Locker Room Wrap: Hokies' Skill Players, Secondary Youngsters Reverse Course Against N.C. State

Over the course of the Hokies' last few crushing losses, the coaching staff has been fond of saying that the team's defeats came down to just a handful of plays.

Yet against N.C. State, the staff credited the team for stepping up at those critical junctures, helping the Hokies to snap a two-game losing streak in the process.

"I don't care where you're at, if you're at Virginia Tech, you're Miami, you're at USC, it doesn't matter, you're fighting five plays," said OC Scot Loeffler after the game. "There were five plays last week that we make in the first half, the game's over. We were fortunate tonight."

The offensive coordinator was downright contemplative after his unit posted a total of 358 yards on the day, with 200 coming on the ground alone, after the team's disastrous outing against Pittsburgh.

"As a coach, you've got 18, 19, 20 year old kids out there and the parity is across the board in college football," Loeffler said. "It's going to come down to five plays, you either make them or you don't. If you make them, you win the game, and if you don't you're going to lose the game. I don't care where you're at. I've watched enough football over the last year, that's kind of where the game's going, it's turning into the NFL."

Loeffler's bunch was certainly a big part of why Tech came away with the much-needed 28-13 win, but Bud Foster's group also played well enough to seal a win that keeps the Hokies alive in unpredictable ACC Coastal division.

Playmakers Deliver

Much was made out of Frank Beamer's vow to change up which players would get touches after the team's offensive debacle against Pittsburgh, and the staff proved that talk was more than hot air against the Wolfpack.

Travon McMillian was the obvious beneficiary of the change in focus, leading the team with 11 carries for 97 yards, and it seemed clear after the game that McMillian could well have seized the reins as the team's new feature back.

But he was hardly the only player to benefit from an increase in playing time.

McMillian certainly grabbed all the headlines Friday night, but FB Sam Rogers was nearly as much of a fixture on the field as he was. He totaled eight carries for 57 yards, including a career-long 29-yard run as the team worked to burn clock in the fourth quarter, and served as a frequent sidecar to QB Brenden Motley when the team lined up in the shotgun.

"People underestimate that guy, but he breaks a lot of tackles and he keeps on running and he's always going that way," Beamer said, throwing his arm straight ahead. "I like runners that do that."

Rogers' increase in carries came at the expense of Trey Edmunds and J.C. Coleman. Incredibly, neither picked up a single carry in the contest, and with the exception of Coleman's 10-yard reception on a screen pass in the first quarter, they barely registered in the boxscore at all.

The team also changed up its emphasis on receivers, particularly in the red zone. WR Isaiah Ford was the main beneficiary of the change, grabbing four passes for 39 yards and three touchdowns.

"When you find yourself sitting in the zones, getting wide open and the ball's coming to you, it's like in basketball where you can't miss, it's like I couldn't not get open," Ford said. "And Mot was finding me so tonight was special."

The touchdowns were particularly meaningful for Tech. Ford's acumen in the end zone helped the Hokies come away with seven points on three straight trips down the field, with two of the passes coming as Motley patiently extended the play on the goal line.

"We like to run that play, and I always mess with Mot because I'm not the first read, but I tell him 'hey, I'm open, throw me the ball ' so it's kind of funny that it worked out," Ford said. "It's just something that he was keeping the play alive, he did a great job of that, I was just shuffling with him to see if he could find me."

Ford's first TD came on a beautifully thrown ball from Motley in the corner of the end zone, as the pair exploited a corner blitz from the Wolfpack to connect on a 27-yard pass.

"We checked the play, we audibled to that play," Loeffler said. "Going back to what I said about every play matters, it's the same exact blitz that we got last week on the first half and we didn't make it last week. You're fighting five plays and tonight our guys made enough plays to win the game."

The play was a credit to LT Yosuah Nijman, who was another beneficiary of an increase in playing time and made a nice block peeling off a double team to slow an oncoming rusher, but also to Ford's speed down the field.

Motley showed a real propensity for connecting with Ford in the game, but he also clearly was making a concerted effort to get him the ball — Motley targeted Ford 10 times in the game, double the number of times he did so a week ago.

