Virginia Tech Football's Free Hitters Cleaned Up Against the Cavaliers

An eight-man defensive front is designed to overwhelm an offensive line with more defenders than blockers, and have the unblocked man make the tackle. A major flaw of the approach is if the ball carrier isn't brought down close to the line of scrimmage, then there's plenty of space at the next level to run. It is critical for the blocked defenders to minimize the amount of area for the free hitter to cover, and the free hitter (usually the alley safety or the mike linebacker) must make the tackle. Against Pitt and Boston College, Bud Fosters defense forced 9.0 tackles for a loss each game, but it also gave up numerous big plays. In many instances, the free hitter was in the proper gap. However, he ultimately missed the tackle, which resulted in a big play, because either the space was too big for the defender to occupy or he took a poor angle.

Against Duke, Foster's defensive line played more of an attacking-north/south style rather than slanting towards zone. In doing so, the amount of space that the free hitter needed to cover was reduced. Responsible for less space, Kyshoen Jarrett experienced a renaissance over the Tech's last three games. Time and time again, Jarrett found himself in a hole alone with a running back, and lots of open space behind him. Against Pitt, Jarrett got trucked, but with less space to defend thanks to improved defensive line gap control over the last three games, Jarrett's confidence and tackling returned to his 2013 form.

Here's a textbook example of how Foster's team defensive concept sets up Jarrett to make an unblocked tackle in the hole. Virginia runs a simple inside zone, with the H-Back trapping across the formation on defensive end Ken Ekanem.

There are a couple of key points to note. Instead of trying to shoot the gap, Corey Marshall takes on the double team. He doesn't get blown off the ball and minimizes the amount of space between him and Ekanem. Ekanem then has to take on the wham/trap block of the tight end. Young aspiring defensive ends should take note. Ekanem squeezes the bubble that forms to his inside, and takes on the trap block with his inside shoulder while keeping his outside arm free to contain the quarterback on a keep. By squeezing the hole, Ekanem limits the room between himself and Marshall. The running back has less room to make the alley player filling miss him. Jarrett, much like he did against Ohio State, tracks the tailback perfectly and meets him squarely in the alley. Jarrett executes a fundamental tackle. He is lower than Kevin Parks, has his head up and wraps his arms perfectly.

Detrick Bonner's inability to effectively fill in the alley since being moved to free safety has often been criticized. Bonner's communication has been critical to keeping a young secondary organized and he is a good cover man for a free safety, but at times his flailing efforts at trying to strip the football instead of form tackle have been maddening. Against Virginia, Bonner had some similar moments, but he was better at his alley play (even as it wasn't as textbook pretty as Jarrett's run support).

Derek Di Nardo gets caved in a little by the UVA tight end, leaving Bonner alone with Parks in the hole. If Parks can beat Bonner, Jarrett has to run all the way from the other side of the field as the last line of defense between Parks and the end zone. Bonner has to make the play here, and he does. I am not a huge fan of Bonners technique on this play (he doesnt tackle squarely and instead wraps from the side and sling the ball carrier down), but Bonner puts him on the ground.

Jarrett was fantastic all night against the Cavaliers, but it was another senior that found himself most often in those unblocked one-on-one situations with the UVA running backs. After inconsistent play in spring scrimmages, I thought Chase Williams struggles taking on blocks would result in Andrew Motuapuaka eventually winning the mike linebacker job away from Williams by the end of the season. Instead, Williams managed to find ways to keep clear of blockers and his sure tackling was a key to the Hokies early success defending the run. Upon his return, Williams made several subtle, but perhaps critical tackles alone in space that kept the Hokies in the game.

Late in the game, the Cavaliers run a power sweep with Smoke Mizzell. The UVA left tackle blocks down on Ekanem. The H-Back seals Jarrett inside, and the tight end turns Deon Clarke to the outside. The right guard pulls around and leads up on Kendall Fuller.

Williams is all alone and has a bad angle on the former blue-chip recruit, but Williams keeps his feet instead of diving at Mizzell (as players often do when they take a poor angle) and wrestles him to the ground. Thoughtout the game Williams made similar plays all over the field. On a night where the defense did a ton of tremendous things, I am not sure any one player was a consistently good as Chase Williams. I am man enough to say I was wrong. Chase Williams is a damn good football player.

Recognizing Subtle Momentum Plays

One of the great benefits of rewatching the film is the hindsight of how seemingly innocuous plays ultimately impact the football game. The Hokie defense had two such plays that helped keep things close during the UVA surge in the second quarter, and I have not seen them get the attention they deserve.

Following Michael Brewers fumble in the second quarter, the Hokies defense found itself in the position of defending the short field. After two plays put UVA in a third-and-9, Steve Fairchild called a screen to Kevin Parks, who had blockers out in front.

Enter Nigel Williams.

Nigel, Chase Williams, and Deon Clark have screen/draw responsibility. The wide receiver cracks back on Clarke, sealing him inside and inadvertently trapping Chase Williams as well. Kendall Fuller is left alone with offensive linemen out in front to prevent Parks from reaching the sticks. Big Nigel identifies the screen and gets on his donkey to race to the sideline. Nigel catches Parks from behind and drags him down short of the first down. Former Virginia High Bearcat Ian Frye then misses a long field goal attempt, and the Hokies escape unscathed from the fumble. Williams early recognition, speed and most importantly effort keeps the game tied 3-3.

On the drive following the C.J. Reavis punt block, UVA was in business following a long catch and run by Mizzell. A great effort by Bonner chased him down, and the Hokies were able to force UVA into a third-and-short. Fairchild turned to an inside zone read, and a highly touted true freshman was their to meet Parks.

Foster sends both inside linebackers through the interior gaps on a designed run blitz. Deon Clarke blows up the right guard. True freshman Ricky Walker blows up the right tackle and caves in the interior of the line, leaving Parks nowhere to cutback. Walker then manages to hit Parks low (elite play by Walker) and Dadi Nicolas comes in off the edge to clean things up. All season I have touted how good Walker can be once he gains experience. Foster utilized Walker often in short yardage situations as the season progressed, and every time he saw the field, it was clear that he was stout in his gap fits and had the wiggle to get off blocks. He needs some major improvement as a pass rusher (he generated very little pressure when he joined Woody Baron on the field during times when Marshall and Williams needed a rest), but he has the ability to improve. The future is bright for him at defensive tackle.

After a long stretch of battling teams that predicated their offense on running the football, the Hokies meet up with a pass happy offense in the Military Bowl. An early glimpse of the Cincinnati offense and former top recruit Gunner Kiel showed me many of the same play packages that the Hokies saw against East Carolina (and Marshall last season). The Bearcats put tremendous pressure on safeties and nickel corners to cover in man, and they do like to hit their slot receivers on the same outside-release fade patterns. Kiel has a better arm than the Pirates Shane Carden and looks very comfortable in this offense. After weeks of focus on the defensive front, the pressure shifts back to the Hokie secondary to take away the Bearcats passing game on December 27th.