The First Half We All Wanted, With A Second Half We Are Happy To Forget

Morning everyone! I'm happy to be back sharing my thoughts on TKP for another season. I was able to make it back to the 'Burg for the game (first home game since I graduated) and man, what an atmosphere it was in Lane! It was the perfect experience to introduce Virginia Tech football to my girlfriend (and now Hokies fan) Simone who tagged along for the trip — minus the whole loss thing.

Anyway, French did an excellent job analyzing the film for this game, so there really isn't a whole lot I'm going to add. His analysis of our defense was spot on (specifically with regards to how we covered the flat and adjusted to the running back going in motion), and covered much of what I was going to highlight as well. I did want to touch a little bit more on the slow-play of the option / maintaining outside leverage. In the clip French highlighted, Ronny Vandyke (VT - No. 37) crashed hard and almost lost contain, but was able to recover and keep the outside edge. This forced Cardale Jones (OSU - No. 12) to cut it up field into the rest of the defense, where he was tackled. That's the preferred result when facing the option.

Vandyke wasn't the only player responsible for maintaining the edge though. Throughout the game, Deon Clarke often found himself as the last Tech defender between the ball and the sideline. Early on in the first quarter Tech had OSU stuck in 3rd-and-21 at midfield. On what looked to be some sort of shovel pass / inside option type play, Clarke (VT - No. 40) crashed on the ball too quickly (giving up outside leverage) allowing Jones to get to the edge and scamper upfield. This play resulted in a much more manageable 4th-and-5 for OSU that they went on to convert and then score, instead of a 5 yard loss and a sure punt (potentially a big turning point in the first quarter).

Midway through the second quarter, OSU attacked Clarke again with the pitch option, but Clarke played it beautifully. Instead of crashing hard, he slow played the middle between Jones and Braxton Miller (OSU - No. 1), making Jones think twice about pitching the ball.

Clarke keeps his outside leverage, which forces Jones to cut upfield into the defensive support for just a 2 yard gain. (Also note how Kendall Fuller (VT - No. 11) fills and makes the tackle when his receiver crack blocks back into the middle of the field - I'll touch on this in the next paragraph).

Unfortunately, just one time giving up the outside edge was all it took for OSU to take advantage and create a big play. Although this occurred out of the wildcat formation and was more of a QB/RB sweep, the same principles still hold true. Maintaining the outside edge and forcing a runner back inside is crucial to containing an athletic running attack. In this play, Clarke was caught just a bit too far inside and Miller took advantage of it, leading to a OSU score and his own Madden Moment on national television. I think the combination of this play and the one before it (VT fumble) was what really took the wind out of Tech's sails in the second half.

The only caveat to stubbornly keeping outside leverage and forcing the runner back inside is that it requires help from the rest of the defense. By staying outside, a defender is essentially removing himself as a tackler, relying on the help from other defenders flowing to the ball to make the play. The next clip highlights Clarke maintaining the outside edge just as in previous clips, although this time he has no flow towards the ball from his teammates. This gives J.T. Barrett (OSU - No. 16) a huge hole to run through leading to a long run down the sideline. You'll see wide receiver James Clark (OSU - No. 82) at the top of the screen crashing hard for a crack block, aiming to impede defenders scraping over the top. In this case, Clark (OSU) gets in the way of Mook Reynolds (VT - No. 6), who was coming over to make the play. Cornerback Greg Stroman (VT - No. 3) needs to recognize the crack block, call it out, and then fill the gap where Reynolds was flowing towards (Like Fuller did on the previous clip). If that happens, Stroman meets Barrett in the hole and the play is dead there. Instead, even though Clarke turned the play back inside, there was no help nearby and the end result was a big play for OSU.