"I think Isaiah Ford has really worked his tail off, he's a guy that is in the indoor building late at night with Michael (Brewer) and Motley and those guys, and he's really made himself a better player," Loeffler said. "I really look forward to his development. He's gained 15, 10 pounds, he's stronger, he looks much better and I think with another offseason I think he could be special. He is special, but I think he could be more special."

Newly converted WR Greg Stroman didn't make a big impact on the passing game in his first game as a full time offensive player, but the team did make an effort to put the ball in his hands. He was a frequent recipient of the jet sweep carries that largely went to McMillian last week, carrying the ball four times for just nine yards, and Beamer sees his role expanding going forward.

"Stroman's a guy that I think we're going to get him more involved," Beamer said. "We only had him in there for a few things and we felt like we didn't want to jam things up, but we're going to have more things with him this week, he's a guy that I think can help change the game around, so we need to build on that."

Offensive Line Rebounds

The offensive bonanza keyed by the skill players wouldn't have been possible without renewed effort from the offensive line.

When asked after the game what the line did differently this week after last week's disastrous seven-sack outing, Beamer didn't mince words.

"Blocked," Beamer said, before ultimately launching into a longer explanation of the line's improvement.

The group allowed only one sack on the day — a big hit on Motley in the waning moments of the second quarter — and generally looked considerably more energized.

"We took last week's performance personally," said right tackle Wade Hansen. "We wanted to make sure Motley wasn't getting hit, and I think with the exception of maybe one or two plays, I thought we were successful in that."

OL coach Stacy Searels followed Beamer's lead when it came to position changes. Nijman was a frequent sight on the field, stepping in at left tackle with regularity. That often precipitated a move of Jonathan McLaughlin to the right side, a combination that keyed several strong runs in the second quarter.

Searels also mystified a bit when he decided to run out lightly used redshirt sophomore Kyle Chung as the starter at left guard in place of Wyatt Teller to start the game.

Teller returned on the team's very next series, so it would seem the move was disciplinary. But with assistant coaches like Searels unavailable after the game due to recruiting obligations, it's a move that will remain unclear until practice picks up later this week.

When Teller was on the field, he largely performed well. While he was called for a false start on a third down late in the fourth quarter, it was his block that sprung McMillian as he sprinted toward pay dirt on his 59-yard score.

"They were just blocking really hard today," McMillian said. "We told them that we needed them, and it opened up the run game and we had a really good week of practice."

Hansen echoed that sentiment, and added that the success of McMillian and the rest of the running game meant the world to the maligned line.

"It's a great feeling," Hansen said. "You get up from making a backside cut block and you see Travon running for 90 some odd yards, 80 some odd yards."

Secondary Steps Up

A week ago, Bud Foster called the lack of experience in the secondary the defense's undoing.

Yet against the Wolfpack, the group seemed to make significant strides. N.C. State could only manage a paltry 113 yards through the air, and talented QB Jacoby Brissett rarely found any rhythm.

"We lost a couple guys who will play in the NFL, I feel like. but these young guys that are back there now, I think some of them are going to play in the NFL," Beamer said. "It's just how quickly they can bring their game and play at that level. I think (Adonis) Alexander had a pretty solid game, (Mook) Reynolds, he had a pretty solid game, just got to bring those young guys along and if we involve them a lot in run support and then they've got to get out there and play one on one a little bit too."

Foster was a little more limited in his praise, even if he did ultimately give the group high marks.

"They were doing some different things that they hadn't shown," Foster said. "That's kind of where we're at with a young secondary. To make in game adjustments is extremely hard right now. But I'm proud of our kids that they hung in there and stepped up big when they needed to."

The defense certainly looked a little sluggish out of the gate. The Wolfpack managed 145 yards of their 270 total in the first quarter alone before Foster's bunch settled in, but then seemed much improved.

Part of that step forward came from the team's sounder tackling, limiting the big plays that haunted the unit against Pitt and ECU. The defense allowed just two plays over 20 yards in the game, compared to five against Pitt, and both of those came on N.C. State's very first drive of the match.

