Clemson’s receivers make the highlights, but Tigers’ balance a concern for the Hokies
The spread offense in college football has a certain connotation — teams lighting up scoreboards by throwing the ball all over the field.
But Virginia Tech coaches and players think holding Clemson’s spread offense in check comes down to the same old basics, which include stopping the run first.
“I’ve said if we held them to three yards or less rushing and they threw for 300, I bet we’d have a really good chance of winning the game, probably,” defensive line coach Charley Wiles.
Quarterback Tajh Boyd and wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins get plenty of attention in the Tigers’ offense — and, considering their numbers, rightfully so — but Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris has made no secret of the fact that his teams will try to establish the run.
In fact, the Tigers have run the ball 261 times and thrown it 232 times, averaging 201.2 yards per game on the ground and 324.7 in the air.
Tailback Andre Ellington has 597 rushing yards, a 5.1-yard average and six touchdowns this year.
“They’re a pretty balanced team,” Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “They want to run the football. The Ellington kid is a good back. He’s explosive. He’s good with the ball in his hands. He’s good with the ball coming out of the backfield. They run outs and screens to him. Just a really good football player.
“Then Tajh looks really comfortable. I saw the Florida State game where they said he’s lost a lot of weight. In all the big games he runs the ball. You see some games he doesn’t run as much, but in our game they always get him involved in the run game. I guess they feel like they have to a little bit. We’re always trying to load up a little bit. But we’ve got to keep him contained as well, in the run game as well as the pass game.”
That puts plenty of pressure on Virginia Tech’s defensive line to match its production against Duke. The Hokies were active the last three quarters up front, holding the Blue Devils to 22 rushing yards and forcing them to be one-dimensional.
“That’s the key against any team,” said defensive end James Gayle, who had nine tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss. “If we stop the run, you force the quarterback to win the game. If you know they’re going to pass it, it’s easier to play defense.”
That’ll be a challenge. A big part of Clemson’s offense is misdirection, trying to get lineman tied up.
“It’s a unique offense,” Foster said. “It gives you the spread element but a Wing T and some of the same principles of Georgia Tech too. Some option football and spread football. Just a lot of misdirection. We’ve got to be sound with our perimeter people, not letting the ball get outside of us. Keep areas restricted and then not give up the big play.”
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Here are more notes and quotes from post-practice defensive interviews Monday ….
- I’ll have more on the challenge facing Virginia Tech’s cornerbacks with Hopkins and Watkins in Wednesday’s paper. Foster was asked about matching up with them and laughed — cackled, really — about the problems they present to cornerbacks. ”Hell, they’ve got to protect deep,” Foster said. “They can’t have yards after the catch. … Now, you can’t double those guys because then they’re going to run it up inside on you. So I’m hoping those guys will step up like they’re capable of doing.”
- Foster had plenty of praise for Hopkins, calling the receiver, who is probably the ACC’s MVP at the midpoint of the season, “one of their best, if not their best football player” on offense. Cornerback Antone Exum said Hopkins and Watkins in the “top three, top four receivers in the country.”
- An increased pass rush would help out on the back end. The Hokies had five sacks against Duke after getting only eight the first six weeks. “We weren’t covering [Duke] for that long at all,” Exum said. “We were two seconds and something was going on. So when they started getting after that guy, that really eased it up for us in the secondary.”
- The d-line knows it. Here are Gayle’s thoughts on Boyd: “That’s a guy that you’ve got to have scrambling. You can’t have him sitting in the pocket. He’ll beat you.”
- Defensive tackle Luther Maddy working his way back from an ankle injury helps. He injured it on the first play of the Cincinnati game and tweaked it against North Carolina, rendering him ineffective. “It was real frustrating,” he said. “You can ask my teammates. I’d be walking around with my head down because of my injuries. I wasn’t smiling as much. I wasn’t playing around as much. But when it started feeling better, I was more talkative. My head was high. I felt good coming into the Duke game.”
- He had two sacks and a forced fumble against Duke. “He gives us a great quick-twitch pass rusher inside,” said Wiles, who has been looking for some inside push all year. “And Luther is a tough kid. He never complains about being hurt. You can just see it on video. You can see him dragging his leg around. He’s just not healthy. So it was good to get him back and get him healthy.”
