Offensive Performance Against Virginia Provides A Glimpse of Hokies' Future

Between the coaching rumors and the emotional significance of Frank Beamer's final win over Virginia, it's tempting to look past the actual results on the field in Charlottesville.

A dancing Beamer is certainly a worthy distraction from the nuts and bolts of the game itself, which was largely an ugly affair, but the afternoon provided plenty of clues about what kind of team the Hokies might be next year.

Even with the announcement of Justin Fuente as the team's new head coach, it's impossible to say with certainty what the staff may look like next year.

But many of the players that made this win possible will still be around next season, and they have plenty of talents and flaws that the new staff will have to reckon with.

Indeed, even as the future of the staff beyond Fuente and Foster remains uncertain, the team's narrow win over the hated Hoos offers quite the roadmap to what 2016 might look like.

Pass Pro Woes

The Hokies haven't exactly been great in pass protection this year — Tech's 34 sacks allowed ranks 109th in the country — but the team had an especially rocky first half when it came to blocking UVA's front.

The offensive line only allowed three sacks, but each one was particularly damaging to an offense that was already struggling. When the Hoos succeeded in bringing down Michael Brewer, they managed to generate losses of seven, nine and eight yards respectively, with the takedowns coming on three consecutive drives.

Beamer lamented that the team "just needed some time to get the ball downfield" in the first half, and Loeffler adds that he thought the team left several big plays on the field due to protection issues.

"You look at the first half, 3rd and 3, it's a walk in, it's a drop kick to Isaiah Ford, we don't protect it," Loeffler said. "A drop kick to Bucky, didn't protect it, drop kick to Isaiah Ford, didn't protect it."

Loeffler said the ordeal reminded him of the Hokies' troubles protecting against Pittsburgh, "where we knew what they were up front" but were still confounded by blocking them.

It's a dilemma that the offensive coordinator admits had him stressing up until the very last minute before kickoff.

"This morning I texted my father and I go, 'I'm worried about blocking the three-technique, I'm worried about blocking the five-technique, we're going to be in max protections,'" Loeffler said.

But beyond stymying the offense, the constant pressure on Brewer very nearly knocked him out of the game. Much like last season's matchup with Virginia, Brewer was battered from all sides in a game that he admitted "took about five years off my life."

Not only did the quarterback spend several minutes on the field after taking a brutal hit in the middle of a throw in the first quarter, but the pounding compounded an ankle injury he suffered against North Carolina.

Brewer downplayed as just "something I've got to deal with," but Loeffler conceded that the interceptions the QB threw against both UNC and UVA were not "decision mistakes" but rather products of Brewer's inability to fully push off the foot when throwing.

"I've been around some tough quarterbacks and he's in the same pedigree as those guys that have played on Sundays that I've coached," Loeffler said.

But while Beamer admitted to worrying that the first quarter hit might've kept Brewer sidelined, WR Isaiah Ford said he never doubted his ability to come back in.

"When you see a player like that it makes you want to play really hard for him," Ford said. "Sometimes I think I take that for granted. Especially the Ohio State game, seeing him get hit it was like 'Oh, it's Brewer, he's gonna get back up,' but something was really wrong that time. You do take it for granted, knowing that he's so tough and can take a lot of punishment."

According to Loeffler, Brewer could even foresee the beating he'd ultimately suffer at the Hoos' hands.

"He came up to me before, either this morning or last night, and said 'This is how it's gonna happen, I'm gonna get my brains beat in and find a way to win the game,' and in the latter half of the game, that's exactly what happened," Loeffler said.

Yet Brewer's toughness was only part of the equation. While UVA was still able to influence some throws with pressure, the Hoos didn't manage a sack in the second half.

Beamer said that stems from a concerted effort at halftime to overhaul the line play.

"The first thing we did was to challenge our offensive line," Beamer said. "I talked to them at halftime. Coach (Stacy) Searels has done a great job, and was saying the same thing."

Indeed, Loeffler recalls his offensive line coach taking a particularly active role in beefing up the pass protection.

"Stacy's on the sidelines coaching a pass set for crying out loud, I'm looking down like 'You've got to be kidding me, I've never seen this in Division I football,' coaching a pass set," Loeffler said.

Beyond that coaching technique, Loeffler notes that the team changed two of its protections, including the effort on the game-tying touchdown from Brewer to Ford.

"We changed up quite a bit," Loeffler said. "We ran a seven-man check release pass protection, we actually got beat and Sam Rogers saved the day," Loeffler said.

A Tale of Two Passes

That final TD pass was notable for more than just the blocking schemes underlying it.

In fact, Loeffler claimed the team hadn't repped that particular play since the preseason, but it still worked to devastating effectiveness, freeing Ford virtually unguarded behind the defense.

"Isaiah Ford looked at me and said 'That was a summertime win,' so it was great," Loeffler said. "Those guys worked their tails off this summer."

