Locker Room Wrap: Hokies Get Some Breaks, But Also Make Their Own Luck to Beat Duke

It would seem as if this season's series of last second losses and wildly unexpected wins is enough to make even the most rugged football player get a little philosophical.

"There have been so many things that could've gone our way that haven't gone our way," said quarterback Michael Brewer. "But that's football and that's life. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to."

That might feel a little deep for a Texas-raised bass fisher like Brewer, but the Hokies' 17-16 road win over the ranked Duke Blue Devils has that effect on people.

Breaking the three game losing streak in style has to feel great, but it must also be easy to ask: what if? What if the Hokies had gotten some of the breaks they got in this game or made some of the clutch plays that helped them win this one?

"We could easily be 8-1 or something like that right now," said running back J.C. Coleman.

Indeed, if the Hokies had gotten even half of the lucky breaks they received against the Devils in any of their other close losses, this season would look completely different, and the players are well aware of that fact.

Yet if this win proves anything, it's that Beamer hasn't lost his knack for holding together a squad when disaster seems imminent.

"This team's done a good job of not tanking it," Brewer said. "Just working hard every day and grinding and not listening to the outside world and staying focused on each day. And we just beat a very good football team."

But what was different this time that helped the Hokies get over the hump after so much frustration?

What's Old is New Again in the Run Game

Even as the Hokies put seven points on the board early in the second quarter to draw within three of Duke at 10-7, the game felt over in many respects.

That's because starting RB Marshawn Williams left the game with a knee injury and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the day.

Everyone saw what happened the last time Williams missed a game after the injuries to Shai McKenzie and Trey Edmunds; the Hokies ran for a whopping 26 yards against the Pittsburgh Panthers.

But for some reason, J.C. Coleman just seems to have Duke's number.

His two highest rushing totals in his career have come against the Blue Devils. He ran for 183 yards back in 2012 and he went for 95 this time around.

"He ran extremely hard," said head coach Frank Beamer. "He had a big run against Duke a couple years ago and a couple times, I thought he was getting ready to break out in similar fashion, but he picked up some tough, tough yards."

Coleman hadn't even gotten a carry since his fumble in the Pitt loss, making his 15-carry performance all the more remarkable.

"Even though I might not be playing as much in recent weeks, I still go out in practice and play my butt off," Coleman said.

It showed on Saturday. He was helped out by some admirable run blocking by the offensive line, but he also hit holes with a decisiveness and speed that he hasn't exhibited in some time.

"It feels really good to finally get back out there and be able to contribute like I know I can," Coleman said.

While his solid runs kept the Hokies' run game alive for the whole game, he proved particularly useful on the second to last drive of the contest.

Although the team was only able to pick up two first downs on the series, Coleman's four carries for 20 yards helped the team burn over three minutes of clock. That's something the run game just hasn't provided recently.

"The thing that I'm most proud of is when we had the ball on the second to last drive, I thought we had an opportunity to finish the game. We ran the ball better," said offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler. "We converted on the third and three, they called pass interference. I thought that was a huge step to try to finish and win the game."

Had the officials not made that unusual offensive pass interference call on receiver Cam Phillips, the team would've been set up at Duke's 39-yard line and likely forced David Cutcliffe to start using timeouts, if not adding another score.

But Coleman's efforts still made the drive plenty valuable. With team doctor Tony McPherron confirming the staff's worst fears that Williams is "probably" done for the rest of the year, the Hokies will need to hope Coleman can repeat that performance going forward.

"With Trey, I'm not sure where he is as far as coming back. We've just had the darndest luck at running back this year. I've never seen anything like this," Beamer said. "You want some bigger guys at times, but you know you're going to get everything (Coleman)'s got."

But the running back wasn't the only forgotten man to give Tech's run game a boost. Backup quarterback Brenden Motley, newly elevated to second string with Mark Leal's departure, got three carries to earn 36 yards on the day.

"We worked on it some this week. He gives you a little something there, he's got a little height and has good speed," Beamer said.

Motley could've easily been the primary backup, or even competed for playing time, coming out of the spring, but an injury derailed those plans.

When combined with the fact that his class schedule precluded him from strictly following the team's practice schedule, he quickly fell behind, and with Leal around, he wasn't the most essential player on the team either.

"He came out and he was hurt, he had two classes and Leal was there so when Leal decided to go on with this job, we worked out so he'd able to be there for practice and make it right with his classes," Beamer said. "As you look back, you'd like for him to have been there sooner."

Yet even with just a few days to get re-acquainted with the offense and learn this new wrinkle to the scheme, Motley still helped key the Hokies' first touchdown drive and gave the team a real spark.

"Putting him in a road game situation, ranked team, that's got to be good for his confidence," Loeffler said. "I'm happy for him."

Considering that Motley seems like a bigger threat to throw the ball than TE Bucky Hodges, he could add plenty of mystery when the team puts him behind center.

"There are options there, he throws the ball extremely well, so we'll see where that goes," Beamer said.

