Locker Room Wrap: Dwayne Lawson, Travon McMillian Get Their Big Chances Against Furman

All eyes were on QBs Brenden Motley and Dwayne Lawson against Furman, but one observer brought a keener eye to the game than most.

Michael Brewer, whose collarbone fracture in the season opener forced the other quarterbacks into action, chose not to stalk the sidelines in his arm sling as the Hokies faced the Paladins. Instead, he opted for the bird's eye view of the proceedings with offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler up in the box, and for the most part, he liked what he saw.

"He does everything in his power to help his team in the situation," Loeffler said after the game. "It's good to have him around. He's a senior, he's a leader. He's trying to help Motley, he's trying to help Lawson, he's trying to bring (Chris) Durkin along."

The quarterbacks combined for 284 yards through the air, as well as 114 of the team's 299 yards on the ground, so it's no surprise that the coaches have nothing but nice things to say about the QB room at this point.

"I think our quarterback situation is pretty good," said Frank Beamer. "Durkin brings something too, that boy's got a little bit of toughness to him too, I like what we've got."

While Loeffler surely was hoping to avoid testing the team's depth at the position for many months yet, he thinks the team will survive Brewer's absence thanks to the effort the staff has put forth at restocking the position.

"I think our staff has done a great job of recruiting at that position," Loeffler said. "When you're recruiting a quarterback, it's a staff deal, it's not one coach, it's a staff deal. And I really like our young players right now, I like that position. They have a chance to develop into something really special."

But one of those young players got more attention than most on Saturday.

Lawson's Redshirt Set Ablaze

Beamer made waves last week when he said the team never really considered redshirting Lawson, as they planned to mix him into the game with some select packages against Ohio State.

Instead, his debut came in the much more humbling setting afforded a gloomy afternoon kickoff against an FCS team, but he was just fine with that outcome.

"I wasn't upset at all, I know coach has got a plan for me," Lawson said. "I knew my time would come. Whenever I get that chance, I'll be ready."

Lawson got his chance, of a sort, when the team pulled Motley for the fourth quarter. Durkin took a few of the snaps after that, but it was mostly Lawson's opportunity to shine once Motley hit the bench, and he was able to show the coaches some positive signs.

He only completed three of his seven passes on the day for 51 yards, with 31 of those coming on his very first attempt, but he flashed potential in the running game.

Lawson opened the fourth quarter with a physical 10-yard run, and after hitting TE Kalvin Cline for that first long gain, he tacked on another 10-yard dash, breaking tackles the whole way.

He was even able to score his first career touchdown on a run Beamer called "nifty."

"It was a draw play, we ran it earlier in the game," Lawson said. "We ran it up the middle, but this time they were prepared for it. So I knew I had to do something different when I saw the linebacker. So I went and bounced to the outside and got out to the edge, and I was able to score."

Lawson added that he hopes the touchdown will be the "first of more to come," but Loeffler cautions that those future scores won't come through the air if his mechanics don't improve.

The OC called Lawson's footwork "sloppy" in his limited snaps, and the freshman did indeed struggle to avoid low throws, missing on a pair of particularly ugly balls to Kevin Asante on back-to-back plays.

"Whenever you're supposed to take a hitch and you anchor, most of the time you're going to throw an incomplete pass," Loeffler said about the freshman's footwork.

Lawson says he's cognizant of those sorts of mistakes, which he claims largely come from just taking things too fast.

"I was getting ahead a little bit. I was trying to rush the play, trying to rush the throw," Lawson said. "I need to improve on that."

But Loeffler says he was encouraged by the way Lawson read the defense in the early going, and plans to make the mechanics a focus in practice this week.

"We've got a lot of work to do with him, but the positive I'm really excited with him is mentally," Loeffler said. "He generally went to the right place with the football, the technique part, that's my job to make him better."

A 'Dude' Emerges

When redshirt freshman RB Travon McMillian broke off his 63-yard run on Saturday, he made a small bit of Hokies' history.

In a show of just how lackluster Tech's running game has been in recent years, McMillian's run was actually the longest one recorded by a Hokie since Chris Mangus reeled off a 76-yard dash back in 2013 against another FCS opponent in the Western Carolina Catamounts.

That was so long ago that Mangus has both left the Hokies and been booted off East Carolina's roster in the intervening years, and a sign of why exactly McMillian has the coaching staff so excited about his abilities this season.

"He's a dude," Loeffler said. "He's gonna be a dude."

It might be tough to tell to those uninitiated in the Steve Addazio school of speech, but that's likely the highest compliment Loeffler can give, even as McMillian tries to deflect that praise.

"That's a good thing," McMillian said of his "dude" designation. "I'm just trying to help this team out. I'm a really unselfish player, I'm just going to keep working hard and practicing to get better."

McMillian was similarly quick to defer credit for his long run, a play that sparked the beginning of Tech's offensive awakening in the second half.

"It gave me a lot of confidence," McMillian said. "Give the credit to our offensive line, those guys did a really good job blocking on the perimeter, I really appreciate those guys."

While Beamer and Loeffler both also took time postgame to praise Trey Edmunds (who scored his first touchdown since 2013) and the returned Shai McKenzie (who finished with 24 yards on five carries), it was clearly McMillian who stole the show.

"McMillian, some of those runs, you get him out there and not only has he got power, but he's got speed," Beamer said. "You saw that a couple times. We've got some guys that can do it in a number of ways."

Kicking Competition Continues?

The Hokies' running back picture might be murky because of the team's myriad options at the position, but things seemed pretty settled at kicker until the Furman game rolled around.

Joey Slye started every single game for Tech last year, and he seemed solidly affixed atop the depth chart coming into this game.

There's no indication that's changed, necessarily, but Beamer did still raise a few eyebrows when he trotted out Michael Santamaria to handle kicking duties for the bulk of the second half.

Slye still handled all but one of the team's kickoffs on the day — Slye notched six touchbacks in his six attempts for an average of 65 yards per kick, while Santamaria's lone attempt went for 54 yards and was returned for 21 yards — but Santamaria definitely got more work from midway through the third quarter on. Not only did he kick the extra points on all three of the team's second half scores, he also got to attempt a 39-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, which he missed.

This could be seen as nothing more than a chance to get Santamaria some work after the highly touted prospect was relegated to the bench last season.

But Beamer did hint after the game that it could be something more.

"I want it to be like the quarterbacks," Beamer said. "If the guy's got it, he's going to stay in there, but if it's challenging, then I want the competition to continue."

It's not as if Slye has been troublingly bad this season. He did miss a 50-yard field goal against the Buckeyes (and he has still never cracked 50 yards on a kick) as well as a 45-yarder against Furman, but he nailed a 46-yarder against OSU.

Going 1 for 3 to start the year is hardly ideal for a kicker, but it's also not disastrous, especially given the kicks Beamer has asked him to make.

He's also been exceptional on kickoffs to start the year, if that factors into Beamer's assessments. His four touchbacks in the OSU game, combined with his six against Furman, currently have the Hokies in 12th place in the nation in total touchbacks, and 42nd overall in average kickoff length.

Even still, the head Hokie made sure to praise Santamaria as well after the game, and didn't exactly give a definitive answer on the kicking situation. It could simply be that the special teams-minded Beamer simply wanted to see what he had at his favorite position in a low-pressure situation, but it could also be something to keep an eye on going forward.

"Santamaria has really been kicking well, Slye is doing great on kickoffs. Some of the parts need more consistency," Beamer said. "We're fortunate to have really good kickers at Virginia Tech. Two good ones. Slye and Santamaria. Two good ones."