Fresh Off Facing UNC's Spread, Syracuse Presents Another Test for Virginia Tech's Pass Defense

The Hokies put on a masterful defensive performance against UNC Saturday, but with the unrelenting wind and rain brought on by Hurricane Matthew, Bud Foster's group certainly had an assist from the elements.

That doesn't make Tech's effort any less laudable — after all, the Hokies managed 34 points and 264 yards of offense when they had the ball — but there's little doubt that last week's matchup didn't offer the cleanest comparison of Foster's scheme and Larry Fedora's offense.

But when the Hokies head to the cozy confines of the Carrier Dome this weekend, the team is well aware that they won't get any such help from Mother Nature against Syracuse's high-flying offense.

"It's difficult just because every down is a threat," Facyson said. "They like to pass the ball. Very wide open team...Tulsa was a very fast-paced offense. They like to air the ball out. This team likes to air the ball out, so we wanna limit what we can limit. We will have a great gameplan going out there. We just need to execute like we've been doing."

Indeed, if the Hokies hope to live up to their new standing as the 17th-ranked team in the AP poll ahead of their mammoth matchup with Miami, they'll have to slow down Dino Babers' passing attack first. The Orange are averaging 466.8 yards per game, good enough for 36th nationally, and are paced by WR Amba Etta-Tawo — his 876 yards are leading the country these days.

"He's dynamic," Facyson said. "He's fast and has great hands. Haven't really watched too much on him this year. We'll start that today. That's all I've got to say about it right now. I know he came from Maryland, so I do remember him. Looking forward to the matchup."

Yet Fuente cautioned that his team can't focus solely on Etta-Tawo. While Fuente thinks that could be an easy trap for the team to fall into, he also feels the Orange have plenty of other options.

"I think you have to be conscientious of the other weapons out there," Fuente said. "If you're too dialed in on one guy, you can make yourself open to be exploited in some other places. To me, we know they're gonna put the ball in the air. We know they're gonna play at an incredibly fast pace. They do wanna run the football as well. We have to be a little bit careful. When you pigeonhole this scheme as purely throwing the ball, they've put up big numbers, but they do like to run the ball between the tackles."

And, just like last week, the Hokies will have to line up quickly on defense to deal with the tempo-related issues that Syracuse likes to create.

"I think they could be pretty dangerous," Motuapuaka said. "You've got to make sure you get lined up really quickly, tempo has to be on point and execution. Making sure we're executing and trying to get them off the field as quick as possible."

Brandon Facyson

ON IF ANY RECEIVER HE'S PLAYED AGAINST THIS YEAR STANDS OUT:

"I don't really have anyone in particular. Every week is a new someone. There's multiple guys on teams that have impressed me and are actually dynamic. I just take it one week at a time. I don't really worry about all of that, who's the best receiver. Just take it one week at a time."

ON IF THE DEFENSE IS WHERE THEY WANT TO BE:

"Our thing is, no matter how good of a game you play, you don't want to get complacent. We always want to keep getting better each and every game. There's always something to work on that will make our defense better than what it was the week before. Each week, we just go into it and fix what we can fix, little things that we can fix that can make our defense go to a step up from last week's game."

ON HOW SUCCESSFUL THE NEW COACHING STAFF HAS BEEN AT ESTABLISHING THE NEW CULTURE:

"Very successful. We had to buy into it. I think we've done a great job doing that. These coaches are great. They put us in the right position. They tell us what we need to know. We trust them, we follow them. They're going to do what's best for the team. Each and every week, we just need to keep improving and trust them. They trust us. We're gonna go far with this team."

ON IF HE HAS ANY COMMENT ON THE DONALD TRUMP VIDEO THAT BROKE ON FRIDAY AND THE "LOCKER ROOM TALK":

"I have no comment on that."

Andrew Motuapuaka

ON HOW MUCH IT HELPS HIM WHEN THE DEFENSIVE LINE IS PLAYING AS WELL AS IT HAS:

"They do a very good job of getting after those guys, the o-line, and getting pressure on the quarterback. I just have confidence in their speed and just all of the stuff that they bring to the table. On the back-end, I'm just very confident in them (with) the way we communicate across the board, we're on the same page at the same time with the same coverage."

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TREMAINE EDMUNDS:

"I think Tremaine does a really good job of going to get plays that come on the back-side, like outside runs and stuff like that, he does a good job of going to get it right now. He looks flashy, fast. I like him. He's getting better at knowing his responsibilities and stuff like that. I still communicate with him, things that you've gotta watch out for and stuff like that, but other than that, he's starting to get a good grip at the position."

ON HOW SUCCESSFUL THE NEW COACHING STAFF HAS BEEN AT ESTABLISHING THE NEW CULTURE:

"I think Coach (Justin) Fuente did a good job at — I think one of the things I like about Coach Fuente is he never wavered on what he believed in. When he first got here, he just laid it down plain and simple how he was and how he wanted things. How he wanted to change things. We kinda just went with it. We were all in and I think that's how we're making big steps now is because we all bought into his plan and what he had for us."

ON IF HE'S SURPRISED ON HOW QUICKLY THE DEFENSE HAS TURNED AROUND LAST YEAR'S DOWN YEAR:

"I'm not really surprised. We already had a pretty good chemistry between each other and know how each other played and stuff like that. Tremaine is the only guy who is the least experienced, but he's coming along and we keep taking him under our wing and showing him the right ways. I'm not really surprised. Coach (Bud) Foster, he's a genius. We're just always confident in his gameplan, just (have to) execute like he wants us (to)."