While a full comparison of the first two years of the Hamilton led Hokie Defense isn't the easiest thing in the world to make, there are certainly more than a few items of note that should give fans of Virginia Tech some optimism.
Through the first two games of 2020, the new DC's group was certainly not the defense VT fans were accustomed to: 27.5 ppg allowed, 139 rushing ypg allowed, 264 passing ypg allowed, 2 turnovers caused, a tenacious 6.5 sacks per game, but only 3 more TFL per game (indicating a lack of push into the backfield on rushes and screen passes)
Does 2021 show any improvement?
Why, yes. Yes, it does.
In the opening two games of the 2021 campaign, Hamilton's side has limited opponents to 12 ppg, 106 rushing yards per game, 245.5 passing yards per game, 4 turnovers caused, a reduction to 4.5 sacks per game, but 4.75 additional TFL per game, showing this unit is better at getting upfield and bringing the ball carriers down in the backfield.
You might be thinking, well, the 2020 team had to go up against conference foes in their outings, while the 2021 squad had a G5 opponent to soften the schedule. Well, to use a slightly lesser acceptable quote from Lee Corso, "NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND." Looking at the end of year F+ rating from FootballOutsiders for 2020 as well as the current standings, the 2021 Middle Tennessee team is only about 5 spots behind the 2020 Duke team, while the 2021 UNC team is currently about 30 spots ahead of the 2020 NC State team. Granted, it's not even fully mid-September, but it appears that the 2021 Hokies defense has put up the better numbers against better aggregate opponents than the 2020 defense.
We will see if this trend continues into week 3. In 2020, the Hokies got rocked to the tune of 56 points to a UNC team that finished the year in 15th in the F+ rankings. The 2021 version will be going into enemy territory for the first time to face a WVU side that, as of this writing (only week 0-1 was in the rankings), sits 65th after losing a tough fight at Maryland (although they did rebound this week annihilating Long Island University (Bishop Sycamore HS) by a 66-0 margin).
Comments
This defense feels different. I expected it to be better. And so far it has been. In fact, this defense has exceeded my expectations. Very pleased so far.
It's early for sure, but the D certainly looks more sound this year.
Peoples has stood out as a reliable tackler which French has pointed out so well as a big weakness last year.
Depth is going to be a major concern as the year goes on, but if we can stay healthy I think the D will be much improved.
They will need some help from the Offense which is really where my concern lies at this point, as the Passing game hasn't shown any significant evolution since 2016.
This defense looks ALOT better...I honestly think they played more vanilla on D on purpose and still had a relatively solid day.
I don't disagree on the conclusion, but really any caveat regarding "first two weeks in new defense with new coaches calling the plays" for 2020 is kinda janky data to be using as a comparison
I saw a lot of Keshon Artis today. He made several solid tackles.
Rotating safeties and DBs, didn't surprise me that we gave up some yards through the air.
Overall, solid outing. Players have a far better grasp on the defense, and are pursuing the ball. They aren't getting their feet tied up with their brain.
Only thing that has me scratching my head is the secondary. It seemed like they were playing much tighter vs. UNC and today vs MT it seemed like they were playing off of them by a good 5 yards and gave them more of a cushion. Not sure why the difference.
My uneducated guess has to do with where the threat was perceived.
W/ uncheat it was heisman hopeful Howell so the scheme was Pressure on pressure (coverage and blitzing).
Here i think the threat was more nebulous having not ever played them + it specifically not being uncheat. I read a lot of the approach as feeling it out. They probably gave up more underneath than any outside observer would like but what did they really give up 7 points when it mattered?
Yeah Royal commented on it and I think Bitter asked Fuente about it in the post-game. His answer was basically: "the first team D gave up 7 points, what do you people want." MTSU certainly got some yards through the air today, but it does seem intentional and its is hard to argue it didnt work.
7 points after a mental lapse on 3rd and 10 and then a heckuva TD catch. One good play and they might have blanked MTSU.
Adjustments were made in the second half and the D played better. My concern is it took until the second half. Against tougher teams that might be too late.
