Keys to Beating the Hokies

So if you're up late enough tonight to catch the game, here's the official INRCP scouting report.

Some of my readers enjoyed looking at last week's "Keys to the Game," so I'm giving it another shot. The Hokies beat the Terps last time, narrowly avoiding a comeback bid by Maryland when Greivis Vasquez clanked a potential game-winner in the closing seconds.

Much has changed since then: Maryland has only lost two games, both to Duke. Meanwhile, VaTech has fallen to a 5-6 record in-conference and a mediocre 14-11 record overall. Most are safe in assuming the Hokies will miss the tournament.

However, they can be a dangerous team and have the No. 1 scoring defense in the ACC (Maryland has the No. 1 FG% defense). Teams that play good defense have given the Terps problems this year - teams like UCLA, Duke and Boston College. And you can't discount that they beat us already.

On the other hand, scoring is their problem, as they only beat UVA in most scoring categories. Only three guys average double digits on the team, and I mean the low double digits. In fact, both Vasquez and James Gist average more ppg than VaTech's leading scorer (A.D. Vassallo).

Jeff Allen will be the one to watch. He'll likely match up with Boom. In the last game, he scored 17 and had 9 boards to go along with 5 steals. In addition, he hit the game-winning free throw. The frontcourt will have to play more effective defense (9 fouls last game between Gist and Boom). Besides that, the guards will have to concentrate on containing Vassallo, and perimeter D hasn't been great thus far this season (See: Duke).

So at last:

KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Contain Jeff Allen, scoring AND rebounding
2) Make outside shots (Last meeting only 2-12 for threes)
3) Don't force tempo - it leads to turnovers

I expect that this will be a physical and grinding game. I also expect Maryland will take advantage of a healthy Eric Hayes and protect their homecourt advantage. If Cliff Tucker is still sick, that could be a problem, but I don't grade the Hokies as a better team than Florida State.

Hopefully when all is said and done, the Terps will chalk up another win tonight. Go Terps!

Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun

Good Offensive Head Coach Doesn't Mean Good Offense

I've said it plenty of times now, and it's not that I'm getting impatient, I'm just getting nervous.

Rex Ryan should be head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

Now, out of love for my team, I did some research and you might be surprised at what I found. All of this is simple information displayed in a way that shows an interesting trend: offensive coaching hires have little or no bearing on offensive performance.

I was reading an article the other day on how offensive-minded coaching hires tend to turn out. Results are not good. Let's just put a couple hires out there: Cam Cameron, Bobby Petrino, Steve Spurrier, Norv Turner, Steve Marriucci in Detroit, and Brian Billick himself.

The only decent head coaches in the league right now that I can think of that had offensive backgrounds are Mike Holmgren, Joe Gibbs, Andy Reid and Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan. Interestingly enough, all of those guys are tenured and all of them except Gibbs falls under the Bill Walsh coaching tree. That doesn't seem to be a coincidence.

Let's delve further - The Top 10 offenses in the NFL this season vs. their head coach's background:

10) Bengals: Marvin Lewis, D-coordinator for the Ravens
9) Seahawks: Mike Holgren, O-coordinator for the 49ers
8) Browns: Romeo Crennell, D-coordinator for the Patriots
7) Jaguars: Jack Del Rio, D-coordinator for the Panthers
6) Eagles: Andy Reid, O-assistant/QB coach for the Packers
5) Colts: Tony Dungy, D-coordinator for the Vikings
4) Saints: Sean Payton, O-coordinator for the Cowboys
3) Cowboys: Wade Phillips, D-coordinator for the Chargers
2) Packers: Mike McCarthy, O-coordinator for the 49ers
1) Patriots: Bill Belichick, D-coordinator for the Jets

There are actually more defensive coaches (6) than offensive ones (4) on the OFFENSE LIST!

Plus, if you look at the bottom half of that same list, you should count 8 coaches (Gruden, Turner, Billick, Petrino, Linehan, Kiffin, Cameron, Jauron) with offensive backgrounds. What are these guys really contributing if their offenses aren't any good?

