Pillaging the (ECU) Pirates for Explosive Plays

After last week's big win against the then No. 8 Buckeyes, Frank Beamer's squad is back in the national conversation again. With a defense capable of making game changing plays on any down, and an offense that looks at worse average, the Hokies appear poised to have a big season. What are they really capable of though? How good is this defense really? Will this offense manage to remain productive throughout the season, or will its third down and red zone magic run out at the least opportune time? A lot of questions will be answered on Saturday when Virginia Tech hosts always-tougher-than-expected East Carolina.

Will The Offense Mature?

Loeffler had a very solid game plan on Saturday, one which focused on limiting OSU's opportunities to create a big play on defense. The matchup against ECU could be the first chance for us to see what Loeffler's vision is for the offense moving forward. He can't just rely on throwing comfortable passes to tight ends and running backs in front of linebackers against ECU. Virginia Tech has a young offense with fairly inexperienced playmakers, but as the season progresses the offense will need to find ways to be more explosive than it is currently.

I've written before about how great offenses are both efficient and explosive. They manage to stay ahead of the chains and pick up first downs while also stealing large chunks of yards from their opponent when the opportunity arises. On Saturday, the offense played it safe and focused on being efficient, and for the most part they were. They ended up converting on 9 of 17 third downs and scored on all four of their red zone trips. Lost in all the celebration after the victory was that Virginia Tech struggled to move the ball for much of the second half. Matter of fact, they didn't cross into OSU territory until the go ahead touchdown drive following Brewer's third turnover of the night. The Buckeye's were able to squeeze the space in the short passing game while basically shutting down the running game (especially on the interior).

Now, a lot of that has to do with the conservative play calling that Loeffer used while he had a lead. As soon as he needed to score, he was able to dial up some nice plays (double reverse fullback pass for example) which got the Hokies back into the endzone. Against ECU I hope to see him have that same sort of aggression all game long. ECU doesn't have an elite unit that Loeffler needs to scheme around like OSU did. He should be able to trust his players to match up one-on-one all over the field against ECU's defense. The whole playbook should be available to him and it'll be interesting to see how Loeffler decides to proceed.

The pieces seem to be in place for this offense to be more explosive. The offensive line definitely held their own in pass protection against a very good pass rush. Coach Searels has to feel good about their ability to give Brewer time to throw down the field. The receivers looked good on routes down the field as well. Malleck and Bucky both got completions on long corner routes and Isaiah Ford ran a perfect out route on a third-and-long deep in Tech's own territory.

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Getting the ball to these players will prevent the Hokies from having to be perfect on so many third downs while also opening up the shorter routes that they're excelling at right now.

On The Ground

The running game already looks better than it did last year, but if this team is going to be an ACC title contender it needs to continue to develop some more consistency and diversity. The two freshmen running backs (McKenzie, Williams) are very talented and both have the ability to break off a long run. Incorporating them into the game plan more will wear out the defense, increasing the likelihood that those yards after contact appear in the run and pass game. This team hasn't operated from under center much this year, but if it starts establishing something on the ground it will open up my favorite part of Loeffler's playbook, the play-action. Getting Marshawn Williams and Shai McKenzie going will be vital to opening up big play opportunities.

Third Down And Red Zone Magic

As good as the Hokies have looked on third down this year, I think it's safe to say that they won't operate with the same success the remainder of the year. Michael Brewer is a good quarterback, but he's not going to be able to pull third-and-long conversions out of his hat time and again like he did on Saturday. There's a reason why the best scoring offenses have the best yards per play rates every season. If you rely on long drives to move the football, eventually you'll shoot yourself in the foot. Penalties, drops, missed assignments... something bad is going to happen. In the red zone, those issues are even more common.

Most important stat of the game, red zone td%... Freshmen will have to make big plays for the O— Mason Naumann (@3rdand31) September 6, 2014

The freshmen definitely came up big for the Hokies in the red zone. Williams, Mckenzie, and Hodges all got in. The reliance on red zone conversions always makes me nervous though. If Virginia Tech had gone just two for three in the red zone, the game could have gone totally different. This offense needs to find a way to get easy scores against ECU. Luckily, the pieces appear to be in place. Hopefully the puzzle comes together on saturday.