Death by a Thousand Sneaks: Second Half Analysis

Happy Monday everyone. I have reviewed the full film, and I had completely reviewed the 2nd half for both the Hokies O and D. Unfortunately, I lost my first draft and rather than re-watch the play by play for the full second half, I will just focus on the offense. Some quick notes on the defense first.

Virginia Tech continued to emphasize stopping the Georgia Tech inside running game in the second half. Much to many a Hokie fan's chagrin, this resulted in several big plays on the outside, especially running counter option and quick pitch. Georgia Tech ran their triple option series, working mostly to James Gayle's side of the field. Georgia Tech was successful at running counter option, quick pitch, mainly because of poor run support by the Hokie corners (specifically Jaron Hosley, who was dominated), the coaching decision for the Hokie safeties to play the passing threat first and have the option man almost exclusively take the pitch man.

Tevin Washington burned the Hokies on several long runs, and Georgia Tech powered through the Hokies on short yardage and goal line with the "double dive" play. While Washington had success, as the game went on it seemed as if he was hesitant to continue to carry the ball. He gave to the fullback on odd down and distance plays, which was either a poor read or an intentional avoidance. Johnson was only calling the play, the execution (ie, who gets the ball) depended purely on QB reads.

Following the Hokies touchdown drive, the Hokies successfully stopped Georgia Tech on the most crucial drive of the game. Georgia Tech got behind the sticks, and Washington handed to the fullback on the dive on 2nd and 3rd down, despite the Hokies basically giving Washington 4-7 yards on an triple option keeper. Bud Foster took a huge risk based on this growing pattern, and he sold out on a run blitz to stop dive and double dive on 3rd and 4th down. On 4th and two, Foster sent Tyler and Edwards on a blitz, and sent Tyrell Wilson crashing hard inside, counting on Paul Johnson to run the QB double dive left, just like Johnson did on every goal line run during the game, and sure enough, Foster guessed right. If Georgia Tech ran quick pitch (like they did successfully against the Hokies all game long, and even better in short yardage situations in past games), the A back might still be running. The Hokies scored, and with Washington behind the sticks, Foster started blitzing and Georgia Tech couldn't respond.

It goes to show you how unique a game football is. In a matchup where Paul Johnson was winning the coaching matchup with Paul Johnson, one play where Foster took a huge risk really won the football game. As noted in my initial analysis, Kyle Fuller and Derrick Hopkins had huge games, while JR Collins held up as best he could.  Hopkins stopped the 2 point conversion, beat the double team on the 4th down stop, and had several other key tackles. He got gassed, but the Hokies didn't make a single defensive substitution the whole game, which is tough for the big man. Tariq Edwards had an outstanding game, even on the plays where he looked awkward, he made the right play based on the defensive design. Jack Tyler got caught on downblocks a few times, but he played well. Tyrell Wilson was better than James Gayle, but he still got whipped on both GT second half touchdown runs.

On to the offense.

1st Hokies Offensive Series

1st and 10- After another subpar kickoff return and a personal foul, Hokies come out three wide, with Drager flexed right. Hokies run zone play right, with Boykin running across the formation like a jet sweep. The Hokies OL each blocks their assignment, but Boykin's motion pulled the GT corner right into the running lane for Wilson unaccounted for. Wilson gets stood up, and a blitzing corner from the backside cleans Wilson up. Poor play design.

2nd and 11- One back, two TE right. Quick slant to Boykin, who had room, and Boykin gives us his mandatory Jarrett Boykin Mandatory One Brutal Drop a Game Drop. It would have picked up 5-8 yards.

3rd and 11- Huge play. GT has momentum, Hokies are backed up with a shakey punter, and the crowd is going nuts. O'Cainspring again looks to waggle Logan Thomas, this time left, looking for Danny Coale against man coverage down the sideline. O'Cainspring again has Groh's number, as the blitz comes from the backside. With the Hokies rolling the blocking to the blitz, LT3 has plenty of time. According to Jesse Palmer, GT is "bringing the toolbox." It takes one to know one. Coale runs an out and up, and LT3 is patient until Coale has an angle. Good throw, outstanding catch, especially considering that Danny Coale wasn't "Danny Coale" on that play. For the uneductated, that is open. This should be a deflating moment for the GT D, and the Hokies D gets a few more plays to rest.