Alright, maybe that last statement was a little harsh, but what I'm trying to say is that hiring an offensive-minded head coach has little to no bearing on how that offense performs under his tenure. Brian Billick led an offense in Minnesota that set a record for scoring the year before he got hired. His offense finished in the top half exactly once.

Hiring guys like Jason Garrett, Rob Chudzinski, Jim Caldwell, Brain Schottenheimer or Josh McDaniels would be fresh and might get people excited, but first of all, none of those guys have a lot of experience. The only other thing that they bring to the table is offense, and that doesn't always pan out, does it?

The players want Rex Ryan. Maybe "discipline" is not so much the answer as bringing in a figure to respect. We know the players respect Rex Ryan and what he's done for the defense - and proving your worth is important to the clubhouse vets. He doesn't need to do anything more to prove himself to this team.

All I'm saying is that the Ravens are and will be a defensive team. We might as well get a defensive coach, like the Steelers did last year, or the Bears did with Lovie Smith, or the Titans did with Jeff Fisher, or the Jags did with Jack Del Rio. Defensive teams can do well with defensive head coaches.

Just step up and make the guy head coach already. Then step up and hire a big-time offensive coordinator to really get the offense rolling. You can do it, Bisciotti. I know you can.

Let's play Wacky Stats with Maryland!

Wow.

So Maryland was pushed to overtime by perennial powerhouse Northeastern. Please help me understand this.

Anyways, beyond the score, there were some interesting statistics after the game.

- Boom Osby ended up with 16 points and 13 rebounds... but only made one shot from the field. Northeastern Hack-a-Shaq'd the hell out of him and he ended up 14-of-20 from the line. Heck, he probably read my column the other day and worked on his shot! (Humor me. Let my imagination wander.) Thanks, big guy, for getting the Huskies' two leading rebounders out of the game! Plus six blocks!

- James Gist (pictured) scored 27 points, a career-high. He also led the team in... steals? Four, to be exact. Also 9-of-11 from the charity stripe for a 81 FT%. Not bad for a guy with a career average of 67.4% (see bottom). He's actually 11-for-14 on the year.

- Northeastern and Maryland had the same number of rebounds, 43. Compare NE's offensive rebounds (19) to UMD's (11). I sense 2nd-chance opportunities made a difference in this game...

- Greivis controlled the ball well, dishing out 10 assists to a paultry 2 turnovers. But still went 2-of-10 from the field. Incredibly, both shots were threes.

- Jason McAlpin played.

I'll let someone else interpret the stats. But more than likely... they probably mean little.

Let's do better next time.

How about a crackerhound instead?

First of all, if I'm the only one who thinks the University of Tennessee should change their mascot, I won't say anything more about it, but a "coonhound?" I know there's a dog breed that's actually called that, but c'mon people, why do you think that is historically? I mean, Tennessee's name is the Volunteers (which BTDub has another slave state context), so it's not as if they would have to change their name...

Secondly, Geremy Bass wrote a column today about why Maryland will beat Virginia. Amen!!!

Allow me to add on... (stats are from theacc.com, ncaa.org and the official athletics websites)

- Bass says UVA's combined opponent record is 20-26. Maryland's is 22-17. Keep in mind that 6 of those losses come from the winless and deplorable Florida International, so Maryland's other 5 opponents are a combined 22-11!!!
- Despite their easy record, Virginia has only the No. 10 offense in the ACC, compared to Maryland's No. 5 offense.
- Virginia has the No. 7 defense in the ACC and Maryland has the No. 8. The difference is rushing yards, but remember West Virginia and the force of nature know as Noel Devine? If we subtract Maryland's worst rushing defensive game and Virginia's worst rushing game (against Wyoming, which is actually ranked behind Maryland in rushing), Maryland is giving up 286.3 yds per game and Virginia is giving up 297.4 yds per game.

Maryland will win. Just like last year.

So Virginia fans: get real.

And stop wearing ties to football games.