Scot Loeffler yelled until he was blue in the face, but at the end of the day he saw reasonably encouraging things from his backup quarterbacks.
The Virginia Tech football team's offensive coordinator strung together 55 plays in Saturday's scrimmage without 2014's starting quarterback, Michael Brewer, who is still sidelined with a lower back injury.
"(Brewer) has just had some back spasms here lately," said associate athletic director for sports medicine Mike Goforth. "I don't think it's anything related to what he had when he was at Texas Tech. We're doing some core stabilization things. It's not really a concern of ours."
Brewer missed out on opportunities to seize the Red Raiders' starting job because of lower back issues, prompting his relocation to Blacksburg.
"It's a deal where rest is what's needed so we've rested him," Loeffler said. "He hasn't thrown since Wednesday so hopefully Tuesday he comes back. He feels fine but I know if you tweak that again it's bad. These next few weeks are crucial. We need to get him back and get him reps."
Brewer's absence facilitated plenty of reps for the Hokies' other four quarterbacks.
Brenden Motley led the way with three completions for 56 yards on four attempts in Saturday's scrimmage.
"I thought (Motley) made a lot of good throws over the course of the day," said head coach Frank Beamer. "He had a couple that didn't look good but you have to see if the receiver is where he should've been. A couple of deep routes could've led receivers more toward the sideline. Overall he was okay."
Loeffler shared the head coach's assessment, acknowledging that it was a small serving size.
"We didn't throw it a lot today," Loeffler said. "But (Motley) appeared to play well but we'll watch the tape. From the sideline it appeared he did some good things. I know he missed Bucky (Hodges) on a third down."
Loeffler's expectations for the redshirt junior are high.
"I want to see him compete for the job," he said. "If I'm his shoes, every day I'm trying to be the starting quarterback at Virginia Tech."
Like Brewer, Motley has been slowed in the past by injuries. Coaches are hoping that he can stay healthy.
"He ran into a tough situation last year," Loeffler said. "He can't seem to stay healthy. He didn't have a chance to compete. Hopefully he stays healthy and continues to grow."
Motley notes that injuries are frustrating but he's kept his faith.
"(This spring) is an opportunity," Motley said. "I just need to come out and make plays when they present themselves and lead the team, be smart and be a leader."
A day filled with offensive struggles, Motley's highlight of the day was a 37-yard completion to a streaking Bucky Hodges.
"I played alright," Motley said. "There's some things we need to fix. We need to speed the pace up."
Motley noted that the offense is doing a little bit of everything now. Its main focus is knowing the whole playbook and executing.
Personally, Motley is concerned on bettering himself from a mental standpoint.
"Coach Loeffler told me I need to work on leadership, urgency and acting like I'm the man," Motley said. "It's not tough; you just have to have the mentality. If you believe you can do it it's easier.
"At times I can be vocal but it's really about being a leader and knowing what you're doing."
A run-first or Wild Turkey quarterback for much of his collegiate career, Motley is working on making his game better-rounded.
"I need to work on looking pass first," Motley said. "That's something I wanted to work on — staying in the pocket and making throws with pressure in my face instead of tucking and running."
Andrew Ford and Chris Durkin each completed a pass in Saturday's scrimmage. Jack Click went 0-of-2.
Ford reflected on how he's improved from his first spring to his second.
"Being in my second spring, I feel a lot more comfortable with the speed of the game and I think I have the offense down," Ford said. "I think I'm in a position where I can lead. Last year, coming in as a high school guy, you lead because you're the quarterback but you have guys there that are five years older than you.
Being here for a full year now and knowing how to handle things, I feel like I can take my leadership to the next level."
The redshirt freshman received a boisterous earful from Loeffler after just about every play, but he insists it's a proper approach to better the offense in the long run.
"He's going to put a lot of pressure on this spring so when things aren't the perfect situation this fall we'll still be okay," Ford said. "He wants to make practice as hard, if not harder, so the game is easy."
Loeffler puts the highest burden on his quarterbacks because he expects the most from them.
"What we're doing with our best football players is we're applying pressure," Loeffler said. "We want our best football players to respond to pressure."
Comments
Really encouraged by Motley. I saw that deep pass that he made and it looked good. I think that if he can stay healthy, there's no reason he can't overtake Brewer for #1. It's going to be an exciting next few weeks! Is number 16 Jack Click by the way?
Yeah he did look a lot more confident. I really can't wait for the spring game.
