Game Review - vs. East Carolina

Finally!

Hokie fans began to exhale a big sigh of relief when Virginia Tech bean to pull way from the East Carolina Pirates on Saturday afternoon. However, this game falls far short of the execution and level of play needed to take this team to big victories down the road. First, a game summary, and then the analysis.

Game Summary

The ECU pirates sensed a wounded beast in our Hokies after a disappointing loss to Boise State and a demoralizing loss to James Madison University. And with blood in the water of that sort, an energized ECU squad coming off of two big wins had the wind at their backs to hand the Hokies yet another defeat. The underdogs came out swinging and at early points of the game looked capable of delivering a knock out punch.

Comparable to the game against Boise State, against ECU the Virginia Tech defense allowed 17 points in just a little over a quarter of play. During ECU's first two drives of the game, they marched down the field making the Hokie defense appear hapless to stop them from moving the ball. That earned the Pirates a field goal and a touchdown on each drive while having shut down the Hokie offense. Then, Virginia tech responded with a 60 yard drive resulting in a touchdown run into the endzone by Ryan Williams so as not to go quietly through the first quarter.

Upon the opening of the second quarter ECU once again punched in another touchdown off a 7 yard pass from quarterback Dominique Davis to WR Dwayne Harris. On the ensuing VT drive, Tyrod Taylor passed to Jarrett Boykin who caught the ball and subsequently fumbled it only most fortunately such that the Hokies recovered. The play went sloppily for the Hokies, although they ended up with good field position. Ryan Williams left the game early with a hamstring injury. Stumbling their way through the rest of the half, the Hokies put up one more touchdown to close out the half trailing by 3 points.

During the second half, the Hokies took to better form, but before they did Darren Evans fumbled on the Virginia Tech 39 yardline. The defense held the Pirates to a 41 yard field goal on its ensuing drive. The Hokie offense responded with two touchdowns, both on runs by David Wilson.

In the fourth quarter, the Hokies exploded and put on the show that college football fans had expected to see during this weeks game and last weeks game. The defense started getting to the ECU quarterback, opposing drives resulting in punts, and pressure lead to thrown interceptions. Rashad Carmichael's interception lead to a 68 yard run for a touchdown, and Tyrod Taylor completed a touchdown pass of 69 yards to Jarret Boykin. The Hokies ended the day with a 49 to 27 victory.

Analysis

Obviously, every Hokie fan exhaled a big sigh of relief during the fourth quarter when we realized that our boys wouldn't be going down to 0-3 on the season. After already experiencing the worst season opening in decades, fans rallied behind our Hokies in the hopes of salvaging the rest of the season. But despite this win the Hokies play over the past three games raises some very serious concerns, some of them recycled from seasons past, but one in particular that's very new.

Let me start with the newest and most disconcerting. The Hokie defense hasn't been the terror of seasons past against their opponents. They have a lot of new starters on that side of the ball, but that's never really been a big concern in the past because defensive coordinator Bud Foster knows how to whip his troops into shape to make the lean, mean fighting machine we've all come to know as Hokie defense. The defense has allowed 383, 235, and 361 yards respectively in the first three contests of this season. Against top 25 teams, those make for respectable numbers, but considering contests against ECU and JMU, those numbers are disconcerting. The amount of points scored totals 81 thus far this season, another number the Hokies need to improve. They way the BSU and ECU offenses marched themselves down the field in their respective first quarters of play makes an onlooking Hokie fan want to bury his head into his hands and bite his nails. The defense has traditionally been the rock that keeps the Hokies competitive throughout the season, and the need for that isn't going to go away this season. I hope this breaks down to inexperience that Bud Foster is molding into the defense that we're used to watching as a dominating force on the football field. My suspicion is that we'll see growing improvement, so I'm optimistic that we'll see our Hokie defense come to form. I just hope it happens soon enough so that Virginia Tech can persevere through the ACC in-conference schedule.

