The Key Play

100 Days Until #BEATBAMA

joe — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:40:59 +0000

They have the hardware, again.

image via:

Associated Press/Wilfredo Lee

Right now I'm holding ticket number 74 and the deli is NOW SERVING 55. Be right back, I'm going to grab a Diet Coke, do a few laps around the store, gawk at the people cashing in their beer cans for nickels, and play some scratch-off tickets. 100 days is almost a manageable wait. When the weather cools in October, I always regret hurrying along summer. I enjoy the hell out of golf, sipping cocktails on a rooftop, and BBQs, but they're a small sacrifice to the god of the fall.

In my head, I keep thinking about what Tech needs to do to win, and right now my conclusions are based off the game in 2009. That contest will have very little to do with the outcome on 8/31, but it's fun to play what if. I walked out of The Dome that night thinking the Hokies were in arms reach of Alabama. A couple of fourth quarter stops by the defense, and a few more first downs by the offense and the Maroon and Orange might have preempted The Tide's dynasty.

None of us have forgotten Ryan Williams' 32-yard touchdown run, or his strength to punch it in from the one-yard-line.

Ru had the only offensive performance to remember (and he only carried the ball 13 times). Reading the o-line's grades was a sad trip down memory lane. No one graded out higher than 84%, which doesn't seem believable given the Newsome Curve. Five sacks, consistent pressure, and a young supporting cast didn't make Tyrod's job any easier, but Taylor still hadn't developed into the efficient passer we would watch in 2010.

Can Trey Edmunds have a better game than Williams? Will the coaches stick with the run? Will the offensive line be able to master the zone scheme, matchup with Bama's 3-4, and protect Logan Thomas? Will LT3 be able to convert first downs with his arm, especially when it matters in the fourth quarter?

Watching Alabama grind Foster's defense to a nub was depressing. Very few first downs by Tech's offense (11, half of 'Bama), led to a 22:58–37:02 time of possession defeat, backups playing more than they were ready to, and 498 Crimson Tide yards. The defense needed to rattle Greg McElroy and didn't. McElroy eluded pressure well (sacked just twice), and made timely throws.

After spring ball, I feel really good about the defense. Whip is probably the thinnest position, but given the talent in the secondary, Kyle Fuller probably takes over there in the event of an injury. Last season we saw Foster load the box and attack more. Again this year he'll have the talent, especially upfront, to create havoc and force mistakes.

We have 100 days of summer ahead of us, whereas both teams have just over 3 months of work. Is Alabama hungry for a three-peat, will the Hokies dedicate themselves in weight training and conditioning like never before? I can't wait to find out.

Advertisement: Our #BEATBAMA shirts are available for order here. Help support Thekeyplay.com bring you more, free, expanded content this fall and beyond. (And get a really cool shirt.)

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Countdown

ACC Baseball Tournament Preview

asuit11 — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:43:58 +0000

Editor's Note: Aidan's been writing and keeping us updated on HokieBall for the second half of the season. Enjoy this ACC Tournament preview he wrote. --Joe

The ACC Baseball Tournament starts today and finishes Sunday, and for the first time since 2010 Tech will be making a postseason appearance. Arguably the best baseball conference in the country, the 8 team field for this weekend's tournament boasts 6 teams ranked in the Baseball America Top 25, promising a great weekend of baseball in Durham.

The tournament consists of two pools of four teams each; every team will play one game against the other teams in their pool. At the end of play on Saturday, the team with the best record in each pool will move on to the championship game on Sunday. If two teams have the same record after Saturday's games, then the tie breaker will be the decision of their head-to-head matchup.

Pool A:

#1 North Carolina (47-8, 21-7 ACC, #6 National Rank)

Many writers thought that North Carolina would be the best team in the country coming into the season, and they did little to disappoint in the early months. However, they have struggled recently, dropping their last two ACC series to Georgia Tech and Virginia. Despite falling in the national rankings, the Tar Heels captured the ACC regular season title and have added an extra spark to the lineup with standout freshman Skye Bolt returning from a fractured left foot. Also expect productive weekends from junior draft prospects, Colin Moran (.369/.496/.612) and Kent Emmanuel (9-3, 2.28 ERA) as they look to carry UNC like they have all season. Hobbs Johnson (4-0, 2.18 ERA) and Benton Moss (8-1, 3.21 ERA) round out a superb Tar Heel rotation.

#4 NC State (42-13, 19-10 ACC, #9 National Rank)

The Wolfpack's season has mirrored the performance of sophomore ace Carlos Rodon, who is 8-2 with a 3.86 ERA. After a lot of offseason hype, Rodon struggled more than expected at the start the season but he has settled in and been stellar in his last few starts. Likewise, NC State has heated up as of late, winning 24 of their last 27, after a less than admirable start to the season. The dominance of Rodon and the explosiveness of Trea Turner (.383/.463/.589), should allow the Wolfpack to make things interesting in Pool A.

#5 Clemson (39-17, 18-12 ACC, #18 National Rank)

Clemson is the only team in the tournament who the Hokies have not seen yet this year, but it would have been a heck of a matchup. The strength of the Tigers is their pitching staff which features a rotation composed of three underclassmen. Sophomore Daniel Gossett and freshman Matt Crownover have been spectacular, boasting a combined 16-5 record and 2.20 and 2.05 ERA respectively. The Clemson offense has been just good enough to get by this season, led by sophomore catcher Garrett Boulware (.310/.378/.473). The Tigers need their bats to step up if they are going to have any hope to advance out of this group against North Carolina.

#8 Miami (35-21, 14-16 ACC)

The Hurricanes squeaked into the 8 team field on the last weekend of the season, taking 2 of 3 games from Georgia Tech. Pitching has been no problem for Miami this season; their top two starters, lefties Chris Diaz (6-4, 1.58 ERA) and Bryan Radziewski (8-2, 1.64 ERA), rank second and third respectively in the ACC for ERA. The real barometer for success for the Canes will be whether or not the offense can consistently produce runs. The Miami lineup does not have a single starter who has an average above .300 and they have the second fewest runs scored in the entire conference, leading only Boston College.

Pool B:

#2 Florida State (44-11, 20-10 ACC, #7 National Rank)

The regular season Atlantic Division champions, Florida State can beat you many different ways. They have a great pitching staff who has posted the 11th lowest team ERA in the country (2.68) and they have also scored double digit runs 12 times on the season. The Seminoles are led offensively by DJ Stewart (.328/.438/.510) and Marcus Davis (.311/.393/.524), but two sport athlete Jameis Winston could prove to be the difference maker this weekend. Scott Sitz (9-1, 1.66 ERA) is a senior looking to make a deep run in the postseason in his final year in Tallahassee.

#3 Virginia (45-9, 22-8 ACC, #5 National Rank)

When the Cavaliers came into Blacksburg in late April, it was the most excited I had been to see a baseball game in a long time. In my opinion, Virginia is the best team in the ACC and provides the most well rounded attack the Hokies have seen all year. Mike Papi (.408/.547/.669) is one of the top hitters in the entire country, despite missing part of the season due to injury. The Cavaliers also have an elite rotation, featuring Scott Silverstein (8-1, 3.19 ERA). Their pitching staff isn't quite as dominant as UNC or FSU, but could still provide a problem for any team on any given day.

