Well, that was certainly interesting wasn't it fellow Hokie fans? I have not had a chance yet to review the game film, but after watching the Hokies 30-14 win over Boston College yesterday, I wanted to share some quick observations as they stand fresh in my mind before I watch the film and find out that I am all wrong.
1) Offensive Identity/Logan Thomas: Boston College has designed their defense around using defensive linemen to tie up as many blockers as possible, which allows their small, very fast and hungry linebackers to go sideline to sideline and make plays. I thought the Hokie coaching staff did a very poor job of offensive design in the first half, as their running game seemed to play right to BC's strength. The Hokies repeatedly went wide, and the Hokie line seemed to struggle to get to the second level. Nevertheless, the performance wasn't as bad as some of the fans in the stands may have thought. Pass protection was good. David Wilson and Josh Oglesby had some holes, but were not as sharp on their cuts, and down and distance dictated that Logan Thomas pass and run probably more than any of us would have liked.
At the half, Beamer was interviewed by the Fox Sports South sideline reporter (who later gave the TV audience a brutal demonstration of triple jump technique.) I thought that Beamer's comments have never been more telling in an interview, and it was clear that he would dictate a philosophical change in the running game in the second half. The Hokies lined up in the I and one back sets, and instead of running stretch plays, they used power blocking and ran straight ahead at the backers. The Hokies offensive line AND David Wilson had their best half of football this season. David Wilson was sharp finding holes and took advantage by getting to the second level while absorbing minimum contact. The offensive line was steller, with the linemen locking down the BC with single man blocks, and uncovered linemen getting to the second level and blocking the BC linebackers (no easy feat.) In addition, when the Hokies were in I, they used influence blocking by the fullback to really fool the linebackers.
The Hokies were also able to effectively mix in their shotgun/zone read offense for passing and running. Logan Thomas seemed to get most of the carries, but he made a fantastic play on a speed option to set up Wilson's biggest run. The Hokies also mixed in counter and sweep action to their shotgun set.
In the passing game, Logan seemed a bit amped up early in the first half. Once he settled down, he was again excellent in the passing game. More impressively, Logan also repeatedly audibled to different variations of the WR screen series (I formation, twins opposite out of the tight end) based on the BC defensive keys. While the plays looked similar, the Hokies ran 4-5 different versions of the WR screen, and ran counters (faking a block and catching a post with Danny Coale), backside look to the TE, and a variety of running plays. Almost all those plays featured an audible or "see me at the line" call by Logan Thomas. I said it early in the season, but this coaching staff has given Logan much more responsibility than they gave Randall, Vick, Glennon, or Taylor in their first season as a starter.
I also thought that the receiver corps had an excellent day. I really would like to see DJ Coles get more touches, but with so many options, everyone must fight that much tougher for snaps.
Chris Drager was again excellent, especially on blitz pickups after a shakey start, Also, Randall Dunn (who has been a terrible blocker) had an outstanding blitz pickup on a long play action completion to Coale that kept a drive alive.
Goal line again was an issue. Stinespring needs to look at using Lainer as an extra tight end. The QB sneak has become a weapon, but down and distance doesn't always give that as an option.
Journell looked confident on both kicks. I feel much better about him inside of 40 yards. I don't know about his leg strength. Branthover recovered ok after the shanked first effort. He will get better, with leg strength again seperating him from Delmer.
Also, I wanted to share a late game observation. On the final Hokie offensive series, VT played #60, Laurence Gibson at right guard. Now, I realize this was garbage time, but I saw a lean, athletic lineman who showed quick feet, pulled comfortably, and who delivered a series blow at the point of impact. Several times, he blocked his initial man and then got downfield looking for someone to hit. I always believe in my "eye test," and my eye test tells me that Laurence Gibson (who was a highly touted recruit) has a very bright future.
2) Use of defensive talent and tackling
Several Hokies had outstanding days yesterday, particularly Antone Exum, Dietrick Bonner, Corey Marshall, and of course, Bruce Taylor. The Taylor injury is devestating. His blitzing made up for a dreadful pass rush by the two starting defensive ends, and his abilty to go sideline to sideline made up for another sub-par performance by Tariq Edwards, who has really struggled dealing with gap control when the Hokie backup DL can't keep blockers off of him.
I was again very impressed with Marshall, who continues to show quickness, great handplay, and hustle from the defensive tackle spot. After two series from Luther Maddy (who played well in spurts) it seemed like Foster went with Marshall the rest of the way (except for one series from Hamlette.) Marshall occasionally is too aggressive and loses gap control, but he made tackles sideline to sideline and covers much more space than Antoine Hopkins. Derrick Hopkins also had a strong game (although on occasion both Hokie tackles lost gap integrity on the pass rush and allowed Rettig to step up in the pocket and find WRs down the field.)