- Foster thinks Clemson’s offense is better in Year 2 under Morris. “You just see a group that’s playing with a lot of confidence,” he said. “They’re doing more things with it than they did a year ago. And they’ve had extra time to prepare for us, so there’s no telling what they’ve come up with. And they do run a lot of gadgets. They’re going to run it and run it, then throw it and throw it, then run it and throw off the run, reverse passes or a throw back to the quarterback. Just do a lot of unique things. And they do it very well. Looks like they have a lot of fun with it.”
- Foster said Clemson’s athletes are “a real booger to prepare for,” which was one of the funnier things he’s said in a while, mostly because I’ve heard him use saltier language in the past.
- Foster said linebacker Tariq Edwards (knee) continues to get closer to playing, but Bruce Taylor played well last week at backer, which kept him off the field. “I’d like to get him in there more,” Foster said. “I want to make sure he’s full speed. Because it needs to be a full-speed effort with this group that we’re getting ready to play.”
- While we’re on injuries, receiver Dyrell Roberts (neck/head) was in blue today. Left guard David Wang was not there at the end of practice because he left early to hear a speaker in a class. We’ll see what color jersey he’s wearing tomorrow.
- I asked a couple of guys if this game has any added significance, considering Clemson beat Tech soundly in two games last year. “I would think that it’s definitely in the back of guys’ minds that we lost those two games to them,” Exum said. “It’s in the front of my mind that we lost the ACC championship game to them. So that’s definitely a motivator for us to go down there and handle our business. You don’t want to use that revenge word, because it’s a new year and things like that. But like I said, it’s in the back of my mind.”
October 15, 2012 - 9:40 PM
dont know how were gonna move the ball now that the best player on shaky line is out for the year. Imagine if VT went to the ACC championship game with a 7-5 record. Talk about making the ACC look bad. What if we shocked the world and won that game. Then we go to the Orange Bowl (sigh,again) and the VT team known for traveling so well will have no more than 6,000 in attendance. It could happen!!!
If Clemson successfully establishes the run, VT can turn out the lights, the party is over.
Coxster, don’t borrow trouble.
We just need change, and in a bad way. When everyone gets excited about a win over Duke,and people are talking about how good Duke is, we’ve got major problems.
COXTER and fam sec need to find another way to whack away the season……uh, just sayin,,… whack whack……
fam sec needs to change their unnerware.
Those concerned about the Hokies ability to score on Clemson? Clemson is last in the ACC in defense, allowing over 6.5 yards per play. That’s right. Their D gives up nearly 7 yards every play. Based on that, AJ Hughes won’t need to stretch his legs too often.
I keep coming back to this equation, though – TOP: time of possession. If the Hokie offense can’t run down the clock in typical Frank Beamer fashion (take at least 30 seconds to get the play started), then the Hokie defense is going to be gassed by the 2nd half. A stat from last year? Chad Morris (you know, the guy who was a HS coach 4 years ago) had his Clemson offense outscore the Hokies 41-0 in the second halves of their two games last season.
Gotta keep them off the field.
A Man, don’t think that beating Duke will make a season. let’s wait until Clemson, Fiorida State, and even Miami as bad as they are. If Tech could beat these three teams then that would confirm how bad the coaching is to loose to the other three teams that we have lost to. GOT TO BE CHANGES MADE TO OFFENSIVE COACHING or it’s the same thing every year, but we expect different results with the same coaches!! DAH
got
A lonely man will sit alone.. a lonely man will sit alone.. A lonely man will sit alone till his wife comes home and then he becomes lonely and miserable.
This program needs a change in philosophy and probably some coaching changes. Unless that happens this (decline?) will continue into the future.
When fans are happy about defeating DUKE things are not good.
If the Hokies finish 7-5 or better (cue the Miami game), expect zero changes to the coaching staff. Why? Because Frank Beamer’s excuse will be that we played in the ACC CG and won our division.
A 6-6 record? I still don’t think Beamer does anything, unless absolutely forced to do so, and I don’t see anyone in administration at VT in either the athletic department or higher that wants to do that.
So get used to the ride, until he retires. Cue people saying he ‘deserves’ to decide when he retires, and even to name of his successor – Shane Beamer.
I really hope the Hokies blow out clemson like the mighty West Virginia got handled by Texas Tech. Even then comments like the ones that have been posted will still be there. It’s one thing to be passionate and dissappointed, all the true fans are-but to demand change no matter what because you think you know football better is just irrational and ridiculous. You may not like a coaches philosophy on how to win the game, but guess what, they have you done what the complainers have not done-win collegiate games!
So any college football coach that has ever won as little as one game automatically shouldn’t receive questioning? Since, after all, they’ve coached and won and you haven’t?