Ups and Downs for Brewer

For Brewer, this was yet another game where the staff surely wanted to strangle him or kiss him at varying points in the game.

On the "desire for bodily harm" side of things, there's the six sacks he took, a completion percentage just above 50 percent, and the very ill-advised throw he made for his third quarter interception.

But the coaches were surely ready to pucker up when they saw the pair of touchdown throws he made while under heavy pressure, both of which were beautifully thrown balls.

"When he's out there and bullets are coming, you've got to go with what you feel," Beamer said.

True enough, but the series of sacks were maddening, and not all of it can be put on the offensive line.

The take-downs were plenty significant in a vacuum, going for a total loss of 62 yards.

But it's when they happened that really hurt.

On three third downs, he was sacked for 11, 14 and 12 yards respectively.

Was the offensive line to blame for some of that? Unquestionably. But if you're Brewer, don't you have to know that, with a new starting right tackle in obvious passing situations against a good defense you can't hang onto the ball that long?

Even throwaways would be better than some of these scenarios. If the Hokies had lost this game, it'd certainly be easy to point to the sack he took for a loss of 10 when the Hokies were set up on Duke's eight-yard line as a big factor in another defeat.

The protection on the play wasn't great, but the staff surely has to hope he's aware of the situation in the moment, considering that play essentially forced the team to kick a field goal instead of getting seven points.

"What you see on the sideline is, maybe he could've taken less time, it might not be the way he sees it out there," Beamer said. "But I think he makes good decisions."

But victories tend to heal memories of even the ugliest plays, and Brewer certainly had a hand in earning a win in this game as well.

His throw on a fade to Isaiah Ford in the back corner of the end zone to make it 10-7 was pretty, but his laser to Hodges for the go-ahead score was a thing of beauty.

Loeffler credits Hodges for running "the best route he's run all year long," and that's earned, but Brewer also read the coverage correctly and put the ball exactly where it needed to be.

"(TE Ryan) Malleck was up the middle trying to occupy the safety. They were playing a tough coverage," Brewer said. "They were playing outside leverage on Bucky and were trying to bracket him. It's a tough coverage against spread offenses. We thought that if Bucky ran a good route and Malleck got the safety, we could squeeze one in there. But he made a great play and ran a great route and it worked in our favor."

Loeffler confirms that the coverage was as challenging as Brewer makes it out to be.

"The final touchdown was problematic coverage, they've killed people on it," Loeffler said.

Yet Brewer still nailed the throw, and deserves all the credit in the world for it. It's just frustrating, is all; where was that poise and accuracy on all the other drives?

Even still, giving him the benefit of the doubt, the pressure was intense. Loeffler believes that Duke "changed things up" on first and second down, then "added more problems" to third down, which could account for both Brewer and the line's confusion.

Yet there's no denying the fact that this was one of his rockiest games of the year, but a few nice throws helped redeem him.

Boone Gets Battered

Coming into this game. Anthony Boone sported a 59 percent completion percentage.

He finished by completing 45 percent of his passes.

That's a credit to Bud Foster and the pass rush, as their pressure on Boone probably swung this game down the line.

The Hokies sacked him four times in the game, with three coming in the fourth quarter and two on Duke's final drive of the game.

"They got into where they were playing a lot more one back with no tight end and that just allowed us to be able to bring a little pressure," Foster said. "When they have their tight end out there, that allows them to keep him in and protect a little bit and we end up playing a little bit of coverage on them."

This was no small feat. Duke tied for first in the country in sacks allowed coming into the game with just four. Matching that total in one game is awful impressive.

But the timing of the blitzes is admirable for its boldness as well. The Hokies were able to hit or hurry Boone with some regularity before the fourth quarter, but it seems like Foster really stepped it up as crunch time approached.

"Bud is probably the best in the business, but it's a gamble, bringing two guys off the edge and a secondary guy and to get to the quarterback before he can get the ball down the field," Beamer said.

Yet that gamble helped the Hokies pull off what they failed to do against ECU, GT and BC: hold firm in the final minutes of the game.

"It was a little bit of a gamble but it worked out and that was kind of the difference there late, being able to get to the quarterback," Beamer said.

But pressure wasn't the only element in the defense's strong performance. Foster's bunch finally found a way to keep a lid on all the big plays.

The unit had a rocky start, allowing a pair of 18-yard gains and a 17-yarder in the first quarter alone, but settled down from there. The longest play they allowed from then on was a 15-yard scamper by Boone, and there just wasn't one of the crippling explosive plays that hamstrung the defense in previous games.

"A couple of their runs popped, but it wasn't anything that hurt us," Foster said. "That was critical for us not to give up any explosive plays. And if we executed that wasn't going to happen, and we did."

Now, with a real shot at winning out down the stretch to make it to a bowl game and salvage some of the dignity they lost this earlier season, the Hokies will have to maintain this newfound focus.

"I think sometimes you can get caught up in down the road and and down the road is not going to help us," Beamer said. "Right now, we need to think about Wake Forest."