Yeah 16 is Jack click
Awesome write up as usual. Didn't get to catch any of the action today, but can't wait to be up in Blacksburg in three weeks for the spring game!
Nothing against Brewer but I hope Motley wins the job. Dude just brings so much more athleticism to the table.
You know, I understand your feeling, but I kinda hope Brewer comes through. I believe his experience last year has set him up for a good command of the offense, he's tough, if not spectacular, and if our line coalesces as is hoped, he should be protected enough to do a good job for us. If not, there's always tight end...
+1. I think we're in a really good spot if Brewer comes out and seals up his starting job. If he gets beaten out, I'll just have to hope whoever beats him is just flat out too good to bench, not because he failed.
Seconded. I want the best player to win the job. That is the spirit of competition. Every player has elements to their game that can be improved upon. Is Brewer a flawed player? Absolutely. Were there times where he should have taken a seat? Probably. All that being said, the kid was brutalized last season, and in the process delivered a top 20 road win, beat the National Champs on their field, beat UVA with half a shoulder, and won a bowl game. Treat the kid with respect. He has paid for it.
But.....but..... Wake Forest.....
Loeffler 's gonna Loef, Loef, Loef, Loef, Loef.
That game had issues much broader than a quarterback that was resembling Wile E. Coyote at the end of the cartoon.
Whatever happens, I know I echo the sentiments of everyone here when I say I truly hope this season is when the offense under Loeffler really starts to turn a corner. No, I don't expect a top-25 offense (but that'd be great), but if VT has anywhere near a top-50 offense, we can really do some damage on this schedule.
Motley - Clearly far ahead of everyone who was active today. Certainly looked like he could handle the starting job if he beats out Brewer.
Ford - Disappointing but he looked like he had a handle on the offense and could go out there without falling apart if need be. I'm still hopeful that he can develop.
Durkin - Very disappointing performance today. Cannon arm with no accuracy. he seemed to struggle commanding the offense and had major communication issues with the center.
Click - He's not going to be a surprise walk on. Well behind the rest of the QB's
As for Durkin, I've said it before and I'll say it again, he throws the prettiest ball on the team.... It just does t always go where he want sit to. We knew he'd be raw as a passer coming in, and he's definitely improved mechanically. Obviously, there's a long way to go, but he'll get there. And this is only his second time running the offense (was on the scout team all fall), so it isn't surprising he's still learning said offense. You're right about Motley though. Saturday was the first time since last spring that I thought he looked like a guy who could be VT's starting quarterback. He's got his own things to improve on, but this spring so far has been pretty good for him.
Lawson? Lawson? Lawson? Bueller? He arrives in the summer but if Brewer is shelved all bets are off and open competition in the fall
There is no way in hell that Lawson comes in as a non early enrollee and gets the starting job over four other seasoned QB's. IF he does he will have to play like the second coming of MV.
I think even MV7 wouldn't have played right away in this offense. Loeffler wants a pro style passing attack, and he wants his QBs to be sharp on reading defenses, going through progressions, and able to throw first. MV7 was extremely raw as a passer early on. He had a cannon arm and fast release, but the fact that he was the absolute best athlete on the field made him so dangerous. In this new offense, you are going to have to prove that you can be a sound passer before Lefty trusts you to take the field. That's why I definitely see Lawson redshirting. No doubt he is probably coming in very prepared in the passing game, but he's so far behind the guys here now that it would be a very tall task to unseat them. But I have no doubt he will be an incredible QB for us.
That's the safe bet. And it is *never* a good idea to start a freshman at QB.
But none of those "seasoned" QB's are lighting the world on fire.
Brewer = out with a back injury. Sounds like if were during the season he'd play, but still. Lingering injury concerns. Plus he struggles with accuracy on the deep passes. Best hope is that injuries robbed him of arm strength last season and he will be ready and rested for OSU.
Motley = untested, raw passer, but also a running threat. However he has also had injuries delay his development during his career.
Ford = precise but no arm strength = tough time completing passes against decent college defenses. Brewer2014 type seasons (good at short passes, crapshoot deep) at best.
Durkin = cannon but inaccurate, also a running threat
Lawson may be better than all of the current options. If he is, he will have to come into camp this summer and be head and shoulders better than any of the other guys. If he were an early enrollee this spring, I would probably say he has an excellent chance of usurping the others, but to learn the offense and be prepared to start against the defending national champs in about a month...that's asking a lot of a true freshman.