On the other side of the ball, we've seen some of the same problems on the field. Sorry to keep beating this dead horse as we do here at TSF so often, but it's a fact. The first thing I noticed was the playcalling. There's a lot of aspects the playcalling to criticize, but I want to focus on one in particular. During this game and prior games of the season, the passing game continuously has gone for the "home run" pass, sometimes as a called play and sometimes as the result of a play breaking down. Sometimes it makes sense to pull a long pass to catch a defense off guard or in times of sheer desperation, but I see the Hokie offense going to this too often. Instead they need to focus on more frequently executing the short pass. It plays into controlling the pace of the drive and the clock, which is extremely important in the later minutes of a close game. Also, I'm uncomfortable with the number of times our quarterback has had to rush to escape the danger of a sack. It's great that Tyrod Taylor's foot speed give the Hokie offense that option, but the frequency with which he has to use it worries me. Quarterback rushing may do well against the non-BCS conference teams, and even against most of the teams in the ACC, but it won't win an ACC championship and it certainly won't win a major BCS bowl. Of these broken down scrambling plays, Taylor had nine rushes for 32 yards. Against a more formidable defense, any of those nine plays could have resulted in big losses for the Hokie offense. Given the experience and talent of this Hokie offense, these problems should be in their rear view mirror, but we'll do what we do as fans every season in this regard, hope that it gets better.

The Hokies open their ACC season against Boston College next week. The's a lot of season left to salvage, and a big win against the Eagles could put the season on the right track towards intra-conference success.

LET'S GO HOKIES

Game Preview - vs. East Carolina

(22/24) VS

Virginia Tech Hokies 5-3, 3-1 ACC @ East Carolina Pirates 5-3, 4-1 C-USA

Kickoff: 7:45 pm
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, N.C.
TV: ESPN
Radio: XM 190; Sirius: 213
Series vs. ECU: VT leads, 9-5
Series Streak: ECU, 1

With losses to Georgia Tech and then UNC, the past two games have certainly served up some hard pills for Hokie fans to swallow, but as we come into the home stretch of the regular season, let's hope that our Hokies play with all the same heart as a team marching towards a conference championship. Our boys still have yet to reach bowl eligibility, and finishing strong in the remainder of the regular season increases the chances for a better bowl bid against a formidable opponent.

The rest of the Hokies' season begins today against the East Carolina Pirates. The Pirates upset the Hokies in last year's season opener at Lane Stadium. They gave the Hokies the wakeup call they needed to understand that they'd have to earn the ACC title rather than have it just fall into their laps. This season, the Pirates enter the game with a record of 5-3, same as Virginia Tech. Two of their losses come at the hands of BCS conference opponents West Virginia and the very same North Carolina team who defeated the Hokies last week. ECU plays out of the same conference as Marshall, another Conference USA team on the Hokies' 2009 schedule. Virginia Tech travels to Greeville today to play in an ECU stadium that many expect to fill up with very exited fans who would love to witness an upset against a prestigious team from a BCS conference. The Pirates smell blood in the water because Virginia Tech, who has just taken a mid-season skid, fits that bill very well. Skip Holtz, son of college football commentator Lou Holtz, says, "There is an awful lot of buildup and excitement for this game, venue and atmosphere. I think Greenville will come alive a little bit Thursday. We're really excited to not only play Virginia Tech, but to play the team at home." Expect an ECU team ready to bring their A-game to demonstrate that last year's victory over the Hokies didn't come as a fluke.

East Carolina has demonstrated some strong offense this season, and to no real surprise with 8 returning starters. Quarterback Patrick Pinkey takes the helm as a Senior with plenty of experience dating back to the 2007 season. His numbers have improved since he started playing the position. Haling from Fayetteville, NC, he stands at 6'1" and 205 lbs. He has thrown for 1515 yards, 8 touchdowns, and for a completion percentage of 57%. Dominique Lindsay and Brandon Jackson fill the role of the primary ball carriers for the Pirates. Lindsay has rushed for 570 yards and 3 touchdowns over 99 attempts. The Senior doesn't stand as the largest in the lot of college football running backs at 5'10" weighing 202 lbs, and neither does Jackson also standing at 5'10" and weighing 202 lbs. His numbers fall shy of Lindsay's at 264 yards and 3 touchdowns over 73 attempts. In the area of receiving, Pinkey primarily looks to Junior wide receiver Dwayne Harris. He has made 47 receptions and caught for 521 yards and 3 touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Jamar Bryant has caught for 200 yards, 21 receptions, and 2 touchdowns. Standing at 6'1" and 6'2" respectively, neither creates too much of a height problem for the Hokie secondary. Also, the ECU injury report has Bryant listed as doubtful for today's game with a shoulder injury. In total offense, the team places fourth in their home conference, but the vast majority of their yardage gains comes from rushing. Expect Holtz and ECU to rely heavily on the running game, especially with Bryant sidelined.