1st and 10- Two tight, I formation, with only Boykin at WR. Hokies run power play left, pulling the backside guard and leading the fullback. The safety flies up and beats Nosal to the hole, while the GT defensive line doesn't get pushed back much. Wilson almost fumbles on the play, a harbinger of things to come.

2nd and 9- Shotgun with Oglesby in the backfield and Wilson lined up wide. Wilson motions, LT3 fakes the dive, forces the option man, and then pitches to Wilson, who has HORRENDOUS pitch relationship and is way to wide. DeChristopher  and Brooks with outstanding blocks at the point of attack. The playside corner, safety, and outside backer all go to Thomas, but Wilson is forced to pick the ball up off the turf to get a few yards. The Hokies left a big play on the table there. Craig James calls out Wilson on the play.

3rd and 6 Shotgun and DJ Coles gets called for motion. I watched the replay and watched every Hokie receiver. Coles was set, and wasn't moving. This was an absolutely phantom call by the officials, and the Hokies seem to get one of these motion calls where I just don't see the penalty every game.

3rd and 11- Shotgun trips left, TE right. One back. Georgia Tech brings 4, and Nosal gets beat initially but Andrew Miller picks up his guy. Coles runs a deep curl, behind the nickle back in front of the safety. Danny Coale's underneath curl might have just barely caught the attention of the nickle corner who was playing a short zone, but Thomas buzzes the throw in right between the nickle and the safety. Good route, great throw. Coles adds insult to injury with a bruising run. Again, the Hokies convert a 3rd and long, which is backbreaking for a defense. Again, Tyrod Taylor doesn't make that throw. Lainer, Brooks, and DeChristopher all with excellent blocks, allowing Wilson to also go into the pattern.

1st and 10- I formation, two TE flexed left Unbalanced look. Power I kickout left. Drager and Martin combo the end, with Drager moving to the ILB. Martin caves his guy in nicely, and Lainer also has a nice downblock. Brooks pulls and makes a nice block on the other GT middle backer and turns him out. Huge hole and Wilson shoots through, only for Dragers man to get a hand on the ball when he has no chance to make a tackle. Absolutely a soft fumble by Wilson, and exhibit A why Wilson shouldn't be a serious Heisman candidate. That was a soul crushing play, especially after getting two 3rd and longs and having a well blocked running play.

2nd Hokie Offensive Series

1st and 10- Georgia Tech has all the momentum after scoring two TD's in a row. Poor kickoff return again. When will the Hokies get burned by their poor return teams? Hokies come back with Wilson. Three wide, twins right, TE right. One back. Slant route again, but either the ball was deflected or LT3 threw it right into the ground. That was a LT3 vs ECU kind of throw.

2nd and 10- Hokies go 2 TE right, one WR, and run the delayed counter with nobody pulling and the fullback leading. Groh guesses right, blitzing the backside corner. Wilson has a nice hole, but the backside corner pressure doesn't allow him to cut off Phillips nice lead block, BUT instead of putting his head down and getting what he can, he tries to bounce outside away from the corner, right into the OLB that Phillips just kicked out. Even more brutal, Wilson runs backwards at a 45 degree angle, losing even more yardage. At that spot in the game, down 5, GT has all the momentum, make the 3rd down as easy as possible. Horrendous football IQ from Wilson right there, and NFL scouts will not like that play on film. If the corner had stayed back, Wilson would have had a nice hole.

3rd and 19- Shotgun. Waggle left with Drager and Wilson lead blocking. Logan has all day, but GT is in an umbrella zone taking away is intermediate route, and nobody is in the pattern short. LT3 tries to roll back right, and Andrew Miller gets a chance to get a kill shot on Attachou and somehow wiffs. Attachou then punches Thomas. Send that idiot a freaking fruit basket. Gift first down after three brutal plays by the Hokies, and we have new life.

1st and 10- Hokies come back in one back, two TE flexed right. They run a zone play right, and Nosal misses his cut block. The NT explodes in and hits Wilson 3 yards behind the line. Wilson again goes backwards, but avoids the tackle and gets a lane to the right with Logan Thomas lead blocking. Hokies make chicken salad to get five. I love Wilson's effort. I just wish his eyes and brain would work right all the time.

