Hokies Focus on Fixing Down Field Passing, Costly Turnovers Ahead of BC Matchup

As the Hokies headed into the locker room with a grand total of zero points at halftime against Miami, some "boos" started to pour down on the players.

Ordinarily, this lack of fan support might rankle people like wide receiver Willie Byrn. But this time, he says he understands the frustration.

"My reaction is, 'I'm with y'all.' I would boo," Byrn said. "We weren't performing and our fans are spoiled, and that's a great thing that they're spoiled with success. I'm not going to get mad because they want to win. I'm the same exact way. They should boo when they're playing the way we did Thursday."

It's hard to disagree that some booing is warranted given the way the offense has played the last few games. Now, the team is desperately trying to turn things around in time for a date with Boston College's stout defense.

"Nobody in this program is sitting around and saying 'oh my god, we're so bad right now,'" said running backs coach Shane Beamer. "We've got a bunch of fighters and I'm excited to see what we do on Saturday."

The Eagles enter the game as the eighth ranked defense in the country in yards allowed per game, so the Hokies have some work to do. But it's hard to find a starting point given how inept almost every phase of the offense looked against the Hurricanes.

One element of the offense that was painfully absent last week is the downfield, or even mid range, passing game.

Outside of a 23-yard catch and run by Sam Rogers, quarterback Michael Brewer's longest completion of the night was a 13-yard pass to Joel Caleb (which Caleb quickly fumbled away).

"They did a good job of taking some of those things away," Brewer said. "Playing a lot of off man coverage and mixing in some zone back there, making it difficult for us to push it down the field."

In particular, players blame the team's inability to set up long throws downfield with any sort of running game or short passing attack.

"When you do the horizontal things right, which we didn't do, it opens up things downfield. They have to complement each other," Byrn said. "You can't just beg for a down the field game when you don't have a underneath or run game to complement it."

Offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler seems to agree with that assessment.

"You had to establish the run game, you had to get the safeties down in the box and then throw it over their head, and we just didn't get that done," Loeffler said.

When the Hokies did attempt any kind of longer passing play, the line allowed Miami's defensive front to make Brewer uncomfortable.

"When you get into obvious passing situations that we got into in the first half, it's tough when it's an athletic group like that," Brewer said. "They can kind of pin their ears back and rush the passer, so we've got to be better running the football and executing the midrange pass game, that way we can set up that downfield stuff."

The offensive line was certainly part of the problem in allowing those rushes as well. The unit allowed two sacks on the day for a loss of 22 total yards, with both coming on key third downs, and let Brewer get two more times and hurried on three other occasions.

Yet while the o-line's struggles were certainly a factor, that's nothing new this season.

Play calling could be part of the problem, and many were quick to call for Loeffler's head on that account.

"For whatever reason, the play calls weren't going that way," Byrn said. "We're not in a position to question or overrule what they ask."

But given the many times Brewer got pressured or sacked while taking a long drop in the pocket, it would seem that the Hokies were trying longer throws. They just weren't working.

Part of that could be due to the struggles of the team's pair of freshman receivers, Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips. Both have had excellent seasons thus far, but they were barely factors against Miami.

"With such talent at such a young age overall, we're the kind of team that can beat anybody, but can also lose to anybody," Byrn said.

The two will have to get back on track in a hurry against BC. The Eagles' defense is excellent overall, and does a good job of containing big passing plays.

According to Football Outsiders, Boston College allows the 35th fewest explosive drives, or drives that average at least 10 yards per play, in the country.

They're also strong in the type of obvious passing situations that let Miami hassle the Hokies.

On passing downs, which Football Outsiders considers any second down play with eight or more yards to go and any third or fourth down with five or more yards to go, the Eagles are the 39th most efficient defense in college football.

Yet if the Hokies can cut down on the turnovers that sank their second half hopes against the Hurricanes, they might be able to find some consistency.

The Eagles have only six interceptions on the year (that's tied for 71st in the country, ironically, with the Hokies and several others) and just two forced fumbles (T-120th) so it's not as if creating turnovers is a strong suit for them.

Instead, the Hokies will have to avoid beating themselves with fumbles, as they did with three straight in the second half against the Hurricanes.

"It makes you want to throw up," Beamer said. "We went 13 times without fumbling last year, the running backs, 13 games, and then to do it three times, it just rips your guts out. You can't win games that way."

The running game did seem to find momentum in the second half, putting up the bulk of its 120 total yards on the ground in the last two quarters. Yet those fumbles erased much of the team's progress.

"It's kind of like a dagger in our back because we're working, we're pushing and it kind of brings down your morale, you have to get back up and keep pushing," said guard Wyatt Teller.

While running the ball consistently will be tough against BC, as the Eagles allow the sixth fewest rushing yards per game in the nation, Beamer still sees things to build off going forward.

"We've got to run the football better, and you saw that in the third quarter," Beamer said. "You saw signs and there's a lot to build upon. I know a lot of people made a big deal of our head coach coming in and saying how proud he was, but there was a lot in that third and fourth quarter to be proud of."

If the Hokies want to avoid hearing the boo birds once again at Lane Stadium, that construction process will have to happen for the offense very, very quickly.