#6 Virginia Tech (35-19, 15-14 ACC, #21 National Rank)

The Hokies have one of the most powerful lineups in the conference, trailing only Georgia Tech in team home runs (48). Tyler Horan (.344/.392/.625) and Andrew Rash (.327/.382/.572) pace Virginia Tech offensively, as they look to be able to out slug their opponents in the coming games. The reason the offensive will be so key this weekend is because of the inconsistency of the starting pitchers. Joe Mantiply (5-0, 3.14 ERA) and Devin Burke (9-3, 3.49 ERA) have had solid outings, but the third starter spot is still up in the air. Brad Markey (4-4, 5.40 ERA) enjoyed a good beginning to the season, but has struggled as of late and may find himself out of a starting spot come tournament time.

#7 Georgia Tech (33-23, 15-15 ACC)

When I saw the Yellow Jackets play earlier this year, they were hot; very hot. Prior to coming into Blacksburg in early March, they were 12-1 and averaging 10.1 runs per game. Their trip to a snowy English field did nothing to slow them down as they took two of three games from the Hokies by a combined score of 27-16. Since then, however, the Yellow Jacket pitching staff has fallen apart and they dropped two series to teams outside the RPI Top 40 (Costal Carolina (41) and Duke (69)). The offense has been potent, led by Daniel Palka (.344/.443/.665) and Zane Evans (.364/.430/.618) are 1 and 2 respectively in the ACC for home runs. Buck Farmer (8-4, 2.80 ERA), the ace of the Yellow Jacket rotation, has been the only sign of consistency from the pitching staff.

Predictions:

Pool A Winner: North Carolina
Pool B Winner: Virginia
Conference Champion: North Carolina

In a rematch of last weekend's series, North Carolina will be out for revenge after being upset at home by the Cavaliers. I believe the Tar Heels will get the last laugh and take home the ACC Tournament trophy after winning the regular season title.

All games seen in the schedule at the top can be seen on ESPN3 (except Sunday's game on ESPN2). The official tournament webpage is here.

Go Hokies!

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Baseball

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Baseball

Perspective on Loeffler's Tenure at Auburn

Hokiefan591988 — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:49:30 +0000

Editor's Note: Mason Naumann (Hokiefan591988) is the newest member of our team, please welcome him aboard. --Joe

The happiest day of my life is when I found out that I had been accepted into Virginia Tech. Attending this glorious institution is as important a tradition in my family as our burnt cinnamon rolls Christmas morning. (Seriously though, how hard is it to not burn cinnamon rolls? Yet every year...) My Grandfather graduated in 1954 with a bachelors, earning a masters a year later. His love for all things Hokie was infectious, and rubbed off on the entire family. My father and uncle attended Virginia Tech, as did multiple cousins, a sister, and myself. I loved everything about my time spent at Tech and I still live in Blacksburg.

I fell madly in love with football after volunteering to coach a powder puff team on campus. While desperately trying to win games, hours upon hours were spent researching offenses and defenses. Teaching the girls how to run a proper option, and watching it succeed time and again, was the best feeling in the world. Even after the season ended, I still couldn't get rid of the itch. I was hooked. I read everything I could find online about football tactics, and then started downloading playbooks and reading through those. Special thanks to Chris Brown at Smart Football, whose insightful articles taught me more about this sport than any other source.

My hope is that as I share what little knowledge I have, you'll see that football is both a simple game, as well as the most complex sport in the world. The more you know about football and the more you see the chess match between coordinators take shape and evolve, the more you enjoy watching the game. That's my only goal as a contributor at Thekeyplay, to make being a Hokie fan more fun.

Thank you Joe for giving me this opportunity, and thanks readers for having me. Let's get to it!

After watching Auburn's offensive film for my first piece, I realized that I had a lot to say about what went wrong during Loeffler's first season. Today I'm going to focus on Loeffler's play-action game, and why Auburn failed to keep defenses honest. This series will continue with articles on the short pass game, and Loeffler's intermediate to long pass game. By examining how Loeffler failed at Auburn, I want to be able to put his past season into proper perspective.

When I heard Scott Loeffler was being considered as Tech's new offensive coordinator, my reaction was similar to most Hokie fans, "Who?" No disrespect to Loeffler, but most of us were unfamiliar with his body of work. I googled him to find out who he was, what his resume looked like, etc. Like most fans, I was impressed by the hire of an SEC coordinator, but disappointed that his offense didn't have more statistical success. On CFBstats.com, Auburn was ranked 114th out of 124 teams in points per game (and also finished 116th in passing offense, and 118th in total offense). Those numbers are terrible, and frankly it speaks volumes of the reputation Loeffler has to get a job at a program with VT's profile after such a season.

There's been a lot of analysis of the hire of Loeffler (from his role in recruiting, to his ability to coach quarterbacks, to his favorite run plays, but I was interested in what, exactly, went wrong at Auburn. I've heard rumors that Gene Chizik, the ex-Auburn head coach, took a progressively larger role in the offense as the year went on because of lack of production. If true, it'll be hard to get a good grasp of where Loeffler's offensive principles failed and where Chizik's did.

By focusing on the early season games (before it became clear that Chizik was on the hot seat) we can be confident that what we are seeing on the field are Loeffler's offensive principles in action. So I decided to watch the first two games of Auburn's season (vs Clemson and Mississippi state) to figure out what went wrong.

Strong rushing attack

Whenever I analyze game tape, I always watch the entire game from start to finish twice. This allows me to get a good feel for the big picture of the game, an idea of what went wrong and what went right. Watching the Auburn offense a few things became obvious early. First is how impressive the rushing attack is when the defense chooses not to stack the box. Auburn was ranked 80th in the country in rushing, so I wouldn't have been surprised to see some schematic hiccups. Yet it was a very, very well designed scheme. Loeffler used his fullbacks to create gaps along the defensive front where there appeared to be none. As long as the defense doesn't "change the math" by dropping safeties into the box that the o-line can't account for, the running back should always have a lane to rush through.

We see here what happens when you try to play two deep safeties vs Loeffler's I-formation 2x1 personnel grouping. There is a blocker for every defender in the box, and because of the zone blocking principles in Loeffler's scheme all the RB has to do is pick a hole and he's off to the races.

5:33–5:45

The numbers just don't add up for the defense, and they get gashed.

Stacking the box

It also became crystal clear that defenses weren't interested in getting run over all game. Both Mississippi state and Clemson put extra men in the box. Clemson in particular was very, very aggressive playing the run, as exhibited here.

0:33–0:44

You can see before the snap of the ball that every Clemson defender is within six feet of the line of scrimmage, and nine of eleven defenders are located in the box with a tenth just out. The only contingency plans for a play-action pass is to put in a half-hearted cover-3 look in the secondary. Technically the FS has middle of the field responsibilities and number 21 has deep third responsibilities, but both get sucked too far inside on the run look.

At the first sign of run, 8 defenders crash the line of scrimmage, and the FS doesn't get enough depth to help on any downfield routes the WR may run.

Mississippi State doesn't stack the box through alignment as dramatically as Clemson does, but the Bulldogs played their run reads with so much reckless abandon that it had the same effect. On this play, even with Auburn in shotgun the field CB (number 9 on the bottom of the screen), with no regard for any play action responsibilities, sprints forward in run support within Frazier's first two steps.

