This season the Hokies return an outstanding collection of skill position players, their best starting four along the defensive line since 1999, and an experienced, talented group of corners that will allow the Lunch Pail Defense to outnumber offenses at the point of attack. Quarterback Michael Brewer has a season as starter under his belt. 2014 was a rollercoaster for the gritty QB. He played magnificently in the road win against eventual national champion Ohio State, yet he often struggled with accuracy and decision making. Many will look at Brewer's level of play as a litmus test for Tech's 2015 performance.
Again, the spotlight will definitely be on the offensive line this year. Especially against a talented Ohio State d-line led by potential top overall NFL draft pick Joey Bosa. Last season, the offensive line struggled to protect Brewer, especially against blitzing, mobile defensive fronts. After close study, I wrote about how Wake Forest used a scheme which baited the VT offense to slide the pass protection one way, and then the Deacons would bring extra pressure away from the slide. The result of Wake's strategy left Tech's running back to block two players. In three key situations where the Hokies needed around 10 yards to sustain promising drives, Wake Forest used the same alignment. Each time, the Hokies slide their protection one way, and the Deacons brought extra pressure from the other side. They dictated how the Hokies would set their protection and then exploited it. This was most frustrating for me because it didn't appear that the Virginia Tech staff noticed the tendency in order to make an adjustment.
Wake Forest linebacker linebacker Brandon Chubb was also surprised that the Hokie coaching staff didn't adjust. "When I realized how easily we were getting to that quarterback, I knew we had a chance to win. (Wake Forest defensive coordinator Mike) Elko is a mastermind, so I knew if he kept calling those blitzes and the defensive game that he was calling, if he kept that up, we would win that game. I knew that by halftime. We were going with what was working. We had prepared that week that if they did a certain thing, we just audible from it. They kept during that certain thing and we kept audibling, and they never checked our audibles. It's one of those things that somebody says you stretch your arm three times before a game, you're going to throw for 300 yards, and you stretch your arm three times before a game and it works. It's kind of like 'wow, I can't believe it's that easy'. Not easy, but it's really working. Because nothing every really works how it says it's going to work. There's ups and downs with it. But with that, our coach said if they say this, if they do this, if they audible, we audible. The game plan is never perfect, but in that situation, it was pretty close. We were like, 'Wow, it's actually holding true for this long.' Even if it holds true at the beginning, usually a readjustment at halftime, or something. It was just one of those things where I wasn't mad and we were going to keep taking what they give us but at the same time, you were kind of wondering what happened," Chubb told WRAL's Lauren Brownlow at ACC Kickoff. (Her oral history of last season's Virginia Tech-Wake Forest game is a great read.)
Chubb didn't articulate exactly what the Hokies were doing to "tip" their slide protection. However, from what I watched on tape I would assume that against a balanced defensive front (meaning the same number of defenders in the box on each side of the center), the center or the quarterback would slide the protection based on either a particular player, or to the field or boundary. For our discussion, let's assume that the Hokies would roll the protection to the side of the mike linebacker. Then, all Wake Forest has to do is align their mike linebacker to one side, and then stunt him and other defenders to the opposite side. The Virginia Tech offensive line slides one way, the blitz goes the other, and the running back is left alone to block two defenders on the other side.
Once the pattern is noticed, the easy adjustment is to roll the protection AWAY from the mike linebacker. Then, blockers are going in the right direction and the defense is in a dangerous position because of their blitz.
Wake Forest was smart and disguised their blitzes by not overloading one side, and this created confusion. Little did I know that this issue of sliding protection away from a blitz was an on-going problem beyond just the Wake Forest game.
Miami, in true Miami form, didn't even bother to disguise their blitzes. Here, before the snap, there are two defenders to the left of center and three to the right side. Yet, for reasons only a conversation with Coach Searels and the players involved could identify, the protection slides to the left.
