Dome Disaster: Short Review for a Short Week

The Hokies were riding a wave of positive emotion following three consecutive standout defensive performances going into a match up with the underdog Syracuse Orange. All expectations were that if the Hokies could cover against the Orange's high tempo passing game, Virginia Tech would win the football game comfortably. Unfortunately, the warm up for Miami turned into a boiler as Syracuse used burning speed on the edge to make the Hokies defense look like they were still in the North Carolina mud.

In the fourth quarter, I am sure I was not alone in screaming for a more aggressive posture for the defensive secondary. Time and again, Syracuse used the short passing game to work both slots and get first downs. I kept thinking to myself, "why doesn't Foster press the slot receivers?"

The answer came when I re-watched the first quarter. Many TV viewers only had the option of seeing the end of the Clemson-NC State contest or watch the beginning of the UNC-Miami game until Clemson completed their victory. Foster was calling a much more aggressive coverage scheme in the first quarter, and Syracuse responded by beating Mook Reynolds and both Hokies safeties on vertical routes. Syracuse had given up the most sacks in the ACC coming into the game and it was reasonable to expect the Hokies pass rushers to be productive. Dino Babers and his offensive staff developed a series of check downs that allowed quarterback Eric Dungey to get the football out of his hands before the pressure could arrive.

On the first Syracuse touchdown, the Orange used play action to freeze the Hokies pass rush. Vinny Mihota and Nigel Williams are static. Tremaine Edmunds and Andrew Motuapuaka stay in a run defense posture instead of dropping underneath into short zones. Chuck Clark is the singular safety and he bites hard forward away from the run fake. This takes away any safety help deep. Dungey pulls the football from the mesh point and eyeballs the slant to Ervin Phillips.

Mook Reynolds has seen this quick slant look off the run fake all through fall camp. He guesses, even though he doesn't have deep safety help. Phillips then breaks his route up field. Reynolds gets toasted and Syracuse has an easy touchdown.

It wasn't the first time on the opening drive that the Hokies were dangerously close to being burnt deep. On this third and three, Foster sent a Reynolds on a nickel blitz from the field side and Tremaine Edmunds blitzed from the boundary. Foster's scheme had Terrell Edmunds running from the boundary safety spot to cover the inside trips receiver on the field side. Terell Edmunds was essentially running with his back to the quarterback and had to run almost a one third of the field in order to be in position to cover the slot. Dungey did a terrific job of recognizing the blitz. Generally the vulnerable area against a blitz is to throw a quick route into the space the blitzer vacated. Phillips curled up at the first down marker and Dungey made an accurate throw before Terrell Edmunds could arrive..

Syracuse had the perfect play called to get the first down. However, a quick second glance shows how vulnerable Edmunds is to a vertical route. If Philips just turns up field, Edmunds has all his momentum going to the sidelines while free safety Chuck Clark is rotating wide to take the deep route along the sidelines. Edmunds would have been toast. There were several other routes that broke open deep early and Dungey didn't see them. After watching the game progress, I think Foster went with the instinct that he couldn't run man-free without getting hit with some big plays. He changed to a more passive coverage scheme and relied on his front four to contain the running game and Dungey. The front held together just enough to keep the Hokies in the game until injuries and what looked like tired legs caught up in the fourth quarter.

As the game progressed, Syracuse abandoned most of their offensive sets except for formations that featured three receivers to the field side. Foster responded by only keeping five men in the box against most of Syracuse's one back-four wide receiver sets and only four men in the box when Syracuse used five receiver looks. Foster kept Clark and Edmunds in a deep safety posture. As result, mike linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka played inside leverage to the trips side. When the boundary featured a slot receiver, Tremaine Edmunds also had inside leverage responsibility.

With Syracuse's personnel, this adjustment created additional problems for the defense. Motuapuaka and Edmunds were forced to match up with lightening quick receivers in Brisly Estime and Ervin Phillips. And, Estime and Phillips success on quick inside curls and slants forced Motuapuaka and Edmunds to widen out, often leaving the Hokies seriously outmanned in the box.

Syracuse exploited both advantages on the critical drive of the game. This third and 10 presented the Hokies defense with their best opportunity to quell the drive. Syracuse aligned in a five-wide receiver set (two to the boundary and three to the field side.) This forced Foster to respond with his dime defense.

A close look at the personnel on such a critical down speaks volumes to how Syracuse's tempo and third down efficiency took a toll on the defense. The defensive line consists of Houshun Gaines, Trevon Hill, and Ricky Walker. All three are talented young players; however those are not the three guys you'd expect to see on such a critical down and distance.

Hill and Gaines rush, while Walker spies on Dungey. This allows Dungey a long period of time to scan the field. The Hokies are running a leverage zone, with Motuapuaka responsible for the short curl to the field side and Tremaine Edmunds responsible for the short curl on the boundary. Ervin Phillips runs the curl from the slot. With Motuapuaka lurking, Dungey hesitates. Phillips works back to the sideline away from Motuapuaka's leverage. Reynolds hands off his man to the deep safety and comes up to support Moutapuaka, but he arrives too late and misses the tackle. Phillips is able to fall forward and set up a makeable fourth down. Syracuse converted on a similar play (quick curls from both slots, and if not open Dungey had the option to run- Dungey hit Phillips on a quick curl in front of Motuapuaka) to extend the drive.

I had several messages on Twitter that were critical of Motuapuaka's coverage. I can't be. He played his assignment. The reality is, Phillips was a really good receiver and Syracuse found a way to get a good match up against Motuapuaka, and Foster was relatively static with schemes so Syracuse knew what to expect.

With Motuapuaka and Edmunds sinking under those curl and slant routes, essentially the Hokies were playing without linebacker support in the box. Dungey had a run-pass option on most plays down and his legs ultimately put the finishing touches on what looked like an exhausted defense.

On this play, Syracuse again adopts a five-wide receiver set, with three receivers to the field and two to the boundary. Foster again uses the dime defense with three down linemen. Syracuse again runs quick curls from the slot and Tremaine Edmunds and Motuapuaka sink underneath the curls. It is important to note that the receivers are running pass routes and are not blocking. This indicates that Dungey has a run-pass option, even though the offensive line is cross blocking the center and right guard.

Woody Baron has been terrific this season. However, on this play Baron's aggressive pass runs coupled with the wide rush of the defensive ends opens up a running lane for Dungey. Edmunds and Motuapuaka have to stay in their zone until Dungey has almost reached the line of scrimmage. At that point, they have to contend with the receivers (now blocking) and the right guard and the center. Dungey makes the 3rd and five conversion look easy.

After a humbling performance on turf, Foster has a short week to get his banged up defensive group ready for a critical Coastal division match up with Miami. Miami is a very difficult offense to get a read on. Running backs Mark Walton and Joseph Yearby are small backs that find a ton of space on inside zones. Brad Kaaya has NFL potential at quarterback, and he has Stacy Coley and a bevy of talented receivers to throw the football to. Yet, the offense has sputtered against Florida State and North Carolina, and injuries and attrition are doing a number on Miami's depth. If the Hokies front seven can stop the Miami running game, I don't think Miami can generate the explosive deep passing game on Lane Stadium's grass that Syracuse produced on the turf of the Carrier Dome.