It's a challenge to preview an FCS team. There isn't a lot of film available, and even when there is, it's either a game against another equally talented, therefor lesser when compared to FBS, FCS team, or a FBS-FCS blowout. A couple of FCS players might pop off the film, but more often than not the talent level doesn't move the needle. FBS teams pay FCS opponents for a winnable game in which they can get better.
Every once in awhile, that plan is derailed. That happened to Virginia Tech in 2010 against JMU, but I'm not going to let history dictate how I write this preview. It would take more time than I have and film available for me to develop a scenario for how the Paladins could upset the Hokies in Lane. Moreover, such a loss for Tech would have just enough, if not more, to do with that the Hokies did wrong than Furman did right. Therefore, these are four sticking points in the aftermath of Tech's loss to Ohio State that I'm watching closely from improvement or better understanding.
Riffing on Tech's Quarterback Situation in the Absence of Michael Brewer
There isn't a clear cut best option for Virginia Tech at quarterback. The two most popular opinions are: 1) Give Brenden Motley his shot; or 2) Forgo a possible redshirt season and get the Dwayne Lawson era in Blacksburg started ahead of schedule. It's the battle of experience versus upside.
There's no doubt Motley brings something to table with his legs. He piloted the Wild Turkey and jumpstarted the Hokies' offense against the Buckeyes on Monday. His feet also helped Tech move the ball against Duke and Virginia last season. Although, as a passer, in limited opportunities, he hasn't been productive (career 5/12, 41.7%, 53 yards 1 TD 1 INT). He has a bigger arm than Michael Brewer, but seems to lack comfort and composure.
On the other hand, Lawson's potential has the highest ceiling among the QBs on Tech's roster. He stands out from the crowd, but he's had limited time to master Scot Loeffler's pro-style scheme.
Wide receivers coach Zohn Burden summed it up best on Wednesday.
"He's got a long arm, a strong arm," Burden said of Lawson. "Very accurate. He's got some attributes that some other guys don't have. He's athletic, he can run. He runs like a wide receiver, so he's special, special talent. Just got to come along mentally."
With all that gushing, and given the lack of a reliable No. 3 receiver, is that a soft-sell to get the 6-6, 222 pound Lawson lined out wide? But seriously, Burden's analysis was succinct and accurate.
On Wednesday evening, Scot Loeffer unequivocally said Motley would be Tech's starter. After the Ohio State game, Frank Beamer admitted there were a couple of offensive packages installed for Lawson, and it's not the staff's intention to redshirt him.
At this point, I think both Motley and Lawson will play against Furman. Beamer Co. is committed to giving motley his shot, but how short is his leash? Tech has three more non-conference games before the start of ACC play. Is it feasible there are enough practice and game reps for Lawson to develop into the clearcut top option for the Hokies? Frank Beamer made sure to include Chris Durkin in the conversation, and even noted he'd be the backup against Furman. Although, if Tech wants to play the guy who knows the offense, the choice is Motley, not Durkin.
Regardless of who is behind or under center, there's a high probability timing will be off between the quarterback and receivers. I will watch to see which QB has the most familiarity and cohesiveness with the players around him.
Tech needs Andrew Motuapuaka to step up, or Bud Foster needs to find another option at Mike Linebacker
Andrew Motuapuaka had a rough game against Ohio State. His gap fits were off, and he got pushed around by running back Zeke Elliott. If I give him the benefit of the doubt, the former may get better with more experience (only 4 career starts), and the latter might have been an oversight by Foster.
"Instead of releasing their back, they were really aggressive blocking our mike," Foster said. "We were thinking more (about) all their guys out on quick screens, and we probably outsmarted ourselves a little bit from that standpoint as far as not getting edge pressure a little bit more."
However, I can't shake the memory of Trey Edmunds trucking Motuapuaka in the spring game. That single play represents the lack of instincts and aggressiveness have been cons of his game since Moto first saw the field.
At 6-0, 231 pounds, Motuapuaka is Tech's biggest mike on the depth chart. Foster has been complementary to a point of Sean Huelskamp. However, at 6-1, 207 pounds it's easy to envision a big offensive line or running back swallowing him up. As French noted, perhaps Foster will experiment against Furman and move one of his backers to mike.
I will watch for any signs of life/improvement from the mike.
How much will Yosuah Nijman Play
True freshman offensive tackle Yosuah Nijman's Lane Stadium debut was one of only a few pleasant things to happen for Tech during the Ohio State game. When Nijman played at left tackle, it allowed Stacy Searels to replace Wade Hansen at right tackle with Jonathan McLaughlin. Tech had a bunch of success with those two bookending the o-line.
Nijman is far from being Orlando Pace, but for the most part he held his own against Ohio State, and he has great upside.
