Tech Tidbits: Justin Fuente's JMU Moment Has Arrived

There can be no doubt that Virginia Tech's loss to ODU was flabbergasting, confounding and wildly unexpected — but underneath it all, there are factors that led to this defeat that really aren't all that surprising.

Leave aside Josh Jackson's injury for a moment, as there is plenty more to be written about what his potentially season-ending surgery means for the Hokies. Consider that Tech wasn't really blowing the doors off the Monarchs even before he went out, though you could certainly argue that having the starting QB on the field for the whole game might've led to a different outcome. We can't know.

No, what seems entirely believable to me was that a team was able to abuse an inexperienced Hokies secondary, as part of a defense sorely lacking in veteran leadership. It is of course entirely inconceivable to think that a team as unheralded as ODU would be the one to exploit that weakness, but here we are.

It surely didn't help that Tech was on the road, coming off an unusual bye week and looking ahead to the start of the meat of the year's schedule — you can't have a once-in-a-generation outcome without some sort of perfect storm of weirdness.

But we spent all offseason worrying about the defense, only to cast many of those concerns aside after FSU. Those issues don't just go away, even with a big win (particularly when we've watched the Seminoles cope with all manner of problems in the weeks since).

Hokie fans both can and should be angry at Justin Fuente and company for not preparing the team adequately for the game, just as Frank Beamer deserved the flak he caught after the JMU loss.

Yet Fuente and Bud Foster spent all offseason warning us about the lack of experience on defense. After allowing 631 yards to a team that got blown out by Liberty, it is undeniably clear that they were not wrong to do so.

So You've Suffered a Historically Bad Loss: What Now?

That is of course the question fans are asking Fuente right now, especially after his decision to boot DE Trevon Hill off the team.

As Joe and so many others have noted, one of Beamer's finest achievements in his coaching tenure was his stewardship of the team in 2010 after the JMU loss. We knew coming into the year that the offseason's turmoil would provide Fuente with his toughest test since he successfully managed the transition from Beamer — now Fuente has his own Beamer moment to face down.

As Mike Barber at the Richmond Times-Dispatch so thoroughly chronicles, such a loss is far from a death knell. Even Dwight Vick's 1998 squad managed to rebound from losing to Temple to win four of its final six games.

Danny Coale (a man who did indeed catch that ball) was similarly optimistic in reflecting on 2010 to Barber:

"That season was one of my fondest memories as a Hokie, because of the adversity that we faced, and the way we came together as a unit and as a team when a lot of people doubted us," Coale said.

Like Vick, Coale said coming together as a team, following the coaches and veteran leaders and not getting caught up in the negativity was a key to the turnaround.

"There was just a lot of noise," Coale said. "There's a ton of noise. It's really hard at times to just ignore it. There's a lot of passionate folks. Being able to block out that noise, it's tougher now given social media, tougher in the environment you're in today."

While handling Twitter chatter may be one complicating factor for this year's squad, I wouldn't understate the difference between these two teams in terms of experience level either.

Having Tyrod Taylor leading the offense is a far cry from Jackson — even if he wasn't, perhaps, out for the year — to say nothing of other future stars up and down the roster like David Wilson, Kyle Fuller and James Gayle.

Perhaps we'll someday look back on this roster with the same fondness as we do that 2010 group, but it is undeniable that Taylor was a stabilizing force at quarterback. This team now has a thousand questions to answer at the position, and how Fuente handles the issue will likely tell us a ton about whether the ODU loss will be a springboard or an anchor for this team.

Ryan Willis' Moment

Speaking of which, it's the Ryan Willis show now. Catch the fever!

I'm old enough to remember Willis' strong showing in the spring game setting the message boards ablaze (to say nothing of Hendon Hooker's own strong spring game before that) but there is little doubt that the coaches were hoping he'd prove to be a capable backup and nothing more.

It is, at least, interesting that Fuente felt confident enough in Willis to hand him the starting job right away — his experience as a starter at Kansas surely makes him a more appealing choice to step in on the fly, and he's clearly earned confidence for his fluency with the offense as well.

