Slept On It: Boston College

I didn't really say much while walking out of Lane Stadium Saturday afternoon. I listened to the people walking beside me, opining on the state of the football program — or more importantly, the state of Frank Beamer. My brother-in-law was discussing the perceived downward spiral Michael Brewer has been mired in for the last six weeks. Some guy to my right was screaming about how long it has been since he has seen a Hokie team look this poor. We're all beginning to sound like broken records.

It was a depressing environment to be in. I have so many memories of walking down the ramps beneath the east stands following a big victory and taking part in a never-ending chorus of, "Let's Go!" and, "HOKIES!" For the third straight week, the same ramps were relatively silent, filled only with bursts of opinions and frustration.

The week before Saturday's game, I was preoccupied with two thoughts: how many layers would I need to wear to be sufficiently warm and dry throughout the game, and how was our smaller defensive line going to be able to handle four quarters of the Boston College rushing attack and their hogmollies up front? It turned out the weather was drier and more mild than predicted and the Hokie defense did a phenomenal job standing up the Eagles' rushing attack, short of two big plays that cost the Hokies dearly.

Week-after-week, despite periods of utter domination, we continue to see many of the same back-breaking lapses. I honestly cannot recall a season that saw this many long touchdown plays. BC quarterback Tyler Murphy's 57-yard fourth quarter touchdown run right up the middle epitomized the 2014 Hokies' season. It's hard not to see the Hokies as Norm MacDonald in "Dirty Work" — just when you had thought you had taken care of business, the opponent jumps out and punches you right in the gut.

I tried to take advantage of the end of daylight savings and use that extra hour of sleep to digest everything that I have seen from this football team and everything I have heard from coaches, players, media personalities and fans. Needless to say, my brain feels like the most depressing bowl of Jell-O ever. It is probably vegetable flavored, with various types of produce frozen in suspended animation. I ended up having three takeaways that I feel comfortable discussing at this point in the season.

1. After Nine Games, I am Completely Flummoxed by this Offense

Saturday was my first opportunity to watch this team up-close this season. Nothing beats seeing all 22 players simultaneously, and I felt like I had a clearer picture of offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler's system after the BC game.

Loeffler utilized a series of quick/packaged screens to various players, peppering in high percentage throws across the middle. Michael Brewer did a phenomenal job of slipping out of would-be sacks and extending plays with his feet. Despite Brewer's 345 yards passing and 64% completion percentage, the offense looked skittish and struggled to find and maintain rhythm over four quarters. The scoring drives involved a lot of hurry-up, and you could see the players thrive off of the energy of the crowd. After a week of watching film and reading French's assessment of the clear ways in which the Hokie offense could attack the BC secondary, I was miffed by the lack of ten-yard outs and comeback routes.

With all of the peaks and valleys the offense experienced on Saturday, two things stuck out to me:

1) This season has seen an inordinate number of drives begin inside of Tech's own 5-yard line. How many of those drives resulted in a Virginia Tech score? Better yet, how many of those drives resulted in a first down?

Time and again, this team gets backed up against the goal line and severely struggles to execute. Some drives see three consecutive runs for little gain; others see three consecutive passes that fail to move the sticks. Some blame can be placed on conservative play calling, but that is to be expected given the circumstances. What is most troubling is the ease in which opposing defenses appear to push around the Hokie offense, ostensibly out-willing them at the point of attack and forcing a quick punt. On Saturday it killed the early momentum established by the offense's initial scoring drive, allowing the BC offense to climb back into the game.

2) Scot Loeffler utilized an interesting formation on a number of occasions, splitting out Ryan Malleck and Bucky Hodges wide to the field side of the formation. More often than not, BC would line-up man-to-man, with a safety over-the-top aligned to the inside of the slot receiver 15 to 20 yards off the line of scrimmage. Both Malleck and Hodges physically outmatched the Eagles corners, none of whom were larger than 6-1 and 190 lbs.