"I think Nijman is going to be one terrific player," Beamer said. "He's not right now but he's 6-7 and athletic as all get out. Once we feed him a little bit, get him in the weight room a little bit he's got a bright, bright future. In the end you're building this thing but you want to be good for your conference games. The big picture you want to be good for your conference games. Hopefully when we open up the conference he's going to be a lot better player than he was even last night."
Hansen is a serviceable run blocker, but is an extreme liability in pass protection. I will watch to see if Nijman can continue to push for a permanent No. 1 role on the offensive line.
DBU
#DBU lol welcome to #Zone6 42-24— Cardale Jones (@CJ12_) September 8, 2015
Say what you will about Ohio State QB Cardale Jones, Virginia Tech's defensive backs didn't look like an elite group against the Buckeyes. Greg Stroman, Brandon Facyson and Kendall Fuller all got beat one-on-one. Rover Desmond Frye missed tackles. There were communication errors on the back-end. Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray noted the group's performance against Ohio State was average, and he doesn't seems afraid to shake things up.
"I'm going to play the next best guy even if he's not in that particular spot on the depth chart if the guy knows what he's doing," said Gray.
I will watch to see how the Dean of DBU shuffles his secondary, and if Kendall Fuller, who is working through, as Gray put it, a "nick", plays against Furman.
Comments
Not much to say here other than, do it up, team. Motley is going to surprise us and show some dual threat ability. Lawson too; want to see the future in action, but I'm secretly hoping he gets served a little humbling.
Go Hokies!
6'6" 230 lbs, accurate passer, runs like a WR. Motley's leash has to be shorter than Matt Williams' memory.
(That's a Nationals joke for the unfamiliar. You'll just have to trust that it's very accurate.)
I'm a dodgers fan but since I live in DC I watch lots of NAT's game since they are usually on and I love watching Harper's at bats and I will second your statement. How Williams has lasted this long is amazing because he has to be the worst manager I have seen in years...
A 2014 MOY award will buy you time. Unfortunately, it bought enough time into 2015 as to make it too late to fire him.
Durkin to TE is a real possibility, I think we see DLAW a lot on Saturday.
Agreed. Very real chance we lose both TE's this year, I could see a Kline/Durkin combo next year.
QB to TE, you say?
I am thinking that by the time ACC play rolls around Nijman will be the starting LT and someone will have supplanted AM at Mike.
Will be interesting to see how the QB situation plays out, I am rooting for Motley but ......
Expecting 40 + points and 500 + yards against Furman, hopefully will not be disappointed. GO HOKIES!
I am anxious to see if Lydon gets some PT
Artist's rendition of Andrew Motuapuaka:
I want to see some Dahman McKinnon.... Guys a beast!
Lawson does stand out in a crowd. If the plan is really not to use a redshirt, I'd like to see him in this week.
I'll let Motley show me something. I like the kids guts and he has some wiggle to him as a runner. Since this will be our first real test in seeing him pass, I remain optimistic.
I can't help but shake HorseOnATreadmill's, ahem, unbridled optimism that the team which lost the OSUvsVT matchup last year went on to win the National Championship.
Still holding the Hokies to this, until proven otherwise.
*please don't prove otherwise, kthxbai
So you are saying we real off 14 straight now? Love your optimism but I think more likely 8-3 or 7-4 for the regular season and then another random bowl game is in our future this year...
Let's not go too large here. I think we'd Settle for 13 straight.
Also, 7-3 and even 8-4 is probably good enough for the ACCCG.
The more I read about Lawson, the more I am convinced that it won't be too long before he takes hold of the starting spot and doesn't let go.
I'm really looking forward to see what we do at QB tomorrow. Motley should rightfully be No. 1 going in, but I also suspect we see a good bit of Durkin and Lawson as well. I also believe that if Motley struggles in the passing game, and Lawson comes out and shows his huge upside, the QB of the future may end up being the QB now. He has the highest ceiling of anyone currently on the roster, so I'm interested to see if he can step up and seize the opportunity. Interested to see all three of these guys get some time.
We need to figure something out at Mike. I'm not sold on AM at all. We need to experiment, and I think we need to give some of the depth at backer a shot there. Interested to see what the youngest Edmunds could do there.
Really concerned also with our DBs. Stroman seemed to struggle in the nickel role. I wonder if Mook or Terrell Edmunds can step into that spot that Stroman gets more looks at WR. It's always seemed to me that Stroman's athleticism was better suited on offense; he didn't seem like a natural DB to me. Since we need a 3rd WR, I wonder if we go in that direction. No doubt we will see some shuffling with the DBs.
Backer depth to Mike? Sure. Mike depth getting the first shot because they know, or should know, the calls...the major responsibility of the Mike.
Stroman to WR? Haven't really thought about that, but now that you say it, that's a good idea...my worry becomes who is the nickelback?
Lawson does have the highest ceiling, but as some of the comments have pointed out, not only is he behind in understanding the system, he is also behind in effort. Do you really want a guy out there who won't go 100% in practice?