2:21–2:33

While the CB doesn't make the stop, it doesn't bode well for Auburn's rushing attack out of the shotgun. We'll see later how a CB who crashes the LOS at the first sign of run can destroy a drive.

4:20–4:29

This time Frazier hands the ball off to the RB, and a Mississippi State CB sells out vs the run again. He's so aggressive that he gets the angle on the Auburn WR who is forced to choose between letting his responsibility run straight past him, or hold him. The WR chooses to hold and Auburn is pushed back ten yards.

The aggressiveness on this next play is almost comical. Watch the CB on the top of the screen. He's sold out on run support when Frazier is still five yards away from handing the ball off! The wide receiver he leaves is now wide open if he were to go out for a pass. Even if a safety rotates over on the back end, the safety would have a bad angle and would be one-on-one.

3:07–3:17

Mississippi State's aggressiveness is probably best summed up in this picture though.

Auburn lines up under center on 2nd down with 11 yards to go to get a first. This is a classic passing down, but Mississippi State doesn't bother giving Frazier's arm any respect. The Bulldogs immediately drop a safety to put 8 in the box. Keep in mind that Auburn is in the red zone, so any mistake in single coverage will likely result in a touchdown. Mississippi State apparently doesn't mind taking that risk and when Auburn fails to audible out of it's run play, and they get promptly stuffed.

The Response

As offensive coordinator, it's Loeffler's job to see these overreactions and force the defense to change their game plan or suffer severe consequences. If he's as inept as last season's offensive numbers suggest, he'll either fail to recognize the problem or he'll fail to have a play in the toolkit to get the job done. Studying the game film, it's undeniable that Loeffler knows exactly what to do and exactly how to do it.

2:58–3:07

A perfectly timed, perfectly drawn up, and perfectly executed deep play-action pass vs single man-on-man coverage. Let's take a look at what happened.

The cornerback and the safety line up over the WR's. Like the previous play, they have Cover-3 responsibilities. The CB on the strong side of the formation has two responsibilities, protect the outer edge on a zone stretch to the boundary and take any deep routes to his side of the field. Knowing that stacked WR's will often have one run an inside route and the other run an outside route, the safety will take any middle of the field route and the CB will take the receiver closest to the sideline.

The play opens up with Frazier turning to fake a hand off to the RB while the o-line takes a side step toward their left. We know from French's work that this is the same sequence of events for a normal outside zone stretch run, and the Clemson linebackers and run support safety react accordingly. The strong side CB stays close to the LOS in case it's a cutback play, and he has coverage responsibilities for the fullback (who is pass blocking the backside). Loeffler was able to deduce the secondary's coverage rules from previous plays and does a beautiful job attacking it with properly spaced routes.

The inside receiver runs a dig to the middle of the field. The safety runs with him, which serves to further isolate the CB. All the outside receiver has to do is beat his man one on one, an opportunity every wide receiver dreams about. Emory Blake runs at his man, waits for him to come out of his backpedal, throws a double move (flag-post combo) at him and walks into the end zone. The cornerback had no chance.

Players Must Make Plays

So Clemson just got beat over the top for a 50+ yard play-action bomb. They have to adjust their defense and start playing less aggressively vs the run, right? Not even close. Clemson keeps selling out on the run, and Loeffler tries to keep them honest but his play-action game just doesn't have enough consistency.

8:36–8:46

One-on-one coverage vs two separate WR's, and the QB can't make the throw. Frazier's WR does a good job at getting outside leverage on the CB. He's open and Frazier simply misses. If Loeffler's offensive system is going to work, the QB HAS to hit wide open receivers. Sadly, it becomes obvious that Kiehl Frazier couldn't.

17:10–17:19

With no repercussions for selling out to stop the run, Clemson and Mississippi State were able to shut Auburn down.

What does this mean for Tech?

Poor Loeffler. There is nothing worse than having the right play called vs the right defense, and seeing it fail because your personnel just aren't good enough. This is the theme of Auburn's offense and it's seen over, and over, and over. Loeffler exhibits good play design, a very good intuition on when to use play-action, and a firm grasp on route packages. The old saying is true though. Jimmys and Joes matter more than X's and O's, and at the end of the day Loeffler's Joes weren't good enough to beat the other teams' Jimmys.

At Virginia Tech, success should come much easier for Loeffler. Frank Beamer prefers an offense with a strong rushing attack complemented by a passing game capable of punishing aggressive defenses. Loeffler won't have to worry about his boss looking over his shoulder and second guessing his decisions like Chizik was rumored to do, Beamer said as much in the introductory press conference. (The fact that Loeffler and Grimes found work at a very good football program quickly after the season ended, while Chizik is still unemployed says a lot). Further helping his case, the talent pool that Loeffler has to draw from will be much deeper than that at Auburn.

Which brings me to the centerpiece of Loeffler's offense. I am a firm believer in Logan's abilities. He played badly last year, you won't get any argument from me there. But, Thomas had plenty of bright moments throughout the season, and even on his worst days he played better than Frazier. Thomas will see simpler pass defenses on early downs then he did last year and he'll be throwing to receivers who are running better packaged routes. It'll be exciting to see how Loeffler's rushing game does against ACC opponents who won't be able to stack the box without facing the threat of an NFL arm throwing over their heads.

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Film Study

Film Vault: The Untouchables

joe — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:54:24 +0000

I stumbled on this GameDay segment on The Untouchables while sifting through HokieTapes' massive film collection.

0:00 - Remember when we called him "Baby Face" Fowler? No?

0:15 - "Kindred programs..." I can't tell you how many emails I received from Texas A&M fans who wanted Virginia Tech to come to the SEC with them, and be their divisional rival. After Maryland left for the Big Ten, one followed up with me to say, "you missed your chance."

0:39 - R. C. Slocum. That's all.

1:25 - Suggs and Jones sighting! Remember when Beamer Co. just rolled premier tailbacks off the assembly line? Here's to hoping Edmunds and Coleman are the next premier duo in Blacksburg.

2:00 - I heard Rinaldi's voice and teared up out of habit.

3:00 - Frank Beamer on his tailbacks, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

3:20–3:28 - IS THAT GRANT NOEL PITCHING ON THE OPTION?

3:50 - That reverse-the-field run Kevin Jones made against LSU might have been the best carry I've personally seen by a running back in Lane.

4:30 - "Wake Forest at Purdue 1:00 et"

4:53 - Bryan Randall did show his ability to throw the ball, Kirk, 11 times, for 119 yards.

Foster's defense held A&M to 156 yards and 3 points. In 2002, aTm averaged 386 yards and 28.75 points a game.

Bread and Butter: The Bootleg

french60wasp — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:04:25 +0000

As I wrote in my review of the running attack, I anticipate that most of the Virginia Tech rushing offense will come from inside and outside zone stretch plays to both the strong and weak side. Critical to the success of the stretch play is the ability to create seams in the back side pursuit of the defense for the tailback to cutback. Defensive ends and outside linebackers have success by crashing inside to fill those cutback lanes. The offensive chess match requires the base run plays to have counters built in that force those defenders to stay at home.

The best tool at Scot Loeffler's disposal for doing so is the basic bootleg play. The bootleg is a fake handoff with the quarterback turning his back to the line of scrimmage and then rolling away from the run action. The most used route combination for bootlegs has the receiver nearest to where the quarterback rolls, often the fullback or the H-Back away from the run action, run a short out route to the flat. The tight end or wide receiver on the run side drags against the grain of the defense mirroring the quarterback's rollout.

