How Virginia Tech's Offense Used Risk Management to Operate in the 'Shoe

If anyone is still doubting Scot Loeffler's ability to coach football, I'm not sure what else he has to do to change their minds. He is building something special here in Blacksburg and is in the process of establishing an offensive identity. He knows what the offense's role in the BeamerBall formula is, and is capable of building a gameplan around his available talent. As the talent level rises, expect to see the offensive production rise along with it.

The best thing about a BeamerBall game plan that goes well is the way that the offensive and defensive game plans work in tandem. Bud Foster's defense vs. a freshman quarterback was the biggest mismatch for the Hokies heading into the game, and both Foster and Loeffler did their best to exploit that opportunity. Foster was able to stop the run and force J.T. Barrett into passing situations against the best secondary in the country. Meanwhile, Loeffler did his part to try and give the defense the best field position to work with. Loeffler focused on limiting negative plays and picking up first downs, trying to force OSU to drive the length of the field and trusting his defense to get stops.

The biggest obstacle to Loeffler's ball-control/field position strategy was the quality of Ohio State's defensive line. The Buckeye's front-four was good enough to prevent the Hokies from establishing a consistent run game and could also create negative plays by pressuring Brewer in the pocket. If Loeffler was going to uphold his end of the BeamerBall bargain, he needed to find a way to minimize the damage that OSU's defensive front could do.

Spread Formations And Pro Personnel

Loeffler used spread formations throughout the game as a way to avoid the strength of the OSU defense. Having his receivers stretched all along the line of scrimmage allowed him to lean on the short pass game. The use of quick, short passes was supposed to keep the Hokies on schedule and get the ball out of Brewer's hands quickly. The quicker Brewer was able to get the ball to his receivers, the less likely a negative play (like a sack) was to occur. More importantly, shorter high percentage throws would keep Virginia Tech from being caught in those long 3rd down situations that long incompletions and stuffed runs create. Attempting to stay out of scenarios where the OSU defensive line could really pin their ears back was one way Loeffler tried to protect his quarterback and Tech's field position.

When in the spread, it was common to see at least one tight end (often two) as well as a running back and/or fullback. If you've made a habit of reading my film reviews, you should know by now that this has been Loeffler's calling card since he arrived at Tech. While going spread isn't unusual nowadays, few offensive coordinators do it with the amount of "non-spread" personnel that Scot Loeffler does. Being able to go spread or line up in a power formation regardless of the players he has on the field makes it very difficult for the defense to get the right players on the field. Now that defenses rely on their nickelback's more than ever to stop spread teams, being able to force their linebackers and safeties into underneath coverage is an advantage in the short passing game that's hard to overstate. I've longed believed that this was Loeffler's goal for his offense, and am excited that the talent in the program is starting to match the cleverness of his schemes.

Avoiding The Interior

With eligible receivers spread all over the line of scrimmage, Loeffler relied on some of his tried and true passing concepts to get guys open. Brewer did a pretty good job at finding those players and getting them the ball, although he wasn't perfect and there was plenty of room for improvement.

This is one of my favorite plays that Loeffler has used early in the 2014 season. It's technically a short pass because the ball travels past the line of scrimmage but it's essentially a screen. With the three receivers (Stanford, Hodges, Byrn) aligned to the top of the formation, the routes are most likely determined by the alignment of the defense. In this scenario the defense doesn't have outside leverage on Byrn, so he runs a little speed out and the other two receivers block for him. Stanford and Hodges don't even look for the ball, they know from the snap that it's going to Byrn. From here, it's up to Byrn to use his quickness in space to make something happen. His decisiveness and elusiveness almost get him a touchdown.

This is probably going to be a play we get very familiar with this season. Loeffler showed it a handful of times against William and Mary as well. Note that in all three of these scenarios, the receiver has a much shorter path to the ball than the defender because the defender has no leverage towards the sideline. Against these alignments, the offense should get fairly easy yardage as long as they execute the relatively easy throw, catch, and blocks.

What makes this even harder to defend is the fact that Loeffler can use his receivers interchangeably. It's doesn't matter which receiver is lined up where. If those defenders don't have the leverage, then that inside slot receiver is getting the ball. A lot of times, offenses with hybrid tight ends like Malleck or Hodges can tip their hand on the play based on where the athlete lines up. That's not the case with Loeffler. Who knows, he may line up J.C. Coleman or Joel Caleb in that inside slot position and let one of his running backs catch that ball in space.

This play isn't automatic though, the receivers do have to be on the same page as the quarterback. Here, there was some miscommunication between the two and the results were pretty comical.

