During the preseason, wide receiver Willie Byrn made a habit of getting a read on what quarterback Michael Brewer thought about Virginia Tech’s progress in establishing a more up-tempo offensive approach.
Brewer’s reaction was often lukewarm. After the offensive fire drill-pace he experienced at Texas Tech, Virginia Tech’s pace of play was still just slightly better than old-man-driving-in-the-right-hand-lane-on-the-interstate.
“It’s funny, I always will ask Brewer, ‘Hey, how is this fast pace coming along?'” said Byrn on Saturday after Virginia Tech’s 34-9 win against William and Mary. “He’s always, like, not negative about it, but I’m always saying, ‘Hey, we’re moving pretty fast.’ He’s like, ‘Eh, we’re moving.’ He’s used to Texas Tech and Oregon-style offenses, where they’re getting plays off in nine seconds.”
In the win against W&M, Virginia Tech showed glimpses of where they’d like to head in terms of a faster pace with a no-huddle approach. Yet, there’s still room to improve in that area before Virginia Tech gets to Columbus, Ohio next Saturday for its meeting with No. 5 Ohio State.
Last season, Virginia Tech averaged 28.1 seconds in between snaps. Against W&M, Virginia Tech frequently (but not exclusively) hurried up to the line of scrimmage to get the offense rolling, but it still took the Hokies an average of 27 seconds between snaps. A step in the right direction for a team that wants to play faster, but still likely not fast enough to be considered a truly up-tempo bunch.
Brewer, who completed 23 of 30 passes for 251 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in his debut as Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback, is used to the hair-on-fire approach on offense. At Texas Tech last season, he was a backup quarterback under coach Kliff Kingsbury in a pass-happy spread offense that averaged just 21.1 seconds between snaps – the third-fastest pace in the nation behind Brigham Young (19.8 seconds) and Baylor (21 seconds).
“I like it a lot,” said Brewer of the fast pace. “There’s a lot of pros for being able to run a high, up-tempo, no-huddle offense. It wears the defensive line out. If you can put long drives together, they can’t get much of a pass rush on you. At the same time, when you’re not clicking, it’s a quick three-and-out and it puts our defense in a tough position putting them back on the field real fast, so we’re going to mix it up.”
As far how the operation can get faster, it’s no mystery to Byrn. It starts on the sideline, and with personnel being at the ready. In his opinion, with so many tight ends and young running backs and wide receivers to shuffle on and off the field, Virginia Tech has ample opportunity to stay fresh.
“Our first game, naturally, we’re going to have some hiccups,” Byrn said. “I think that procedure on the sideline is a big thing and getting in and out and really communicating. We’re on the right track.
“Four plays down the field into a fast-paced offense, you’re looking a little tired, you’re breathing a little heavy. Then, you look across from you, and the guys are just exhausted. The defenders are a lot more gassed than you are. That kind of gives you energy.”
In the past, especially during many of Bryan Stinespring’s 11 seasons as offensive coordinator, Virginia Tech was criticized by fans for being reluctant to look for tight ends in the passing game. If the W&M game was any indication, it looks like the deep tight end position is going to be one of Brewer’s primary targets.
Bucky Hodges and Ryan Malleck combined to have nine catches for 78 yards, including a game-high six catches for 38 yards and a touchdown by Hodges. When returning starter Kalvin Cline recovers from a knee injury that kept him out of the W&M game, Virginia Tech will be even more stacked at tight end.
“It’s everything I’ve ever wanted,” said Virginia Tech second-year offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler after the game regarding his tight ends. “We’ve got Bucky Hodges, Malleck, Kalvin Cline, who’s getting healthy, and then (fullback) Sam Rogers falls into that same mode. Anytime we’ve got tight ends, it’s a huge advantage, because we’re playing two tight-ends, empty backfield, one-back football. Whenever you’re able to do that with this group, it causes a lot of problem.”