The quarterback has three reads based on two defenders. First, he must get outside the contain rush of the defense end (on the image above, the defensive end to the left of the formation). If that end is crashing upfield, it limits the effectiveness of the bootleg, BUT it opens a huge cutback lane for the tailback on the inside zone. In the spring game, the ends (most often Ken Ekanem) were crashing heavily on the inside zone, completely leaving the bootleg wide open, but Scot Loeffler stayed away from calling it frequently.

The second read is on the outside linebacker, located again to the left of the image in the above diagram. If the outside linebacker crashes on the run fake, the left H-Back (D.J. Coles in most of the first-team offensive alignments) takes a step inside to sell the seal block on the back side, and then races out wide open in the left flat. Based on the limited film from the closed scrimmages, this read was repeatedly wide open. If the defense is in Cover 2, the H-Back will be covered by the short corner. So if Logan recognizes Cover 2, he needs to look back to the tight end (as pictured above), or the wide receiver crossing against the grain on the linebackers. In college football, this is usually less open than the flat, but if that outside linebacker is managing to cover the drag, it should make the inside zone much more effective. The third read, if neither route is open, the quarterback should run. I should note, in my experience running bootleg from either a Wing-T or I-formation, any kind of post route on the backside is ALWAYS open, but it is a very difficult throw, especially if the quarterback is rolling out to his left.

Bootleg is symbiotic with the zone stretch. Successful running makes the bootleg more effective because the back side pursuit starts to crash to stop the run. Success on the bootleg forces the defenders to stay at home, which creates those seams for the tailback on the zone stretch and inside zone. If one doesn't work, it limits the effectiveness of the other.

A downside of the bootleg is that the primary receivers tend to be the less explosive receivers, the ones selling the run action at the snap, like fullbacks and tight ends. However, versatile personnel can be used to create mismatches. On the primary bootleg shown above, Loeffler designs the play to incorporate D.J. Coles in the flat instead of a fullback. I would imagine that ACC defensive coordinators would shudder at the thought of their outside linebacker covering a healthy D.J. Coles man to man. Loeffler also uses formation to hide his best playmakers in positions where they can be utilized in boot action.

Here, we have the Hokies aligned in a two tight end set with twin flankers right, and Josh Stanford is lined up tight, basically as the left tight end. Logan Thomas fakes a handoff for a weak-side zone and then bootlegs back to the right. The offensive line sells the run by coming out of their stances aggressively, while still stopping the Mike linebacker blitz.

4:38–4:48

Now, the pass structure is really interesting.

Coles, line up wide to the right, runs a go route, but angles inside to tie up both the corner and the safety. Knowles (the inside twins receiver on the right) runs a wheel route and initially is wide open, but Thomas doesn't look at him. Malleck seals the defensive end on the left inside, and then breaks back out to the flat, drawing the whip linebacker forward. Stanford performs the function of a tight end on a standard bootleg, dragging against the grain away from the run action and defensive pursuit. Stanford is able to get deeper before crossing, creating an opportunity for a big gain off the play action.

Establishing the bootleg will be critical to the success of the running game for Virginia Tech this season. The bootleg plays were wide open for the first team offense in the spring game, but I think Loeffler decided to limit how many bootlegs he called because the 2nd/3rd team defenses were not disciplined enough to give them a good look. The keys to success are simple:

Offensive line has to sell the run and come out of their stance aggressively.
The receiver going to the flat must sell the run first to force the outside linebacker to bite on the run.
Quarterback must effectively sell the run fake, and set his feet to look flat to drag, to run.
If the defensive end and outside linebacker on the back side of the zone stretch play are crashing hard inside on the run, the bootleg becomes more effective. If they are sitting on the bootleg, the inside and outside zone will be more effective. Against Alabama's 3-4, the outside linebacker is very susceptible to bootlegs, but he can also make a mess coming off the edge. The inside zone must be effective to prevent that outside linebacker from getting upfield.

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2013 Spring Practice

French on the Bench

Spring Look In: Pittsburgh

joe — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:46:31 +0000

Since the Frank Beamer era, Pitt has been a familiar opponent of the Hokies. Beginning this season, the Virginia Tech–Pittsburgh series will continue on a permanent basis as conference and division foes. Second-year head coach Paul Chryst and The Panthers will look to improve on an up-and-down 2012 campaign that included 6 wins, a bowl appearance, near upset of Notre Dame, inexplicable loss to Youngstown State, and dominating win against Virginia Tech.

In his first season, Chryst inherited a capable quarterback, Tino Sunseri, and talented backfield, Ray Graham and freshman sensation Rushel Shell. None of the three will return in 2013. Sunseri and Graham were seniors, and Shell had California dreams (transfered to UCLA) after friction with the coaching staff.

Shell's decision — based partially on coaches' criticisms of Shell — reached a critical stage March 22 when he was hurt and pulled himself from practice

Junior Isaac Bennett (29 carries, 141 yards, and 3 TDs) and sophomore Malcolm Crockett (12 carries, 50 yards) are now Pitt's top two tailbacks. Clearly the position has dropped from a strength, to one lacking in experience, and full of uncertainty. Although, Cardiac Hill doesn't foresee Bennett losing the starting running back job.

But there are also other reasons why Bennett could be difficult to unseat. First, he's a year older and has more experience - not only in games this year, but in practices. In the limited amount of time each saw on the field, Bennett also had a higher yard-per-carry average (4.9 to 4.2). Bennett also has proved himself as capable of catching the ball out of the backfield - something that made Ray Graham extremely valuable. And in case you don't remember, Bennett showed a ton of promise last spring. He had several 50+ yard runs and followed that up with a big Blue-Gold game effort, rushing for 124 yards.

And, oh yeah - Bennett made a good impression during this year's spring game on Friday, rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown on nearly six yards per carry. Nothing like cementing your status a bit as the top dog.

Because of Chryst's success at Wisconsin, it's hard for me to overlook Pitt's ground game. However, with a more talented stable of backs Pitt was 92nd nationally in rushing last season. Bennett figures to be solid, but tailback depth and a retooled offensive line are concerns.

At the start of spring ball, former Rutgers QB Tom Savage was thought to hold the upper hand in Pitt's QB competition. Savage started as a true freshman for the Scarlet Knights in 2009 (149 of 289, 2,211 yards, 14 TDs, and 7 INTs). However, injuries led to a sophomore slump, then a transfer (quick pitstop, no pun intended) in Arizona, before he finally landed in Pittsburgh. Redshirt freshman Chad Voytik (4-star) is battling Savage for the starting gig.

As best I can tell, Savage has worked the most with the first team, but he hasn't been without his struggles.

Savage looked pretty sharp in Thursday's practice according to the Post-Gazette's Sam Werner, but struggled mightily in Tuesday's session, tossing two interceptions. That was preceded by a miserable scrimmage where he completed only five of 18 passes earlier in the week.

Werner also has said that Savage has struggled with safety reads. And he's also had some passes that should have been interceptions.

For what it's worth, he played better in the first scrimmage (16-30 for 149 yards and two touchdowns), but it seems as if the bad performances have outweighed the good so far.

By design, Voytik took most of the snaps in Pitt's Blue–Gold game, because of such he put up big numbers (27 of 33, 358 yards, and 3 scores) and may have given the coaches something to think about over the summer. However, Pitt Blather still came away impressed by Savage's limited reps.

Completion percentage (54.5%) correlates to accuracy, but that doesn't mean he was off target; Savage was dead on. If you recall my article on his footwork, I immediately noticed an improvement. He wasn't throwing flat footed, he was stepping into his throws. Even on the 3 step throw to Garner, it was 1-2-3 step up and throw. Quick feet like that will do him well even if the OL struggles. Virtually no pass rush we'll face can get to a QB on a 3 step drop with a quick throw. A major difference between Savage and Voytik was the ability to throw in the pocket. While it's easy to look calm when you can't be hit, Savage was poised and kept his eyes downfield.

Again, it seems as if it's Savage's job to lose, but Voytik is nipping at his heels.

Regardless of who starts, Savage and Voytik will be without lengthy wide receiver Mike Shanahan. The then senior caught 62 balls for 983 yards (team high) in 2012, good enough for a second team All-Big East selection. One of Shanahan's best games came against Virginia Tech (111 yards and a score). Fortunately, Devin Street, Pitt's leader in receptions (73 catches, 975 yards, 5 scores) is back. According to Street, the deep ball was a focus during spring practice.

"We've hit so many deep balls in spring already," Street said. "Tom throws a great deep ball, so I'm really excited about that. Whenever I get a chance to go, I go and Tom hits it. The coaches are more comfortable in spring ball calling a lot more shots down the field. That has to be an emphasis for us. We have to make defenses play honest. We have to back them up a little bit and get them on their toes. If we can work on that, everyone will see a difference."

Pitt's still identifying it's receiving options after Street, but Ed Tinker (5 catches, 68 yards, 1 score), Ronald Jones (7 catches, 66 yards), Kevin Weatherspoon (3-star, class of 2010 signee), and former walk-on Chris Wuestner are all in the mix. Said Pitt Blather of Wuestner, "He reminds me of a bigger and faster Steve Largent — if that makes any sense. He runs surgical routes and catches everything thrown in his vicinity, at least in practices".

As a whole, the receiving corps is green, but Cardiac Hill wonders if the tight ends are the "strongest position for 2013?"

Pitt has the luxury of bringing back sophomore J.P. Holtz [13 catche, 173 yards, 3 scores] as the returning starter. After being pressed into action last season, Holtz responded with an impressive freshman season. He will likely come into a bigger role in the offense this season and his physical presence makes him an excellent blocker as well.

Manasseh Garner is a Wisconsin transfer, and he will add a different element to the team. It's hard to watch him play and not think of Dorin Dickerson. He is a big, strong player with athleticism to create problems for opposing defenses. Garner caught 10 passes for 100 yards in the spring game.

Pitt's fortunate to return 3 starting offensive linemen: Cory King (18 career starts), Matt Rotherran (15 career starts), and Ryan Schlieper (16 career starts), but there's some reshuffling happening.

The Panthers' offensive line lost All-Big East center Ryan Turnley, but return plenty of players with game experience. The issue this spring will be figuring out which players fit and each position along the line. After starting at tackle in 2012, both senior Cory King and junior Matt Rotheram will move to the interior line. Ryan Schlieper, who missed eight games in 2012 with a foot injury, will look to regain his starting position at guard or could end up playing center. Sophomore Artie Rowell and redshirt freshman Gabe Roberts are also in the competition to replace Turnley in the middle. Redshirt freshman Adam Bisnowaty impressed coaches and teammates alike during his time as a scout team tackle, and T.J. Clemmings is making a move from defensive end to right tackle. The Pitt offense under Chryst will need a strong offensive line to compete in the ACC Coastal Division, so hopefully the coaches will feel good about their lineup by the end of spring drills.

Also, Juantez Hollins, who started six games at left tackle and one at left guard in 2011, returns after being suspended for the 2012 season.

For both a paltry rushing team and one that gave up 38.0 sacks (T-102 nationally) in 2012, there's plenty of room for the offensive line to improve. Pitt's relying on inexperienced players to fill their two-deep, and that's always a dangerous proposition. Although, Bisnowaty was a 4-star prospect in the class of 2012, and Dorian Johnson a blue chip 5-star tackle in the 2013 cycle.

Luckily for Pitt, there are hardly as many questions on defense as offense. Having 8 returning starters from a unit that was 17th nationally in total D, and 23rd in preventing scoring will probably make Paul Chryst sleep better at night. The biggest loss was Jarred Holley (46 career starts) who had 2 picks and 75 total tackles in 2012.

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald led Pitt in sacks last season (5.5), and the Big East in tackles for loss (18.5). Tyler Ezell (3 sacks), who was named most improved defensive player during spring, joins Donald inside. Said This is Panther-lair.com's take on the defensive line.

Aaron Donald was arguably the best player on the team last season, and he hasn't taken any steps back this spring. Donald is still dominant, and now he's got a partner at defensive tackle - redshirt senior Tyrone Ezell - who looks like he is ready to be a complementary piece. And behind Donald and Ezell, sophomore Darryl Render and junior Khaynin Mosley-Smith [has since been suspended indefinitely] have emerged as viable backups, giving Pitt some real depth at defensive tackle.

The questions are on the outside. Bryan Murphy is a returning starter, and his bookend is David Durham, a converted fullback who transferred from Ohio State. The defensive ends weren't very productive in 2012; if that changes this season, the line could be a real force. So the defensive ends are worth focusing on during the spring game, but then again, just watch Donald. That's one of the more enjoyable things to do while watching Pitt practice.

Pitt returns two starting linebackers: MLB Shane Gordon (48 tackles) and WLB Todd Thomas (59). Gordon was sidelined with a neck injury during spring ball. Eric Williams was the starter at SLB last season, but he practiced at free safety during spring, and was dismissed from the team along with TE Drew Carswell after a drug raid on their house.

Pitt's depth at SLB took another hit when highly recruited redshirt freshman Deasean Rippy decided to transfer. Going into August, the competition seems to be between redshirt junior Anthony Gonzalez and redshirt freshmen Bam Bradley. Gonzalez, who originally came to Pitt as a dual threat QB, is the frontrunner for the job. He also started against Ole Miss in the BBVA Compass Bowl.

Pitt Blather was encouraged by the play of backup MLB Mike Caprara, backup WLB Ejuan Price, and starter Todd Thomas.

Caprara did not look out of place at all and while you can see he's a little slow in diagnosing pass coverage, he throws his head down in run support and was a tackling machine, finishing with 12 tackles, 9 of them solo. Price made a spectacular tackle in the open field on Desmond Brown in the red zone. If Price misses the tackle, Brown walks in. Those are the type of plays you have to make to win. Todd Thomas is just a monster. He has NFL size and speed and while he didn't make any wow plays, just watching him out there and what he can do is impressive. If he stays healthy and works on the little things, he'll play on Sundays.

Pitt's linebackers were plagued by injuries last season. If the group can get and stay healthy, they won't be a liability.