On the offensive side of the ball, one of the Hokies' big issues was being able to string together multiple plays of positive chunks. Tech certainly had flashes of some good football, but it seems they couldn't string enough of them together when they needed to, especially in the second half. Aside from that though, I am perturbed that they were unable to incorporate Bucky Hodges into the offense at all. I counted 3 thrown-tos for Bucky, with no completions. Based on the dynamic player we saw he was last season, Bucky needs to be a part of our offense every game. Sure it's possible that OSU focused on this and moved to take Bucky out of the game, but I think Tech could have got him the ball in space a couple times through bubble routes.

I've included two clips below as examples of what I am talking about. This first one is actually with Sam Rogers (VT - No. 45) running the bubble route. I've written about this before, but I think the math is in our favor here. Tech's WR is matched with the CB, and the OLB for OSU is well off of Rogers. Throwing the ball out to Sam on 2nd-and-5 gives him a chance to make a move and get upfield. It's no guarantee, but I think it's something Tech could have exploited more this game.

The next clip is a similar example, although this time with Bucky (VT - No. 7). In this case, Tech had 2 WRs matched with 2 CBs, but a safety well off of the ball. Obviously the success of this play requires a good block from both WRs, but Tech really didn't even give it a shot. I think Motley threw one bubble route that was a bit high, and then Scot Loeffler didn't ever give it another look. Was it the answer? No. But I think based on the limited success of the run game in the second half, and the shaky nature of Motley throwing downfield, short passes into the flat may have yielded some success.

Speaking of Motley, the next clip shows his INT. The reason I included this was less about Motley's play and more about the defensive scheme OSU ran here. Tech took a shot down the field. I'm glad we did. Yes it resulted in a INT, and yes it was into double coverage, but Tech was trying to get something going. Motley certainly will learn from it — I don't see the throw itself as a huge mistake.

Pre-snap, OSU appears to show a Cover 2 Man look, where the 2 high safeties are each responsible for half the field, and the cornerbacks are locked in man coverage with their receivers. Once the ball is snapped, it seems that the safety to the top of the screen heads more to the center of the field, while the safety to the bottom of the screen is less concerned with getting beat deep. I would say this is changing into more of a Cover 1 Robber look, where the "Robber" is the safety to the bottom of the screen looking to cover anything cutting over the middle to the bottom of the screen. It becomes quite apparent that the weakness here is over the middle to the top of the screen, which is why the CB to that side fights so hard to keep inside leverage on the WR. With nothing happening over the middle, the deep safety is free to play centerfield (he doesn't ever break stride from the snap of the ball) and read Motley's eyes straight to the interception.

I'd hate to end this review on a negative note, so how about a positive clip? I'd like to give some credit to Ryan Malleck for his effort and awareness blocking on the edge. Early in the 2nd quarter Tech faced a 2nd-and-13 on its own 34 yard line. Down 14 points, it was imperative the Hokies got something going on offense or risk letting the game get out of hand before halftime. Out of the wildcat formation, QB Brenden Motley (VT - #9) handed the ball to Travon McMillian (VT - No. 34) on the sweep. Watch TE Malleck (VT - No. 88). Out in space with Hodges, it seems they are slightly confused on who was going to block whom. Hodges lets Darron Lee (OSU - No. 43) go, and Lee almost sneaks past Malleck as well to blow the play up in the backfield. Malleck recognizes this, adjusts, and gets just enough of block on Lee and the other defender to keep them out of McMillian's way, allowing him to get the first down. I think this play is what set up the misdirection TD pass to Sam Rogers for Tech's first touchdown. If that play gets blown up in the backfield, we have a 3rd-and-17 that would prove challenging to convert.

All in all, I can't say we should feel that bad about this game. Being up 17-14 on the No. 1 team in the country at halftime... at night... in Lane Stadium... I'll take that any day. Brewer's injury most definitely changed the complexion of the game, there's no question about that. Motley just didn't appear ready to play. On a short week, I'm nervous about how he'll be able to catch up in time for Furman. I'll certainly be watching, this time from my couch instead of the East stands, section 33, row ZZ, seat 14.