Virginia Tech-Furman Post-Game Notebook

The Hokies handled the Furman Paladins 42-3. Offensive coordinator Scot Loeffer, defensive coordinator Bud Foster and starting quarterback Brenden Motley met with the media after the game.

Slow start for the offense

While the final score and statistics indicate Virginia Tech's offense had a terrific performance, it took a while for the unit to find their groove. Tech's first three drives resulted in punts.

"I thought in the first-half, it kind of reminded me of last year," Scot Loeffler remarked. "There were some plays out there that were available that we didn't make."

One explanation for the offense's sluggish start is due in part to QB Brenden Motley not seeing and reading the entire field until later in the game.

"He didn't do a great job in the first half of seeing the coverage," Loeffler pointed out.

The third quarter, however, was a completely different story for Motley and company. He led the offense on three impressive scoring drives (5 plays 76 yards, 8 plays 76 yards, 1 play 32 yards), and put the game out of reach.

"I think he (Motley) did a great job of seeing the coverage, seeing the picture and making plays in the second half," the offensive coordinator said. "As he got more reps, things started happening for him."

"It was exciting to see him have success."

Lawson makes an impression

Once the Hokies garnered a very comfortable 35-3 lead at the end of the third quarter, many were wondering if highly-touted freshman QB Dwayne Lawson would get a chance to the run the offense for an extended period of time. Indeed, Lawson did get the opportunity to start the fourth quarter, exciting fans in attendance with a 10-yard run up the middle and an impressive 31-yard downfield pass to TE Kalvin Cline.

"Mentally, he was exceptional," Loeffler said about the freshman QB. "He's going to be a great player, there's no question about it."

While Lawson impressed with his mental acumen and playmaking ability with his legs, Tech's offensive coordinator noted the talented QB still has a lot of room for improvement, considering some of his off-target throws.

"He was sporadic with his technique," Loeffler quibbled. "His footwork was sloppy. His technique was sloppy. He was ahead at times. We've got a lot of work to do with him."

Despite these criticisms, there's no denying the future is bright for 6-foot-6 227-pound signal-caller.

"The positive that I'm really excited about is mentally he's there and generally he went to the right place with the football," said Loeffler.

Motuapuaka steps up his game

Mike linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka has been the subject of much criticism and debate after having a well-documented rough outing against Ohio State. Before suffering a left knee sprain early in the third quarter, Motuapuaka elevated his level of play against Furman due in part to being in the right position to make tackles.

"It looked like to me he was playing better," said Bud Foster. "They (Furman) ran what we call a 'Belly G' and he fit up in there nice and he secured his gap."

Of course, the highlight play from Motuapuaka was picking off a pass against Furman QB Reese Hannon and returning it 18-yards for a TD, giving Tech their first points of the game.

"We were in what we call a 'sink' coverage in which (Motuapuaka) was in a short drop, he read the quarterback's indicators and he did a great a job reading it and picking that thing," Foster detailed. "It was a nice jump start for our football team."

Improved execution on defense

The defense's performance against Furman compared to Ohio State was night and day. Why? Not just because Furman is a less talented opponent, but because of better execution all around, starting with the Hokies' defensive line pressure, their ability to force turnovers and virtually shutting down the Paladin's passing attack.

"The key to success (against Furman) was our execution and I thought we did that all and all for the most part," Foster explained. "We played extremely hard against Ohio State, but we didn't execute, which I was really disappointed in."

While Foster was impressed with his unit's output on a short week against an FCS opponent, he made it evident that a few of the team's mental errors can be cut down even further going into next week.

"(Furman) had quarterback counter and we were in a coverage where we should have had a free hitter right there and a couple times we lined up on the wrong side, which it baffles me why we did that," Foster explained. "But we'll get those corrected."

"We've got a couple tough road games in a row and a big one coming up in Purdue. We've got to get better because they're a much improved football team."

A conversation with QB Brenden Motley

ON HIS PREPARATION DURING THE SHORT WEEK:

"I had to do a little bit more game-planning than usual. You know, at nighttime you're tired a little bit and you want to sleep, but you really got to dig into the film and dig into the playbook. It's good that we have a regular week coming up so we can rest our bodies a little bit."

ON IF THE PLAYBOOK WAS DIFFICULT TO GRASP DURING THE SHORT WEEK:

"No, no. Never. The coaches made it simple enough that we could pick it up with ease. Lefty (offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler) did a great job preparing us. All coaches actually did a great job preparing the team for the short week that we had,."

ON IF QB MICHAEL BREWER HELPED HIM THROUGH THE GAME-PLANNING PROCESS THIS WEEK:

"Mike is a great guy. Mike is a leader. He's the best example of a leader that I think we've had. He's been there all week. He still in the meetings writing down all the notes on the game and he's right there with us. He came to every practice. If we weren't in a rep on the field, he'd come to us and talk to us about what we saw and what happened with this and that."

ON LEARNING FROM OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR SCOT LOEFFLER:

"He's a really good coach and he definitely knows what he's talking about. We trust him with everything. The whole offense trusts him."

ON HIS COMFORT LEVEL DURING THE GAME:

"You know, the game we started a little slow. We need to fix that, but as the game goes on you get more comfortable, you start seeing your reads better and opportunities to make plays."

Injury updates

Virginia Tech head athletic trainer Mike Goforth said TE Bucky Hodges' (right quad contusion) and LB Andrew Motuapuaka (left knee sprain) injuries "shouldn't amount to much and will be re-evaluated (Sunday) afternoon."