Top Secret Spring Game Defensive Film Review: Repacking the Lunch Pail

For a program built on defense, Virginia Tech has struggled mightily on that side of the ball since the terrific defenses of the early Justin Fuente era. Any defensive success during Brent Pry's tenure as head coach came when playmaking defensive linemen like Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Aeneas Peebles created negative plays. However, despite their excellence, poor linebacker fits and alley play by the safeties created holes they couldn't plug.

Enter James Franklin. Franklin loaded up on defensive line transfers and a handful of new linebackers to make Pry's defense more structurally sound and physical at the point of attack. New faces Eric Mensah, Keon Wylie, Curtis Jones and Kenny Woseley Jr. spent much of the Virginia Tech spring game showcasing that improved physicality, while a couple of freshmen demonstrated they can add more playmaking to the mix.

Improving Gap Fits

Over Pry's tenure as head coach, the Hokies relied too heavily on defensive line playmaking to overcome poor gap fits that broke up the core defensive structure. With no proven playmaker on the defensive line outside of Kemari Copeland, the Hokies can't bank on winning up front one-on-one. A sound 2026 defense hinges on the linebackers fitting their gaps and finishing plays.

On this split zone read, the defensive line slanted hard into the boundary, with defensive tackle Gerard Johnson (No. 55) crossing the face of right guard Michael Troutman (No. 54). Meanwhile, defensive tackle Eric Mensah (No. 45) started to slant, but when he felt left guard Layth Ghannam (No. 56) attempt to wash him outside, he anchored his right foot and bullied him back to the inside.