The defensive end play was terrible yesterday. Tyrell Wilson can not start on this defense. Repeatedly, BC blocked Wilson with a tight end and no help, and Wilson was not able to beat the block. Wilson is supposed to be able to use his quickness to get off blocks and make plays, but he seems to catch blockers and try to tie them up. That doesn't work when you are his size. ACC teams have learned from film study that in pass pro, they can double JR Collins, help on the DTs, and block Wilson with a back or TE. Blitzing works because so much attention is paid to Collins, who as result is getting worn down and becomes less and less effective against the run. I don't know what the coaches see in practice, but if Zach McCray has a much higher upside than Wilson, then you need to get him on the field so he can get comfortable. At least, he physically will be more difficult to block than Wilson.
After being a position of depth early in the season, linebacker suddenly has lots of problems. Edwards is terrific in space but has really struggled shedding blockers. Barquell Rivers played the entire series when BC scored in the second half. He made several tackles, but clearly isn't as explosive as Taylor (and got pancaked twice by a BC guard.) Tyler only got one snap, and again, I didn't see Telvion Clark. I didn't get a feel for Nick Dew, but Tweedy really struggled tackling until he went down. Can the Hokies get effective snaps from Dew, Clark, Tyler, Rivers, and Williams to make up for the loss of Taylor.
I thought the Hokies secondary had a decent day. The lack of a pass rush when the Hokies didn't blitz hung them out to dry a bit. Without Hosley, there really isn't a ballhawking playmaker right now, but Bonner and Exum were outstanding, and Hill, Fuller, and Whitley were steady. Still, I would like to see more impact plays from Whitley as the leader in the secondary.
Comments
Your analysis is always amazing and technical. Where did you learn so much about football?
Receivers in general, Boykin in particular
Boykin had a handful of terrible plays against BC.
On the first play of the game I'm 99% certain that Boykin was supposed to be on the line of scrimmage (22) but instead lined up on the 20, perhaps thinking the opening kickoff was a touchback. This drew an illegal procedure flag that BC ultimately declined. He then on the same play failed to snag the pass from Thomas, which deflected off his hands. This let BC decline the penalty and made us lose the down. If Boykin catches that pass BC is forced to accept the 5 yard penalty. Yes, we'd be forced with 1st and 15, but we would have still had three downs to work with. We wound up getting 9.5 yards on the next two plays before the Branthover shank, so 15 in three downs was probably doable.
On the third drive Boykin completely lost track of his position in regards to the sideline and left four points on the field when he forgot to drag the toe on what was a stone cold lock of a touchdown pass. Any senior receiver with aspirations of getting drafted needs to know where he is and what he needs to do to come down in bounds.
Other than that, Boykin settled in and had a fine day. I don't mean this to come across as down with Boykin. He's legitimately our best receiver when he's on. But he made some mistakes that killed a couple of drives for us in the first quarter.
I agree on Boykin. His mercurial effort blocking (sometimes he is a demon, and sometimes he completely tanks the play) would be less frustrating except the other 3 guys block their tails off for the most part.
I am not going to jump on the Boykin "drop", because Thomas smoked that ball. It was probably LT3's 2nd worst throw of the day. The "no" touchdown however was brutal, especially for a guy who looks to be an NFL prospect at WR in a VERY deep WR draft this year.
Does anyone think he'll finish that way? I think he has a shot, but the top ten is pretty crowded right now.
He's fourth in yards per game behind: Ronnie Hillman, Ray Graham, and Bobby Rainey. Right now, his 6.32 yards per carry average are the highest in Tech history.
Realistically, playing in the ACC Championship game and against a lesser team in the bowl game would help his cause because post-season games are included as part of the total.
Wilson has been the most consistent back I've ever seen.
His two outliers on the season are Appy State (162 yards) and Arky State (85 yards). Eliminate those and he has ranged between 123 yards and 137 yards in every game. That's a window of 14 yards he's working in. Barring injury (and there is nothing to indicate he's wearing down as the season progresses) I don't think his average is changing much down the stretch. If it does anything, I see it going up because of a monster game or two. So I guess it's a question of what the other nine guys around him in that chart do.
It will probably come down to whether or not we make the ACCCG to give Mr. Wilson an extra game to work with.
Likely not, but
He has an extra game on several that are close behind. But Duke, Va, and especially GT are not great at stopping the run. Ranked 48, 49, and 77 nationally. UNC is better at 23. Interestingly, for an 8-0 team Clemson is 76 against the run and 60 in total defense nationally. But they are 15 in total offense. They are vulnerable if a team can find a way to stop them or get turnovers. I like our chances if we make the ACCCG.
Just a thought about goal line & LT3
Given our tendency to use LT3 on runs inside the 5, wouldn't it be nice to see a Tebow-esq fake run/jump pass used? Perhaps in the ACCCG against Clemson?
did you all see this Beamer quote
from the new HR blogger: