FS (Porch, D).
Play Action. Zebrie beat badly inside. Great play by Ponder. Stiff arms the DE, backs up, jumps, throws to Antone. Normally I am against this, but nobody was around Antone, so it wasn't dangerous. Athleticism helps.
Fs	1/10	at Fs49	Thomas, J. rush left for no gain to the FS49 (Sturdivant, P).
			Injured player for FSU is #38-Thomas.
Youth. Thomas doesn't read this sweep left well, we don't block it well, Thomas gets knocked out, fumbles, FSU recovers. Craziness.
Fs	2/10	at Fs49	Ponder, C middle pass complete to Parker, P for 2 yards to the VT49 (Grimm, C).
Quick out from the slot. Line holds quickblocks. Ponder sets and throws nicely.
Fs	3/8	at Vt49	Ponder, C sacked for loss of 11 yards to the FS40 (Grimm, C).
JUMBO CHOLLIE (Caz and Sims as upbacks). Marcus Sims is terrible in blitz pickup, he blocks the wrong man, and the outside LB gets a free shot on Ponder. An encouraging opening drive ends in a bad sack.
Fs	4/19	at Fs40	Gano, G punt 53 yards to the VT7, Harris, V return 15 yards to the VT22, out-of-bounds (Bradham, N.).
Jody Allen should update his resume. Horrible kick coverage.
			Drive: 6 plays, 18 yards, TOP 03:47

11 First half passing plays netted 8 yards. 3-7, 15 yards (3 throwaways), 2 runs for 9 yards, and 2 sacks for -16 yards.
16 pass Plays netted 130 yards , 8-12 for 148, 1 TD, 1 run for 2, 1 Pass Interference for 4 yards, and 2 sacks for -20 yards.

We weren't nearly as unbalanced as unbalanced as people might think.

Vt	1/10	at Vt22	VIRGINIA TECH drive start at 11:09.
Vt	1/10	at Vt22	Evans, D rush over left guard for 4 yards to the VT26 (Thacker, B).
Vt	2/6	at Vt26	Evans, D rush over left guard for 2 yards to the VT28 (Brown, E).
Vt	3/4	at Vt28	Glennon, S pass incomplete to Boone, G, QB hurry by Nicholson, D.
Vt	4/4	at Vt28	Bowden, B punt 43 yards to the FS29, fair catch by Carter, T.
			Drive: 3 plays, 6 yards, TOP 01:35
What adjustments did we make? Press coverage, something we should have done from the start. Good adjustment. VT tried to singblock Brown on 3rd down, foolishly.

