Tech Tries to Recover from Mistakes Against Arkansas State

"The big thing is that when we needed to do it, we did it."

- Coach Frank Beamer

In order to get a full preview of what we can expect against Arkansas State this weekend, I could rehash all the penalties. I could talk about how we've all established that this was a fluke and that Beamer will not tolerate any screw ups in practice this week and in next weeks game.

I could rehash the dropped balls, which after skimming the footage from Saturday, I'm starting to be a little more convinced that they were, in fact, drops.



Jarrett Boykin himself said that the wide receivers were out of focus. He said during the player's press conference that the struggles in the passing game on the shoulders of the wide receivers, himself included. They dropped too many passes.

We know what Tech needs to improve on. The bottom line is, as Coach Beamer said, when Tech needed to get things done, they did them. They pulled off the win, and they'll address the major issues.

Beamer apologized for not preparing the team mentally for the East Carolina game. He and his staff are correcting these mistakes and will be sure to have the team ready both physically and mentally every week here on out.

Looking at Arkansas State as a team we have to start with the defense. The defense has 10 senior starting. They had 10 players with at least one tackle for loss against Memphis last week. This unit is fast and will cause some trouble in the back field for Logan Thomas and the running backs. This is a team that likes to blitz, accumulating eight sacks in two games, so this may be a big test for the offensive line.

Tech will have to establish themselves early against Arkansas State. Last week was a step backwards in a way and they will need to get back to weekly improvement. They need to put the mistakes of the ECU game behind them and carry on.

The 47-3 win over Memphis gave Arkansas State a solid win against their main rival. Arkansas State put up 611 yards of total offense against Memphis. Their quarterback Ryan Aplin was 19-of-21. The backup Andre Smith wasn't to shabby either at 10-12. Offensively, they can rack up points quick. Tech's defense will have their work cut out for them guarding against this air assault.

On special teams they have an amazing kicker Bobby Zalud who kicked a 56 yard field goal in the game against Memphis.

One note about Virginia Tech punting. Questions were raised in the media when Beamer announced that Michael Branthover will be dressed for the Arkansas State game. Scott Demler has been struggling managing just one kick over 40 yards against ECU. Beamer said Monday that he's considering the change, but yesterday said that Demler will likely get another shot.

Tech will need to step up and put last week behind them. The weather is calling for mild temperatures and light rain. It'll be a good day for football in the good ol' 'Burg!

Go Hokies!