Hokies' Defense Ready to Give ECU a "Whooping" After Shutting Down OSU

When defensive line coach Charley Wiles walked off the practice field to meet the media, he predictably didn't want to spend too much time talking about what happened in Columbus last weekend.

"We moved on, it's Tuesday," he said with a smile.

But it's nearly impossible not to talk about how the Hokies managed to pull off one of their biggest wins in program history against the Buckeyes on Saturday, whether the staff wants to bring it up or not.

Fans and coaches alike will be puzzling over exactly how Bud Foster managed to so thoroughly disrupt Urban Meyer's prolific spread attack for a long time to come, particularly with regards to how the Hokies generated so much pressure on quarterback J.T. Barrett.

The Hokies lived in OSU's backfield in the second half, tallying seven sacks in all, but Wiles says that success didn't always come from the defense bringing extra pressure.

"It appeared that we were blitzing a lot, but we really didn't blitz a lot, it was a lot of just man concepts, guys coming down on their man," Wiles said. "Corey Marshall and Dadi Nicolas really caused a lot of problems in there for them, getting off the ball, being so fast inside that they were knocking off pullers and disrupting everything inside."

Nicolas was particularly effective against the Buckeyes' overmatched offensive line, finishing with two sacks and five quarterback hits on the day.

"He was probably more effective on the inside than he was on the edge, just how quick he got off the ball and how physical he was," Wiles said. "He's special."

Nicolas earned the ACC's Defensive Linemen of the Week Award for his performance, and he attributes his maturation as a player to his increased confidence.

"The more you do it, you get used to it, more comfortable," Nicolas said. I'm more confident and the reason why is I'm playing more, I've got a better understanding of the game."

He agrees with Wiles that, while the defense might've looked a bit different at times, it wasn't anything too exotic that won the Hokies the game.

"What we were doing is a part of our defense, we just so happened to do it more," Nicolas said. "Just Coach Foster being Coach Foster. He's a defensive guru. He knows what he's doing, he does his thing and its fun for us to go out there and execute."

One of the biggest changes Foster made to the defense involved changing the alignment of his defensive line and adding a linebacker to the line of scrimmage, as French so intricately detailed here.

That called for defensive tackle Luther Maddy to play as a "zero technique" tackle, aligned over the center, a role he wasn't accustomed to before Saturday.

"I remember, not even in high school, I didn't play zero technique, so I had to adjust my technique," Maddy said. "It was quite different, but I think I did a pretty good job of adjusting to it. It's not what I'm used to, but I think I played well. I could've played a little bit better, could've held my ground a little more."

Maddy only finished with one tackle on the day, but his solid play in the middle against Buckeye center Jacoby Boren was a big reason why the Hokies held Ohio State to just 108 yards on the ground.

For some perspective, they averaged 308 rushing yards per game last year.

"You have to get off (the ball) quickly and get upfield and penetrate, be able to cause problems in the backfield," Maddy said. "I'm used to doing that anyways, it's just a little different from the zero."

Because Foster so thoroughly oriented his defense toward stopping the run, that put a huge burden on Tech's secondary to play most of the game in man coverage without any help.

It was a huge risk, but it's one the staff says they were more than willing to take.

"Those guys knew that going into that arena, we were going to put them (out there) and kind of be sacrificial lambs," said defensive backs coach Torrian Gray. "They were either going to play well enough to give our team a chance to win or we were going to flat out lose it and if you don't have talented enough guys we're not going to game plan with that mindset going in."

If cornerback Brandon Facyson had been fully healthy for the game, this strategy wouldn't have required such a leap of faith.

Instead, this gamble meant depending on sophomore Chuck Clark, who was rotating in with Facyson as he continues to shake off the rust after missing most of spring practice and fall camp.

Clark committed a costly pass interference penalty in the first quarter, and got burned for passes of 40 and 58 yards in the second quarter. But after those early struggles, he rebounded to lead the team in tackles on the day.

"He could've flinched, he could've backed down, he could've played scared, but he didn't do that," Gray said. "He had that pass interference and then he had two deep balls caught on him, but really, after that, he played an unbelievable game, and I'm proud of him, how he hung in there."

For Clark, it was just a matter of focusing only on the play at hand instead of dwelling on those early mistakes.

"I was put in that position in the moment on the field, and I was there to make the play so I had to," Clark said.

But Clark wasn't the only backup DB that needed to step up in a big moment.

Kendall Fuller played a brilliant game, finishing with two pass breakups and five tackles, but he felt cramps coming on in both legs that put him on the sidelines late in the game.

"I (felt it) the series before, then I tried go out there and stretch it out to get back out there, but I didn't want to go out and have it cramp back up during a play," Fuller said.

That meant Gray had to turn Donovan Riley, who was a big performer in spring ball, but was largely relegated to special teams a season ago.

Riley responded with a game-sealing interception returned for a touchdown, rewarding Gray's confidence in him.

"I wouldn't have put him in the game if I didn't trust that he'd play well," Gray said. "I'm sure coaches look at it like, 'oh, a new guy in the game,' but I put him in there for a reason."

Now the staff has to hope Clark and Riley can keep up the solid play against a pass-happy East Carolina team this week.

"(Wide receiver Justin) Hardy, number 7 (WR Isaiah Jones), number 9 (WR Cam Worthy), they've got some great weapons," Gray said. "The quarterback throws a high percentage, he throws great balls. Hardy is a great player, he could play up across from anybody in in the country, he'll present challenges for us."

While the Pirates also run a spread like the Buckeyes, quarterback Shane Carden presents a very different challenge for the secondary.

"It's different from the standpoint that Ohio State designs their offense to spread you out and run the quarterback and still do everything ECU can do," Gray said. "With ECU's quarterback, he throws a (70)% completion percentage, so it's still spreading you out but they're precise from what they do from a passing standpoint."
Riley and Clark only played on special teams during the Hokies' matchup with ECU last year, but Clark thinks the extra experience against the Pirates will still help him this time around.

"I kind of remember the game plan, and now I get to implement it actually being out there on the field," Clark said. "Last year, I was kind of just getting mental reps of it while I was on the sideline watching, so now I'm ready to put it into play."

But stopping the Pirates' 16th ranked passing attack won't be Tech's only focus on Saturday. Wiles says ECU's running game is also a key element of their offense.

"They do want to establish the run. It's subtle, but they want to run the ball," Wiles said. "They've got to mix in that stuff and some of their passing game is like runs to them. They throw it out into the flat, to the back, swing the ball out there and it's like a sweep to them, just getting it in good athletes' hands in space."

Yet the Hokies won't necessarily be turning back to the same techniques that made the defense so successful against the Buckeyes' run game.

"We're playing a little bit of the same defense this week. A little, not much," Maddy said. "For the most part I'll be back at my regular position this week."

Wiles thinks the front four will have a stiff test ahead of them given the quality of ECU's offensive line.

"They're better up front this year than I think they were a year ago," Wiles said. "They've got two transfer kids that have made them better. They've got a guard transfer and a tackle transfer that are pretty athletic, their center's back."

Adjusting to ECU's complex offense while also fighting off the temptation to feel less enthused for this matchup after the high of the Ohio State win would be a challenge for any team, but Nicolas seems confident the Hokies will be ready for the Pirates.

"My mentality during the season is everybody gets the same treatment. So that means we want to give everybody a whooping that's in our way," Nicolas said.