Nevertheless, we won. We are 2-0. Let us celebrate the victory. GO HOKIES!!!!
You'd almost think VT went vanilla in a game it never trailed.
I've been extremely impressed with the job Hamilton has done so far through two games. We actually are starting to look like a traditional VT defense again. May be one of the more impressive coaching jobs I've seen in one offseason.
Defensive line looks like they know where they're going, hardly any real yard after the catch, Peoples seems to know where to be. Waller is back and is on track to break the VT single season INT record. Opponents are rushing for just over 3 YPC. Which would be top 10 last year. Amd almost 2 ypc less than last season.
Hamilton was in quarantine the first 2 games in 2020.
I really like the look of our defense so far and it may be fun to compare...but college football in 2020 is a benchmark for nothing.
From Jan 9, 2021 (RT)... Whit Babcock said that "well over half" of the football team, "maybe three-fourths," had contracted COVID-19 since March. He said eight out of 10 full-time coaches contracted the virus, including defensive coordinator Justin Hamilton, who had to miss the first two games.
I like the changes we see so far. We will really know what we have after week five. We hold WVU and ND to less than their average and I will be thrilled.
I would love to see French break down how the back 7 are doing with scheme and responsibility this year vs last year. Seems like night and day difference. Is it talent, scheme, or both?
Ham has the defense back to the glory days. The DL is quick and penetrating, making plays behind the LOS. The biggest two improvements to me are the secondary is communicating pre snap adjustments better, they are aligned correctly and not jawwing at each other after plays because somebody blew an assignment. The corners especially look much more comfortable playing press bail and off man than they did last season. Nasir Peoples has looked really good at safety, making countless open field tackles. The safeties in general are taking better angles to the ball than last season and we're doing a pretty good job limiting big plays in the back end. The LBs also look more comfy in their roles, Dax and Tizzy are playing faster, head isn't tying up the feet so to speak. We look like old school VT. We can win 10 games but they are going to be a lot of 24-17, 27-24, 21-17 type of games where we need a good special teams play or two coupled with solid defense and a ball control offense that can make timely plays in critical situations.
We were subbing a lot yesterday. Not sure if injuries or depth building.
We gotta give credit to our LBs first 2 games. Dax and Tisdale both played solid so far. Artis popped off yesterday.
I think it was more depth building. Kenota Jenkins was out but reportedly could have played if he had to.
I've been wondering what happens to Jenkins. I didn't see him play at all and hadn't seen anybody say he was injured or why he didn't play.
The biggest difference when comparing this season's defense to last season's so far...]
Big Plays:
2020: Defense allowed on average two 30+ yard plays a game and one 40+ yard play a game.
2021: Defense has allowed one 30 yard play through two games and no plays for longer than 40.
J-Ham has done an incredible job of getting his defense organized and preventing the enormous number of complete breakdowns we saw time and again last year.
Most of this has come down to the safety and linebackers being sound and aggressive. Jham didnt shy away from stating they weren't playing with complete packages last year. Very happy with the progress, but I also expected it. There will still be some growing pains this year. I don't think we are back to bud levels but we wont be historically bad like last year.
I had to work and unfortunately missed the game I saw the condensed game on youtube and didnt see him, did Devon Hunter get any significant playing time?
He played in the second half. He had an interception overturned and was called for pass interference in the end zone which led to the 2nd TD. It was an iffy call that went against him.
Agreed, that DPI was pretty ticky tacky. It sounded like Roth and Royal also thought it was soft.
he was holding the receiver pretty blatantly before the pass though
he had an interception in the end zone where he held the receiver, but was flagged for pass interference (wrong call, but correct result). It resulted in MTSU getting a fresh set of downs and a TD. I don't recall seeing much from him otherwise
I am still seeing wayyyyy too much soft zone coverage... Too many times its 3rd and short and our DB's are 15-20 yards off from line of scrimmage and we give up an easy sideline pass for a first down. Drives me nuts... Honestly have no clue what JHamm is thinking sometimes.... Reeks of last play before FG of Liberty game