Tulsa Exposes Front Seven Weaknesses in Hokie Gap Fits

All season Hokie fans lamented what they regarded as poor play at Bud Foster's primary teaching position: inside linebacker. Andrew Motuapuaka and Deon Clarke struggled mightily during stretches of the season, especially against Ohio State, East Carolina, and Duke.

Not surprisingly, each of those teams used variations of spread offenses that limited the Hokies' ability to outnumber the offense in the box. Let's remember the basic tenets of Foster's scheme.

1. Fit each gap with a defender.
2. Force or spill the runner to a free hitter coming from the back-side or the safety position.

Four and five wide receiver alignments make it incredibly difficult to keep safeties engaged as free hitters in run defense. Foster was able to get numbers in the box by playing incredibly aggressive seven- and eight-man front with his safeties in the box regularly against Ohio State in 2014.

Foster could run this risky scheme because he had three healthy, experienced, and talented corners in Kendall Fuller, Brandon Facyson, and Chuck Clark (along with excellent cover safeties in Kyshoen Jarrett and Detrick Bonner) that could play press man coverage while pressure up front lowered the chances of an accurate throw. Facyson was injured late in that game, and the scheme was exposed repeatedly the next week against East Carolina. In 2015, Foster was similarly hindered with a talent/experience gap at the rover and nickel positions coupled with injuries to Fuller and Facyson. By the time Duke rolled into Blacksburg, Foster had to supplement man coverage with safety help, negating any opportunity to gain a numerical advantage in the box. The Hokies were fortunate to not play any true spread offenses after Duke with the exception of North Carolina. Just to give the Hokies a chance to win at the end against the Tar Heels, the front-seven had to deliver their most physical performance of the season.

The Hokies' secondary was in tatters during the Independence Bowl. Brandon Facyson clearly wasn't at 100 percent and didn't start the game. Donovan Riley started at the rover position and broke his collarbone in the first quarter. Late in the game, Mook Reynolds regularly manned a centerfield safety spot (sometimes 20+ yards away from the line of scrimmage) while Chuck Clark was often found playing press coverage on the boundary. As result, the defensive front seven was left to manage the Tulsa running game without the benefit of an alley defender.

Losing the Battle in the Gap

Minus the free hitter, fitting gaps and then defenders winning a physical battle to make a play is critical to stopping the run. The concept is pretty simple. Let's analyze Tulsa's first touchdown, and look at the number of blockers, the number of gaps, and the number of defenders.

Tulsa has five blockers and two potential runners, against six Hokie defenders. This isn't ideal. However, if the edge defenders can contain the play, proper gap fits inside should prevent any kind of gaping hole. At this point, Foster has to hope that his vaunted d-line can win a battle against a blocker and make a tackle. "Go be a football player" is a phrase often uttered by Foster in press conferences when he describes how defenders must fit their gap and then get to the football. To maximize any advantage in speed and athleticism the Hokies' defensive front had against Tulsa, Foster utilized a cross stunt between Dadi Nicolas and Luther Maddy. This stunt was likely called due to a tendency for Tulsa to run an inside zone from this formation.

Despite the stunt, every gap is still accounted for. Tremaine Edmunds and Ken Ekanem contain in the C gaps. Corey Marshall penetrates through the right B gap. Motuapuaka fits the right A gap. Maddy slants left into the play-side B gap, while Nicolas is stunting right into the A gap where Tulsa's run is designed to go. Tulsa uses a pin and pull between the left guard and the center. The left guard pulls and turns up on Motuapuaka. The center blocks back on Maddy. Nicolas is stunting right into the path of the ball carrier with a huge speed advantage against a lumbering left tackle who likely expects Nicolas to shoot up the field through the B gap. Note safety Donovan Riley is outside the hash providing inside leverage coverage on the twin receivers to the top of the screen, and is in no position to help support the run.

Maddy and Nicolas went through the motions of the defensive scheme correctly. Unfortunately for the Hokies, they didn't win the physical battles one expects two players of their caliber to win at the point of attack. When Maddy feels pressure from the center blocking back, his responsibility is to resist the center and squeeze inside, narrowing the space between him and Motuapuaka by the trap. Maddy doesn't squeeze inside. He is perfectly content to continue up the field as the center inches him to the outside. This widens the A gap that Nicolas is responsible for as he stunts to the inside. The tackle can't scoop Nicolas, so instead he reaches and shoves Nicolas to the inside. Nicolas overruns the gap, and the Tulsa running back is off to the races. Here is a second angle.

My Twitter feed went nuts saying that Edmunds was aligned wrong. He wasn't. He had outside contain responsibility in the C gap. Others said Andrew Motuapuaka is out of position. In an ideal world, Motuapuaka would fit the A gap, knock the pulling guard on his tail, and make the tackle for a one-yard loss. Part of my offseason will be spent looking at former Hokie mike linebackers in similar situations.