Fs	1/10	at Fs29	FLORIDA STATE drive start at 09:34.
Fs	1/10	at Fs29	Ponder, C crossing pass incomplete to Easterling, T, dropped pass.
The only "bad" drop all day. Though, we only threw 19 passes. Also, decent pass protection, and Ponder STEPS UP. Shocking.
Fs	2/10	at Fs29	Smith, A rush over left end for 8 yards to the FS37 (Sturdivant, P).
Pistol. Zone left, short side, Hudson pushed his man all the way out of bounds.
Fs	3/2	at Fs37	Ponder, C crossing pass incomplete to Easterling, T, PENALTY VT pass interference (Warren, Br) 4 yards to the FS41, 1ST DOWN FS, NO PLAY.
I'll take it. Right read, right throw, wrapped up.
Fs	1/10	at Fs41	Ponder, C sacked for loss of 9 yards to the FS32 (Worilds, J).
4 Wide. We're in a quick pass. They drop back, rush 4, nobody open, Greenlee (not Zebrie) misses his cut block, defender jumps up, Ponder can't throw (lane blocked/ nobody open), Antone can't block DE that Greenlee whiffed on. Ponder looks left (hey, going through a progression! Couch commentators, did you see this one?) goes to throw, but is engulfed.
Fs	2/19	at Fs32	Ponder, C screen pass incomplete to Easterling, T.
Defender jumped the bubble screen, still, Easterling should have caught.
Fs	3/19	at Fs32	Smith, A rush over left guard for loss of 1 yard to the FS31 (Porch, D).
Fs	4/20	at Fs31	Gano, G punt 43 yards to the VT26, downed, PENALTY VT roughing the kicker (Whitley, E) 15 yards to the FS46, 1ST DOWN FS, NO PLAY.
Huge play in this game.
Fs	1/10	at Fs46	Ponder, C FY pass complete to Carr, G for 48 yards to the VT6, 1ST DOWN FS (Harris, V).
HAWAII LEFT. Carr Right. VT plays off, they're in cover 3. Carr runs a takeoff. Ponder drops, and fires, not too much loft. Ball traveled 45 yards in the air, perfect placement, only Carr could catch it.
Fs	1-G	at Vt06	Smith, A rush over right tackle for 2 yards to the VT4 (Warren, Br).
Fs	2-G	at Vt04	Ponder, C post pass complete to Easterling, T for 4 yards to the VT0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:05.
Photo Credit: Sears, Democrat Insanely good catch, and ball is thrown only where Easterling could catch it. It was also maybe the best catch I've ever seen from an FSU player. Ridiculous. Awesome.
			Gano, G kick attempt good.
			Florida State 17, Virginia Tech 13
			Drive: 8 plays, 71 yards, TOP 03:29

			Esco, J kickoff 68 yards to the VT2, Hill, C return 11 yards to the VT13 (Givens, L.).
Vt	1/10	at Vt13	VIRGINIA TECH drive start at 05:59.
Vt	1/10	at Vt13	Glennon, S sacked for loss of 6 yards to the VT7 (Watson, D), PENALTY FS holding (Robinson, J) 10 yards to the VT23, 1ST DOWN VT, NO PLAY.
			Injured player for VT is #7-Glennon.
			QB for VT is #12-Holt.
Vt	1/10	at Vt23	Evans, D rush over left tackle for loss of 1 yard to the VT22 (Stewart, K;Watson, D).
Vt	2/11	at Vt22	Holt, C rush right for 1 yard to the VT23, out-of-bounds (Nicholson, D).
Vt	3/10	at Vt23	Holt, C rush up middle for loss of 4 yards to the VT19 (Brown, E).
Vt	4/14	at Vt19	Bowden, B punt 38 yards to the FS43, Carter, T return 12 yards to the VT45 (Drager, C).
			Drive: 3 plays, 6 yards, TOP 02:18
At this point, the game was over for VT. They would gain only 46 more yards.

Fs	1/10	at Vt45	FLORIDA STATE drive start at 03:41.
Fs	1/10	at Vt45	Smith, A rush left for no gain to the VT45 (Worilds, J), PENALTY FS FL (Datko, A.) 5 yards to the 50 yard line, NO PLAY.
Fs	1/15	at Fs50	Ponder, C TA pass incomplete to Parker, P, QB hurry by Worilds, J.
WENDYS. Greenlee gets absolutely destroyed here, and Ponder has to try to escape and throws it away.
Fs	2/15	at Fs50	Easterling, T rush ER for loss of 5 yards to the FS45.
I think we miss Reed here as Easterling slipped down. . Awesomely designed play. This DE Worilds was a monster today.
Fs	3/20	at Fs45	Ponder, C deep pass complete to Carr, G for 39 yards to the VT16, 1ST DOWN FS.
HAWAII LEFT. Carr Right. VT plays off, they're in cover 3. Carr runs a takeoff. Ponder drops, and fires, not too much loft. Ball traveled 45 yards in the air, perfect placement, only Carr could catch it. 6 men rush. 3 come free. They're in cover 1. Ponder stays in, and launches. He gets totally rocked. Carr goes up and makes a phenomenal catch. Ponder got killed, wow.
Fs	1/10	at Vt16	Sims, M rush over left tackle for 15 yards to the VT1, 1ST DOWN FS (Porch, D).
Pistol. Fast moving. Nice blocks by McMahon, Hudson, and Datko.
Fs	1-G	at Vt01	Sims, M rush up middle for 1 yard to the VT0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 01:09.
Fs	1-G	at Vt03	Timeout Virginia Tech, clock 01:09.
			Gano, G kick attempt good.
			Florida State 24, Virginia Tech 13
			Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, TOP 02:40