Miami compounds the issue by bringing a zone blitz with a left slant. The defensive end over left tackle drops back into a zone coverage, while the other defensive linemen slant one gap to VT's left side. Miami creates a numbers matchup advantage. Caleb Farris, Jonathan McLaughlin, and Sam Rogers are left to pick up four pass rushers, while the left side of the Hokies' line and David Wang only face one defender total. Wyatt Teller and Wang are left to block air. Rogers blocks the interior threat, as he should, and the Miami outside linebacker is unblocked for the sack.
When the offense is in slide protection, somebody must recognize the numbers and roll the protection the correct way. That will either be inexperienced center Eric Gallo (who received high marks for his protection calls in the spring from Coach Searels) or Michael Brewer. It is one thing to be physically beaten. It is another to beat yourself. That play was a textbook mental mistake. Furthermore, Tech's offensive players and coaches must keep on their toes and adjust to any defense that's caught onto a pattern.
Slide protection does have benefits. It allows the offense to get extra numbers against a blitz (if it slides into the blitz). A slide protection can also open up passing windows and influence linebackers and safeties into moving out of position. The weakness of a slide protection, even when executed properly, is that it often leaves the running back blocking a defensive end or pass rushing outside linebacker. Even the best blocking Hokie running backs lose that physical matchup more often than desired. Here is an example from the Pitt game. Pitt has the Hokies in a third-down-and-long situation, and only brings three pass rushers after feigning a five-man rush. The Hokies slide their protection to the left side, leaving Sam Rogers one-on-one with Pitt outside linebacker David Durham. The video speaks for itself, and Durham is no Joey Bosa.
I already noted my concerns over McLaughlin and Wade Hansen's ability to handle edge speed rushers. Now, at least three ACC teams have a key on the Hokies that allows them to manipulate the Hokie protection scheme and either create matchup advantages or confuse blockers. Eric Gallo's primary challenge will be improving the identification of blitz threats, setting the proper protections, and effectively communicating adjustments at the line in order to keep Michael Brewer healthy this season.
All offseason, Hokie Nation has heard from coaches over how well the offensive line performed in the spring, and how much continuity and communication had positively impacted their performance. Brewer echoed the sentiment at ACC Kickoff.
"The experience and knowledge, there's no substitute for that," Brewer said. "You look at a guy like Jonathan McLaughlin, coming back after the injury with all that experience, the leader of the offensive line, Wyatt Teller, not a freshman anymore coming back with about as much talent as any of them, Eric Gallo is probably the only guy with no experience up there, but he's a rare breed. He's smart, he knows what he's doing, he's able to get to the second level quick, especially in the run game. And of course Augie and Wade, both returning starters, so the knowledge and the experience, I think it will help the offensive line a lot."
Blitz identification, setting protections, and executing them will be the offensive line's biggest challenge this season.
Comments
Painful to watch, but good to see these things analyzed. Thanks, French.
I have a question for you about communication, since this is the element of the game I know the least about. When setting protections and reading the defenses, what's the sequence of events when the offense comes to the line? Does the center make an initial call, or one of the other linemen? Does the QB override what they're saying, or is there a quick back-and-forth right before the ball is snapped? This kind of mechanics stuff is really intriguing to me and it's hard to tell during the game what's going on.
I am sure different teams have different systems. Here is a typical pre-snap read:
A center will come to the line of scrimmage and count how many people are on each side. Then he will call the strength, which tells the other linemen the protection. On running plays, there will be a second call from an offensive lineman indicating how a play will be blocked play side. This is especially important for a pulling guard because it lets him know if his man will pop up quickly or if the play will take longer to develop. Keep in mind, each OL is also screaming (usually dummy calls to disguise any real communication.) On running plays, there will also often be additional conversation between subsets of blockers. For example, I may want to try to zone block a defensive end on a stretch play. However, if he is playing wide and trying to contain (which messes up my angle), then perhaps a Pin and Pull ("roll it" in my day) with the tight end will create a more effective block.
Once the protection is set, the center gets ready to snap. If there is a late shift, the playside OL often makes a call to try and signal an adjustment. This is a bit tougher for the center (especially if he doesn't keep his head up on shotgun snaps) so some teams allow their QB to override the protection call and adjust. We had different colors that meant different things. Green was an audible then the new play was a number. We didn't use slide protections except on rollout passes, so I don't recall any late shifts, however we did call a color (I forget the color" and "inside" or "outside" to let the RB staying in which man I would take if I was outnumbered. Our system struggled against Catholic, which did a ton of zone blitzing.
