Four Weeks, Four Questions: What Can't Go Wrong?

It's finally here. Spring game.

Let me rephrase.

It's finally here. SPPRRIIIIIIINNNGGG GAAAAAAAAAAME YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH.

It's that time of year again, folks. The time to put on some shorts, your favorite Hokie t-shirt and drink beers in a parking lot. That's right, we're pre-gaming a glorified scrimmage that hardly ever tells us anything about what the regular season has in store! It's really the best.

And while I was already excited for the weekend, two recent events made me look forward to this Saturday even more:

1. The departure of Bill Roth (I'll have more on that at the end of the column).

2. This tweet:

Who going to the VT spring game?— Marcus Vick (@MVFive) April 22, 2015

So not only does this year's game elicit a little more emotion, but I have the chance to run into Marcus Vick downtown?!?! This is the dream!

So with gleeful festivities in mind, let's get to the final question in this series.

I know what I'm about to say will make a lot of fans uncomfortable, but I have to do it anyway. This Virginia Tech team has more talent than any Hokie football squad has had since 2011. In fact, if you look at that roster it's at least close between the two teams.

The team has legitimate NFL talent at corner, defensive line and receiver (or whatever you count Bucky Hodges as), and a group of young guys who have the potential to get there. If everything goes right, there's no reason this team can't rise out of the mediocre abyss of the last three seasons.

That is, if everything goes right.

Considering this is real life and nothing ever goes 100 percent according to plan, isn't the real question what absolutely can't go wrong?

Because there are a few of those, and if this team avoids most of them we may be in for a bit of a surprise.

What are they? Well I'm glad you asked, let's take a look at the things that would almost definitely derail this team's performance:

Injuries...to certain positions

There certain areas on the field that would destroy Tech should a starter or two go down, and the first and most obvious example is on the offensive line. While the starting group has looked very improved, the reserves have been, well, let's be nice and say inconsistent.

This is a problem for many reasons, considering the line is the key to offensive consistency. If one guy is missing, at any position, it'll be a scramble to fill the hole and would require Stacey Searles to pull a 290 pound rabbit out of his hat.

But what I'm specifically worried about, should a big man go down is what I've seen happen to Andrew Ford and Chris Durkin this spring. Remember those guys? Former backup quarterbacks turned tackling dummies who Scot Loeffler mercilessly fed to the lions in a heartless attempt to baptize them by fire?

You may also know them for their work as "poor sucker getting destroyed by first string defenders" in all of those scrimmage highlight videos. Watching Ford get tossed around like an empty Taco Bell wrapper is not the best way to boost my confidence in anyone playing on the second team line. If one of them has to fill in with the starters? The whole team could be in a world of trouble.

We've all already seen one whole season of Michael Brewer doing his best matador impression while still getting drilled constantly. I think it's safe to say that his (or Brenden Motley's) body just wouldn't be able to hold up if those shots continued in 2015.

The team is also dangerously thin at receiver, so much so that people are talking themselves into C.J. Carroll. While it's nice to have a scrappy little wide out to root for, I'd rather not rely on someone who's closer to the size of a ninth grader than an ACC linebacker.

I'm worried about Hodges. It's no secret that he's the best big-play threat on this team, and I have a feeling teams are going to try to get physical with him to see if it impacts his play at all. I know he's a big guy, but should he wear down the offense will get even more stagnant than normal, and that can't happen.

I'm honestly not worried about the defense at all. Defensive tackle runs so deep that they can use some of their spare parts (Vinny Mihota) to fill in at end, giving Charley Wiles a bunch of pieces to play with. Outside of Deon Clark there's a ton of youth at the linebacker spot, but how many times have we seen Bud Foster succeed with someone who was supposed to be too young and out of their depth? Barquell Rivers, Bruce Taylor and Jack Tyler were all young and inexperienced one offseason too, and they all proved their worth immediately.

I know all of these passing touchdowns haven't made anyone feel particularly comfortable with the secondary, but just think about this. One corner that's coming back this summer is an All-American, and the other was a freshman All-American in 2013. Torrian Gray has several players who can play anywhere, Chuck Clark being the primary example, and a few other corners with experience (Donovan Riley and Greg Stroman).