One of the offensive players who provided Virginia Tech with the biggest injection of energy against W&M was true freshman running back Shai McKenzie. He was the third Virginia Tech tailback to get a carry in the game, and didn’t get his first one until late in the second quarter, but it didn’t take him long to hit his stride.
He finished with nine carries for 106 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown in the third quarter that featured a big block by Rogers as McKenzie ran off the right tackle. The last true freshman running back to go over 100 yards for Virginia Tech in his first game was Shyrone Stith in 1996 against Akron (119).
McKenzie clearly showed no signs of any lingering issues with the torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in his right knee during his senior season of high school in Pennsylvania. The W&M game was his first since sustaining the injury last September in Charleroi, Pa. during a game in which he already had 195 yards and three touchdowns – in the second quarter.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” said McKenzie after the W&M game. “When I’m out there playing, I don’t feel it. I’m still rehabbing, but when I’m in the game, I’m just in the zone and trying to make plays every time I touch the ball.”
Loeffler, coach Frank Beamer and running backs coach Shane Beamer still have to figure out how to distribute carries in the backfield. McKenzie teamed with scholarship running backs J.C. Coleman (10 carries for 20 yards and a touchdown), Marshawn Williams (12 carries for 41 yards) from Phoebus High and Joel Caleb (five carries for 19 yards) to provide the bulk of Virginia Tech’s 222 rushing yards.
“I feel like as a back with the rotation, we have to come in every play and it has to be our best,” Williams said. “We have to be in rhythm that very first play, or it’s no problem to take us out and get another back in.”
It remains to be seen how much of a role sophomore Trey Edmunds will play at Ohio State, but he only played on kickoff coverage and was in for one offensive play (no carries) against W&M. He’s still getting back to 100 percent after breaking his right tibia last November.
“Number one, I think they’re really good backs,” Frank said. “Number two, I think they’re very straight-ahead (runners). You get tired of tackling those guys all day long. Then, number three, I think our offensive line is better. We’ve still got a ways to go, but we’ve got some toughness in there. I think they’ll only get better…You look at us and we look like an offensive line now. We do. Now, we’ve just got to play like a good offensive line. I think we’re getting there.”
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For the most part, Virginia Tech was extremely efficient on offense, amassing 488 yards – the second-most it has had under Loeffler (and the second-most rushing yards) – and scoring all five of its red zone trips. Yet, there were a few serious kinks in one red zone venture.
After taking over at W&M’s 2-yard line on the heels of a 45-yard fumble return by Virginia Tech’s Derek Di Nardo (more on that later), it took the Hokies five plays to get in the end zone. Two other players were wiped away by a W&M pass interference penalty, and a 6-yard illegal formation penalty on Virginia Tech.
“Did that look as bad up (in the press box) as it did on the sideline?,” Frank said. “Well, the good part is we came back and made a couple plays later on, but that’s great stuff to learn from. Generally-speaking, we just didn’t get them blocked. There just wasn’t running space. That was an ugly part of the game right there.”
Brewer finally capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Hodges, who made a determined catch over a defender on a flag route to put Virginia Tech up 14-6 with 5:40 left in the second quarter.
Even though he threw the first interception of his college career, which included 13 games as a backup at Texas Tech, Brewer passed his initial test as a starter with flying colors. On the interception late in the first quarter, the 6-foot Brewer had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage by 6-3 defensive tackle Chris Donald directly into the arms of linebacker Airek Green.
Brewer’s lack of height is obviously a significant departure from what Virginia Tech was used to with 6-6 Logan Thomas at quarterback. Frank Beamer said it’ll require Brewer to do some of things a certain 6-foot quarterback for the New Orleans Saints has learned to do.
“We’ve just got to do a good job of doing the Drew Brees deal – finding the passing lanes, because it is a fact that he and Drew are about the same height,” Beamer said. “So, you’ve just got to find those lanes.”
The interception led to three points for W&M, but in no way could the interception be considered a decision-making error by Brewer. Decision-making wasn’t an issue for him, as he threw the ball away a few times when he got in trouble.