4th Quarter

			Esco, J kickoff 69 yards to the VT1, Roberts, D return 25 yards to the VT26, fumble forced by Lampkin, B., fumble by Roberts, D recovered by FS Bradham, N. at VT26.
Bradham recovered the fumble, but it was his blow up of the wedge that really screwed up this play for VT.
Fs	1/10	at Vt26	FLORIDA STATE drive start at 01:01.
			QB for FSU is #10-Richardson.
Fs	1/10	at Vt26	Richardson, D rush over left guard for 5 yards to the VT21 (Martin, O;Warren, Br).
Fs	2/5	at Vt21	Richardson, D rush over right end for 7 yards to the VT14, 1ST DOWN FS (Worilds, J).
			Drive: 2 plays, 12 yards, TOP 02:35
			Florida State 24, Virginia Tech 13
Nice running by D'Vo. He will be dangerous for us. Must hold the ball more tightly.
Fs	1/10	at Vt14	Start of 4th quarter, clock 15:00.
			QB for FSU is #7-Ponder.
Fs	1/10	at Vt14	Ponder, C rush over left end for 1 yard to the VT13 (Grimm, C).
Fs	2/9	at Vt13	Ponder, C TR pass incomplete to Surrency, C..
			Previous play is under review.
			Play call is overturned, incomplete pass.
Fs	3/9	at Vt13	Ponder, C rush left for 2 yards to the VT11 (Warren, Br).
Fs	4/7	at Vt11	Gano, G field goal attempt from 29 GOOD, clock 13:26.
			Florida State 27, Virginia Tech 13
			Drive: 6 plays, 15 yards, TOP 02:35
A few notes here: Surrency is very close to breaking out. Ponder made some great throws in this game. I was very surprised that Jimbo would call a Ponder run on this drive with the hits he was taking, and he actually called 2. If Christian gets hurt, and we have to play Drew, we probably lose 4 of our last 5 ballgames. Christian is that big of a difference.

			Esco, J kickoff 70 yards to the VT0, Roberts, D return 54 yards to the FS46 (Garvin, M).
Jody Allen. Your unit has tons of athletes and is clearly slacking.
Vt	1/10	at Fs46	VIRGINIA TECH drive start at 13:16.
Vt	1/10	at Fs46	Oglesby, J rush TL for 5 yards to the FS41 (Smith, K).
Vt	2/5	at Fs41	PENALTY VT false start 5 yards to the FS46.
Vt	2/10	at Fs46	Holt, C sideline pass complete to Boone, G for 11 yards to the FS35, 1ST DOWN VT, out-of-bounds (Robinson, J).
Vt	1/10	at Fs35	Oglesby, J rush up middle for 4 yards to the FS31 (Thacker, B).
Vt	2/6	at Fs31	Holt, C deep out pass incomplete to Boone, G (Rolle, M), PENALTY FS roughing passer (Griffin, P) 15 yards to the FS16, 1ST DOWN VT, NO PLAY.
Vt	1/10	at Fs16	Holt, C sacked for loss of 11 yards to the FS27 (Smith, K).
Vt	2/21	at Fs27	Evans, D rush for 7 yards to the FS20 (Smith, K).
Vt	3/14	at Fs20	Holt, C crossing pass complete to Boone, G for 13 yards to the FS7 (Robinson, J).
Vt	4/1	at Fs07	Timeout Virginia Tech, clock 09:00.
Vt	4/1	at Fs07	Holt, C rush left for 3 yards to the FS4, 1ST DOWN VT (Smith, K).
Vt	1-G	at Fs04	Holt, C TR pass complete to Smith, A for 4 yards to the FS0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 08:26.
			Keys, D kick attempt good.
			Florida State 27, Virginia Tech 20
			Drive: 8 plays, 46 yards, TOP 04:50
Let's pretend that this drive never happened, okay?

