QBs Brenden Motley, Dwayne Lawson Strut Their Stuff, Hokies' Offense Roasts Furman 42-3

For the first two quarters against Furman, new Hokies starting quarterback Brenden Motley looked like a timid freshman. But after halftime, a switch flipped for the redshirt junior.

The light truly did come on for Motley and the rest of Tech's offense in the third quarter, as the team managed to score 21 points in the period in its 42-3 blowout win over the Paladins. The offense as a whole managed 583 in total, the most since offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler took over the unit back in 2013.

But the final boxscore was mostly an afterthought. Instead, the team needed to see what it had with Motley, and he delivered.

"I think his play gives us a lot of hope," said Frank Beamer after the game. "I don't think he flinched a bit. He's very much in control."

Although he started 7 of 14 for 113 yards, in the third quarter alone he completed 9 of 10 passes for two scores, with one ball that would've been a score had Cam Phillips not barely gone out of bounds.

"In the first half, he didn't do a very good job of seeing the coverage," said offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler. "There were some plays out there that were available that we didn't make. Then in the second half, I think he did a really good job of seeing the coverage, seeing the picture and making plays."

Motley also got plenty of chances to show off his vaunted running ability, rushing four times for 38 yards and a score.

Yet the staff also made it clear that they wanted to see what they had with true freshman Dwayne Lawson, burning his redshirt in the first quarter and giving him the reins of the offense for the bulk of the fourth quarter. He looked every bit the freshman at times, but managed a few nice plays to finish 3 of 7 for 51 yards, as well as 51 yards rushing and a ground TD.

"It was pretty much smooth sailing," Lawson said. "I was excited to get my feet wet a little."

But Loeffler didn't think Lawson's maiden voyage was quite so smooth.

"Mentally he was exceptional, and that's a good sign with a freshman," Loeffler said. "He was sporadic with his technique. He's going to be a great player, there's no question about it. But he got to learn today that everything matters. His footwork was sloppy, his technique was sloppy, he got ahead of himself at times."

Lawson certainly made his share of mistakes, most notably with a number of low throws, and combined with Motley's performance, it seems that there wasn't enough about his limited snaps to convince the coaches that he deserves to unseat the starter next week against Purdue.

"Even though we started a little slow, I felt confident," Motley said.

As the game opened, all eyes were on Motley. The first drive wasn't particularly strong for the new starter, as he missed badly on both of his attempts. The Hokies even gave the Lane Stadium crowd some heart palpitations by sending in Lawson for a single play after Motley's helmet popped off, a telling sign for Chris Durkin's status on the depth chart.

"I was ready, I had my helmet on, ready to go if anything happened," Lawson said.

But the drive, and the one following it, ended in a punt, as the Hokies got off to a slow offensive start that was thoroughly emblematic of their other early-season matchups with inferior teams.

It ended up being the defense to put the first points on the next series. The defensive line started ramping up the pressure on Furman QB Reese Hannon, and on second down, he felt the rush and tossed the ball directly to LB Andrew Motuapuaka. He scampered in unopposed for an 18-yard score, Tech's first pick six since Kendall Fuller managed one against UNC last season.

"All of a sudden the defense puts us on the board and it's a different game," Beamer said. "A different feeling over on the sideline. I thought that was huge as far as the overall ball game."

The defense managed to force a fumble on the next drive, with DT Corey Marshall coming up with a strip sack to give the Hokies the ball on the Furman 46 yard line. Yet once again, the offense couldn't capitalize, and A.J. Hughes was called on once more.

After a few more punts back and forth, Motley and company finally hit their stride. He managed to find TE Bucky Hodges down the field, and after a few nifty moves by Temuchin, the Hokies ended up with a 46-yard gain to the Paladins' 31 yard line.

But that success nearly stalled as the second quarter opened in the middle of the drive. Motley managed to run for seven yards on third down, but the Hokies were left with a 4th and 2. Beamer chose to get aggressive, drawing up a Trey Edmunds run.