"The last couple weeks were frustrating because it just came down to execution of a couple things," Foster said. "As a coach, particularly when you practice those things, it's frustrating when they don't execute in the game, but we did today."

The Wolfpack looked most competent on defense when they were able to manhandle the Hokies while running the ball. While N.C. State didn't manage any big plays, they were able to attack Tech's defensive line, which often included backup DTs Woody Baron and Steve Sobczak.

RB Matt Dayes used carries of six, 16, four, 11, four and three yards to methodically power the offense down the field. The Wolfpack were only forced to settle for a field goal when they did decide to test the secondary, with Brissett contained in the pocket before he sailed the ball out of bounds.

"They kind of caught up with how we were attacking them, particularly in that one run stretch where we were trying to adjust and we finally did and our kids stepped up big on that third down play, which was critical," Foster said.

Foster's group was also able to generate a decent pass rush as the game went on, sacking Brissett four times for a combined loss of 22 yards, as the DC felt increasingly comfortable leaning on his young secondary.

"We brought some pressure, I felt like we could get some pressure on these guys," Foster said. "Particularly with a young secondary, you think it's easy to get lined up in some base things but because of what's happened with some injuries and different things, it's not as easy as we'd like it to be. We kind of put our corners on an island quite a bit."

Brandon Facyson tended to be the player left to fend for himself most often, and he played admirably in Kendall Fuller's stead. Brissett targeted Facyson's man just five times in the game, coming up with one early completion and one questionable pass interference penalty late in the fourth quarter.

But with the Wolfpack down 28-13 and needing a spark with just under six minutes left in the game, Facyson played his best. Brissett threw his way on first, third and fourth down on the last series of the drive, and Facyson failed to yield a completion in any of those high-pressure matchups.

"Brandon, we put him in the boundary which is kind of our guy that we can play some zones in the field, but a lot of times, particularly in three by one sets, that boundary guy is by himself," Foster said. "I thought he played really, really well, broke up a couple plays, had a tough interference call which was a good call, he just battling, and he came up big down the stretch and made a big fourth down play. I just thought overall he played really well."

Foster also had plenty of good things to say about Alexander, who struggled a bit in coverage last week against Pitt as he was tasked with matching up with Tyler Boyd in the slot and providing deep help over the top. He seemed much more competent against the Pack, coming up with an athletic interception to seal the victory.

"Adonis has got a lot of ability, but he's so, so far away from where he can be as a football player, and that's where our practice habits and things of that nature come in," Foster said.

The freshman's biggest blunder came on special teams, when Beamer was forced to call a timeout when Alexander failed to get off the field ahead of a punt return.

"You need to save those timeouts," Beamer said. "We've got to do a better job of that, we got lined up wrong one time, we got our group in. That's one us, we've got to do a better job of that."

That level-headed response belies exactly how irate Beamer seemed in the moment, taking more than a few opportunities to give Alexander an earful on the sidelines. Foster chalked it up to the overall youth of the defense these days, even if those types of youthful mistakes ended up proving less costly than the lapses against Pitt.

"We were in punt safe, that young kid Alexander, we practiced that, he was supposed to come off the field," Foster said. "We were in a 30 package, Steve Sobczak was supposed to come off the field, those are the things we practiced. Those guys have just got to look at me, I'm making the calls, instead of looking in the no huddle or that type of thing they need to look at me because I'm making the calls, so we'll take that, but there's no excuses for that."

Foster's group will have to tighten things up ahead of next week's matchup with Miami. The Hurricanes are reeling, with Al Golden fighting for his job with just a 3-2 record, but the team is still 32nd in the country in total offense, putting up just over 454 yards per game.

Indeed, with the tough road matchup looming, the Hokies will likely have to fight to make just the sort of plays Loeffler alluded to so they can build on the solid performance they managed under the Friday night lights.

"What's cool about coaching is you get to come back and see if you can make those five plays next week," Loeffler said. "We're going to coach against those five, coach to make those five, that's college football right now."