Ricky LaBlue's personal blog
Monday Mail is back, and yes, it’s Tuesday. Thank you for bearing with me folks.
Despite the recent delays, you guys continue to send in detailed questions each week. I appreciate you guys reading and supporting The LaBlue Review, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this week’s version. Let’s dive in.
The Hokie Roundtable is back. Stephen Newman and Franklin Heinzmann have joined me once again to go over Virginia Tech’s 45-23 loss to Notre Dame. We’ll talk about what went wrong in the game, if there’s a silver lining that can be drawn and what needs to change moving forward.
Without further ado…
Continue reading “Hokie Rountable: What Went Wrong, and What Needs to Change?”
Monday Mail has returned… on a Tuesday?
I apologize for the delay folks. It’s been a rough few weeks for me personally, and things are getting to be a bit much. I needed to take a day to get myself together, and I’m sorry those needed moments pushed back Monday Mail.
But, here we are. Let’s do this.
Continue reading “Monday Mail: Frank Beamer’s Shadow, Deablo’s Impact, Hunter’s Redshirt and More”
Welcome to a new feature on The LaBlue Review. I’ve enlisted two of my closest friends to help me with our new Hokie Roundtable, a discussion of timely topics surrounding Virginia Tech athletics.
Continue reading “Hokie Roundtable: An Introduction, Caleb Farley, Ian Book and More”
Before we jump into today’s Monday Mail, let’s hit on a few housekeeping items.
First, Virginia Tech is ranked once again. The Hokies reentered the AP Top 25 after knocking off then-ranked No. 22 in Durham. The Hokies are now 24th in the country, fourth in the ACC behind No. 4 Clemson, No. 17 Miami and No. 23 NC State.
Also, Virginia Tech’s kickoff time vs. North Carolina has been announced. The Hokies’ road trip to Chapel Hill will start at 7 p.m. and will be televised on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.
The season is not over. In fact, we’re not even halfway yet.
After the Hokies’ loss to Old Dominion last week, it was hard to think that Tech could get this thing turned around. There was too much negativity around the program for this team to get things going and the Hokies destined to struggle for the rest of the season.
Wrong.
Continue reading “Postgame Observations: Virginia Tech Rebounds With Resounding Defeat of Duke”
Good news is hard to come by in Blacksburg at the moment.
Virginia Tech just lost to Old Dominion, previously winless, and fell outside the AP Top 25. The Hokies starting quarterback, Josh Jackson, is out for the foreseeable future with a fractured fibula and Trevon Hill, Tech’s best defender, is no longer with the program.
It’s not quite rock bottom, but Virginia Tech is in a low place right now. However, there is one thing Virginia Tech can hang their hat on right now — an improved rushing attack.
Continue reading “Sustained Success on the Ground Critical for Virginia Tech’s Survival”
Oh boy.
When I planned on asking for questions for this week’s Monday Mail, I did not think we’d be talking about one of the worst losses in Virginia Tech history. And make no mistake about it, there aren’t enough negative adjectives to describe what happened on Saturday.
Awful. Appalling. Dreadful. All three apply.
Continue reading “Monday Mail: Trying to Make Sense of Something That Doesn’t Make Sense”
If I asked you who the most important player on Virginia Tech’s defensive line was, there’s an 80 percent chance (roughly) that you’d select Ricky Walker. And you’d be right.
But who’s next on that list? Most would suggest Trevon Hill, but I’d posit that Houshun Gaines is just as important, if not more so.
Gaines, a redshirt junior defensive end, is coming into his own this season. The process began late in 2017, when Gaines filled in for the injured Vinny Mihota. Gaines started Tech’s last two games vs. Virginia and Oklahoma State and showed why he needed to be in the starting lineup. Gaines totaled four tackles for loss and two sacks in those two contests, displaying an explosiveness that Mihota simply didn’t have on the edge.
Continue reading “Houshun Gaines Displaying Needed Explosiveness at Defensive End”
Monday Mail is back! With Virginia Tech’s game vs. East Carolina being canceled, there’s no postgame content to worry about, so let’s get to some questions. The goal is to make this a weekly feature once again, so thank you for submitting your questions. Let’s dive in.
What is the root cause of FSU problem? Bad coaching, entitled kids, coaching change? How does WT turn it around?
— John Maurer (@JohnMaurer6) September 16, 2018
Who’d have thought that I’d be starting this Monday Mail with a critique of Florida State?
Continue reading “Monday Mail: Florida State’s Problems, Virginia Tech’s Ranking and More”