Lightning draped with ominous storm clouds affected the start of the Hokies' nationally televised Friday night game against North Carolina State. A lightning strike caused Virginia Tech to keep gates closed until shortly before kickoff, and the game started with in front of a surreal, desolate Lane Stadium. The Wolfpack jumped out to 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Pack had Bud Foster's defense off balance with a mix of short passes, end-around sweeps, and speed option. Scot Loeffler's offense could not generate any push against an average N.C. State defensive front. Things looked bleak for Virginia Tech and the Frank Beamer era.
And then, from seemingly nowhere, the offense found a spark. Brenden Motley faked an inside handoff to Travon McMillian and then found McMillian in the left flat for an 19-yard gain. The energy in Lane Stadium awoke. The Wolfpack slumped. Not even 15 minutes of football later, the Hokies found themselves with a 21-10 lead and a gorilla off their shoulders.
The formula was simple. The Hokies offensive line protected Motley. Tech's talented wide receivers found space. The running game was able to get just enough between the tackles to keep N.C. State honest. The defensive line started to play a more physical, north-south brand of football. The young secondary and linebackers made the tackles that they missed time and time again in losses to East Carolina and Pitt. Loeffler and Foster both made some adjustments that helped both units gain confidence and take away plays N.C. State had success with early.
Physicality Up Front and Overplaying the Speed Option
Like the Panthers did last week, N.C. State's interior ground ground focused on attacking DT Woody Baron and DE Ken Ekanem. Unlike Pitt, N.C. State mostly used zone blocking. Running back Matt Dayes (T-5th nationally with 10 TDs) found few seams inside. Ekanem and Baron fought through double teams and stood tall. Luther Maddy and Dadi Nicolas were unblockable back on the left side. Adonis Alexander had his most physical performance in run support as he, Terrell Edmunds, Chuck Clark, and Mook Reynolds all were solid supporting the run.
This play was emblematic all the good things I saw from the Hokies' defense after the first quarter. N.C. State ran an inside zone wham on 2nd-and-5 after a long drive into Virginia Tech territory. The Wolfpack doubles Baron and then pulls an H-back to kick out Ekanem to create a seam for Dayes.
Baron fits into his gap. Look at him chopping his feet violently trying to keep the offensive tackle from driving him inside. Ekanem squeezes the wham block and then works back to the outside with the running back. Baron limits Dayes' space. Ekanem makes a play. While it looks simple, to date I have not seen enough of the defensive ends getting off blocks and finding the football. Ekanem has played 5 really good quarters in a row. Clark forces on the edge, and Edmunds supports the tackle on the inside. Alexander is coming up in support as well.
I don't think it is a coincidence that Ekanem made this strong play immediately after getting a three play rest. Foster gave the second team defensive line of Steve Sobczak, Nigel Williams, Vinny Mihota, and Seth Dooley a couple of series. Those reps helped keep the starting defensive line group fresh. At the end of the game, Foster had the second defensive line group on the field as N.C. State made their last gasp attempt to get back into the game.
The Hokies slanted hard to the right and Deon Clarke blitzed from the left. The lightly recruited Sobczak (who has the build and technique to be a prototypical Bud Foster defensive tackle) delivers a beautiful swim move through the center and lays a lick on Brissett. Brissett still delivers a great pass. Brandon Facyson (who was spectacular in both inside and outside leverage all night) knocked the ball away to seal the game for the Hokies. There is still a significant drop off in play between the first and second d-line groups. However, in order to keep the energy level of the starters high, Foster will need to continue to give the second group work as the season grinds forward.
One play that N.C. State had a ton of success with was the speed option away from receiver motion when the Hokies deployed their Bear front. A quick look at the film showed why the play was so open for the Wolfpack. Pre-snap, Motuapuaka, Clarke, Reynolds, and Alexander are all on the boundary side of the center. Chuck Clark is in man coverage on the slot receiver. The slot receiver motions across the formation and Clark moves with him.