Pitt's secondary should be a position of strength. Chris Peak of Panther-lair.com wrote, "Pound-for-pound, cornerback might be Pitt's most talented position, at least on the first team, as K'Waun Williams and Lafayette Pitts make the best tandem to play that position for Pitt since Darrelle Revis and Josh Lay." Jerry DiPaola of TribLIVE had this to say about the duo, "K'Waun Williams and Lafayette Pitts can run and jump with most pass catchers, but here is their best trait: They play physical and nasty. Getting beat — and they will — won't bother them because they can't wait for the next play."

Ballhawk free safety Jason Hendricks returns and looks to improve on season where had 90 total tackles, 6 picks, and earned All-Big East second team honors. Unfortunately, Hendricks was sidelined all spring with a toe / foot injury. As I mentioned above, Eric Williams, the player that reaped all the valuable practice time at free, is no longer on team. Strong safety will be the most inexperienced position of the back end with junior Ray Vinopal (single start in 2012) and redshirt freshman Jevonte Pitts vying for the job.

I don't think Pitt will contend for more than a bowl appearance in their first ACC season, but they won't be a pushover either. Paul Chryst is a capable head coach, who wants to play physical football, but with a lack of playmakers, new quarterback, and reworked o-line I don't see them being able to do much except lean on their defense towards the beginning of the season. In absence of other wideout threats, Pitt may have to use its tight ends to free Street of double teams. If it can stay healthy and avoid some thin spots on the depth chart, the defense should be more than serviceable. Pitt's number of wins will probably correlate to how much the offense improves from start of the season (hosting Florida State).

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The College Football League?

joe — Fri, 10 May 2013 05:37:24 +0000

When Nick Saban talks, people listen. A mic consistently in the face is a byproduct of winning national championship rings for half his fingers. (That is correct by 3rd grade standards, when we all were giddy to learn the thumb technically wasn't a finger. Or by Alabama standards, where they awarded Saban a commemorative 5th ring for the thumb.)

As your may or may not know, the Big Ten is working toward eliminating I-AA games from its team's schedules. Saban was asked his thoughts on the Southeastern Conference possibly doing the same eventually.

"I'm for five conferences — everybody playing everybody in those five conferences," the Alabama coach said Thursday night before speaking at a Crimson Caravan stop. "That's what I'm for, so it might be 70 teams, and everybody's got to play 'em. …"

Seventy is a number that's divided evenly by 5. Of the five power conferences, the SEC, B1G, and ACC have, or will soon have, 14 full-time members. The Big 12 is chilling with 10 and the Pac-12 doesn't dig misnomers. These are probably the leagues Saban is talking about, and perhaps in his scenario the latter two move to 14 teams (14 * 5 = 70).

My initial impulse was to like this idea. The season is too short and precious to waste games on pay-for-I-AA-blowouts (JMU joke here) and uninteresting non-conference matchups ("LET'S PLAY ECU EVERY GAME" – Jim Weaver, probably). With the playoff, there's less of a chance for a loss to eliminate a team from national championship contention. Strength of schedule will be used even more to evaluate teams. Finally, with a 70 team pool, there will be more common opponents to apply the irrational Transitive Property of Football to.

I soured on it a bit when I started thinking about the flaws.

I-AA schools depend on the cash the big boys payout to fund their programs and athletic departments. Tennessee-Martin athletics director Phil Dane said, "If the SEC should follow that trend, it would be a major concern for us because football guaranteed games are a very significant part of our business."
It wasn't too long ago that Virginia Tech was an afterthought in college football, struggling to make a name for itself, and find a conference home. Saban's 70 team model leaves 6 seats at the table, with one reserved for Notre Dame. There are more than 5 schools that didn't survive expansion, but remain committed to football. Furthermore, who is going to force the Pac-12 and Big 12 to take in the stragglers?
Most importantly, it wouldn't be the 70 best teams. Hello there, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Colorado, Boston College, Indiana, etc... I don't like handshakes and proximity trumping on-the-field product.

Am I for more competitive games? Always. Am I for crushing the little guy, and shutting the door on schools trying to move up? No. The rise of new era programs and powerhouses is something I've come to appreciate.

College football isn't very symmetric or homogeneous, it'll require unique, probably complex, solutions for its problems. Here's one: Eliminate I-AA games from the schedule, play I-AA teams instead of spring games. I-AA schools get a payday, boring spring scrimmages are eliminated, and look, an open spot in the fall.

Reformation, reorganization, separation, whatever you want to call it, may be inevitable because money is involved. This is what SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said regarding full cost of attendance being part of an athletic scholarship.

"Obviously, if things like that don't get accomplished, then it may be appropriate to talk about some alternative or division or something like that," Slive said. "But that's not our desire. That's not our goal and that's not something we're trying to get to."

He went on to stress that he hasn't been involved in any discussions concerning divisions however it's clearly another example of conference officials being concerned with the current state of college athletics.

The ACC's grant of rights halted expansion, but not change. The O'Bannon lawsuit, is happening, and who knows what else is around the corner. Sometimes I wish I could unplug, and wait for college football to figure itself out.

Home and Home series with Michigan

757Hokey — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:15:48 +0000

Editor's Note: Thanks to 757Hokey for starting this thread in the forum. --Joe

The following is from the official HokieSports.com release.

Virginia Tech and the University of Michigan announced Thursday that they have agreed to a home-and-home football series that will be played during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The agreement calls for the Hokies and Wolverines to play in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 19, 2020, and meet the following season in Blacksburg on Sept. 11, 2021.

"I am pleased that Dave Brandon (Michigan AD) and I have been able to work out this agreement," Tech Director of Athletics Jim Weaver said. "Michigan is the winningest college football program in the country, and it will be exciting to have the Wolverines come to Lane Stadium."
The two schools have met just once previously on the gridiron with Michigan registering a hard-fought 23-20 overtime victory in the 2012 Sugar Bowl game.

Michigan becomes the third Big Ten team on future Tech schedules, joining Ohio State and Wisconsin. The Hokies are scheduled to travel to Ohio State in 2014 and play host to the Buckeyes in 2015. A two-game series with Wisconsin is set to begin in 2016.

Tech is currently 1-1 all-time against Big Ten teams, with both meetings coming in bowl games. Prior to their Sugar Bowl loss to Michigan in 2012, the Hokies defeated Indiana 45-20 in the 1993 Independence Bowl.

Nice follow up to the already scheduled home and home series between Ohio state and Wisconsin that starts in 2014. Thoughts?

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Spring Look In: North Carolina

joe — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:00:04 +0000

Offensively last season, North Carolina was a juggernaut. The Heels set school records for points per game (40.6), and total points (487). Those marks were good enough for second in the ACC, and eighth nationally in scoring offense. Larry Fedora wants to dictate tempo, stress a defense, and run 80-85 plays a game. Regarding the spring game, Fedora said, "Offensively, I thought our tempo was just very, very average, to say the least. I didn't think there was anything special about it." Although, he basically said the same thing after the 2012 spring game.

Accurate passer Bryn Renner (65.40% in 2012) returns for his final go-around with 25 career starts under his belt. Renner completed 16 of 27 passes for 216 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a pick during UNC's spring game. Before that, Renner was so-so in the team's final scrimmage leading up to the spring game, "Renner had three overthrows on open guys and was picked off twice. He looked good on timing routes and made a couple of pretty throws in tough situations — e.g. dropping that one in to Davis."

Sixty-eight percent of UNC's receiving yards from 2012 return in '13. The most notable losses were Erik Highsmith and Giovani Bernard.