Note- we even had a color call that meant "I forgot the snap count." Everyone else would yell "Diddle" -on one, "Nads" on 2 etc.
I don't know how players in big, noisy stadiums adjust. However, that isn't an excuse on these plays. VT was at home vs Miami, and the Wake and Pitt crowds weren't exactly the most intimidating atmospheres the Hokies have ventured to.
This issue is a mix of things. It could certainly be that the coaches saw the adjustment, but had young players (Teller and Hansen were just starting to get starter reps in the Miami and Wake games respectively) and didn't want to over-complicate things. However, it seemed like such an easy fix and adjustment that I was really concerned after that game. Unless someone butchered the call 4 times on the field (if so, why are they on the field), that adjustment has to be made.
It also gives some insight into Bud's success. The defense has such an advantage if they have a deceptive scheme and have the talent to execute it. That success if why pro-style offenses have gone out of favor in college football, while being replaced by quick read spread systems that limit the number of players a defense can put in the box.
Awesome explanation (per usual), thanks! It must be absolute chaos at the line before each snap; something that you really can't appreciate unless you're right there. I've never gotten the impression from watching games (in person or on TV) that there was this much going on. No wonder I keep hearing coaches say how cerebral their OL has to be. And here all of us armchair coaches sit back and say, "well, it's so easy, clearly he should have hit that guy!"
Even at a D3 level, there is a ton of noise with just the players yelling. When coaches talk about an offensive line having "chemistry", don't discount how much of that is comfort with recognizing the right voices and the right calls in all the chaos.
I've read this three times and I still don't know what "Omaha!" means.
It is probably Acadian for "I'm about to throw a brutal interception in a playoff game/against the Florida Gators."
Sounds to me like a permanent part of VT's half-time adjustment procedures should be a quick call to Coach French. As usual, after reading French, I have to loosen the strap on my ball cap a size or two. Thanks for the edification.
I agree with you about French being an in-game analyst for the football team. Very perceptive about the game. I am by no means a guru in the intricacies of football but I did notice in the WF clip that if an audible could have been called for a play (if there was one designed as such), where two of the receivers took a few strides and broke inside, there could have been a 5, 10 or more gain on a quick throw to them.
Splash of cold water to the face.
or body.....
probably NSFW I guess but Kate Upton in a bikinni
Out of all the water splashing gifs out there, I'm glad you chose this one.
The good thing is, this is the kind of stuff that comes from multiple years of quality coaching, so most of the guys who will be contributing are still learning the ropes in this regard. Things should definitely improve over time, but there might be struggles here and there before it finally clicks together. The good news is that we're in a spot where we are bringing in quality kids and are now finally giving them quality coaching, so once it comes together, it should stay, even as starters age out. Hopefully, the bad years will be behind us very soon.
When people talk about the "speed of the game," this is the kind of thing I think about. How long does the C or the QB have to read the defense and make the call? It can't be more than a couple of seconds. Compounding that, I wonder if this is the sort of thing that each coach does his own way, so the players have had to learn three systems in three years. But this year they will finally get to use the same signals and decisions trees as last year.
From Frenches post:
And then from this post:
These two points make me a LOT more confident that the coaches will have an easier time making in-game adjustments with this group this year.
French, what say you?
It was going to be a slow day but TKP has a new French post...so excited!
I take it we figured this out after the Wake game and were able to pick up said stunts / manipulations vs UVA and Cincy?
UVA pounded Brewer. There were a couple issues, but several of the sacks came from Hansen being completely whipped by a couple of outstanding DE's in Valles and Harold. Fortunately, Coach Loeffler figured out an adjustment by using two tights and two wides, then spreading out Bucky to Valles side. Instead of moving Valles to DE and playing nickel, the UVA doofus took his best pass rusher and put him out in coverage on Bucky. Kudos to the VT offensive staff in using that matchup to quiet the pass rush, and then when UVA moved Valles inside and covered Hodges with a safety- well, you know what happened.
