Justin Fuente's Offense Sputters in Spring Game, Despite Handful of Bright Spots

With a picturesque Blacksburg day on tap, and the temptation of a first glimpse at Justin Fuente's ballyhooed offense on the table, thousands of fans packed Lane Stadium for the new head Hokie's first spring game. But save for one memorable drive, there wasn't much worth writing home about.

All eyes were on Jerod Evans, the presumed frontrunner for the starting quarterback job, but he only truly found his rhythm on one of his three series on the day working with the bulk of the first team.

Though Fuente and new OC Brad Cornelsen's offense looked disjointed for much of the rapid-fire spring scrimmage, all seemed right in Blacksburg for a few scant minutes in the third quarter of the offense's 20-15 win.

Evans led things off with a laser throw to redshirt sophomore WR Jaylen Bradshaw for a roughly 20-yard gain. FB Sam Rogers then got the call with two straight carries, one for 10 yards and another for three. Evans missed freshman WR Divine Deablo down the west sideline, but hooked right back up with him for a 15-yard first down throw.

Next, he found Bradshaw once more, this time for 10 yards. Rogers picked up another decent chunk of yards on the ground, but the play was called back for holding to close out the quarter. But just as the fourth opened, Evans lofted a ball to Bradshaw in the corner of the end zone, underthrowing his man and letting the WR juke behind CB Adonis Alexander and score the first touchdown of the game.

Bradshaw, speaking in lieu of his quarterback since all signal callers were made off limits to media by Tech, said he thought Evans made a savvy read on the play, throwing "the best ball he could" to avoid leading him out of bounds. Though the play involved going up against one of Bud Foster's lankiest, most physical defenders in Alexander, Bradshaw never doubted that he could make the grab and get the crowd on its feet.

"You always feel confident, you can't be intimidated by anybody, once you step on the field you have a job to do," Bradshaw said. "Adonis and I are very good friends, but when the helmets come on and the pads come on, it's me and you, one-on-one."

Bradshaw certainly had his opportunity to make a mark, given that Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips both sat on the sidelines with injuries on the day. For a team hoping to finally find a third receiver beyond just TE Bucky Hodges, the moment provided a tangible bright spot for the third-year sophomore.

"Those two are great receivers, I learned a lot from them, and with them being out, we still had a job to do and they still encouraged us to do the best job we could," Bradshaw said.

But Deablo and Samuel Denmark also showed some flashes in the game, even though the offense as a whole struggled. They may be true freshmen, but Fuente liked what he saw.

"They're highly intelligent and motivated young men that want to earn playing time early," Fuente said. "That being said, they're true freshmen, they should be going to prom right now. They're trying to get open versus some pretty darn good Division I defensive backs, so as a coach, you've got to take it with a grain of salt and understand that there's going to be a little bit of growing pains with those guys."

The Hokies were surely hoping to see more from converted basketball star Devin Wilson after he raised some eyebrows in spring practice, but he was pretty quiet overall. Nevertheless, Fuente said he's still taking a hard look at whether or not to include him on the squad this summer.

"Devin and I will talk about that this week," Fuente said. "We'll do player evaluations and everything. Some of them will have to do with how Devin feels about it and how we feel. He and I will sit down and we'll talk about all those scenarios and figure out the best laid plan for him."

For his part, Wilson said he felt good about the experience, and has the full backing of Buzz Williams to pursue his two-sport dreams.

"If I was to play football, I would definitely play basketball as well," Wilson said.

Yet Wilson's presence won't matter much if the team can't find a viable starting quarterback. Fuente was mum on how he viewed the performance of his stable of signal callers, but he also said he was in no hurry to name a starter coming out of spring, or even rule out playing multiple guys under center this year.

"I'm open to whatever it takes to get the job done," Fuente said. "So whether that's asking guys from the basketball team to play wide receiver, or whether that's playing multiple quarterbacks, or whether that's playing one, it doesn't matter. Find a way to get the job done. I've been open to all sorts of ways to do things and ultimately we'll figure out what that is by the time we play the first game."

The first half had little in the way to offer the rabid fans on hand offensively.

Brenden Motley earned the call for the first series, but he couldn't manage much, even though he was working with the first team.

Dwayne Lawson earned the next set of reps with the backups, but he too barely managed any offensive progress.

Then came the moment the Lane crowd was waiting for: the first appearance of Jerod Evans. He entered to quite the raucous cheer, but little else was worth cheering in his first series. He missed on a deep attempt to TE Bucky Hodges, but got bailed out by a pass interference call.

He bobbled the next snap and missed a mid-range throw, and very nearly threw a pick later in the series, despite a solid effort from the line.

On the next series, it was true freshman Josh Jackson to take the reins, and he put together the team's best drive of the day. Not only did he manage a five-yard run of his own, but also got a ball out to Samuel Denmark for a short gain. He then flipped a short ball to new TE Chris Durkin, who scampered for a 17 yard gain, but after a 10-yard Jackson carry, the drive sputtered.

Motley reclaimed the starting spot next, but couldn't find a rhythm. Jack Click, the walk-on signal caller, found more success, nailing Jaylen Bradshaw for a 20-yard gain down the sideline in his limited action.

Evans then got another chance at the helm, and after a quick screen to C.J. Carroll he managed to scramble a bit to pick up some yards with a trio of mid-sized runs. But all of those came once he felt pressure in the pocket, limiting the effectiveness of the drive to close the half.

Motley started the second half for the Hokies, and though the offense gained a little ground with a jet sweep from Deon Newsome straight out of the Scot Loeffler playbook, the offense couldn't manage much. Joey Slye got the chance to kick a 54-yard field goal to close out the drive, and nailed it. Somewhere, Frank Beamer smiled.

Jackson got the next chance under center but couldn't repeat his earlier success, yielding the floor to Evans, producing the team's finest drive of the day and Bradshaw's big score.

Redshirt freshman RB Coleman Fox produced a touchdown, and Motley and Lawson each earned another series, but they couldn't produce anything in the way of fireworks.

Now, with his first spring in the books, Fuente plans on giving the players a little time for rest and relaxation, before seeing if he can really ramp things up this summer.

"They need to go home and eat some of mom's good cooking and be ready for summer," Fuente said. "We'll find out how mature we truly are throughout the summertime."