#Hokies OC Brad Cornelsen said Ryan Willis' mastery of the offense earned him the backup job (ahead of Hendon Hooker) behind Josh Jackson going into the season.— Norm Wood (@normwood) September 25, 2018

That sort of statement isn't all that surprising. This one from Cornelsen, however, left me scratching my head a bit.

#Hokies OC Brad Cornelsen on new starter Ryan Willis: "He's not much different in the skill set than Josh is. ... We've got confidence in him."— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) September 25, 2018

I'll take the man at his word, but call me a little bit skeptical that Willis and Jackson are the same sort of quarterback.

In the sense that both are reasonably accurate but aren't slinging the ball down the field, Willis' record at Kansas certainly bears that out.

He managed a 52.1 percent completion percentage in 10 games in his freshman year and a 61.5 percent mark in six games his sophomore season, with 5.5 and 6.9 yards per attempt in those seasons, respectively. Jackson notched a 59.6 percent completion percentage last year, and 7.5 yards per attempt. And, sorry Jayhawks, he was surely working with a bit more talent when he did so.

Where they look really different is in taking care of the ball — Jackson had nine interceptions last year and none through two and a half games this year, compared to Willis' 17 through 16 games — and posing a running threat.

Jackson has never been a prolific runner in the mold of some of his predecessors, but with 124 carries for 324 yards and six scores last year, it's clear he could add a little something to the offense in that respect.

As for Willis? Uh, that'd be 96 carries across his 16 games for a total of -90 yards. If he can run the ball effectively, he hasn't showed it yet, and he didn't exactly get a chance to do so at Kansas.

So, we're left with two different scenarios to ponder: perhaps Willis can indeed be similar to Jackson and keep his seat warm until he returns (even if that's not until next year).

But if Willis really struggles, all kinds of possibilities open up. I can easily envision Willis floundering in these next two games, in particular, opening up a huge decision for Fuente to make if the team falls to 2-3.

Does he stay the course or try to see what he has in Hooker and (yes, I'm finally mentioning him) Quincy Patterson? In the latter's case, the rule change letting freshmen play four games without burning a redshirt year looms particularly large.

If all that happens, then it's impossible to know what the future looks like. It may well be the better long-term course for the team to pursue — I suspect the next few weeks will tell us quite a bit in that regard.

Win Some, Lose Some on Defense

Losing out on Divine Deablo suddenly ahead of the ODU game was surely not the only problem with the secondary, but it also didn't help.

As Foster put it today: "That was big." And, luckily, the safety seems to be healthy once more.

Foster said he anticipates getting safety Divine Deablo back this week after Deablo missed ODU game. Added Khalil Ladler is right fit for #Hokies at nickelback.— Norm Wood (@normwood) September 25, 2018

The coaches haven't said much about why Deablo was out in the first place, so it's difficult to know how much of a concern this will be going forward, but this is at least a positive development in the near term. Considering all the problems in the secondary, the more stability, the better.

The bigger question is what happens at DE now that the Hokies have suffered the perhaps even more impactful loss of Hill.

#Hokies DC Bud Foster said he anticipates starting Emmanuel Belmar still start in Trevon Hill's place Saturday. Tyjuan Garbutt and Zion DeBose will also see more time.— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) September 25, 2018

The team's tight-lipped, abrupt handling of Hill's dismissal aside, Foster gets at a huge issue for the rest of Tech's season here.

None of the trio he mentioned in laying out the depth chart have much experience, though all figured to increase their roles as the season progressed.

Houshun Gaines had a really promising start to the year, and it's supremely disappointing that he'll now have to carry the load as the most experienced DE on the roster, instead of forming a powerful tandem with Hill.

But we've also heard a ton about the potential of Garbutt and Debose, in particular, and their ability to step up will be preventing the bottom from falling out on this season. Foster and Charley Wiles have a pretty unimpeachable track record on this sort of thing, but this will really be a test of their considerable skills here.

Oh, and Vinny Mihota: come back any time.

I leave you tonight with a very fun fact indeed from Andy Bitter.

Fun fact: Ryan Willis' dad, Steve, kicked a 2nd qtr FG to start the scoring of Kansas State's matchup with Wisconsin in the 1982 Independence Bowl. It was the first college football game televised live on ESPN, so he scored 1st points in network's cfb broadcast history. #Hokies— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) September 25, 2018