Maddy and Nicolas do not make the play even though All-ACC players should win one-on-one battles against .500 American Athletic Conference guards. Tulsa wins this battle and scores an easy touchdown.

Backup Defensive Line and Specialty Bear Changes Momentum

After similar busts by Marshall and Motuapuaka lead to a 43-yard Zack Langer run on the second drive of the game, Foster changed his defensive line personnel grouping. Seth Dooley, Woody Baron, Nigel Williams, and Vinny Mihota entered the game and got a three-and-out highlighted by an in-game adjustment. When Tulsa utilized a tight end, Foster shifted Edmunds to a stand up edge alignment while Anthony Shegog moved to an inside linebacker spot. Often (but not always), the defensive line would shift into a Bear front. In this clip, the Hokies align in a Bear front. Tulsa pulls the left tackle and he leads up the inside.

The Hokies don't have a numerical advantage in the box. Instead, multiple players win physical battles once they fit their gap. Williams slants to the play side B gap. Unlike Maddy on the play above, Williams then turns and fights back to the inside to squeeze the tackle. Baron slants to the play-side A gap and jams it up. Seth Dooley and Edmunds crash into the back-side A and B gaps, respectively. Dooley beats the scoop block by the tight end and between him and Williams the back is jammed up. Edmunds comes in and cleans up the play.

On Tulsa's next drive, Foster stuck with the pairing of Williams and Baron inside along with Ekanem and Nicolas. That foursome got another three-and-out (highlighted by a Williams' sack caused by Ekanem's edge pressure). It isn't a stretch to say that the backup defensive line outperformed the starting group in the first half. Baron and Williams were winning battles at the point of attack. Mihota generated pressure by stunting into the B gap and bull rushing (just like against Virginia), and Seth Dooley played perhaps his best football of the season by being aggressive and getting up the field, rather than trying to read the play and catch blocks.

The success of the second group seemed to light a fire in the starting group, and they were more gap sound after those early drives. In the second half, the second group played a little less and Williams was replaced on several series by Steve Sobczak. Sobczak was sound; however Williams was so good early that I wonder if he may have been injured at some point. With Maddy and Marshall exhausting their eligibility, Nigel Williams is a critical impact player for the 2016 season. He was abysmal in fall camp and early this season as Sobczak and Baron passed him on the depth chart. Williams needs to deliver the type of impact plays seen over the last three games of 2015 on a consistent basis all season for the Hokies' defense to improve in 2016.

Evaluating Andrew Motuapuaka

Few players were subjected to more criticism this season by Hokie Nation than Andrew Motuapuaka. Motuapuaka struggled tackling in space and fitting against the run versus Ohio State and Furman before he sprained his MCL in the third quarter against the Paladins. He returned against Pitt, and his struggles continued ultimately culminating in a dreadful performance against Duke where the Blue Devils' tailbacks consistently blocked Motuapuaka. Motuapuaka improved his level of play down the stretch, giving me hope that he could at least be a serviceable player until Carson Lydon is ready to ascend into a starting role.

On this play, Tulsa runs an off tackle power play to their right side. The right tackle and guard block down, and the H-Back and left guard pull and lead up around the right side. The left side of the Virginia Tech defensive line keys the inside step of the linemen and slants inside. Motuapuaka and Shegog key the running back and flow to their left. Motuapuaka has the responsibility of forcing the play to Shegog, who is coming from the inside.

Motuapuaka doesn't get credit for a tackle, however he executes his technique with gold star precision. He gets to the spot and takes on the pulling H-Back with his inside shoulder. This forces the back to cut back to the inside where Shegog cuts him down. This is Foster's gap scheme executed to perfection and it doesn't work unless Motuapuaka reads the key properly, beats the H-Back to the edge, and neutralizes the block with his inside shoulder without being driven inside.

Unfortunately, Motuapuaka just doesn't win enough physical battles when he is asked to neutralize a blocker and spill the runner to a free hitter. Chase Williams and Jack Tyler rarely won those physical battles. The difference was that they were much quicker at reading the play and often beat blockers to their assigned gaps. When Motuapuaka is slow in his read, he cheats by trying to hop around blockers instead of taking on blocks with the proper leverage. That tendency was heavily on display against Tulsa, especially when Tulsa ran inverted veer.

On this inverted veer, the Hokies have an excellent defense called. Edmunds is aligned wide and has edge force responsibility and the jet sweep on any kind of option. Nicolas crashes inside on the dive. Tulsa options Nicolas and goes to block Motuapuaka, who should take quarterback.

Motuapuaka doesn't have safety help to spill the ball to the outside. Nicolas is unblocked to the inside and the other front seven players should be flowing to the football. Motuapuaka should be a cannon ball getting downhill to attack the guard with his inside shoulder. Instead of executing his assignment, he sits down and tries to find the football. This allows the guard to pull around and seal Motuapuaka inside. Proper technique would have forced the quarterback to cut up to the inside where Nicolas is waiting unblocked. Instead, Nicolas can't cover the space and the quarterback falls forward for seven yards.