Name	Receptions	Yards (Team Rank)
Erik Highsmith	54 (2nd)	587 (3rd)
Giovani Bernard	47 (3rd)	490 (4th)

This is what Bryn Renner said about his group.

[Team's leading receiver] Quinshad [Davis]has made a ton of progress as far as his work ethic in the weight room, getting bigger and faster. He missed a little bit of training camp and didn't have a chance to get that weight on him. Him coming back and having that playing experience -- hopefully he can continue to have a big year. But I think, Sean Tapley hopefully we'll get T.J. Thorpe healthy, guys like Kendrick Singleton, Jack Tabb, Eric Ebron -- we have some receivers that can make plays. The only thing they're lacking is making plays on a down to down basis. Once we get into the flow of the season and get more reps in training camp, they'll be able to step right in there and play good football for us.

A top priority of spring ball for Carolina was identifying potential replacements for tailback Giovani Bernard (1,228 yards, 12 TDs). True freshman, early enrollee, Khris Francis turned heads rushing for 101 yards on 20 carries for the white (mostly non-starters) team during the spring game. While Francis' performance might have been the most surprising, other Heels had a productive afternoon too.

Romar Morris, a rising sophomore, gained 80 yards on 15 carries and scored on a 2-yard run for the Blue team. A.J. Blue, who along with Morris is likely to fill the void left by Giovani Bernard, gained 30 yards on eight carries. He also had a 33-yard touchdown reception for the Blue team.

Hokies will painfully remember every one of Gio's 262 rushing yards last October, and while both Blue and Morris are capable, Bernard had the benefit of a talented, veteran offensive line. It will be no easy task replacing three senior starters.

Three seniors are lost along the offensive line, led by All-American left guard Jonathan Cooper. Outside of senior left tackle James Hurst and junior center Russell Bodine, UNC lacks clear answers both in the starting lineup and on the second level. In all likelihood, sophomore Landon Turner will retain the job at right guard after starting the final four games of 2012.

Cooper was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals 7th overall. Russell Bodine (6-4, 310, center) and James Hurst (6-7, 305, tackle) started 12 and 9 games respectively last fall. Hurst was voted second team All-ACC last year.

Rebuilding an offensive line with inexperienced players is never easy. It certainly helps that those guys, Landon Turner (6-4, 320, guard, 4-star), Caleb Peterson (6-5, 300, guard, 3-star), and Kiaro Holts (6-4, 295, tackle, 4-star), were highly regarded prospects. It seems like the group will go through many different iterations in an effort to produce depth and find a best five. The o-line's development, or lack thereof, will be a major factor of how effective Fedora's offense will be in year two.

Fielding a defense to match Fedora's high-tempo offense will no doubt be a priority for North Carolina in August.

UNC lost four starters from a defense ranked 56th in total defense, and 53rd in scoring defense.

Carolina will miss defensive tackle Sylvester Williams and linebacker Kevin Reddick in the middle of the defense. Tim Jackson and Shaun Underwood have experience on the defensive line, but the linebacker corps will feature a lot of new faces. "Having to plug Kevin's spot will be a lot tougher than it will be to plug Sly's spot, just from an experience standpoint," [defensive end Kareem] Martin said. As for the leadership Williams and Reddick provided, Martin said he himself planned to step forward. Some names that jumped out on defense Thursday: Shakeel Rashad, Junior Gnonkonde, and Dan Mastromatteo, a redshirt freshman from Absecon, N.J. Mastromatteo seemed to be all over the field, and his name gave PA announcer Greg Tilley fits.

Kareem Martin returns the team's most sacks (4), and will be counted on as a defensive leader.

There's a battle for both starting linebacker jobs. Juniors Tommy Heffernan and Travis Hughes are the frontrunners to start at Will (weak side) backer, while redshirt freshmen Dan Mastromatteo and Nathan Staub will try to fill the shoes left by four-year starter Kevin Reddick at Mike (middle) backer.

Bandit, UNC's hybrid outside linebacker–defensive end position, saw heavy competition during spring practice as well.

Right now junior Norkeithus Otis and sophomore Shakeel Rashad are the top two players for the Tar Heels at 'Bandit.'

Rashad came on strong early in the spring season and spent a lot of time with the first defensive unit, but Otis has grown by leaps and bounds and now he's been getting reps with the starters.

"Yeah, they're getting a lot of really good reps. That's a great competition right now," said UNC head coach Larry Fedora about the 'Bandits.'

"It's very competitive. Shakeel is a great athlete. Junior (Gnonkonde), he's a great athlete. We just compete each and every day," Otis added.

Rising fourth-year junior Darius Lipford, who was held out of spring ball, might factor into the competition this summer. Shakeel Rashad's on-the-field experience last season is a big advantage.

Ram is another hybrid position, "The ram roves the secondary but will also line up as a linebacker and even at times at end." Junior Brandon Ellerbe and walk-on sophomore Ryan Mangum were the only two players listed at ram on the spring game roster, and seem to be the favorites to replace departed starter Gene Robinson.

Bandit and ram are positions similar in their uniqueness and importance (although not necessarily responsibilities) to Tech's Whip. Transitioning from the previous regime's traditional 4-3, to Fedora and Co's 4-2-5 left UNC without many natural options. That is to say, players the current staff recruited specifically to play bandit and ram. Hokies have seen how hard it is to find a good Whip, and Tech's coaches have recruited for it.

Even though UNC was ranked 81st nationally in pass defense last season, the strength of their defense might be its secondary, which returns all four starters (72 total career starts). Tim Scott (4), Tre Boston (4), and Darien Rankin (3) combined for 11 picks in '12, which helped the Heels tie for the ACC's best in interceptions (16).

Although in spring, injuries sidelined some of their projected contributors.

"We've got a couple hurt guys," said rising senior cornerback Jabari Price, one of a core of UNC defensive backs, including Darien Rankin, Sam Smiley, T.J. Jiles, and Malik Simmons, who have missed some or all of spring workouts.

"When you have guys contributing and stepping up when guys are hurt like Rankin and Smiley, it feels natural. And I think that's what the secondary is feeling right now. I feel like this is our second nature, and we're really playing now," added fellow senior Tre Boston.

According to UNC's spring game roster, Jabari Price and Darien Rankin didn't play.

North Carolina should be a team that challenges to win the ACC Coastal Division. There are some glaring holes that must be filled at defensive tackle, linebacker, bandit, ram, and most importantly offensive line. However, they are solid at quarterback, offensive skill positions, and I believe the overall experience of the secondary will translate into improved production.

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2013 Spring Game: The Progression of the Passing Game

french60wasp — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:12:26 +0000

Logan made some strides as a passer, but will need to improve if the Hokies want a win in the Dome.

image via:

HokieSports.com

The most heavily scrutinized Virginia Tech player when the Hokies take the field against Alabama on August 31st will be quarterback Logan Thomas. Logan suffered through a debilitating 2012 campaign where he took a physical pounding, never fully established trust with his receivers outside of Corey Fuller, and completely lost the touch and accuracy that made him look like a bonafide first day NFL draft pick towards the end of the 2011 season. Scot Loeffler was tasked not only with re-establishing the Virginia Tech lunch pail mentality on the offensive side of the football, but also rebuilding Logan Thomas as a quarterback.