Moving The Pocket

Loeffler didn't rely solely on the 3-step passing game to protect his quarterback from the OSU pressure though. He choose to move the pocket a couple of times in obvious passing situations, opening up new passing angles for his shorter quarterback.

The pocket actually moves directly into a blitz, but the running back does a great job at slowing down the edge rusher and Brewer is able to get outside of the pocket. From here he can extend the play and find Byrn on a comeback route. Brewer makes a good enough throw for Byrn to make a diving grab for the first down. If Brewer was stuck in the pocket for this blitz, there's a good possibility that he'd either have to rush his throw and risk an interception or take a sack. By moving the pocket, Loeffler buys time for his QB and gets his savvy receiver room to operate.

The main benefit of moving the pocket against a great pass rushing team might be how it allows the quarterback to quick throw the ball away without risk of intentional grounding.

This is basically the same play as before, but with a different outcome. Here, OSU doesn't blitz and it's nickel corner does a great job at recognizing the play and flying towards the sideline to take away the throw to Byrn. This play doesn't result in a first down, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a successful one. A first down conversion on 3rd-and-9 is pretty rare anyways. Here, Loeffler just wants to make sure that Brewer doesn't turn the ball over or take a sack. He moves Brewer out of the pocket and hopes that he catches the defense out of position for an easy first down throw. When Byrn is covered Brewer can throw it away without penalty. Tech kicks the ball away and hopes to give J.T. Barrett as long a field as they can, waiting for Foster to create a chance for the offense.

Picking Spots For Shots

Tech did take a couple of shots down the field, converting a good number of them on third downs. I was pleasantly surprised with how well the Hokie offensive line held up in pass protection, and I think Loeffler and Searels were too. I wonder if they wouldn't have game planned a little more aggressively if they knew now what they thought they knew before the game.

This play starts off with a fake screen at the bottom of the play. Bucky Hodges pretends like he's going to block the corner and then goes down the sideline on a wheel route. Once Brewer recognizes that the safety has stayed at home he goes on to his second read, Joshua Stanford who has single coverage on the back side. It's press quarters coverage though, which means Stanford doesn't have the room to break off his route in front of his corner. Brewer quickly moves onto his third read, Malleck, who has what is essentially single coverage against a safety. There is a linebacker underneath, but the backer is rotating over in coverage and Malleck's route is taking him the opposite direction. Brewer just has to buy a second (which he does by stepping up in the pocket), and waits for Malleck to out position the safety. From here, Malleck has to just hold his position and hold onto the ball after a solid hit.

This is the type of well designed "someone should always be open" passing play that Loeffler brought with him to Blacksburg. I believe we'll see more of these longer developing passing plays as the season progresses and the playmakers start to establish themselves more. The more time this offensive line spends together and the more reps that Brewer gets with his young receiving corp, the more success they'll have in the passing game.

The Big Picture

Loeffler didn't completely abandon the inside running game, though when he did run the ball it was in the context of the overall game strategy. He wanted to use the run game to keep the defense from getting too comfortable rushing the passer and keying on the tight ends in coverage while also controlling the clock and getting into manageable 3rd downs. The fact that most of those runs came from pistol and shotgun formations does speak to how Loeffler relied on the pass to set up the run, rather than vice versa.

The use of receivers (particularly Deon Newsome) on speed sweeps isn't anything new for Loeffler, but it was nice to see how effective it could be at times. The execution on Deon's run during the go-ahead touchdown drive was a thing of beauty, with a string of successful blocks springing him for big yardage. I expect this package will be a staple for the entire season, as it's a low-risk high-reward opportunity for some young playmakers to get some confidence with the ball in their hands.

The thing that I like most about Scot Loeffler is he just gets it. He gets what this team strengths and what it's weaknesses are. He knows that some weeks, field position is more important than offensive production. He didn't let his ego get the best of him and try to pound the ball against one of the strongest defensive lines in the country. He didn't try and look like a hero by calling the perfect long pass play when the defense wasn't looking for it. Scot Loeffler just hit the ball on the fairway, got on the green in regulation, and two putted for par. Honestly, with a defense this good, that's all you need to do most of the time. Trying to be the longest driver on the course is fun but it can cost you on the score sheet if you're not careful.

Scot Loeffler has the playbook for a top tier offense, but we're probably at least a season away from being one. There's no shame in that and that doesn't mean the Hokies can't win a lot of their games this year. Hell, that doesn't even mean they can't win all of them. As long as the Brew Crew keeps getting better every week and keeps making plays in big situations (17 of 32 in 3rd down situations, good for 18th in the country) then this team is capable of accomplishing anything.