Hokies Defense Holds Serve, Offense Shows Potential against Liberty

When he faced the media after his Hokies debut and 36-13 win over Liberty, the first thing QB Jerod Evans did was shout out Virginia Tech's defense.

"I think our defense played like it was the end of the world," Evans said. "I mean, (they) got two turnovers by Greg Stroman. Had a sack by Ken (Ekanem). Had another turnover, or interception, by 'Rell (Terrell Edmunds). I mean, they played (their) butts off today."

Defensive coordinator Bud Foster was quick to echo those sentiments, praising how his defense looked against the Flames' up-tempo offense.

"It's a good starting point for us, today," Foster said. "I was pleased with how we played. We didn't give up any explosive plays. They did a couple things early. We thought the quarterback may try to run a little bit and he did with some quarterback draws and things of that nature. But, we were able to create some plays. We were big on third down. That's real big, particularly with a team that has some no-huddle, up-tempo (offense)."

Similarly, Justin Fuente glowed over the defensive performance.

"Stro (Greg Stroman) had two interceptions -- that second one was amazing," Fuente said. "We were able to get good pressure on the quarterback. Starts with them not being able to run the football (then) becoming passing situations. I thought we really did a good job."

While the defense was playing "like it was the end of the world", the offensive side of the ball didn't see the same amount of success in the early moments of the game.

The Hokies fumbled four times on offense, and lost three. Along with the slippery balls, Evans also sailed quite a few deep passes. Combine that with a running game which at times wasn't very impressive, and it's easy to understand why Fuente thinks his team has a long way to go.

"To give definitive remarks about overall execution is a little difficult right now," Fuente said. "It's obvious. Anybody can tell that we've got loads better to get to give ourselves a chance to be the type of team we'd like to be. At times, we didn't run the ball very well. At times we made big plays in the passing game. We got the ball on the perimeter a little bit, but still not like I'd like to. Yards on the inside were hard to come by, which is why there were some bigger plays in the passing game, quite honestly. Lot of work left to do."

A concern prior to kickoff was how Evans — the newly-named QB1 — would react in his first live action. Evans went 20-32 for 221 yards and 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He had some positive moments, but also made his share of mistakes.

"Some good, some bad," Fuente said. "My first impression (is) you've gotta take care of the football. I don't like the option pitch at all.

"When the pitch key's up the field, keep the ball and let's go. It's pretty basic."

Evans accounted for two fumbles, but also became the first Tech QB since Bryan Randall (2004) to throw for 4 touchdowns in a game. Evans might have added a few more too, if not for some overthrown deep balls.

"We had mistakes, for sure," Evans said. "I know on my part, I had a lot of mistakes that I am going to clean up. But for the most part it was exciting just because I get to go to war with my brothers.

"For the first game, there was a lot of emotions flying around after nine long months of hard work. We wanted to execute and show the crowd what we've been doing. I think it was a lot of emotions going through instead of actually thinking a little bit. That's what we have this whole week coming up for, to clean up the mistakes. Execution-wise it was good, but it could be a lot better."

Evans favorite target on the day was WR Isaiah Ford. Ford fell two catches shy of the Virginia Tech single-game record of 13 receptions. He hauled in 11 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.

Ford noted practicing against Bud Foster's defense this summer ultimately helped him grow as a player.

"Going against (Greg Stroman) one-on-one every day, you've got to bring your hard hat because you know he's going to bring his," Ford said. "You know he's going to get after it and we just make each other better."

With CB Adonis Alexander suspended for the season opener, it was the aforementioned Stroman who had himself a breakout game in his place.

Stroman ended the day with two interceptions to along with a breakup and two tackles. His biggest play of the day, however, was arguably his second interception. True freshman quarterback Stephen Calvert rolled to his right, unleashed a pass that saw Stroman put one hand in the air, while falling backwards, who tipped the ball to himself for the sensational grab.

"I just (saw) the ball come out of the quarterback's hand, and I tried to get my hands up," Stroman said. "Luckily, my hand stopped it, and it fell right down to me."

Foster was more than satisfied with Stroman's play.

"He's a competitor and he showed that today," Foster said. "He has some big play-making abilities and I was real pleased and happy for him to be able to step up and make the plays that he did."

The Hokies now turn their attention towards Tennessee and the Battle at Bristol, a spectacle which feels like a bowl game in its build up and pageantry.

Foster is ready to showcase the Hokies in primetime and in front of 150,000-plus spectators.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity that we have," Foster said. "Obviously everybody's talking about the stage we're going to play on, but it's not about that. It's about the game. We're playing a dynamic football program and we're really excited about the opportunity to go play those guys."

Odds and Ends

As expected, Colt Pettit was the starter at left guard for the offense today. It wasn't until Teller was inserted into the lineup in the second quarter that the run game found its legs. Only time will tell if Teller's performance is enough to propel him back to Tech's No. 1 LG against the Volunteers.

Both Tremaine and Terrell Edmunds were quite impressive today. Tremaine accounted for three tackles and a fumble recovery, while his brother Terrell had five tackles and an interception.

Starting whip linebacker/nickelback Mook Reynolds was seemingly around the ball on every play. He contributed three tackles and two pass breakups on the day. As expected, when going to the nickel package, Anthony Shegog was his replacement at whip.

Mark Umansky photographed the game.