2nd and 5- Hokies line up with one back, two TE right look. Interesting play. One back toss, but like a belly dive play, with the playside tackle kicking out the outside linebacker and the playside guard pulling and leading up. Both tight ends have excellent down blocks. DeChristopher throws an excellent kickout block. How much has he improved since last year? Wow. Brooks pulls and cuts not one, but two Georgia Tech middle backers. Wilson has a small seam, but he hits it with authority, and then sets up Danny Coale for a downfield block. Beautiful team football, running a play that I have not seen them run all year with the precision of a Green Bay Packers Lombardi sweep. Wilson finishes it off by breaking two tackles and getting a huge chunk of his 175 yards. Beautiful play and blocking.

1st and 10-Oglesby in. I formation, two TE right. One WR. Toss sweep again, same design but now add Phillips joining Brooks as a lead blocker. I haven't seen this many toss sweeps since I watched Darnell Jefferson run "Thunder Right" at ESU. (Two points for who gets that reference.) Huge hole again, dominant down blocking by Martin and Drager, and an outstanding kickout by DeChristopher to open the seam. Somehow Oglesby steps out of bounds. I have no idea why, he shouldn't have stopped until he hit the end zone.

2nd and 6- I formation Two TE left. Hokies run a straight ahead power play, pulling Brooks backside and leading through the hole. GT brings the outside playside backer on an inside blitz, inside eye of Eric Martin at TE. It is a perfect call to blow the play up, but Martin recovers enough to just barely push the backer behind Oglesby. Becton and Nosal have outstanding down blocking, and Brooks leads through with a great block on the middle backer to bust Oglesby for 5 and a half for a very makable 3rd and short.

3rd and 1- When in doubt, run the sneak. Wilson checks back in, and Hokies line up in the I, even though we know LT3 is running the sneak. Andrew Miller manhandles the nose tackle to the left. Brooks chips the nose to help turn him, then blows up the linebacker. If they can block it that well, use it on first down. That run was much easier than it looks for big LT3. Watched again, yep, Brooks just crushes the middle backer, who stood straight up at the snap. Low man wins, or do they not teach that at engineering school? TOUCHDOWN TECH.

Third Hokie Offensive Series (4th Quarter)

1st and 10-After the huge 4th down stop, Hokies come back with Oglesby on this series. Shotgun TB left, but with two TE. Martin motions to the left, so this is a unique formation. Zone read left. HUGE down blocks by Nosal and Andrew Lainer. Lainer hooked his DE, turned him, and drove him 3 yards inside. I like that leg drive. Oglesby leads through. Georgia Tech's alignment was brutal on that play. They basically gave Thomas the lane. Unfortunately for Virginia Tech, Jarret Boykin failed to effectively block his corner, who comes inside and trips Thomas. That might have been a touchdown. 

2nd and 2- Snap infraction on Andrew Miller. Again, needless mistake.

2nd and 7- Trips right, TE left. TB is left of LT3. Counter option zone read, with a very extended mesh point. LT3 keeps off the left side, and gets maybe 3. Drager didn’t get much push, and Lainer turned inside off the combo block with Nosal and picked up the linebacker, but the bigger threat was the safety flying up in support. I am not sure if Lainer or the play design is at fault. Well blocked backside.

3rd and 4- One back, two tight ends left. Straight ahead power play with Brooks pulling to the left. Safety was blitzing and unaccounted for, and he got just enough of Oglesby to trip him short of the marker.

4th and 1- Beamer takes a risk and goes for it on 4th down. But, is it a risk when you can sneak LT3? QB sneak, all day, says Craig James. That is why Disney keeps him around. I don’t understand using the timeout, because the Oglesby run instead of a pass clearly shows that Beamer was going for it. GT blitzes the backer into the left guard center gap, so Thomas calmly reads it and dives into the right guard center gap. Again, Miller and Nosal combo the nose tackle. Nosal turns back out, and Lainer gets down field to lay a lick on the backside backer. Logan had to work harder for that one, but he gets 4. Beamer’s gamble burns Johnson, and worst case the Hokies can burn two more minutes off the clock.

