Hokies' Second Half Adjustments Almost Overcome Clemson

Virginia Tech was clearly outgunned from a talent perspective against Clemson in its 35-42 ACC Championship Game loss. The Hokies' effort, along with the schematic adjustments that were made in order to make the contest competitive late, should be appreciated by the fanbase. The future is bright, especially if Justin Fuente and his staff can upgrade the depth and talent on the line of scrimmage.

At the same time, watching the film lead me to feel a bit lukewarm about my post-game enthusiasm. Despite Clemson's early dominance in the trenches, the Tigers opened the door and the Hokies had every opportunity to burst through it. Tech's coaches made good adjustments, yet two controllable factors contributed to the comeback bid falling short.

Bud Foster's trust in his senior-laden defensive line delayed increased snaps to the clearly more effective defensive tackle tandem of Tim Settle and Ricky Walker until the second half. And on the Hokies' final drive, the offensive staff didn't seem to trust Jerod Evans' management of the passing game.

Clemson Maximized Their Matchup Advantage Early

Clemson asserted complete dominance in the trenches and jumped out to an early 14-point lead. The Tigers changed up their running game slightly by focusing more on quarterback runs and slower developing outside zones. Misdirection on those outside runs provided blocking angles for the Tigers to seal the Hokies' vaunted defensive line to the inside while quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back Wayne Gallman ran through defenders. If there was one huge contrast between both offensive lines in the first half, it was that Clemson's offensive line slid off double teams and got to the Virginia Tech linebackers. Meanwhile, the Hokies' OL couldn't get to the second level which left linebackers Ben Boulware and Kendall Joseph free to run around unblocked.

On this counter play, left tackle Mitch Hyatt (No. 75) chips down on Woody Baron. Baron is engaged with LG Taylor Hearn (No. 51). Hyatt delivers the blow with such force that Baron gets knocked into the air and backwards. Hyatt then slips out to pick off Andrew Motuapuaka.

Motuapuaka should be the free hitter to fill the seam created between Ken Ekanem and Tremaine Edmunds. Instead, he is enveloped by Hyatt and driven outside of the hole. Gallman rumbles forward until Nigel Williams can drag him down from behind.

Clemson also used formations to key the Hokies' defensive front to slant away from the intended path of the football. On this play, Gallman is aligned slightly offset back and to the right of Watson. Usually this alignment means an inside zone. The Hokies' defensive front slants to the left, and both Motuapuaka and Tremaine Edmunds fill inside. All six Hokie defenders in the box are inside of the Clemson left tackle. Nobody is there to account for a run that bounces outside.

Instead, Gallman bends outside and Clemson turns an inside zone look into an inverted veer. Watson occupies the unblocked Ken Ekanem, and Clemson finds Gallman with four blockers out in front and only four defenders to contend with.

Defensively, Clemson's game plan was pretty simple. The gargantuan Tiger defensive line would jam things up between the Hokies' offensive tackles, while their linebackers blitzed and stunted without being blocked. Outside, the Tigers played lots of press man coverage and focused on taking away easy throws for Jerod Evans. Evans, who has been coached up to be risk averse, refused to throw the ball into traffic. As he had all season, Evans would check his first read, and then pull the ball down to run through any seams created by the Clemson pass rush.

Clemson's scheme emphasized eliminating any interior scrambles by Evans. The Tigers' would either twist stunt their defensive tackles, or crash their defensive line through the inside gaps to jam up the interior and then blitz their linebackers off the edge.

On the following blitz, Clemson is in an odd front with DE Christian Wilkins (No. 42) standing up. The Tigers' two five-technique down linemen crash into the B-gaps. Wilkins and nickel linebacker Jalen Williams (No. 30) blitz off the edge. Joseph (No. 34) blitzes into the boundary A-gap and Dexter Lawrence (No. 90) slants into the field-side A-gap.

Jonathan McLaughlin has a choice between two defenders to block and he gets neither of them. Augie Conte can't help McLaughlin because both he and Gallo bite on Joseph's A-gap blitz. And Wyatt Teller, who struggled to chip and move Lawrence and Carlos Watkins (No. 94) all evening, gets run over by a rampaging Lawrence. Evans has nowhere to go.

Note, S Jadar Johnson (No. 18) is isolated on Sam Rogers in coverage. When Virginia Tech focused on getting the football to Cam Phillips and Rogers against Clemson's linebackers and safeties, the Hokies' offense found a rhythm. At the same time, the Hokies struggled to find an answer for Lawrence and DE Clelin Ferrell. For the first three quarters, that pairing was the best on the field.

Offensive Adjustments Trigger a Virginia Tech Comeback that Falls Just Short

For Virginia Tech to overcome the 14- to 21-point gap that separated it from Clemson most of the game, Fuente had to figure out a way to get Evans comfortable while generating some semblance of a running game. Evans found a comfort zone targeting Cam Phillips on a variety of screens and short throws against nickel linebacker Jaylen Williams (No. 30). Those quick lateral plays, and the resulting pursuit, also served to extend some drives and it tired the Clemson d-line rotation.

As for the running game, it was obvious Clemson's strategy to jam up the interior gaps with their huge defensive line wasn't going to be overcome merely through an improved performance by Tech's offensive line. Fuente and Brad Cornelsen made a handful of subtle design changes that allowed Tech's linemen to seal the Clemson big bodies inside and isolate blockers on the Tigers' lithe linebackers.

