Analyzing Virginia Tech Football's Package of Plays for Quarterback Brenden Motley

The most intriguing late-season addition to the Virginia Tech offensive playbook has been the package of plays designed for quarterback Brenden Motley. Searching for a way to add some excitement to an increasingly stale rushing attack, Scot Loeffler turned to Motley on the road at Wake Forest. Brenden came into the game and almost immediately sparked a ground attack that was nonexistent up until that point. After the game, Loeffler stated that his biggest regret was not involving Motley more. Hokie fans hoped they'd be seeing more of the "Wild Turkey" featuring the athletic sophomore during the Virginia game and Loeffler didn't disappoint. His game plan featured a much larger array of plays for Motley than against Wake Forest, a game plan that makes one wonder if Motley will have a larger role in the offense moving forward.

Expanding Motley's Role

Against Wake Forest, Motley was featured in a very limited number of plays. He only ran three types of plays all game, and each was out of the same formation. Loeffler was probably limited in what he could throw together for Motley leading up to the Wake Forest game, which I imagine is why he wasn't involved more. Even if Motley had success while he was on the field, it was only a matter of time before the defense adjusted to the simple package.

Brenden's role significantly increased against Virginia. If he hadn't gotten injured early in the game, I believe that we would have seen quite a bit of him in the second half. Wake Forest saw Brenden run the inverted veer, QB power, and a screen/draw package. Against Virginia, Loeffler added the triple option as well as a fly sweep motion to the inverted veer. He also threw in some extra formations as window dressing to try and gain some number/leverage advantages against the defense.

The inverted veer is a play that fans should recognize pretty quickly. Loeffler used it often with Logan Thomas and called it occasionally with Brewer earlier in the season (although Brewer's slighter build makes him a less than ideal candidate to pound the rock up the middle). It's a QB read play, where the end man on the line of scrimmage (usually the defensive end) goes unblocked. The QB meshes with the running back and, depending on if the defensive end can secure the edge, either hands it off or pulls the ball and runs up the middle. As he did against Wake Forest, Loeffler started the game by using Newsome as the running back on the inverted veer. Loeffler also added a fly sweep motion to get the RB attacking the edge of the defense with even more speed. After Newsome got ejected on a terrible targeting call, offensive MVP J.C. Coleman took over those duties. This was the staple of the "Motley Package" and of all the plays it probably enjoyed the most success.

Motley starts out with an empty backfield before motioning Deon Newsome across the formation. This fly sweep motion allows Newsome to take the handoff at full speed, putting even greater stress on the defensive end. If the end doesn't attack the handoff very aggressively and at the correct angle, he'll have no shot at preventing Newsome from getting to the edge. From there, it's easy to see the numbers advantage the Hokies have on the perimeter. Bucky and Cam Phillips execute their blocks and the back side pursuit is either taken out by the o-line's down-blocks or the defenders aren't fast enough to catch Newsome (another advantage of the fly sweep motion). The unaccounted for safety has to arrive in run support and make a tackle in space against one of Tech's better athletes. Perfect play design.

Motley wasn't afraid to keep the ball when the defense allowed him to. Here he pulls the ball from Newsome and takes it up the middle for a good gain. Notice how UVA has two safeties pre-snap instead of the one they had before. The defense doesn't have enough numbers in the box to prevent Motley from getting an easy first down before contact is even made.

When Newsome wasn't available, J.C. Coleman took over as the RB on the inverted veer. Loeffler threw in another wrinkle to keep the defense off balance by motioning him into the backfield and running a zone read away from the side that he'd run the inverted veer to.

This was one of the longest plays of the day and one of my favorite play designs. Motley and Coleman exchange roles, Motley threatens the perimeter of the defense while Coleman attacks the interior. Eli Harold has to stay at home and prevent Motley from getting outside of him, preventing him from chasing J.C. down the line. The offensive line does a tremendous job. David Wang pulls and engages the playside linebacker while Wyatt Teller executes one of the best cut blocks of the season on the back side linebacker. I love Isaiah Ford's effort to get into the box and tie up Quin Blanding, allowing J.C. to get up the field with one of the best bursts he's ever shown.

The Triple Option

Maybe the biggest addition to the playbook for Motley was the triple option. We only saw it a couple of times, but it was pretty successful when employed. I believe Loeffler would've featured it a little more in the second half, maybe working in some passing plays off it, had Motley not been sidelined. We got the first hint of the triple option early when Sam Rogers took a handoff on the first play with Motley in the game.