He also scrambled for a 16-yard gain on third-and-12 when the play broke down during Virginia Tech’s touchdown-producing 14-play, 84-yard opening drive. It was one of two 14-play drives Virginia Tech had in the game, including a 14-play, 74-yard drive to start the third quarter that ended with a successful 27-yard field goal by true freshman Joey Slye to put the Hokies up 20-6.
“It’s amazing to me,” Loeffler said. “The guy came (to the football program) in June, and he’s been able to pick up our system. You would have thought he’s been around here a lot longer than he has.”
Brewer wasn’t the only player who looked comfortable in his starting role. Defensive end Dadi Nicolas, defensive tackle Corey Marshall and linebackers Chase Williams and Derek Di Nardo all make large contributions.
Nicolas logged a sack, Marshall consistently pushed the pocket and made first-time starting W&M quarterback Steve Cluley uncomfortable and Chase Williams and Di Nardo combined to have the play of the game. Defensive tackle Luther Maddy also had what initially appeared to be a sack in the third quarter, but the play was negated when Maddy was called for a personal foul for nearly ripping Cluley’s helmet off.
“We were kind of sitting there (in the first half), but we started bringing a little more pressure (in the second half,” Frank Beamer said. “Dadi’s always a force by himself off the edge there. I like him, but Chase Williams, the linebacker, got a couple of hits on the quarterback.”
With Virginia Tech up 7-6 midway through the second quarter, Chase Williams leveled Cluley from the blind side to cause a fumble. Di Nardo, an outside linebacker who started his first game, recovered the fumble and showed some nimble moves to dodge traffic and run 45 yards, getting stopped at W&M’s 2 with the ball stretched out to the goal line.
“I welcomed him to the ‘Inside the 5 Club,'” said Byrn of Di Nardo’s fumble return, referring to several occasions last season when Virginia Tech players were stopped inside the 5 after lengthy receptions, returns or runs.
Byrn was quick to concede he joined the Inside the 5 Club early in the fourth quarter when he was stopped at W&M’s 2 after a 26-yard catch. Virginia Tech finished that drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by Coleman with 13:40 left to extend its lead to 34-9.
Chase Williams, who started for just the second time in his career, had to wait a long time for his first career sack. He’s a fifth-year senior who spent much of his early years on the team playing on special teams.
“It was huge,” Chase said. “I haven’t had a clean shot like that in a long time, but I wasn’t going to waste that opportunity. We had a great play call. That had been the game plan all week to try to get after the quarterback like that, and that really was a momentum changer.”
Virginia Tech’s defense surrendered a 40-yard run in the first quarter to running back Mikal Abdul-Saboor on a drive that ultimately concluded with a successful 36-yard field by W&M’s John Carpenter.
It was one of three W&M plays that went for more than 19 yards, including another 20-yard run by Abdul-Saboor on a fourth-quarter draw play and a 43-yard reception in the first quarter by receiver Tre McBride working against cornerback Brandon Facyson. Outside of those three plays, W&M gained just 91 yards on its other 48 plays. W&M converted only 1 of 12 third-down opportunities, while Virginia Tech converted 8 of 15 on third downs.
Now, all of Virginia Tech’s efforts turn toward Ohio State, which features another first-year starting quarterback in redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett. He completed 12 of 15 passes for 226 yards, two touchdowns and an interception Saturday in Ohio State’s 34-17 win against Navy. He also led Ohio State with nine carries for 50 yards.
He’s not Braxton Miller, but Barrett put up decent numbers after a shaky first couple quarters in his first start. It was certainly enough to grab Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s attention.
“Ohio State is an extremely talented football team,” Foster said. “We’ve been doing this thing in the winning business for about 20 years, but (Ohio State has) been doing it for about a hundred years…We’ve got a young team and it’s going to be the first time a lot of these guys have ever played on the road and in a hostile environment…We’ve really studied (Ohio State) in the offseason, and we’re looking forward to going up there for a great challenge and opportunity for us.”
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