			Myer, J kickoff 55 yards to the FS15, Parker, P return 17 yards to the FS32 (Whitley, E).
Fs	1/10	at Fs32	FLORIDA STATE drive start at 08:20.
Fs	1/10	at Fs32	Ponder, C rush QX for 2 yards to the FS34.
Parker fell down. Smart by Ponder to just get 2 yards on the roll out.
Fs	2/8	at Fs34	Sims, M rush right for loss of 2 yards to the FS32 (Graves, J).
This can't happen. Spurlock and McMahon get absolutely killed, and Zebrie's block wasn't impressive either.
Fs	3/10	at Fs32	Ponder, C flag pass complete to Easterling, T for 21 yards to the VT47, 1ST DOWN FS.
I will point this out every single time we do it. Easterling made a great catch. Ponder rolled left on the designed rollout. Throw was to the right side, but too far out. In any case, last year, we can't throw a 20 yard out, and this year, we throw a damn 20 yard out while rolling to our LEFT! Zone killer for sure.
Fs	1/10	at Vt47	Ponder, C rush quarterback draw for 4 yards to the VT43 (Sturdivant, P).
Fs	2/6	at Vt43	Ponder, C rush over right tackle for 3 yards to the VT40 (Chancellor, K).
Fs	3/3	at Vt40	Ponder, C sideline pass complete to Sims, M for 5 yards to the VT35, 1ST DOWN FS (Warren, Br).
Great throw, as he put it right on the shoulder so he could turn up. Quick passing and quick reads are good when you can't consistently block folks.
Fs	1/10	at Vt35	Sims, M rush up middle for 5 yards to the VT30 (Warren, Br).
Fs	2/5	at Vt30	Sims, M rush left for 3 yards to the VT27 (Harris, V).
Fs	3/2	at Vt27	Jones, C. rush left for loss of 1 yard to the VT28 (Taylor, D).
Fs	4/3	at Vt28	Gano, G field goal attempt from 46 GOOD, clock 02:14.
			Florida State 30, Virginia Tech 20
			Drive: 10 plays, 40 yards, TOP 06:06
The most important stat on this drive? 6:06. We basically killed the clock.

			Esco, J kickoff 44 yards to the VT26, downed.
Vt	1/10	at Vt26	VIRGINIA TECH drive start at 02:14.
Vt	1/10	at Vt26	Holt, C sideline pass incomplete to Coale, D (Robinson, P.).
Vt	2/10	at Vt26	Holt, C deep pass incomplete to Coale, D (Robinson, P.).
Vt	3/10	at Vt26	Holt, C crossing pass incomplete to Coale, D.
Vt	4/10	at Vt26	Bowden, B punt 34 yards to the FS40, downed.
			Drive: 3 plays, 0 yards, TOP 00:32
Fs	1/10	at Fs40	FLORIDA STATE drive start at 01:42.
Fs	1/10	at Fs40	Sims, M rush over left tackle for 3 yards to the FS43 (Warren, Br).
Fs	2/7	at Fs43	Timeout Virginia Tech, clock 01:33.
Fs	2/7	at Fs43	Sims, M rush up middle for 2 yards to the FS45 (Chancellor, K;Brown, N).
Fs	3/5	at Fs45	Ponder, C rush right for loss of 2 yards to the FS43 (Martin, C).
Fs	4/7	at Fs43	End of game, clock 00:00.
			Drive: 3 plays, 3 yards, TOP 01:42
			FINAL SCORE
			Florida State 30, Virginia Tech 20