N.C. State uses the wide receiver to the top of the screen to crack back on Alexander. Donovan Riley is in man coverage and chases the receiver to the inside. Play side, the right tackle ignores Dadi Nicolas and blocks down to seal Motuapuaka inside. Nicolas takes the pitch. Alexander should have the pitch, yet he is blocked by the crack, and Riley is trapped inside. Nicolas has no help. N.C. State wins with numbers and motion.
Foster and the Hokies adjusted to the speed option look by keying on the pre-snap motion and shifting bodies away from the motion to take away that numbers advantage. There was risk. By defending the threat of the receiver sweep and overplaying the speed option, the Hokies basically gave N.C. State a quick inside zone to the left side. The Wolfpack didn't take advantage.
When you freeze the play at the snap and look to the top of the screen, the Hokies have Ronny Vandyke, Clark, and Ekanem all out wide to take away the receiver sweep. The Bear front is shifted heavily away from the motion. Baron is a one-technique over left guard. Maddy is a one-technique over the right guard. Nicolas is playing a five-technique over right tackle, and Clarke is aligned as an edge player. Nicolas and Clarke are now wide, giving the Hokies two unblocked defenders against the quarterback and the pitch man.
Another adjustment is at mike linebacker; Motuapuaka is much deeper. Instead of reading the play and biting to the motion, Motuapuaka is running to the bottom of the screen almost immediately at the snap. Motuapuaka is outside before the tight end who veer releases can even get close to him. Dadi takes quarterback. Clarke takes pitch until Brissett commits to keep the football. Maddy beats a double team and a hold to scrape across and help Nicolas. Alexander is up to support, and Motuapuaka is there to take the pitch man if Brissett attempts a miracle pitch. This is beautiful pursuit and assignment football. That being said, you can bet that future opponents will attempt to show a similar look as N.C. State, and then run an inside zone behind a kick out block from that receiver motion.
Protect and Set the Edge
After such promising efforts early in the season, Virginia Tech's offensive line took two big steps backward over the last two weeks. While the offensive line group didn't dominate the Wolfpack in between the tackles, they were much more sound picking up blitzes and did an excellent job of getting Travon McMillian into open space in his first start for the Hokies.
For me, the story of the game was the Hokies' improvement in pass protection. N.C. State sent a variety of blitzes, and Brenden Motley had time to find receivers down field. Accuracy continues to be a concern as Motley missed several deep throws to Bucky Hodges when he was wide open. That said, you could see Motley getting comfortable and working through his progressions as he trusted his offensive line to keep him upright.
The Wolfpack clearly exhibited some tendencies which the Hokies were well prepared for. On the Hokies' first touchdown, Motley checked to a sluggo route ( slant and go) to Isaiah Ford after reading a corner blitz pre-snap. The Hokies slide the protection away from the blitz, leaving freshman Yosh Nijman one-on-one.
Nijman tracks the defensive end crashing inside. Instead of chasing him inside like McLaughlin did last week, Nijman makes sure Teller has secured the end, and then slides back outside to get a piece of the corner. Again, this looks simple, however it requires trust in your teammate to pick up the defensive end and the athleticism to recover back outside. Nijman gets just enough of the corner to give Motley time to sell the slant and then loft a beautiful ball to Ford. For those of you who didn't get to watch the Hokies in the spring, Ford was absolutely destroying the Hokies' secondary on this kind of route concept. He is a special wide receiver.
When blitzes off the edge didn't work, N.C. State stole a page from Bud Foster. Here, the Wolfpack slides into a Bear front with man coverage outside and two deep safeties. N.C. State blitzes the mike linebacker and drops the two edge defenders into short zones.
The Hokies slide their protection to the left. Malleck and Rogers fill on the right side of the pocket, creating a six man cup for Motley. Eric Gallo does an outstanding job of picking up the mike backer and driving him to the outside. Motley has time to break contain, check down, and then roll right to find Cam Phillips for a key first down.