He exploded for 19 yards down the sideline, going out at the four yard line. Motley then got the call, taking it in himself to give Tech a 14-0 lead.

On the Hokies' next series, Motley trotted out for the first play, but then Lawson returned. He carried the ball straight ahead for five yards, but Motley returned immediately.

He managed to complete a ball to Isaiah Ford and after a nifty juke move, he gained 10 yards. Lawson came right on back and ran the exact same QB lead play, this time getting stopped for no gain. Motley connected with Ford on a nicely timed comeback route for 11 yards, but the drive stalled soon after that.

The Hokies ran out Joey Slye to try a 45-yard field goal, but he was both wide left and a bit short.

The Paladins found some offensive momentum on the next drive. With eight minutes remaining in the half, Hannon engineered a drive down to Tech's 42 yard line.

But Bud Foster's group regained control soon after that. Hannon lost eight yards after fumbling the ball briefly, then Woody Baron almost single handedly ended the drive with a tackle for loss and a sack.

Motley completed a pair of long balls to Cam Phillips, one going for 21 yards and one for 13, on the next drive, but the Hokies still couldn't get anything going.

There was a brief bit of controversy involving a waved-off interception by Fuller in the Paladins' last series before the break. The referees flagged Brandon Facyson for pass interference in call that, while the replays seemed to justify it, made defensive coordinator Bud Foster positively livid.

"Do I need to say anything more about it?" Foster joked after the game. "I didn't see much, not even on the replay, I thought it was a great play...It should've been a pick."

Furman's drive stalled nonetheless, and the Hokies took a 14-0 lead into the locker room.

Yet it seemed the halftime break did a world of good for the offense. Travon McMillian busted out for a 63-yard run on the very first play of the second half, and after a few more plays including a 10-yard run by Motley, the new QB1 managed to find Ford in the back of the end zone from the one yard line to make it 21-0.

The Paladins got a 49-yard field goal on their next drive to end the shutout, but the Hokies stayed hot for their next possession.

Motley started things off with a nine-yard pass to McMillian, then kept the drive alive with a 23-yard pass to Ford on 3rd and 19.

Ford got the call for a running play, picking up seven yards, then Motley found Phillips down the sideline for a 30-yard completion that very nearly ended in a touchdown. Edmunds pounded the ball in from the one yard line and the rout was on, 28-0.

Adonis Alexander intercepted Hannon on the Paladins' next drive, and Motley uncorked a pretty pass to Ford on the first play of the possession for a 32-yard touchdown. His initial jitters were very clearly a thing of the past.

Motley hit Phillips for a 16-yard gain on his next drive, but once the third quarter ended, his day was done.

Lawson strolled onto the field, and managed to reel off a 10-yard run, then complete his first college pass to Kalvin Cline for 31-yards, before managing yet another 10-yard dash.

"He made a great first throw that I thought was really great for a young guy," Loeffler said.

But Lawson managed to miss low on all three of his next passes, leading to a missed field goal by Michael Santamaria, subbing in for Joey Slye.

Lawson alternated with Durkin on the next series, making a few nice throws, particularly one completion to Kevin Asante on the sideline for 13 yards. Yet most of his biggest plays came on the ground, as might be expected of a freshman uncomfortable making reads, but he did manage to run for a four-yard score in what the Hokies surely hope turns out to be the first of many in his Tech career.

"He made a pretty nifty run that last play for a score, I think he's got a bright future," Beamer said.

For now the Hokies' focus is on the immediate future with the team's first road trip on the horizon next week.

The team seems to have escaped the game without any major injuries — head trainer Mike Goforth noted that Motuapuaka suffered a left knee sprain, Bucky Hodges bruised his right quad and Sam Rogers sprained his left ankle, but none of those should be anything serious — and now they're preparing for a Boilermakers team that Foster cautions is "improved" from a season ago.

"Are we right where we need to be? No," Loeffler said, using his favorite rhetorical question. "But we're going to work our tails and get ready for a very physical football team coming up this week."