Even with the play's relative unfamiliarity, Ford noted that he felt total confidence that the play would work because of how the offense worked to set it up earlier in the game.

"When we called that play, I knew (the DB) was gonna bite on a double move," Ford said. "We got him earlier in the game, but we weren't able to connect on it, so we tried to come back to it. He was on it pretty well, but we ran that one deeper and it was right at the sticks, so I knew he was gonna bite on it."

It's just that type of execution on the play that Loeffler hopes the team remembers next season, even if he's not around to chide them about it.

"I hope our kids can springboard this to the next regime," Loeffler said. "Isaiah Ford, our offense and Michael Brewer won the game on a play that we haven't repped since the summer time."

But for all the play's significance, Loeffler believes it was another long pass play that might've been the turning point in the game.

Just after Virginia scored to take a 13-6 lead, it was Brewer's 71-yard completion to TE Ryan Malleck that keyed the team's tying scoring drive.

Loeffler believes the play in question should've looked awful familiar to anyone that watched the Purdue game.

"It was play that Motley actually hit versus Purdue, it's the last time we called the play," Loeffler said. "It was a 40-yard gain in the Purdue game and we were really concerned about because they were bringing the will (linebacker) pressure, they didn't on that play. We had an audible if they did. We knew that if we could get them into the right defense that Malleck would be scott free on the mike, and he was scott free."

Ford says there was just one thing he didn't like about the play.

"I was praying that he would make it into the endzone, I wanted him to score so bad," Ford said. "Malleck's a player that doesn't complain and keeps his head down and works hard, he's one of the best players I've been around as far as his work ethic. Seeing the strides he's made from last year to this year, he never drops anything, his route running's really improved, he's been great."

Malleck's play was certainly a big one, but Ford was the star of the show in the second half. All but eight of his 121 yards came after halftime, and once the team was able to protect more efficiently, big plays to the sophomore star suddenly became a real option for the team.

"A couple of times we had really good looks where we just couldn't get the ball in the air, but we knew we'd come back to them in the second half and we did and I started getting open," Ford said.

Diverging Futures

The fourth quarter offered some tantalizing glimpses of what this offense could've looked like had the team gotten a little bit luckier or made a few more big plays.

It's a result that has Loeffler wondering "what if?" as he ponders his next move.

"It's a shame that Michael didn't get to play the whole season, but I'm excited to watch from afar these guys, because there's a lot of work that's taken place these last few years," Loeffler said. "Everyone criticizes and all that, but we're setting this place up for lots of great, great things. That's college football though, that's NFL football. You find people who have worked their tail off to put guys in position and the next guy that comes in here will be in position."

There's certainly issues to be taken with that line of thinking — after all, those aforementioned protection issues blossomed under Loeffler's watch, just as the long passes did.

That's a large part of why it seems unlikely that Loeffler will stay on under Fuente, and the rest of the offensive staff could very well follow him out the door.

But Loeffler contends those thoughts didn't plague him as he developed this game plan, and even with thoughts of an alternative future swirling after the team's late offensive outburst, he claims his focus will stay squarely on Beamer's last bowl.

"I had opportunities to leave last year and didn't and wouldn't, there's no way that I'm not going to coach under Coach Beamer, that's why I came here," Loeffler said. "Whenever I was in the situation with Lloyd (Carr), all that mattered was beating Florida and making sure he was off, and that won't change for the bowl game. I could care less about a job, I'm gonna get a job, we're good. But it'll be the same way, we're going to win a bowl game for Coach Beamer and find a way. That's what you're supposed to do, if you do right by others, everything works out."

For Foster, the future is considerably more secure. While he refused to answer questions about his role with the team going forward on Saturday, claiming the day was "all about Coach Beamer," the revelation that he'll be staying on under Fuente's new regime means that he'll get a chance to build on his unit's inconsistent performance this season.

In particular, he'll get another chance to address his defense's continuing issues preventing quarterbacks from running the ball. UVA QB Matt Johns is hardly known for his wheels, as he entered the game with just 30 total rushing yards all year.

Yet he burned the Hokies for 58 yards on six carries, with many of those scrambles converting key third downs for the Hoos.

"In the first half, they came with some quarterback scrambles, they caught us in some 30 (fronts)," Foster said. "We tried to bracket their back, we blitzed it one time and the quarterback got out."

But much like the pass protection, the team tightened up in the second half, allowing just one rush for three yards after Foster could make some adjustments.

"We didn't expect him to come out running like he did, the defense did have a couple runs, but after that, Coach Foster isn't going to let that happen, he came back to the sidelines and made some adjustments," said LB Deon Clarke.

Now Foster will get another crack at fixing the issue that has so bedeviled his defenses recently, eschewing an uncertain future for one that looks a lot more familiar.

"It's not the year we wanted, but we're close, and that's why we're excited about the future of this program," Foster said. "There are some good kids here and they showed that today."