Will it be nerve wracking to start a true sophomore at safety? Sure, but it isn't like they're throwing some random former 3-star out there. C.J. Reavis can play, yet another young guy who's primed to take it to the big stage.

Bad Brewer

I'm very confident that Brewer will win the starting quarterback job. While it took many by surprise to see him play so well this spring, I'm not sure that's fair. He had his moments in 2014, I simply think last year was a tale of two Michael Brewers.

The first part was the tale of the confident gunslinger who barely knew the offense. He knew enough to win the job, but there was no way he was completely prepared to run the whole offense through the first month of the season. Therefore he looked like a combination of Joe Montana and Shane Falco in Columbus, made a ton of tough plays. Picking up that fumble and scoring against Georgia Tech should be on his highlight reel forever.

But with the plays came the picks. He made a lot of bad reads and through some simply excruciating interceptions.

And then came the next tale. After throwing nine of his 15 interceptions in September, there was another problem afoot. The Texan became so inconsistent, some would say he was almost skittish. He cut down on the turnovers greatly, but at a cost of a little thing we in the business like to call passing yards. Dude became a master of the check down and the throw away, and absolutely killed the team against Miami and Wake Forest.

Why did this happen? Was Brewer really that afraid of making a mistake that he would simply choose not to make a decision at all? And if that was the case, then how do you explain his very underrated performance against Boston College? 31-48, 345 yards, 3 total scores and about 17 'wait...is he going to lead this comeback?' moments, did he simply conquered his fears for the second half of one game? I find that dubious to say the least.

What I find to be much more likely is that during one of those games, possibly against Ohio State, Brewer re-aggravated his back. Any of you who have ever had a back injury know that it's entirely plausible to feel good one day and not able to throw a spiral the next.

This is total conjecture, but to me it makes sense. He wouldn't take shots down the field if he knew he couldn't get it there, so insert captain checkdown. The Hokies need as much of the Brewer they see right now as possible. The one who's assertive and confident, with a much wider knowledge of Loeffler's offense.

Should bad Brewer come back, we may see a quarterback controversy mid-season.

Indecision

It's the final and most important thing that could send Tech askew. If there was one word that I would use to describe the team in 2014 it would be confused. All we could talk about during the entire fall was about identity. What should this team do offensively? Why can't they go back to 'old-school Virginia Tech football?' Where has the whip gone? Why does Foster use the nickel so much?

So many question, so few answers. And while questions and confusion amongst the fanbase isn't necessarily a bad thing, apparent indecision by the coaching staff is. Was this an offense that wanted to pound it down people's throats, throw it 45 times a game or something in between? Who was the best fit at running back? Who was the better fit at quarterback?

Don't think that I'm just killing the offensive coaches either. For as good as Foster was against Ohio State, there was some major conflict as to what he needed to do against ECU. And this isn't even on just the coaches. How many times last year did we hear the old "head tying up his feet" adage?

Indecision, confusion everywhere. This team has its share of good players, but the coaching staff needs to pick its best ones and play them. This isn't Pop Warner, not everyone needs a participation trophy. And in the case of the players, if given that opportunity they need to make the most of it.

Be it on the field or in the coaches meeting, everyone needs to make decisions and be confident in them.

So as we head into the weekend, let's remember these questions and see if there's anything close to an answer yet. But at the very least, let's just all enjoy the day that symbolizes how close, yet how far away football is.

And though there are so many reasons to be excited about the new turn in the sports calendar, 2015 Virginia Tech football won't quite be the same.

I wanted to write an entire column on Bill Roth's departure, but I realized that it started to sound more like a eulogy than anything else. And this announcement needs better than that. It makes us sad, sure, but it's one that's also full of life. It's an amazing new job for an old friend.

Hokie football will miss him, but it will go on. I know there will be days when Bill misses Tech as well, but something tells me he'll be just fine. 2015 is just the first chapter in the wave of change coming to Blacksburg, and we have no choice other than to ride it.

So on Saturday when thousands of us flock to Blacksburg for the first game day of the year, let's embrace the change. Let's send Bill out in style, but also get excited about whatever awaits Virginia Tech football in the future.