Yeah, that makes sense. So no sports fan should ever question any action by any sports player or coach? No movie buff should ever criticize an actor? No fan should ever question any musician?
Okay. That’s why I use the phrase – ‘protect the shield’.
Questioning is one thing, demanding that a coach retire is another level, especially after one bad season after so mnay good ones. Frank Beamer has a resume of wins no matter how some like to dismiss them as “cupcakes”. If you are going to demand something, demand it on the facts not on how you feel or what seems popular in college football today. Andy Bitter has done terrific analysis on this blog of VA Tech’s history in comparison to other programs. You need to reread that analysis instead of looking to throw everything on the scrap heap and start over-when has that ever worked. I love hokie football, I am dissappointed in the season thus far and have been dissappointed in the losses that have occured in the past. That being said, the propgram is great, the philosophy of how they play works and, when executed by the players, wins games. I am not against questioning Coaches, and Coaches make mistakes- but I am against irrational thought. Read the facts, understand how the program has grown, and offer rational oppinion on how it can grow from here instead of looking for some new way to win the game.
People on both sides of this debate about coaching are being plain ridiculous. Beamer has brought the VT program to a high level. His loyalty to his subordinates is both laudable and, for the fans, frustrating. I have not coached an athletic team. I expect the coaches to know the technical ins and outs. I do not coach. I do not need to know those ins and outs. I do not need to know architecture to know something is wrong when a building collapses. In the same way, I do not need to be a coach when a see a particular pattern of failures or weaknesses. The VT offense has it’s line as the usual weak link year in and year out. The VT defense has as it’s usual weakness a susceptibility to the big play pass due to over pursuit. Yes, the very speed of the defense has often been used against it. The choices on defense are deliberate. Bud Foster is weighing opportunity costs and making choices. The line is where I see us play below talent often. What I DO like this year is that none of them have turned out to be turnstiles.
So should Frank Beamer get a long pass if he has 3 years of terrible teams, losing records, no bowls? Of course not, but he should be given those three years.
To recap, those who want everyone’s head now are crazy. Those who wish to keep Beamer even if his next ten seasons are losing ones are crazy.
Many of you need to get some perspective.
Okay, so having plateaued for over a decade, suffering continual failures in 95% of the games we play (1-19 record) against elite teams, added to then suffering the worst season in two decades means nothing. What has to happen is that two more following seasons of equally sustained ineptitude must follow before any changes should be even suggested. Check.
I have been a Hokie fan since my freshman year in 1972, sitting in the stands at Lane stadium and watching Don Strock quarterback the team. I think Frank Beamer is a terrific man, and truly believe he has done wonderful things for the program, facilities and school. That being said, I think he has reached his limit on his abilities to take the team forward to a National Championship. I am not a coach or a player, but a big fan and would like to see Frank retire soon, and take Stine with him. In my humble opinion, it would be best for the program to find someone who can take them to the next level. History shows us every year that we have a difficult time competing in bowl games with really good teams. I have lived on the West Coast for over a decade now, and don’t think the Hokies could beat many of the PAC-12 teams, let alone the SEC teams. The biggest reason, other teams have superior coaches.
For the record, I have never coached either. Everyone certainly has a right to an oppinion; it just ought to be thought out intelligently before you voice it. People forget that this team is young and it has taken them a few games to be a good team, just as Frank Beamer said at the begining of the season. I for one, believe in their philosophy and everybody loves it when the team is playing to their capabilities. Give them a chance to tweak what they have-people outside of Blacksburg did not fall in love with the Hokies for nothing. This is a respected brand of football worth watching when they are playing to their capabilities.
its admirable that you guys wanna go to bat for Beamer and his staff and all butt to me youll sound as if you have the same philosophy as the coaching staff which is to settle for mediocrity. I mean thats what Beamer does after every game they lose that you and i know they could have and should have easily won make excuse after excuse after excuse its sickening to me smh!!!!! The coaching staff or at least offensively are very predictable and teams can easily scout us and thats why we lose these games we should win consistently!!!!! I for one believe we have the talent in the state of Va to win a National championship soo most of the fans that want change are truly just frustrated at this point!!!! I mean it is what it is in this day and time in yhat if you dont perform as a coach in college football you dont have to step aside i mean seriously how lomg would Nick Saban have been able to stay at alabama if he had our resume in big and bowl games?!!! He wouldnt because Alabama accept nothing less than excellence as it should be and thats all us frustrated fans want.!!!!!!!!!