On the other side of the ball, ECU's defense also has eight returning starters and also ranks fourth in their home conference. Mirroring their offense, they have a much poorer passing defense than running defense. If you'd chose to have one over the other against the Hokies, a better rushing defense makes for a better bet. However, there does lie a very big BUT here. Hokie Quarterback Tyrod Taylor has begun to turn the page this season as a quarterback who can consistently pass for yardage gains. He has demonstrated that in the midst of some tough mid-season losses, not that that the Hokie offense has looked great as a whole for all this time. This contest may make for the perfect opportunity for him to establish some rhythm with his young receiver core and boost one another's confidence. Something does work in ECU's favor in this aspect on the other hand. Their defense has a high number of quarterback hurries at 35 on the season. Now, they have done that primarily against weaker teams than the Hokies, but they have nonetheless demonstrated their ability to do it. 32 of those hurries happened during games they won, so if that starts happening a lot to Taylor, get worried.

Should Virginia Tech drop this game, it would mark their first three game loosing streak since 2003. At the same time, however, this game offers Virginia Tech a chance to get back on the saddle of winning and handing a defeat to a pumped up opponent on their own field. That could set the tone for a strong Hokie finish to their regular season.

Game Preview - vs. ECU

On August 30, 2008, the ECU Pirates square off against the Hokies in the same match-up that kicked off both teams' respective seasons last year. Virginia Tech handed the Pirates a 17-7 loss, and they are back this year to give the Hokies a better game.

Throughout the Hokies' pre-season the coaching staff has looked for a clear distinction between the success of Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon, the two candidates for the starting quarterback job. As recently as to date, nobody from the Hokie staff has indicated one to have the starting job over the other. They have kept the competition in the picture to motivate the two. Last season, after Taylor returned from a high ankle sprain, head coach Frank Beamer kept his cards close to the vest about who would play in which situations. For the most part, coaches and fans alike prefer to have a designated starting quarterback, but signs (until most recently with the redshirting of Taylor) have shown that we could see a similar approach to the QB spot again this season. Taylor was un-redshirted last season, and while the initial decision to do so in the begging of this season is also a good idea, I'm sure the coaching staff won't rule out un-redshirting him again if it mean competing for another ACC Championship. With a healthier offensive line and more experience, Glennon's opening day play should show improvement from last year's.

Moving on to the Hokies' opponents, the Pirates are hungry to improve their football program in performance, recognition, and stature. They have loaded their out of conference schedule this season with West Virginia, Virginia, NC State, and of course Virginia Tech. They are seeking to improve their program in a comparable way to the Hokies in late 80's and early 90's. And with Virginia Tech's loss of returning starters and some inexperience on both sides of the ball, ECU can smell blood in the water. The iron is hot for the Pirates to strike against an ACC championship winning school. If their coaching staff has studied the history of Virginia Tech football, they've determined most probably what they should: Virginia Tech has a track record of winning when they're not supposed to win and loosing when they aren't supposed to loose. Saturday's contest has all the elements for the latter to happen.

So what do the Hokies face on Saturday? On offense, the Pirates have two seniors and two juniors returning from last years team. Quarterback Patrick Pinkney threw for a 61% completion rate and a total of 1358 yards. 400 of those passing yards came in a single game against North Carolina last season leading the Pirates to at 34-31 win. He has demonstrated the poise and experience of a quarterback over the past season, and has an attitude of enthusiasm that he brings to the field. The ECU coaching staff thinks it's only a matter of time before his talent caches up with that attitude. In the running back position, ECU will have to turn to Brandon Simmons as the primary ball carrier after a knee injury sustained by Dominique Linday, the running back groomed to succeed Chris Johnson, who ran for 1423 yards last season. So the running game could be a weakness in the Pirate offense that the Hokies could exploit. Looking towards the ECU receiving, Jamar Bryant received for 704 yards last season and caught six touchdowns. Tight end Davon Drew caught for 579 yards last season with only two touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, ECU allowed a total of 3487 passing yards and 436 rushing yards. In spite of these numbers, holding Virginia Tech to only 17 points last year demonstrated how the ECU defense is capable of containing the Hokie offense, especially in light of the Hokie '07 season receiver core graduating.

The bottom line is that the Hokies have a tough opponent in front of them in Saturday's contest. ECU has their mouths watering for a victory against a high profile team like Virginia Tech, so the Hokies better have a new attitude after their Orange Bowl loss to Kansas, or they'll be dropping as the favorites to a team they have the favorability to beat.

Virginia Tech Hokies vs. ECU Pirates
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008
Kickoff: 12 PM
Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte, N.C.

Let's go Hokies!