The defensive end goes unblocked and Motley makes the read, similar to the inverted veer. The defense starts the play off with two deep safeties, leaving them overwhelmed at the point of attack. Both defensive tackles get double teamed and though they don't get blown off the ball, they aren't allowed to get penetration. Rogers gets into the second level of the defense and muscles his way past a safety for a good pickup on second-and-long. J.C. Coleman's motion behind Motley's back hints towards his future intentions of receiving a pitch, which we saw a little later.

The UVA defense is well coached and recognizes the formation pretty quickly despite it being flipped. The play side safety waits until the offense gets settled and quickly moves towards the line of scrimmage to get into a rushing lane. It appears his responsibility is to take away the pitch and force Motley inside (toward the oncoming Blanding), but he takes a poor angle which allows Motley to find Coleman. J.C. does a fantastic job of getting outside and then upfield for the first down. Seeing both safeties react so strongly to the formation is a good thing. It means you're more likely to catch them out of position with a counter as well as with a play-action pass. Again, if Motley's game hadn't been cut short I believe we would have seen such an adjustment by Loeffler. If Motley is featured in the bowl game, this triple option package has a lot of promise (especially if Edmunds is healthy enough to add even more firepower in the backfield).

Designed Motley Keepers

Designed quarterback runs allow the offense to utilize the numbers advantage an athletic signal caller provides without the added risk of relying on an inexperienced player's decision making. Taking the reads required from the inverted veer or the triple option out of the equation makes it easy for Motley to just do what he does best, go ball. Loeffler would occasionally put Motley in the backfield with just Sam Rogers as a running back, which usually led to a designed QB run.

This play was very close to being a big gainer. Wyatt Teller and David Wang both pull to the outside, combining with Sam Rogers to form a very powerful shield. The defensive line slants away from the direction of the run, which leaves just three run defenders on the perimeter.

You can easily see the inherent numbers advantage created by running with a quarterback. The only unaccounted for defender is the back side linebacker, but he's already out of position before the snap. He's farther away from the sideline than Motley is. He'll have to travel a longer distance than the presumably faster Motley just to attempt to make a tackle. Factor in all of the bodies in between him and Motley (three defenders and three blockers) and there's a good chance that the linebacker gets "caught up in the trash" and can't make the play.

What saved UVA on this play was the great job play side linebacker Henry Coley (No. 44) did. Coley attacks the block of Wyatt Teller early enough to disrupt the play. He doesn't wait for Teller to get into his body, instead attacking first and slowing Teller down. This causes Wang to slow down and stutter step just enough to prevent Wang from being in position to take on Quin Blanding, who ultimately makes the tackle. If Wang is allowed a clear path to Blanding and makes his block, this play probably picks up at least a first down.

Loeffler used this formation to run this QB power play a few times, but he didn't stop there. He also used it when running a nice QB draw play that he packaged with a bubble screen.

By now, hopefully most TKP regulars can spot a packaged play a mile away. It's impossible to tell if Motley is making this read pre-snap (based on defensive alignment), post-snap (based on how the defense reacts), or if it's predetermined by Loeffler altogether. All that matters is that the threat of the bubble screen is there, which forces the linebacker lined up to the field to stay wide. That linebacker's delay in attacking the QB draw allows him to get picked up by David Wang and gives Motley the lane to pick up a good six yards.

The Passing Plan

The only disappointing thing about the offense while Motley was in was the lack of anything resembling a passing attack. Brenden dropped back a couple of times with the intentions of throwing, but nothing positive occurred. UVA was able to line up in man coverage and prevent Motley from hurting them through the air, something which will have to change if Motley is going to make a push for the starting spot.

Here we see the same formation that the Hokies used to run quarterback power out of. By now the defense has adjusted by blitzing a linebacker off the edge and bringing the back side linebacker (who was out of position earlier in the game) into the middle of the field, giving him a better angle on the power. This adjustment ensures man coverage on the receivers to Motley's right, as there are only. The offense has to be able to make the defense pay for this adjustment.

The pass protection fails almost immediately, as Wade Hansen gets beat almost at the snap of the ball. This forces Motley to escape backwards and the play breaks down. In the second half, Augie Conte played at right tackle and helped to shore up the pass protection on that side. If Motley was able to play in the second half, the extra protection that Conte could have provided may have been enough to crack UVA's game plan against Motley. After all, we know that Motley can get the ball to his receivers if he has time and they get open.