See: http://www.thekeyplay.com/virginia-tech-football/2014/12/8165/virginia-t...
AH yes - I remember you writing the article about this now. Thanks!
So, I guess the million dollar question is - what's different now? To play devil's advocate: We have the same OT's as last year (granted a bit more experienced), and the same OL coach. What will make this year's line different in picking up stunts and blitzes? Sure with Wyatt starting, the entire line might have a tougher mentality, but just having that mentality doesn't mean you won't be fooled by the same defensive schemes again.
Better communication is the hope. I still think McLaughlin/Hansen will struggle with good speed rushers. Physics.
let's be honest ... 15 yrs, 3 OL coaches and VT still can't block the blitz. It's not going to happen this yr either. Sorry guys.
FTFY
1 OL coach who recruited bodies to act as an OL.
1 OL coach who inherited said "bodies" and actually did a decent job
1 OL coach who is still fixing the poop of the past OL coaches, recruiting the proper kids that play OL and teach technique
my bad, 4 coaches, 15 yrs. I can remember 1 above avg OL in that time frame.
you're way more confident on searels than in am. let me know when it's fixed.
Texas, Georgia & LSU are not cupcake schools to get into for a coach.. with any new change it will take time.. at least we're recruiting OL and not converting TE's to OL.
yeah we're moving DLine to Oline but look how well Teller is doing in such little time also says a lot about how behind we were in OL recruiting.
Wait a minute, one of those converted tight ends is a pro bowl tackle in the nfl. I get your point, but there will always be position changes when recruiting young men that haven't completely developed physically yet.
I don't think changing TEs into O linemen is an issue, but it is an issue if that is your plan to get O linemen.
Of course some people will need to change positions. Your plan to get one position shouldn't be to recruit another though.
At first, I thought you were being sarcastic... but now?
drinking koolaid and being optimistic for the sake of, isn't reality.
sorry, that I need proof of being better, than just saying it to believe it. I will say, looks like there OL might be competent in run blocking again ... oh VT passes more than they run now. welp.
/insert cute pic.jpg
They're not being coached by Newsome anymore
That in itself is enough to trust that things are getting better.
French brought up the point, as did the WF LB. The Hokies have ALWAYS shown tendencies on offense. It's been a thing since 2006. Can't cover a blitzing LB who knows where you're going and you can't/won't counter.
That's always been something I don't understand about the Hokies. Coach Foster is one of the best in-game adjustment guys in the business, but over on offense...
Bud is good at his job. The offensive coordinators at VT have not been very good at their jobs.
In ten years fans will still blame 2025 VT's offensive shortcomings on Newsome and O'Cain.
To be fair, it has been 2 years, and only two, or three of the offensive people left played before the staff change. You'd probably expect more seniors to at least be contributing if they had recruited well.
In fact, last year the majority of the offense was provided by people who hadn't played for our team in any previous season. That seems to be a legitimate reason to blame the previous regime.
Its kind of similar to our poor performance in basketball last year. It is reasonable to blame that on the way Seth Greenberg left. Yeah, it has been a while, but the timing of letting him gave us James Johnson, and you can't really expect Buzz to fix it in a year.
I really want to believe this, but the lack of adjustment across three games that French points out has me worried. I have to believe that's a coaching thing. The only alternative explanation is the players just doing whatever the hell they want and ignoring Searles's adjustments.
the center or QB normally calls the slide protection.??? FRENCH???
Makes sense that every time Wake would show the same blitz the same slide was called so something tipped off the C/QB but it registered wrong time and time again. Hopefully in year 2 of the system things slow down for the guys.
From the Wake Forest interview above:
It sounds like their defense knew our offense's signals. When they heard the call for a slide protection one way, they would audible into a blitz to the opposite side. If the other guy is reading your mail, and you don't know it, you got a problem.
I think they knew who VT ID'ed as the mike linebacker, and blitzed away from where he lined up. They didn't need to know the calls because they knew who VT was calling the protection to based purely on their alignment. Again- my guess, but I have done enough digging to believe that this was more likely than stealing signals.