1st and 10- Hokies run I formation. Straight ahead power play to the right, with Nosal pulling backside. All out safety blitz by Groh beats Nosal to the hole and Oglesby gets nailed for a 3 yard loss. The Hokies have been so run heavy and have not run a single play action pass this game. That would have been one hell of a good time to break it out.

2nd and 12- Wilson and Ogles by in, with one TE left. Shotgun. Fake dive to Oglesby. Thomas forces the option man and pitches to Wilson, who has about 6 yards of space. He runs kind of gingerly ahead, and gets about 8 yards. He looked like he had enough room to get more. I guess he was trying to read Danny Coale’s block, but it allowed the backside pursuit to catch up. Nice downblock by Lainer there, whose DE should have receiver an illegal hands to the face (he grabbed Lainer by the facemask.)

Third and seven. Shotgun. GT has everyone standing up like Arkansas used to do in the late 90’s. Groh brings a safety blitz around the right side, and the Hokies don’t have anyone to pick it up. Drager has one on one coverage with a safety who is playing very soft. Drager slips, but that awkward moment freezes the safety. LT3 with a money throw as he is about to get smoked by the blitz, and Drager puts his body between the safety and the ball. Touchdown Tech! If he had time, Boykin was also wide open for a touchdown, as three GT defenders went to Danny Coale.

Fourth Hokie Offensive Series (4th Quarter)

1st and 10- Wilson is back in. I formation. Two tight ends right look. They flex left. Power lead play back to the right (weakside, another subtle changeup by O’Cainspring as the Hokies have run mostly strongside plays.) Wilson on a straight ahead fullback lead play to the left. Nobody is pulling. Man on man push up front, and Wilson hits a small seam, puts his head down, and turns a 4 yard run with Oglesby into a 8 yard run. THAT is what I want to see from David Wilson on tough plays.

2nd and 2- Hokies run straight ahead again, but with the jet screen motion by Boykin. Again, the extra man that the Hokies don’t have a blocker for fills right in the hole. Again, play action would have frozen that safety, but hey, we won!

3rd and 1- Sneak. This time Miller goes low, good help from Brooks and Nosal (Brooks clearly has more leg drive, but all 3 are under the pads of the defenders), and Thomas gets a seam and drags 4 Yellow Jacket defenders almost 10 yards. Words can’t describe how dominant that is.

1st and 10- Hokies line up in an eye, two TE right look, yet run the first true zone play in the second half. GASP, Wilson hits the right cutback lane, flies into the secondary, then he jukes a GT safety right out of his jock before getting pulled down after a huge run. Second look, the GT DE jumps offsides, and DeChristopher still pancakes him after driving him down 5 yards inside. DOMINANT. The second big block is by Eric Martin, who is having a monster game. He gets downfield and turns the safety out. Outstanding.

1st and 10- One back. Power play left, with Brooks pulling. Wilson again plays the way I want him to play, putting his head down and falling forward even after initial contact. He gets around 5 even though Georgia Tech is run blitzing both safeties and paying no attention to the pass.

2nd and 4- Hokies run another belly toss play left out of the I. Becton with a nice roll it block with Drager and Martin (cross block with the two TE’s down blocking and the tackle pulling and kicking out.) Becton doesn’t find an OLB, so he turns up on a scraping middle backer. The reason is Groh makes a good defensive call and blitzes the OLB, who is 4 yards into the backfield before Becton can get there. Not Becton’s fault. Wilson catches the toss and almost immediately runs into the flying OLB, who was cut by Phillips. Wilson can’t regain his momentum. Loss of 2.

3rd and 6- Trips right. TE left. Gun.  Zone read right. Again the Hokies open up a huge hole for Thomas. Wilson goes wide instead of leading on this version. The GT safety makes a huge tackle on Thomas just short of the marker. Tip your hat to that safety. Up front Hokies ran a little trap action, pulling Nosal. The QB mesh point with Wilson allowed the rest of the front to open a gap. Nosal didn’t find anyone to block, so he turned up and got the other safety. Oh, and another pancake block for DeChristopher there.

Journall kicks the field goal. Yes, I know some of you wanted Thomas to sneak it again, but you have to count on your kicker to execute there. With the time missed, this gives Journell an easy field goal to make sure he is confident for upcoming games.

VICTORY FORMATION. BALLGAME.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

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