Loeffler's game plan with Motley in the game was a very good one, one that he deserves credit for. He wanted to use a mixture of quarterback run concepts (inverted veer, zone read, triple option, QB power) out of multiple formations to keep the defense off balance. Once the defense got the chance to see the offense and adjust accordingly, the opportunities for big plays in the passing game would present themselves if the pass protection and the receivers upheld their end of the bargain.

More Motley?

Considering the terrible luck that the Hokies have had with injuries all season long, maybe we shouldn't have been surprised when Motley was too hurt to continue before the start of the second half. The number of plays that were put together for Motley to run against UVA wasn't staggering but they were well conceived and attacked the defense in multiple ways. I believe that if Motley had been available in the second half, the Hokies would have put up even more yardage than they did against a very good UVA defense.

After watching the film, I do think it's clear that Motley wasn't going to supplant Brewer as the main quarterback in the UVA game. To be frank, Motley's playbook is well designed but very shallow. It's the type of change-of-pace package which is effective because it presents problems for the defense to solve that they wouldn't have to if Brewer were in, but it's not a package that is sustainable over the course of four quarters. In order for Motley to be successful as a starting quarterback, he'd need to either prove himself as a dropback passer or Loeffler would have to drastically increase the number of plays in his "Wild Turkey" package. Otherwise, defenses will start to recognize the handful of plays Motley is currently running and will react quick enough to them to shut them down.

After seeing the success that Motley had running the "Wild Turkey", I can't help but ask myself why it took so long to find this spark? I think there are some very fair questions to ask about the state of the quarterback depth chart. First things first... why wasn't Motley the quarterback running the Wild Turkey package since the beginning of the season? Both French and I said heading into the season that Bucky Hodges wasn't the best choice for that role. Personally I thought that Chris Durkin was going to fill that spot but once it became clear Loeffler didn't want to burn that redshirt, why didn't they turn to the other athletic quarterback on the roster? This is the type of questionable personnel decision that has haunted Loeffler's unit since he got to Blacksburg.

I think the question also has to be asked... Why have a third-string quarterback if he's not even going to be at practice? Am I the only one who thinks it's bizarre that Motley spent almost the entire football season spending more time in class than taking reps? I believe in the concept of the "student-athlete" as much as anyone else, but isn't the fact that the football team was able to make it work as soon as Motley was needed just proof that they could have made it work from the get go? What were they going to do if Motley won the job in the summer, not have their starter practice during the school year?

Motley was the third-string quarterback behind two guys who were both undersized and both playing behind an offensive line that struggled to protect them all year long. Is it really unreasonable to think that he MIGHT have to step in at some point? Let's not forget at that Leal was a senior, he wasn't going to compete for a starting spot next summer regardless of how this season went. Motley will. Isn't it in the best interest of the team to have Motley in practice, taking reps in the Wild Turkey package if only to make him more prepared for next season.

However, just like every questionable decision of Loeffler's tenure, this one is defensible and I can see both sides of the argument. Motley was hurt during the summer when Loeffler was installing the Wild Turkey package. Motley did have a class that conflicted with practice, and rather than reschedule it, isn't it better for the team if he focuses on school early in his career so that when he's a junior/senior he can be far ahead on his studies. How often do teams actually use their third string quarterbacks anyway?

The Wild Turkey in 2015

What does Motley's emergence mean for the program moving forward? If Brewer comes back next summer and beats out Motley/Durkin/Ford for the starting position (and I believe he will), I think it's a safe bet that the Wild Turkey will return next year. The offensive line is still in rebuilding mode and the Wild Turkey is a great way to get some "easy" yards on the ground. Once the running backs who are currently hurt come back, the package will get even more explosive. Loeffler can keep adding wrinkles to the playbook the longer the offense runs it, making it even harder for defenses to get themselves lined up correctly.

I'm not sure if Motley will be the guy who runs the Wild Turkey next year or not. Part of me wants to see what Durkin can do, as the reports of his athleticism (as well as his high school film) make me think he could be perfect for it. Plus, it's a great way for a young player to get used to NCAA game speed while also developing his leadership skills. Regardless, the Wild Turkey will be a key part of the Hokie's success moving forward and it'll be a lot of fun to see how it evolves.