The Hokies running game wasn't dominant in between the tackles. Although, Loeffler's offense was able to get just enough yardage on the inside to get the N.C. State defensive ends to crash. There's plenty of room for improvement in the downhill running game. Early attempts didn't look promising. The Hokies tried to get McMillian going off tackle from a pistol formation.
Everything goes wrong. Gallo gets pushed deep into the backfield. Augie Conte watches the linebacker run right past him on the play side. Jonathan McLaughlin completely whiffs on the back side defensive tackle. The Hokies can't win football games with this kind of sloppy execution.
The offensive line started to get a little push later in the first quarter. On this play, the Hokies run an inside zone read packaged with a screen. Hansen and Conte push the boundary defensive tackle right into the lap of the linebacker.
Motley reads the defensive end coming up field and feeds Sam Rogers. Rogers cuts back off Hansen's butt. The N.C. State linebacker gets tripped with the defensive tackle in his lap, and Phillips delivers a nice block on the safety. Rogers runs for a solid gain.
N.C. State used some similar schemes as Bud Foster against the run, especially slanting their defensive line based on the first step of the offensive line. Much like the Hokies' opponents in the past two weeks, Loeffler used some down blocking plays to get McMillian and Rogers some running room. First, the Hokies used a play that has been a staple of pre-Loeffler offenses; the counter pitch.
The play looks almost like an option pitch. The Hokies offensive line all zone steps to their right. Rogers leads through like an inside zone lead to the right side. Motley reverses out while McMillian takes a counter step. Motley pitches the ball to McMillian who rips up the field on the left side. The back side defensive end crashes inside and is taken out of the play without being blocked. Hodges cracks on the outside linebacker. Cam Phillips turns out the corner. McMillian is one-on-one with the safety, and McMillian runs through his arm tackle for extra yardage. That is why McMillian is starting. The Hokies' tailbacks have to win one-on-one battles to break some big plays. Trey Edmunds has not shown the burst since Purdue. J.C. Coleman hasn't been able to make defenders miss. McMillian will get his opportunity because he has shown the most ability to take a 5-yard play and turn it into a touchdown.
While most of Hokie Nation (including myself) have wailed about the prevalence of the jet sweep in the offense this season, it paid dividends against N.C. State. The Wolfpack often had three defenders jumping all over Greg Stroman every time he motioned. Loeffler used the overplay by the Wolfpack to bring a Wing-T staple into the Hokies' offense: the buck sweep.
The buck sweep uses motion to the field to get the defense to slant away from where the ball is going to go. Malleck aligns as a tight end and Hodges as a wing back. Both block down to seal the outside linebacker and defensive end inside. Teller and Gallo pull and lead for Rogers.
If you freeze the clip just after the hand off, you will notice three unblocked N.C. State defenders all focused on Stroman. This allows the Hokies to get numbers play side. Malleck and Hodges do an outstanding job of sealing the edge without letting the edge players get into the path of Teller and Gallo. Teller doesn't have anyone to kick out, so he turns up and cuts down the middle linebacker. Gallo gets on his horse and finds the safety. This gives Rogers a cutback lane, and Rogers adds another ten yards to the run to put the Hokies back into field goal range. As a former Wing-T offensive lineman, this is beautiful work by Hodges, Malleck, Teller, and Gallo.
The Hokies steadied the ship against N.C. State, but a hurricane looms on the horizon.
Comments
I agree with this statement. But one thing I am really encouraged about is the play of Steve Sobczak. That guy seems to have a knack for firing off the quickly and getting into the backfield. It will be fun to watch him along with Tim Settle in the middle over the next couple of years.
As always, Great article!
That guy is a straight bowling ball. He is huge.
I love the last clip. Shows the lineman hustling down the field, Ford blocking downfield, and Rogers smartly staying in bounds.