Those efforts produced mixed results in the spring. In two scrimmages, Thomas had some struggles in the face of a heavy pass rush and a limited playbook. In one scrimmage, he looked dynamite throwing deep skinny posts, fades, and bootlegs. The spring game, against the back up secondary and basic defenses, appeared to be a vehicle to give Logan a dominant performance and build confidence for the build up to the Tide.

Instead, the wheels came off. Thomas threw three poor interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns, and the partisan faithful cheered when Thomas was replaced by backup quarterback Mark Leal. A return to the field following a lengthy absence only resulted in additional consistency, and following the game some in the fan base were even uttering the unthinkable words "quarterback controversy." It was almost as if a sadistic screenwriter wrote a brutal, worst case scenario. I hammered Logan immediately following the game. It appeared that he was locking on to his primary read, and was not looking to secondary receivers, which allowed defensive backs to jump his routes. TheKeyPlay.com readers have speculated that these problems can be attributed to the limited playbook options, poor route running, or great coverage. Was my initial assessment unjust? Let's take a look at the film.

Does Success Equal Successful Execution?

Since launching French on the Bench, the natural focus of the column is to break down big, game changing plays and highlight why they worked, or why they failed. While that makes the column more interesting and gives a different perspective for why things work or don't work on a football field, it also isn't always a terrific methodology for analyzing the individual performance of a player, especially a quarterback. For Logan, I decided not to focus as much on the three interceptions, and take a close look at some of his completions to see if he was scanning the field, examine his mechanics, and take a look at how the play was developing down field.

This film review yielded mixed results. Logan's mechanics throughout the game look vastly improved. He has shortened his throwing motion, and a much higher percentage of passes were in the right vicinity as compared to last season. At the same time, on far too many plays, he was completely locked in on one receiver, resulting in two of the interceptions and failures to locate other receivers down field. Here, we have a 2nd-and-11.

6:34–6:43

Thomas takes the snap from the shotgun and his head immediately looks to his left.

He stays locked on, and then fires a frozen rope on a deep out to Josh Stanford. Donovan Riley successfully breaks up the play. If you watch Logan closely, he is completely locked into Stanford on the play. His lack of head movement would allow defenders (if in zone) to rotate over to Stanford, or at least get a jump on making the play after the catch. Even a look off would help Stanford on the play.
On the first series, Stanford made a huge play on a slant route to nearly score a touchdown. Logan even handled a poor snap to make the throw. But, SHOULD he have made the throw? And, did he properly analyze the play?

1:02–1:14

After getting a low snap, Logan stares down Stanford. If you freeze the film at 1:05, Logan is looking dead to Stanford without any kind of lookoff.

Deon Clarke is looking into the backfield and follows Logan's eyes to where the football will be delivered. An experienced linebacker would ease back into the zone and likely either intercept the pass or break up the pass (see Bruce Taylor on the G-W interception for a touchdown against Florida State in the 2010 ACC Championship Game), but Clarke second guesses himself and eases up at the last moment (perhaps worried that he is being overaggressive; overthinking makes the brain tie up the feet.) This is a poor decision by Thomas that ends up working out thanks to Clarke's hesitancy and a terrific play by Stanford.

Staring down receivers ultimately resulted in the first two interceptions. On the fourth and goal, the Hokies ran an interior pick play, looking to get Josh Stanford open on a five yard in route. Knowles runs a similar route. The key to the play is a 10 yard flag route by D.J. Coles in the slot. Thomas reads the defender covering Coles. If the defender gets pushed off by Coles, Logan hits Stanford on the in route. If the defender jumps the in route, Coles has an angle on the inside defender covering him on the flag route.

On film, we see that Logan reads the play incorrectly.

1:35–1:41

Der'Woun Greene (lines up on Coles) backpedals as if he is in man coverage, then widens to leave the nickel to cover Coles man-to-man. Logan locks in on Stanford rather than reading Greene. Greene plants and charges the throw, which is late because Thomas hesitates. He has no window to throw into.The better decision would have been to loft a soft high arcing pass to the back corner of the end zone, where Coles was somewhat open on the flag route. The throw isn't easy, but Coles was open enough that the pass would sail harmlessly out of bounds or Coles would make the catch.

The second interception is more difficult to analyze based on this film (we can't see the routes develop downfield). At the snap Logan takes his first step away from center with the right leg , opening his shoulders and head to the right sideline. It appears that he is looking at the receiver flexed to the right side (who I believe is D.J. Coles.) His eyes move quickly from right to left as if he is tracking Coles, but if he is, Coles is open for a short window. I think that Logan was just turning his head to go with his second backpedal to lock in on Stanford, who appears to be running a 12 yard in from the left sideline. From his second step, through his plant and step into the throw, Logan is completely locked in on Stanford, even though Donovan Riley (who played a magnificent game) was in Stanford's hip pocket, and two other defenders were within 5-7 yards underneath the route. Even if Coles was the primary read, Logan should not have fixated and stayed with Stanford.

2:48–2:58

I am not sure if Stanford is at fault here, but it looks like the ball never should have been thrown.

Other plays, Logan does work through progressions, but misses open opportunities. One particular play drove me absolutely nuts while at the game.

5:28–5:35

After taking the snap, Logan blindly looks to his right, where Knowles runs a go route. A go route requires some time, but Logan checks down quickly to Ryan Malleck on a delayed out to the right flat. He gets a small amount of pressure from Ken Ekanem, but it is easily avoidable by taking a step up into the well-developed pocket. Instead of stepping up into the pocket and keeping his eyes focused downfield, he throws off balance to his second check down, Coleman on a delay to the left. This is also the one clear example of Logan's mechanics breaking down. The rushed throw forces Coleman to go down to a knee, meanwhile Knowles had more than 20 yards of wide open space down the right sideline because both the corner and the safety on the right side froze to jump Malleck coming out of the backfield. This is the classic example of poor pocket presence.

It is unfair to lump the failure of some of these plays strictly in Logan's lap. Some of the plays may have been poor route running, or perhaps even Bud Foster's "basic" defenses are more complex than most defensive systems that quarterbacks face in the spring game. Logan had major flashes of improvement. His throw to Stanford for the slant gets intercepted with anything less than elite arm strength and mechanics. The same stands true with the out pattern to Stanford highlighted earlier. His best completion play of the day involved a throw to McCray (lined up as a wide receiver) in between a corner and safety playing cover 2.

4:55–5:01

Prior to the throw, Logan looks short to the left flat to Edmunds who lines up as a slot. Logan looks hard to the flat, forcing the shallow zone to come forward. Logan then looks up and lays the ball into McCray short of the safety. He used head movement, made the correct read, and made a precision touch pass. He had numerous beautiful throws over the course of spring practice. The physical tools are there, but he has to incorporate all the skills of the quarterback position, every play, in order to elevate the Hokies to championship contenders. Alabama will mix and match defenses, bring edge pressure and drop defensive tackles into zone coverage. They will press, role coverage towards Logan's security blankets. Saban will do everything in his power to force Logan Thomas to try to win the game, with the hope that he loses it trying. In the face of that challenge, Logan Thomas will need to have his best game, and the staff has to make sure that he doesn't have to win the game. Run the ball, force turnovers, get the lead, and let Logan Thomas make plays on bootlegs (which I will highlight next week) and other play-action to move the chains. Do those things, and the Hokies will stun the world.

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2013 Spring Practice

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