Mike depth is AM and two walk-ons. (and lydon who they are trying to RS)
Stroman has already practice some at WR and they have plays for him. Mook, Riley Adonis could play nickel.
Never heard anything about Lawson's lack of effort. Must have missed that.
French charaterized Riley as a true out-side corner...not a good player for the nickel. One of the admins commented on Lawson not going after bad snaps in practice. What's wrong with walk-ons? SMFR. The GrimmReaper ...hey look a Collegiate Times article on....walk-ons! (http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/virginia_tech/walk-on-players-help-b...)
nothing is wrong with walk-ons, but we offer kids scholarships for a reason last I checked. For every walk-on we have that contributes we have another 20 that never makes an impact.
As for riley i'm not saying he'll be an all-acc nickel but he's versatile enough to play it if needed or you could move clark to nickel and riley to free. TG cross trains the secondary for a reason.
Past performance does not necessarily indicate future success. Yes, we have been fortunate to have a few walk-ons be able to come in and really take over the mike position. But that doesn't mean we should be making a living by it - we have no indication that the next Cody Grimm or Jack Tyler is on the depth chart. AM's backup is a hair over 200lbs. That is unbelievably undersized for the position. I welcome any of them to step up and prove me wrong, but we absolutely need to experiment with our depth at backer right now.
I think a lot of our fanbase needs to stop always counting on the next great walk-on or breakthrough 2* recruit to always come through.
Quite the opposite. Brewer mentioned at ACC Kickoff that Lawson joined him in the Beamer Barn over the summer. He stood behind Brewer and mimicked what he did. Everything I have heard suggests Lawson is a leader. However, Loeffler's playbook isn't simple, it took Brewer a year to get comfortable, so I can't fault him for learning it slowly.
I am sure that someone who was at the second fall scrimmage can verify this, but there were a few plays where Lawson didn't go 100%.
Twice the ball was snapped on the ground, in a live scrimmage, and he just let it lay there and made no attempt to get it. The second one after the coaches chewed him out just 1-2 plays before.
I was really big on Lawson getting significant PT, even with Brewer healthy, until I saw this. Maybe he does work hard, but on that day he was not going 100%. I really felt soured after watching it unfold.
In the last open scrimmage, he let two bad snaps just roll by him & stood & watched as the D ran by him to recover.
Was he wearing a no contact jersey.
No, he was 100% live.
Ideal scenario
Crazy idea for a solution to the Mike problem: Use one of our quicker DTs. At least they know how to shoot/fill gaps and won't be pushed out of the way like a small linebacker. If we have to rotate two of them to keep them fresh due to conditioning, then so be it. It's where we have the most depth.
So, if I remember correctly the spectrum of defensive players looks something like this (largest/slowest to smallest/fastest, left to right)
DT - DE - LB - S - CB
so you're suggesting we take someone from a position that is typically big/slow (relatively speaking) and move him to a position that requires a bit of speed to cover routes over the middle? I feel like that would basically be telling the other team "we only care about your run game, feel free to hit crossing routes all day."
I feel like that would basically be telling the other team "we only care about your run game, feel free to hit crossing routes all day."
Isn't this basically the strategy behind the Bear Defense in a nutshell? Everything Bud does is designed to stop the run first and foremost. The leverage techniques of our DBs are supposed to take away the crossing routes behind the Bear front. Ideally, we would go to a big, fast middle linebacker, which we do not have. Failing that, I would have suggested a DE or a large S, but we have neither of those to spare due to depth. So I suggested one or two of our quicker DTs. If they clog up the middle and hit the gaps like the Mike is supposed to, then Foster doesn't need to pull the S into the box, leaving them free to play the middle of the field. Besides, I would much rather have a relatively quick, but large guy that can take on and shed blocks and tackle ball carriers that is a bit slower, but knows where to go and what to do over a small, fast guy that is easily blocked, quick to go to the wrong gap, quick to remove himself from a play without being touched, routinely removes his speed from the equation with his own mind, and worst of all cannot make a tackle when he actually goes were he is supposed to go.
Also, and most importantly, it was a joke.
Yes, I think he meant DE. At least, that was my thought: can one of the DEs learn the play-calling aspect of the mike job?
I'm officially starting #Settle4Mike
Just a note on size. I've passed Motu several times on campus and if he is 6 foot tall, then I'm 6'3. (I'm not)
Height of hair counts too, ya know.
Man that play on am in the spring game is horrible. I mean standing up trying to tackle high and letting the RB come to you. Could have a been a no-gain to 1 U.S. Gain maybe even a loss but Trey drags am 4 yes for a td. And it's not like trey is our biggest back either.
Now I know that's one play, but so was the play against BC that won them the game. So one play can be huge and it's frustrating to see it happen when it's obviously a bad technique or gap-fit that causes it. Things they should know. I hope he improves. I want him to do really well, but I also wanted Caleb to do well. We'll see in the upcoming weeks.