A Bird's-Eye View of the Debut of the Hokies' New Offense

A beautiful Saturday in Blacksburg played host to the largest Virginia Tech spring game crowd I have seen (44,700). The maroon and orange faithful packed Lane Stadium to witness the debut of head coach Justin Fuente and his up-tempo offense. However, Tech's first team offense only managed to reach the end zone once, and that may have caused fans in attendance to depart tepidly.

Although, some of that concern may be a bit unwarranted. The Hokies' offensive group entered the scrimmage without WRs Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips, and TE Bucky Hodges played very little. For much of the first half, the No. 1 offense challenged the defense with Devin Wilson (a basketball player), C.J. Carroll (a walk-on), and Divine Deablo (a true freshman early enrollee) as its primary wide receiving threats.

Even with the erratic performance, I thought the scrimmage gave a good flavor for Fuente's playbook. Tech showcased jet sweeps, inside zones, zone reads, counter-action, and the screen game that Fuente featured frequently with Memphis. Fuente's offense played at breakneck speed. The skill position guys put in a very solid effort blocking on the outside — a staple of all the Fuente film I have watched. The play-calling bounces back and forth between stretching the defense and hammering to the inside. The scrimmage was somewhat similar to watching a Memphis game last season. The running game didn't produce many huge runs and things often felt a bit ugly, but when you looked at the scoreboard, the offense had put up 30 plus points and you kind of wonder how they did it. The Hokies didn't put up 30. However, when you combine how the offense moved the ball consistently and you add those weapons at wide receiver that can move the chains, you can see a ton of promise offensively.

Despite the lamentations of the naysayers, my eyes saw a defense wilting as the scrimmage progressed. Fuente's offense doesn't feature many formations. Instead, it is tempo and play design that threatens the defense at multiple pressures points which causes the defense to wear down and ultimately break. Many of us long time Hokie fans should remember that traditionally the defense has dominated these scrimmages. While the offense wasn't explosive, they seemed to dictate the tempo and control the game. It was a positive step forward.

Evans Leaps Ahead at Quarterback

Brenden Motley got the chance to be the first quarterback on the field, and he did little with the opportunity. Motley seemed incredibly slow going through his progressions and missed some open receivers down field. This was a big moment for Motley to separate himself in the quarterback competition. However, he didn't play like the confident quarterback I watched as the Purdue game progressed, and as result he may have taken a step backwards.

Jerod Evans worked as the second quarterback with the top group. His mechanics in the offense (mesh points, footwork in the pocket, getting the ball out on the first progression) seemed much crisper than Motley's. Evans made a terrible throw where Greg Stroman and a linebacker were underneath his route and somehow it didn't get picked off. Evans also didn't seem to have much zip on some of his quick wide receiver screens. Fortunately for the offense, the defensive backs were playing a bit soft. Against press coverage or a disguised cover 2 corner with deep help, a couple of those screens could have headed the other way.

Evans' run game mechanics separate his game from Motley's the most. Evans did a terrific job of creating a mesh point with the running back and riding that mesh point as long as possible before making the read. I had a very difficult time picking up the player who had the football and numerous times my eyes followed a player who didn't actually have the ball. Evans sold those fakes beautifully and then got himself into position to throw or run to sell the fake. One of the big beefs I had with Tech's last two quarterback coaches is that Logan Thomas, Michael Brewer, and Brenden Motley did a lousy job of riding the mesh point on read plays. Even on option plays, it appeared far too often that everyone on the field (and in the stands) knew where the football was going after a mesh. The effectiveness of the running game was diminished accordingly. Time and again, Evans had mesh points and fakes the caliber I have not seen since Logan Thomas sauntered up the middle for the winning touchdown in 2011 against Miami.

A big positive for me was the run-action by the backs and offensive line. I noticed the offensive line attempted to reach the defensive line on outside zone run fakes. They were aggressive and didn't take a pass protection posture on play-action. That keys the linebackers and safeties on a run and causes them to get out of position. Over the last several years, I have repeatedly expressed frustration that the offensive line didn't fire off and sell the run fake (especially on the deep play-action pass where the QB faked a handoff to nobody because the running back was blocking on the opposite side). Many of the Hokies best passing plays came off run-action, including Evans' touchdown toss to Jaylen Bradshaw.

Eric Gallo pulls around on the play-action protection, and note he takes an aggressive posture. He is moving forward the entire time. He isn't stopping to set up and passively pass protect. Evans buries the ball into McMillian's stomach and then pulls it out. The linebackers have bitten up on the run fake, leaving man coverage outside. Evans lofts the ball a bit short on the fade, but Bradshaw makes a spectacular adjustment to the football to beat Adonis Alexander for a touchdown.

Dwayne Lawson did not impress me. He looks the part until the game starts. When given the opportunity to work with the top offensive group, I didn't see the accuracy needed to be successful. He threw several passes that were nowhere near the target. This scrimmage wasn't designed for Lawson's strengths. Throughout spring ball there's been film of Lawson on designed quarterback runs and I didn't see many of those. Unless Lawson significantly improves his passing accuracy, I don't see him seriously competing for the starting job during preseason camp.

Early enrollee true freshman Josh Jackson surprised me. His touch and accuracy in the passing game was the best out of the quarterbacks (keep in mind he was working almost exclusively against two walk-on corners). Jackson and Bradshaw found a rhythm early, and Bradshaw ended up continuing his excellent play when he worked with the top offensive group.

