Hokies Look to Keep UNC's Offense Off the Field, Erase Memories of 2013 Struggles

Tech's looking to control the ball against UNC and its defense that might not be as soft as some think.

[Virginia Tech Athletics \ Dave Knachel]

The North Carolina Tar Heels' spread offense is one that the Hokies desperately want to keep off the field. The only question is how they plan to make that happen.

Sure, it would probably help if Bud Foster's defense were able to force some quick three-and-outs and eliminate its tendency to allow big plays.

But the Hokies' offense might have as much to do with the effort to keep Marquise Williams and company on the bench as Foster's bunch.

"We're going to have to control the ball," said offensive line coach Stacy Searels. "They are a high octane offense. The longer we can stay on the field, be efficient, moving the sticks and scoring points, the better we'll be."

Searels is right that the Tar Heels are at their best when they're moving at a rapid pace. In each of their wins, against San Diego State and Liberty, they've lost the time of possession battle, yet put up 31 and 56 points respectively.

So even though, like the Hokies, UNC has suffered two disappointing losses already, the offense is still gearing up to do what it can to keep the Heels on defense.

"We've seen they take pride in how fast this offense runs and they've shown by their past games that they can score," said guard David Wang. "Even though the outcome hasn't always gone in their favor, we've seen them put yards up, we've seen them stop the run, we've seen them score as well, so we need to keep them off the field and score as much as possible."

However, the Hokies had a similar objective heading into last year's game against Larry Fedora's squad, and they couldn't quite make it happen.

Tech came away with a 27-17 win in Lane, but the offense didn't exactly dominate with a punishing ground game.

"They kicked our butts last year physically, so we've got to be better about it," said running backs coach Shane Beamer.

It's hard to believe, but the Hokies managed to win the game while managing a paltry 48 yards in the run game, all against a UNC defense that finished 83rd in the country in run yards allowed in 2013.

"We've definitely been shown the stats from last year and we want to change that," Wang said.

But, much like last year, Beamer thinks the Heels have been better against the run than the stats might show.

"I can remember all the talk, East Carolina, I think they had 600-something yards on them last year the week before, then they came into Blacksburg after hearing this talk about how bad they are on defense and they kicked our butts," Beamer said. "They've got a lot of guys on that defense that we recruited and we'd love to have on our football team right now. They've got good players."

Beamer's memory is sharp. Tech had interest in three starting UNC defenders, including linebacker Travis Hughes, cornerback Brian Walker and safety Tim Scott, and ECU did indeed hang 603 yards on the Heels in 2013.

UNC had similar troubles against the Pirates in their meeting two weeks ago. allowing a whopping 789 yards of offense, including an astounding 343 yards on the ground.

When you take away that horrendous effort, they're only allowing about 127 rushing yards per game. That bumps them from being the 92nd ranked run defense to the mid 40s in the category, so it's easy to see why Shane is concerned about a seemingly soft defense.

"It's basically the same defense they had last year minus a couple guys here and there," Beamer said. "They're still talented, their backs are against the wall, so if our guys are expecting anything less than a four quarter battle, it will be a rude awakening."

But if UNC's backs are against the wall in ACC Coastal, the Hokies are right there alongside them, and have the advantage of coming off their finest rushing performance of the season.

Western Michigan may not be a great team, but throwing up 308 yards rushing against any opponent shows that the running game is making some progress.

"I think we called two running plays in the second half (against the Broncos). So it was cool that they knew what was coming and they weren't able to stop it," Beamer said. "Now we have to continue to build on it."

Part of the improvement can be attributed to increased physicality on the offensive line.

"A lot of those runs by the running backs were easy because we had so much movement up front," Beamer said. "We were pushing guys sideways, pushing guys five yards downfield and that was awesome to see. Stacy and I have talked about it, we've talked about it with (offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler), when we get the running game going, it gets those guys confident."

Wang agrees that the simplicity of the running game gave the line confidence last weekend.

"Once we get into a rhythm with something, we know what we're doing, we're comfortable, we fire off the ball and run full speed," Wang said.

But with Shai McKenzie going out for the year with an ACL tear, things just got a whole lot more complicated for the running game.

Marshawn Williams should become the team's featured back, but if the Hokies want to succeed at battering the Heels on the ground, they'll likely need another RB to step up. Trey Edmunds thinks he's ready to be that guy.

"I definitely think I can (carry the load) and I'm definitely able to, health-wise, I'm definitely able to," Edmunds said.

The staff has slowly eased him back into the swing of things by largely relegating him to special teams and pass protection up to this point, but Edmunds thinks he's successfully made the case that's he's ready for an expanded role.

"It was just a matter of time, coming up to the coaches and telling them that I'm ready," Edmunds said. "Because that's what I think they were waiting on, you know? Just for them to see me in practice again and for me to tell them myself, it's like 'hey, the guy really is ready.' I think we both have that understanding now."

Edmunds only has five carries on the year, so it's tough to predict how he'll respond to suddenly becoming a major part of the offense once more. Yet the redshirt sophomore says he's not intimidated by the challenge in the slightest.

"I'm not worried because it's what I did last year," Edmunds said. "I'm just getting back to my old self, having fun and playing the game I love."

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