We will see, but I would put my money on Brewer or Motley starting. Motley is really starting to shine, and I think he has the best chance right now of unseating Brewer. His arm strength and athleticism really add elements to the offense that Brewer doesn't provide. The question is: can he be consistent as a passer?
After the first game, however, if Brewer continues to deal with injuries or struggle and Motley fails to establish himself, I could see Lawson getting playing time as the year goes on. I'm just not sold on Ford as being the guy going forward, and Durkin probably has a ways to go to in the passing game.
Even Vick redshirted.
But not because he wasn't ready; it was due to a promise Beamer gave to his HS QB. I believe all indications were that Vick was ready for the reigns even in '98.
If I recall correctly, Frank has said as much about MV being ready. I would be very surprised if Frank would tie his hands again with someone so talented that they're almost a lock to go pro early.
But that's Frank, and a promise is a promise. Personally, I won't fault him one iota in retrospect.
yeah post Vick, and post David Wilson too - Frank's made it public that if they are ready to play, then they're going to be on the field (depth be damned, essentially). Which is why you see a lot of good players play early last year and most likely will be the case until Frank retires.
I thought Vick was having problems at the QB position in his redshirt year, was very frustrated. Had a time with the plays and stuff like that, even wanted to switch to receiver. Im sure it was evident what an athlete he was, and he may have played as a true freshman, but I dont think he would have been the day 1 starter.
Perhaps Vick could have been a difference maker in 98, but I think we forget how good a healthy Al Clark was. He was neck and neck with Druckenmiller for the starting job in the 95 season and was expected to do big things when he inherited the job. Unfortunately, he was never healthy, rarely had WR's to throw to that were worth a spit, and don't even get me started on Lamont Pegues as a starting tailback. WOOF.
Vick was the right QB at the right time for that 1999 team.
I hope Brewer can pull himself together enough to be healthy through spring and Fall. He is the only one imo that can beat OSU again because of his tenacity. If Motley wins the job, I hope it is because he earned it and not by default.
I cant believe Motley is r-junior already. I hope his whole career is not wasted as being a back up QB. I think he could have been a hell of a DB for us. It wouldnt bother me if he and Brewer both get some playing time and play well. I want to see them both succeed. I see this being Motley's job next year, and Lawson after that. I know it is a ways down the road, but Ford and Durkin need to start making big progress if they want to play. There are very talented QB's they will be competing against and it wont be handed to them. Seems like they are a long ways off right now.
Having played against Motley in high school, I 100% agree he would have been phenomenal on defense. He was an unbelievable free safety who could have played free, whip, rover, or even backer for Bud and he would probably be a starter right now. I always thought he was a good qb but that he was far and away better on defense. A true game changer on that side of the ball.
I agree, and I think his arm, size and speed is what the coaches saw in him as a QB. Plus the cupboard was pretty bare at QB when he arrived. I hope he doesnt suffer because of that, but it seems like he is getting his fair shake at the quarterback spot. But it seemed like he was such a project that it has taken him 3 years to get to this point. On defense, he may have been ready to play as a redshirt freshman. Of course that is just speculation, and the safety spots were filled for a few years now, but he found the ball and was a sure tackler with size and dangerous after an INT.
I saw him play the state champ game against Briar Woods, and he had 16 tackles and an INT with a pretty return that he almost brought all the way back to probably win the game. He made Alex Carter miss a tackle on that return. Carter was the #1 or 2 player in the state and went to Stanford as a DB. The Briar Woods team was loaded with D-1 players, including the QB that Motley picked off (Vanderbilt). Motley was the best player on the field that day and did have a good game at QB as well. He had the best arm I had ever seen from a HS player, and Ive seen a lot of HS FB over the years. (admittedly not many good QBs) It was one pass that was incomplete but just the ease he threw and the distance it traveled, I knew he would get a shot at quarterback. He also had a long TD run called back for a penalty.
Trace Mcsorley was that QB, but he left for PSU along with the coach. He was a pretty good HS QB as well, I believe he won the state title starting as a freshman. Being from the Ashburn area, I really hope that we get more of the local prospects.
Ya I was on that Briar Woods team and he was a hell of a player. I don't think he was better than Alex Carter or as good of a QB as McSorley but there was no doubt in my mind he was going to be a good player at the next level. Would really like to see him contribute this year and I think he will.
Motley will have to see the field some this year to help keep brewer healthy.
I moved Durkin to fullback on NCAA 14 and he has killed some people. Not quite Sam Rogers-esque, but still.