Question on the first clip. What is Motu doing? Does his crash into the block force the RB to cut back? It seems like he just decided, I should be blocked here...
Motu filled the hole, and got crushed by the slanting Olineman when the RB cut it back because Motu was in his hole...
French can you speak to the shuffling of O lineman? What was the best group out there at any given time? Hansen, Gallo, Teller, Nijiman, ?? Or some other grouping?
Best run group was McLaughlin-Teller-Gallo-Conte-Hansen. Best pass pro group was Nijman-Teller-Gallo-Hansen
maybe we wouldn't give up so many sacks if we had 5 Linemen in to block /s
just pokin' fun
So with that what lineman would be best to have out there every snap? Or is O lineman rotation the way forward?
Rotate them on a play-by-play basis. Everyone has strengths, use them to the teams advantage. /s
Great article, I feel my football IQ double after every French article. From 1 to 2, progress!
Watching the game, I saw the buck sweep (now I know what its called) and thought to myself, "So THIS is what all those sweeps are supposed to look like!" Do you think we will use plays like that more in the future? Should we?
It really depends on how the defensive line plays. Two gap defenses don't lend itself to down blocking. One gap looks, especially those that slant to OL keys are very susceptible to this kind of blocking.
Do you think the performance of the O line will continue to trend upwards? I have a hard time buying in because NC State still seems pretty unknown. Was the improvement of the O line more because of the quality of NC State's defense or was it due to adjustments in execution and playcalling on our part?
Edit: misread the above statement. My question didn't really make sense.
Looks like he was trying to fill the gap where the play was designed to go, but got blocked doing it. If he was not there there would have been a large hole to run through and an easy 5 yard gain before he would have a chance to make a play. Putting his body in the whole probably did influence the backs decision, though if he had beaten the blocker to the space he could have had a TFL.
Thanks French. The one play of NCSU's that puzzled me was the sweep to the motion man that pulled two blockers to lead. What formation did they run that from? It seemed we had a hard time adjusting to it, which is odd because it seemed they ran that play every time they lined up in that formation.
The formula was simple. The Hokies offensive line protected Motley. Tech's talented wide receivers found space. The running game was able to get just enough between the tackles to keep N.C. State honest. The defensive line started to play a more physical, north-south brand of football. The young secondary and linebackers made the tackles that they missed time and time again in losses to East Carolina and Pitt.
Who would have thought that formula would work?
You know, other than just about every commenter on this site who has been saying this for weeks.
I know, I know, easier said than done.
In other news, basketball is pretty easy. You've just gotta throw the ball into the hoop.
I was jumping up and down in the stands pointing out how great it was that we picked up the corner blitz on the Ford touchdown, I didn't even notice the catch. I think they thought I was a bit crazy
Now we know why Loeffler ran all those unsuccessful jet sweeps the 1st few weeks, to set up the FAKE jet sweep!
I loved that counter pitch play, beautiful. I don't remember seeing us run that this year.
And, of course, great write-up, French! I bet these are a lot more fun to do when we win. They are certainly more fun to read!
French: I was wondering about the ineligible man downfield call on Malleck. Was that incorrect or did he line up incorrectly? was just curious about what happened there.
On the replay it looked like he was covered up to me.
I think Hodges lined up wrong. Both he and Malleck were on the LOS. Both ran routes. I was screaming at First Down almost 10 seconds before the snap that it would be an ineligible man down field if Malleck crossed the line of scrimmage.
Also, the second Ford TD pass could have been called back. Teller was a yard past the line of scrimmage when Motley threw the ball.
Did that rule change take effect where an OL can only be one yard past the LOS instead of 3 on a downfield pass play? If so, him being 1 yd past was legal right?
Bucky lined up wrong...he was supposed to be off the LOS to keep Malleck from being covered up. He has done that a few times this year
how do you know Bucky lined up wrong and not Malleck?