Even though one of the Hokie tight ends essentially had a one-on-one matchup on each play, by my count, Brewer only looked their way two times: One was a quick screen to Hodges, while the other hit Hodges on an in-route that resulted in a touchdown. We have seen Hodges outrun some of the fastest corners in college football, and against the Eagles he had the upper hand in virtually every matchup; however, play-after-play we saw the ball go in another direction. During a game in which the Hokies had a ton of goal line chances, they once again neglected to attempt a fade route to Hodges.

We have discussed this ad nauseum this season: The Hokies finally have a number of playmakers at their disposal, but it seems as though they struggle to put it all together on a consistent basis. Is the lack of execution a coaching issue? Is Brewer failing to recognize the matchups and make the requisite pre-snap adjustments? Is there dysfunction amongst the coaching staff that is seriously impacting the identity of this system? Is it a little bit of everything?

After a game in which we saw the offense achieve a decent level of success, I still walked away confused as to how they gained the yardage they did.

2. Andrew Motuapuaka Looks to be the Next Great Mike Linebacker

Redshirt Freshman linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka was forced into action late against Pittsburgh because of a severe injury to fifth year senior Chase Williams. Moto — we're going to go with "Moto" because, well, his last name is a pain to repeatedly say and write — made back-to-back impact plays, leading many to claim he was ready to step in and make an immediate impact. One week later against an athletic Miami offense, Moto crashed back down to Earth, struggling along with the rest of the Hokie defense to contain Duke Johnson.

Against Boston College, Moto was everywhere. It became a running joke in my section, as his name was called after almost every play. Moto finished with 14 tackles, including 0.5 for a loss. It was by no means a perfect game, but he showed that with a little bit more game experience learning how to attack his gap and another off-season in the weight room, he has the look of an impact player in the middle for this Hokie defense.

3. This Will Be the Most Important Recruiting Class in Frank Beamer's Career

For all of the talk regarding Frank Beamer's future as the head coach of the Hokies, it is easy to forget the recruiting class this team may ultimately finish with. With highly rated prospects still very much in play, the Hokies could turn things around immediately if they can close strong between now and national signing day. After consecutive strong classes that have seen an influx of talented freshman on both sides of the football, this year's class has a number of guys in Josh Sweat, Tim Settle and Jalen Dalton that could potentially step in and play right away.

We have seen numerous programs right the ship after a series of down years thanks to a few highly successful classes. Jimbo Fisher and Florida State were able to stop the slow decline that marked the end of Bobby Bowden's tenure by bringing in elite prospects like Telvin Smith, Christian Jones, LaMarcus Joyner and Bjoern Werner and pairing them with established upperclassmen. Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss used Robert Nkemdiche's commitment to lure a number of top prospects (including Laremy Tunsil and Laquon Treadwell) and re-define a program that had become known more for their tailgating atmosphere and the coeds in the stands.

Entering the 2014 season, we were all well aware of the adversity this young team faced in attempting to fill the void left by multiple sub-par recruiting classes prior to the most recent staff shake-up. We have seen more than 11 true freshmen take the field in consecutive seasons, illustrating the weakness of those classes and proving that Coach Beamer is no longer afraid to throw young players into the fire.

Before you retort with something along the lines of, "And how is that working out up in Charlottesville," keep in mind that Coach Beamer's staff is not Mike London's. This program was built on the staff's ability to cultivate potential and maximize talent. But as we have seen over the last few years, that approach can only get you so far in today's college football landscape. A top-10 recruiting class doesn't necessarily cure all ills, but when paired with the existing talent and this coaching staff, there is a high probability that this program can get back over the hump and return to it's past level of sustained success.

As I noted earlier, I have a lot of questions I hope to see answered over the last three or four games. This program has a lot to prove as they close out the season, both to themselves and the fan base. The Hokies will enjoy a much-needed break before beginning the stretch run against defending Coastal champion Duke on November 15. After three gut wrenching losses at home, let's hope this program takes better advantage of the week off than they did the first time around in early October.