When Tulsa needed a critical 3rd-and-short, they picked on Motuapuaka with the inverted veer. Here is an example early in the fourth quarter where Tulsa faces a 3rd-and-3. The Hokies are in the Bear front with Mihota and Dooley in at defensive end. Shegog goes to sweep. Motuapuaka has an inside leverage responsibility to jam up the path of the quarterback and push him wide to Shegog. Motuapuaka beats the guard to the hole, but he inexplicably jumps back to the inside, essentially making the guard's block for him!

Fortunately for the Hokies on this play, Edmunds recognizes the running back doesn't have the football and recovers to drag the quarterback down from behind before he breaks into the secondary. The Hurricane get enough to move the chains, and against an offense like Tulsa's, failed opportunities to change possession are absolute killers.

Unlike backer, where a clear challenger to Edmunds isn't present, Motuapuaka has players nipping at his heals for playing time. Sean Huelskamp played a solid game against Purdue and seems to be trusted by Foster to execute the defensive scheme. Carson Lydon burned his redshirt as a true freshman. He is bigger and faster to the point of attack than Motuapuaka and looked the part in a brief cameo at the conclusion of the East Carolina game. I don't have access to watch practice, but logic would dictate Motuapuaka is the best mike linebacker in Foster's estimation. That said, I find it hard to believe that Lydon's upside wouldn't make him a prime candidate to pass Motuapuaka in the spring or next fall.

Evaluating Tremaine Edmunds

Freshman Tremaine Edmunds had an up-and-down performance in his second career start (his first against a pass-first multiple offense; other start was Georgia Tech). When he aligned as an edge player, he played rangy, instinctive, comfortable, and delivered several big hits. When he aligned in Tech's base backer alignment, Edmunds looked tentative and was often very slow to react to plays.

With 1:05 left in the first half and Tulsa at its own 36-yard-line, Tech's defense is in a coverage look. Motuapuaka is flexed out to play inside leverage against the slot receiver. Edmunds aligned as the only inside linebacker in the box. Tulsa opened the drive with a play similar to the one they scored on to begin the game. The center blocked back on Corey Marshall and the guard pulled and looped around to lead up on Edmunds.

As Maddy did earlier, Marshall didn't help matters by getting up field and opening up the A gap. Unlike Motuapuaka, Edmunds doesn't step up and meet the trapping OL in the hole. He should. If he is keying the running back, he should come straight ahead because the back doesn't take a counter step. If he is keying the offensive line, he should fill right behind the down block of the center. Either way, he should be flying up into the A gap and squeezing the pulling guard with his right shoulder. Instead, he is stationary and allows the guard to come to him and seal him to the inside. Because Edmunds doesn't fit the gap and Marshall runs up field, the space between Edmunds and Marshall grows enough that the back only has to bend slightly to his left to get into the secondary. Tulsa ultimately scored on the drive on a similar play where Motuapuaka and Edmunds both hesitated to fit the A gaps.

Edmunds was much more aggressive playing on the edge when Shegog aligned as a linebacker. He read jet sweeps and inverted veer well and pressured the quarterback. He has excellent length and downhill speed, even though he looks a bit awkward when moving laterally. I could have picked several plays where Tulsa ran to the edge and Edmunds used his range and speed to get a tackle for a loss. Instead, I looked at how he read option plays, especially an inside zone read. Tulsa runs an inside zone read, Edmunds is optioned and has dive responsibility.

Edmunds takes a proper angle to crash and doesn't bite on the QB fake. He tackles the back with his right shoulder to maintain proper outside leverage. This is excellent technique.

Even when aligned on the edge, Edmunds still made freshman mistakes that are certainly not surprising given the complexity of Foster's system and its requirement to instinctually execute the proper gap fit and force-spill techniques. On Tulsa's second touchdown, Edmunds likely has a force call because he doesn't have any outside help to spill the play to. Force means containing the back so the back can only cut back to the inside.

If Edmunds has force responsibility, the one thing he cannot let happen is the right tackle get his helmet outside of Edmunds' left shoulder. The moment it happens, Edmunds is blocked and the back can bounce outside for an easy touchdown. That is exactly what happens. Edmunds gets great extension off the snap to neutralize the right tackle. However, Edmunds starts to move inside to help with what looks like a dive. The right tackle gets leverage on Edmunds left shoulder, and the back glides to the outside for an easy score.

For better or for worse, Edmunds seems to be the guy at backer next season. He is the only player at that spot that fits the edge-rush skill set that Foster uses in the Bear, and the other options are players that have been passed by Edmunds on the depth chart this season (Jamieon Moss), moved to other positions (Ray Minor), or are incoming freshmen. Edmunds has the spring to get comfortable in traditional backer alignments and become more instinctual with key reads and fits. If he doesn't, the Hokies defensive struggles will likely continue next season. He has to be good.