What We Know Now: Breaking Down Positives from the New Defensive Scheme

This is now officially my fifteenth season of writing film reviews for The Key Play. In none of those seasons have I felt more uncertain about what to expect schematically from the coaching staff, and what the buy-in level of the players is, than this 2025 season. With a huge transfer class and two new coordinators, the Virginia Tech ethos of the Frank Beamer era is now truly over. This season is about learning, and if Brent Pry survives, it will be because the Hokies finally adapted to the realities of today's college football. The goal of this column this year is to learn and look at that progress, then assess at the end of the season if 2026 is going to be a better tomorrow, or another reboot.

Depth and Variability Shine on Defense

New defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes stocked up on defensive linemen and safeties in the transfer portal and played all of them, rotating in a wide variety of personnel packages and alignments to slow down reads for South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers. The defensive line in particular spent most of the game in the backfield, with defensive tackles Kemari Copeland, Emmett Laws, and Kody Huisman consistently making plays. Unfortunately, in some key moments, the bugaboos of the Pry era raised their head. Linebacker play and some near misses at safety really killed an otherwise great defensive effort.

On the opening drive, the second-level defenders had a couple of costly execution blunders. After the Tech linebackers lost their tight end counterparts on a couple of RPOs, Virginia Tech was in position to hold the Gamecocks to a field goal on 3rd-and-5. South Carolina went conservative with a quarterback counter. The resulting Sellers touchdown highlighted how this defense can be exploited.

Both edge defenders, Ben Bell (No. 33) and James Djonkam (No. 66) were drawn up the field. As I noted in my preseason defensive articles, Bell in particular is an outside speed rusher and needs the defensive tackle inside of him to maintain gap control. Defensive tackle Emmett Laws (No. 99) was washed inside by a double team from left tackle Josiah Thompson (No. 74) and left guard Rodney Newsom (No. 65). Jaden Keller (No. 24) used a force technique against the pulling tight end Brady Hunt (No. 87). While I'd like to see Keller whip that block and make the play, he at least forced Sellers back to the inside, where safety Tyson Flowers (No. 11) had disguised two high and then climbed into the box as an extra hat. Like so many safeties before him over the last decade of Hokies football, Flowers missed the tackle in the designed lane, and with the rest of the secondary in man with one high safety, none of the other Hokies were there for support.

After that, the defense settled down. Sam Siefkes used a wide variety of defensive alignments and personnel packages to slow down Sellers' progressions. One of the elements I saw time and again was one of the two safeties showing two high and then robbering into the box, and Sellers didn't seem to pick up on it. This 3rd-and-6 highlights the concept.