Bradshaw Shines Outside

Bradshaw shook loose numerous times against the Hokie corners and made the play of the day for the top group's only touchdown. Evans under threw a deep corner fade to Bradshaw. Adonis Alexander had excellent coverage playing the inside leverage technique I have discussed repeatedly. The throw came up short and Bradshaw was able to cross through Alexander's left shoulder to get his body in between Alexander's back and the football. It was a big boy play from Bradshaw and one of several rough moments in a tough day for Alexander.

Divine Deablo got a ton of work with the top offensive group. I think nerves got to the young freshman playing in front of his first big crowd. He dropped a couple of balls uncovered during warmups, and as the scrimmage progressed he had three more drops. Deablo flashed some playmaking ability as he made a very difficult third down catch in a crowd and then beat Alexander on a deep dig route in the third quarter. Deablo is already an excellent blocker out in space. If he can be more consistent catching the football, I expect that he will play next year. Fuente will not play skill guys who do not block consistently.

Carroll and Devin Wilson both got work as a slot receiver. On straight drop back routes, Fuente used several stick route looks from the slot. A stick route is an option route where the quarterback and the slot receiver both read the leverage of the defender. If the defender is playing inside leverage, the route and throw will be to the outside. If the defender is playing outside leverage, the receiver will break back to the inside. It's quick hitting route and it's important for the receiver to get his head around and identify the ball.

The Muddle Between the Hashes

It was incredibly difficult to get a feel for the running back position. Fuente used Carroll as his slot guy and even featured him on a couple of jet sweeps. At the beginning of the season, I expect to see McMillian and/or Deshawn McClease align in the slot and motion across on jet sweeps while Rogers and the H-Back lead around the edge. D.J. Reid was a pleasant surprise. He showed nice speed and elusiveness on several outside zones, and at 240 pounds has the size and power to pound inside. McMillian got a limited number of carries and had one nice run. McClease, McMillian, Coleman Fox, and Shai McKenzie all got some work with the No. 1 group. McMillian had a really nice run where he cut back on an inside zone to find Chuck Clark in perfect position in the alley. McMillian slipped past him for an 8-yard gain and I am still not sure how Chuck missed him.

The offensive line play was steady but wasn't dominant. There was rarely a jailbreak type of blocking breakdown as has been the case in past spring games against Bud Foster's pressure front. Most of the runs by the first team offense were net positive and garnered several yards. Foster didn't blitz much, and the offensive line did a good job of picking up the occasional stunt. In a live setting, usually if you don't notice an offensive lineman, that means they are doing a good job. The only negative performance that stood out was Parker Osterloh's struggle against DE Houshun Gaines' speed. Gaines got the corner on Osterloh several times, racked up two sacks and numerous quarterback hurries. Osterloh drew good reviews in spring work by the coaching staff. However, if healthy, I would expect Yosh Nijman at left tackle and Jonathan McLaughlin at right tackle. Osterloh could get work at both guard and tackle spots as needed.

The second group was a mixed bag. They worked almost exclusively against a defensive line group of Jimmie Taylor, Dalton Roe, Harry Lewis, and Dee Fullwood. Scholarship players Demetri Moore, Billy Ray Mitchell, and Tyrell Smith (who worked at both center and guard) were dependable throughout the day. A variety of walk on players competed at other spots. As the scrimmage progressed, the backup o-line won more battles against the defensive line as the latter started to wear down.

For me, the biggest unknowns coming out of the scrimmage focus on the tight ends and H-Backs. In Fuente's offense, those are two distinct roles. The H-Back aligns off the line of scrimmage and is expected to motion, trap block, and be utilized in the slot. The tight end is generally static, almost never motions, and is not as prominent in the passing game outside of the occasional bootleg. Both have critical functions as blocker. With the pace, and so much of my focus directed on the quarterbacks, offensive line, and different individual defenders, it was difficult to get a read on their performance. Steven Peoples got most of the H-Back repetitions with the top group. Chris Durkin has a nice catch and run on a play-action dump into the right flat. He split second group H-Back duties with Chris Cunningham. Xavier Burke and Cunningham split work at the tight end spot with both the first and second string groups when the formation called for a true tight end.

Here are my final takeaways from the scrimmage offensively.

Despite a lack of downfield threats and a new offensive system, the offense didn't turn the football over and minimized negative plays. The interior offensive line didn't blow open huge holes. At the same time, the defensive line didn't spend most of the game on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage as was typical through most of the Frank Beamer era.

The tempo and play design threatened Foster's defense at multiple points and started to wear them down. While the offense wasn't dynamic, they seemed to dictate to the defense. Defensive stops seemed to be more the byproduct of not having a great passing threat on third-and-manageable situations, than any kind of significant execution error in blocking.

There were glimpses of how Fuente uses influence blocking and counter-movements to confuse the defense. Even simple inside zones sometimes caught the defense out of position because of blocking variations and the quarterback run threat off the read.

The offense didn't show much of the option game. Fuente's offense will feature read option, inverted veer, and speed option.

If the Hokies get competent play from its quarterback(s), then Isaiah Ford, Cam Phillips, and Bucky Hodges give Fuente vertical passing threats that he didn't have at Memphis. That added element should give the Hokies more big play potential than the Tigers.

I would love for Fuente to breakdown the running back competition. Rogers got the bulk of the initial top group work. Rogers is a bruising runner. However, his ability to exploit defensive breakdowns Fuente's scheme will inflict seems to be limited. Based on how the backs were utilized, I couldn't even guess what the depth chart looks like behind Rogers. McMillian, McClease, Reid, and Fox all got work with both groups.