It's a coaching thing but it's certainly also a skill and experience thing. Not to knock on him personally but Wade Hansen was a D3 D-lineman two years ago and was taking significant snaps at a tackle spot for us down the stretch last year. Its hard to fault a coach for all the struggles when you're forced to plug in a guy at a key spot that might not be a D1 caliber player and doesn't have much experience at the position he is asked to play. I think that speaks to the recruiting actual O-line issue. Teller and Conte are more talented but also lacked real game experience on the O-line and were forced to anchor the line.
Seriously, after reading this I'm just like, shit. The problems seem like less of the players, and more of incompetent in-game coaching. Means we are fighting a losing battle.
I have to agree with Vtguitarman extremely painful to watch (especially the sam rogers pitt clip). Im just hoping if frenchwasp has identified this problem then so has our offense and adjusted accordingly?
You know, it seems to me that it would behoove Tech to check in w/ Bud at halftime to see if he's noticed anything.
Yeah, most games it probably wouldn't be likely he had the time to pay any attention to what the opposing D was doing, but in that WF game, I have a hard time believing there was any real chess match going on against their O that he couldn't have dedicated a little time for a quick review of their blitz package and clue in Searels.
i can't remember where i saw it but I thought i heard/saw that the position coaches don't talk to e/o during halftime and its mainly to focus on the 2nd half script/goals.
but definitely agree with your point. wonder what Bud does when we have the ball?? does he have the ability to look at film or still shots of the game so far.
My guess is that Bud isn't watching our O when they are on the field. He his probably talking to the coaches in the booth and figuring out how he's going to make adjustments. He's also probably talking to his players on the sideline coaching them up.
Have to make him HC to get him to alter focus. For chrissake, our DC can't be responsible for analyzing our offensive ineptitude.
Hilarious! this comment made me laugh out loud!!
and classic username too
If we have a "tell", it should show up in every practice, and our coaches on both sides of the ball have been around long enough to spot it.
I'm thinking it's something coaches know about Lefty or about Searles. But Clemson knew what we were doing before Searles arrived.
There is a book on us somewhere.
My single biggest gripe about the OL...for years...is the number of times we have a lineman blocking absolutely no one in pass pro. I don't know why it happens but it is something even a novice like me can see.
That book was David Wilson wouldn't run inside/Greg Nosal couldn't handle Brandon Thompson.
RE: all of the games referenced above.
Guys- I will get to all these great questions shortly. I am stuck in Chicago on business travel and it will take some time to author good responses.
With regards to Searels, I have been a skeptic since the hire. I thought his Texas OL's underperformed (the left side was very good, but his right side consisted of top recruits and despite being upperclassmen, they were so-doi) and Georgia fans were ready to ride him out of town on a rail. I can't fault him when the center or QB doesn't see an overload like vs Miami. At the same time, Wake used well disguised balanced fronts and then slanted to an overload. If the Hokies had a tell that they were calling the strength to the mike, after 2 times in similar situations a coach, be it the OL coach or (more likely) someone in the booth has to notice it and change things up. Loeffler didn't. Stinespring didn't. Shane Beamer (whose backs were outnumbered 2 to 1) didn't. Searels didn't. If they did, they didn't change it. That was unacceptable in my eyes. The players can't be responsible because as a player you can't see how anything manifests after the ball is snapped besides your assignment.
way to throw the breaks on the hype train....
The Hype Train has made an unscheduled stop. Hopefully fall camp can get it rolling again...
I'm sure BillDozer's upcoming season trailer will get it rolling again.....
This is what I was thinking as I read this too - it seemed to be more an indictment of the coaching than of the players. If WF figured it out and kept doing the same thing all game and we made NO adjustments... I can't believe FBS athletes from any school are incapable of handling whatever adjustment would be needed to fix the issue.
Ugh.
It is both. On the play versus Miami- someone didn't communicate or see the overload. In the Pitt, Sam Rogers gets beaten like a rented mule.