Because Malleck was supposed to out on a route.
Bucky was lined up outside of him and was supposed to be off of LOS. He was not.
Because Bucky lined up on LOS, it made Malleck ineligible.
If Malleck is off the line, then he's eligible. Thus, Bucky could be correct and should be on the line and Malleck off OR vice versa. Just because Bucky covers up Malleck doesn't automatically make him in the wrong.
Nope. In that formation, Malleck lines up on the LOS outside the tackle. Bucky must line up off the LOS in order to not cover up Malleck and hence, make him inelligible.
As long as only one of either Malleck or Hodges was on the line, it wouldn't have been problem. It doesn't matter who is in tight versus who is split further wide.
The Steelers used a formation last night in which both Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth were on the left side of the formation. Miller was lined up beside (but a yard behind) the LT, and Spaeth was split out to Miller's left but on the LOS.
It was fine if they were both on the line, UNTIL Malleck went down field. Either Malleck should not have gone down field OR Hodges was aligned incorrectly.
If Hodges was lined up wrong and should not have been on the LOS, doesn't that mean that someone else should have been lined up on the LOS instead and they weren't?
Well, yeah, Malleck staying in to block would have rendered all of this moot.
I'm just saying that as possible as it is that Hodges lined up wrong, it is equally possible that Malleck lined up wrong.
I can think of at least one instance where Malleck was obviously the one who lined up wrong. The TD against Pitt that was taken off the board for illegal formation.
We were running 12 personnel, from the left hash with Malleck as h-back Right, Bucky slot right, Cam slot right, and Isiah split end right.
What's wrong with this picture? Only 6 on the LOS.
Malleck should've been up on the line next to the RT, not in the backfield as an H-Back. Now, being lined up on the LOS would've made him an ineligible due to being covered up by Ford, but that wouldn't have mattered because he was pass blocking on that play anyway.
Was the counter-pitch play the only play we ran out of I-Formation? Did we ever pass the ball when Stroman was in the game? Seems are tendencies are strong.
I don't recall any other I formation plays. I would like to see more.
There was one offset I as well and no we didn't ever pass with Stroman in. I hope that'll open up next week
McMillian played really well, but it is worth noting that I don't think the Hokies have a game breaking running back on the roster. Case in point- watch Dalvin Cook's last TD run vs Miami last week. Florida State isn't dominating up front. In fact, the left guard gets planted on his behind. The difference between a 3 yard run with similar blocking by the VT OL and a Florida State touchdown is Cook beats 4 HURRICANES on his own.
https://youtu.be/wKw5xKMWTrc?t=58m10s
(Sorry for not embedding, but it appears that the embed code won't take me directly to that play.)
McMillian had a good game, and appears to be the best of the bunch. But, the fan base, myself included, got so accustomed to elite running back play from Evans, Williams, and Wilson that it covered up some poor blocking. Now the blocking is better, but the backs are not the same caliber to take advantage of it. I like our kids. However, the difference in talent between a Cook or even some of those former Hokies and the current crop of backs is night and day right now.
Yeah, that's what I've been saying. We have a talent problem, not a rotation problem (but the rotation wasn't helping). McMillian may be the best of the pack, but pump the brakes. He's not David Wilson. He's Josh Oglesby.
McMillian is also very, very green. He can improve greatly. Those Shai/Marshawn injuries are much larger than I thought they were, both of those guys were a tier higher than these three guys....but still....Shai/Marshawn were not Kevin Jones or probably even Darren Evans. And, sadly, we need to be prepared to never see Shai/Marshawn at that ability again.
Can I give half a leg? I agree with paragraph 1, but disagree that McKenzie & Williams are a tier higher. If anything I would say they are a hair below the current three overall as RBs.
Really? I really liked the way Marshawn ran last year, except that he's a fumble waiting to happen. Shai looked solid, much like a young Evans to me.