In order for QB draws/powers to succeed when Clemson crashed their defensive linemen inside, Tech's scheme was altered to get Evans outside. On this play, Wilkins attacks the play-side B-gap. McLaughlin seals him inside. Teller pulls left to right and turns up field on Boulware. Evans freezes the defense with a subtle pass posture, and then follows Teller outside.

The Hokies also worked to get their tailbacks, especially Travon McMillian on the edge. Speed options and quick tosses didn't generate much success. However, Fuente and Cornelsen found some running room with a variation of the outside zone sweep that had not generated much yardage all season.

There are three keys to the play. First, DE Austin Bryant (No. 91) has to be sealed inside. The design has Sam Rogers align wide, and then motion back to the inside. Bryant has his eyes focused into the backfield. When the ball is snapped, Bryant steps to widen out and gets cracked by Rogers. Rogers doesn't have to crush Bryant. He just needs to make sure that Bryant can't pursue laterally to the sideline.

Second, Bucky Hodges has to get inside position on CB Cordrea Tankersley (No. 25). Tankersley is playing outside leverage and is looking into the backfield. Hodges gets inside position and turns his pads to the sideline just enough to create a seam. Tankersley has a chance to possibly get back into the play. Instead of tackling McMillian, he just kind of shoves him.

Third, McMillian turns up field thanks to a terrific cut block by Teller on Williams. He also gets a bit lucky. Cam Phillips is engaged with Williams almost right up to the second that Teller cuts him. If the official thought that Phillips was still in contact with Williams, this would have been flagged as a chop block. McMillian makes a sharp cut, and explodes into the second level.

As the running game and short throws to Phillips began to produce, Evans seemed to settle in to the flow of the game. Clemson's defensive line, which had been so dominant, appeared gassed.

On Evans' final touchdown run, the Hokies aligned in an unbalanced line with McLaughlin moving over to the left side as an extra tackle. McLaughlin and Yosh Nijman were able to catch the previously unblockable Dexter Lawrence moving to adjust to the unbalanced line and turned his pads to the sideline. As Evans pulled the ball from Cam Phillips on the inverted veer keeper, Nijman slips off the aforementioned double team to drive Boulware out of the hole.

In retrospect, the second half was a story of both promise and missed opportunity for the Hokies' offense. The comeback and play calling adjustments give hope for the future. Yet, the tight play calling on Virginia Tech's potential game winning final drive was baffling. For Evans to reach the next level, the coaching staff has to reinforce confidence in him to make throws against tight coverage. When eyeing the game a second time, Isaiah Ford was able to get enough space to make plays like this one against Tankersley.

Ford was able to get space and Evans made the throw despite a poor snap and pressure from the Tigers. With the game on the line, Ford didn't get an opportunity to make a play. The quarterback draw call on Tech's final third down felt like an acknowledgement of a lack of confidence in Evans to make a play in that spot, and the call backfired. If Cornelsen and Fuente didn't feel that they trusted Evans to hit Ford on a dig or out route on third down, a run-pass option like the critical third down completion to Phillips on the previous drive would have been a terrific play call. It is nitpicking on my part. However, until Evans can make throws in those spots against top coverage, the Hokies will struggle to take the next step against elite defenses.

Glimpse of Virginia Tech's Future on Defense

Woody Baron had a tremendous All-ACC season and deserves every postseason accolade thrown his way this year. He has been a warrior for the Hokies. Against Clemson though, Baron struggled as Clemson cut down splits and double teamed him frequently. Consistently, when the Hokies defense got stops, the defensive tackle pairing of Tim Settle and Ricky Walker were on the field.

Settle ate up double teams and caved in the interior of the Clemson offensive line. Walker was able to flow to the football and be disruptive. The Clemson offensive line couldn't handle these two prospective starters for 2017, and that bodes well.

In the second half, Settle and Walker were joined by DEs Trevon Hill and Houshun Gaines to get two critical stops. Gaines' role was a bit of a surprise. He had seen very little playing time this season and was below Seth Dooley on the depth chart against Virginia. Versus the Tigers, this foursome demonstrated stoutness against the run and the ability to pressure the passer.

Against this outside zone run, Settle and Gaines execute a twist stunt to the field-side. Settle shoots through the C-gap, carrying the center Jay Guillermo (No. 57) on his back and away from the play. Gaines drops underneath Settle, and then shoots through the A-gap.

To the play-side, Walker takes a jab step inside, and then swims to the outside gap without being touched. Hill has force responsibility on the edge (he has no corner help because Alexander is in man coverage). Hill does a terrific job of getting far enough up field and forcing running back C.J. Fuller to cut inside where Walker, Gaines, and Terrell Edmunds await unblocked.

Gaines also showed terrific bend when rushing the passer on an inside rip move. From the 30 package, Gaines has to account for the B-gap and draw a block away from Motuapuaka's blitz off the edge.

RT Tremayne Anchrum (No. 73) lets Gaines go, and the redshirt freshman forces a quick throw from Watson. Walker is spying on Watson, and he has the quicks to go help Shegog drag down monster TE Jordan Leggett (No. 16) in the flat short of the first down.

The Hokies' defense has been erratic this season, and Bud Foster will lose Ekanem, Baron, Williams, and Clark next season. A dominant d-line group would cure a bunch of growing pains as Foster continues to nurture the depth issues at linebacker and defensive back. The level of play from Virginia Tech's young defensive line and Evans' maturation and development will dictate if Tech can be a championship caliber team in 2017.