The Wake thing is a different issue, and it has been a problem going back several years. Boston College gave the Hokies fits with blitzes in 2013. Interestingly, in the 2014 matchup BC's sacks were mostly just on busted assignments where they slanted the front.
Ooooh, what you said about Sam. French, your insightful comments might just upset the TKP line.
I guess I'm just saying that I can understand that busts happen, and mistakes get made on the field. Especially when you're learning a new offense.
But for coaches not to make adjustments to what someone else is doing in game to take advantage of your tendencies is mind-blowing to me. I just can't fathom how that can be allowed to happen. Even the Wake lb seems shocked we didn't adjust.
welp. this doesn't give me a lot of confidence that our offense will progress much this year. It scares the heck out of me to think that our coaches are incapable of making adjustments of this nature
Is Wyatt holding an SMU hat? Sup with that?
Maybe it's a gift from Chad Morris (He does know Brewer)? This is how rumors get started.
Don't know about the hat, but it looks like Brewer's beard is recovering nicely from ACC media days.
Yeah, at least now I'd likely recognize him if I passed him on the street.
And not for nothing, but I was scrolling through my tv channels and hit on Smokey and the Bandit. Started watching it and now I can't quit. Haven't seen it in decades. Thing is, Burt Reynolds in the movie kinda reminds me of Brewer a little bit with the Texas hat and 'stache and all. Stupidly funny movie, but I keep seeing Brewer.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this type of film review part of Max Warner's new job? Hoefully he can spot these tendancies and address them with the coaches before they becoming something like this again. I'm not sure if he will be in the booth or able to review this stuff during the game though. Does anyone know?
Good point. The idea would obviously be to catch these sorts of tendencies before an opposing defensive coach does and get out of them before this sort of thing happens in-game.
that would make sense. I can't be the only person that noticed.
(Mike Elko laughs maniacally)
Jon Tenuta didn't.
Sounds like us counting on the defense to win the game and the offense plays to not eff up our own defense too badly...not a new coaching philosophy even with new coaches.
French, have you had a chance to look back at the line play from Searels time at Texas or GA to see if this is a historical tendency? A coaching "blind spot", of sorts?
I did a review of Texas film in his last year and chose not to post it. My concerns based on that film were more general (lack of attention to detail on active feet/aiming points was a big issue). I openly admit that I wasn't watching closely for this tendency.
However, past struggles with setting blitz directions (case study: Boston College 2013) pre-date Searels. It would require much more input to determine accurate root cause analysis. I don't necessarily blame Searels because the scheme Wake used would be tough to see at field level. To me, Loeffler and Stiney should have been responsible for catching it and reporting down. If they did, and then Searels didn't communicate it, then he gets blame.
This isn't black or white. There are lots of factors, known and unknown here. The point of the column isn't to assign blame- it is merely to indicate that the Hokies need to improve on this facet to return to the top of the ACC.
Of course, Wake's success against us on defense last year was because they had help from the man who used to be in charge of defense for the entire country!
Thanks, French! Wasn't looking so much for assignment of blame, just looking for things that would tell me that I should lower my expectations. So I think I'm hearing that this may be a combination of several factors, including lack of experience on the line/lack of QB recognition/unknown factors/bad day at the office for the coaching staff in the booth (at least for the Wake game)? Sounds like most, if not all, are correctable, and hopefully will be corrected.
How much of this is QB recognition of the blocking schemes? Should Brewer be rolling with the protection or stepping up in the pocket? That Wake clip looks like a wide receiver could have recognized the blitz and broke off on a quick slant. The Miami clip I don't think Brew or the RT saw the LB hiding behind the DE. The woes are not just with the line but the whole team in recognizing the situation and adjusting. I know its not easy. Trust needs to be built that most everyone will do their assignment. But playmakers recognize mismatches and bad situations and adjust.
"You mean all I have to do is eat this hat? That's it? Deal."
Brewer: "yeah, it totally tastes like candy and you'll get free Taco Bell for life."
Teller: "So I told the barber, 'Sure, try something different.' What do ya think?"
Brewer: "Well..."