But I doubt we ever see anything from the two of them that is similar to what we saw last year. Knees. Tough business on RB's.
I think our RB's have been really, really bad this year considering that they have had holes. Most of McMillian's carries have been end arounds. Any momentum that JCC had is now gone. Trey is a shell of his past self.
To be honest, that also looks like four very familiar "tackling" attempts by Miami players...
I hope using Rogers more to run the ball on some quick hitters does not get eliminated from the game plan. It would seem to me having Sam and Trav in at the same time could open up more screen or fullback passes in the flat. Keep possession and give the d a rest.
Thanks French, always educational reading your film breakdown. On the first TD to Ford, you said and Loeffler repeated this I think, that they checked into the Slugo route at the line b/c the defense showed corner blitz. I have been looking at the game film and I can't seem to find the tip off from NCSu that the blitz is coming from the corner. It looks like man on the wideouts with cover 2 overtop at pre snap. Is it personnel? Allignment?
On the speed option play you wrote that Dadi takes the pitch and Alexander should have the pitch but he gets blocked. Did Dadi take the wrong guy or is that a typo. Looked to me like Dadi was confident in his assignment being the pitch and funneling the QB to the middle towards Alexander if he doesn't get blocked.
Typo- Dadi had pitch. Alexander had quarterback. I apologize for my tired eyes.
Thanks for spending the long hours to bring us the analysis!
Thanks!
Thanks for the effort you put in on these film reviews. Don't know if your review includes snap counts on individuals, but it sure seemed like Ronny Vandyke was in the game on way more snaps than I've seen previously (or maybe it's just selective memory). Are my eyes deceiving me?
If true, is VT just deploying a counter to something specific to NCSU's personnel packages? Or is the attrition in the secondary forcing our hand? Did Ronny play well, less "robotic"? Thanks in advance.
I used to track every single play and write them. It made for long, boring reviews and a ton of redundancy. Vandyke did play a bunch, especially against sets where Days was at tailback and Hines or the other kid was at receiver as a motion guy.
Echoing others, thanks for the analysis French. I've never read anything as consistently enlightening about hokie football as your posts.
I loved watching the buck sweep over and over again. After about the tenth replay I noticed an awesome cut block on a linebacker from Conte. I think he deserves some credit on this play as well or Rodgers doesn't make it to his cutback opportunity.
It's pretty encouraging to see this kind of execution. I hope the trend continues!
When you compare that cut block by Conte to the back side scoops on the first play of the game, it was night and day. The team needs that level of execution on every play possible.
French your reviews are bringing in lots of new readers keep up the work.
French, I have a question on the following same situation plays
https://youtu.be/wAxkd0Yxn4U?t=2627
https://youtu.be/wAxkd0Yxn4U?t=5886
https://youtu.be/wAxkd0Yxn4U?t=7398
Each time Motley tries to get the defense to show their hand, then it looks like he checks to something. Each play itself Motley drops back and forces a ball to Ford without looking elsewhere. Cam looked to be a better option on all of them.
Is this a case where the plays are designed to be a no hesitation set up for Ford, or is Motley just not doing a good job of scanning the field?
Play 1: 1st read looks to be a wheel route to Bucky, check down was to Isaiah. Motley was flushed left and threw the ball away wisely. Otherwise, Cam would have likely been the 3rd read.
Play 2: Isaiah is the first read, Motley makes the throw even though CB played the curl well. Should have moved to next progression.
Play 3: Motley correctly identifies the corner blitz, where they then check into the Sluggo route to Isaiah. (The same check that resulted in Isaiah's first TD). Unfortunately, NC State does a better job of rotating the safety into coverage, maintaining his man assignment on Isaiah, without compromising the deep part of the field. It's also worth noting that VT did a great job of recognizing this blitz and checking into this playcall, even changing the protection upfront. The line is able to slide left, with J-Glock's initial step being out to pick up the CB.