Coming off a shocking loss to Vanderbilt, the Hokies needed to find a way to play faster and more physically against a Marshall squad that defeated Virginia Tech in 2023. Despite baffling struggles to protect quarterback Kyrone Drones, the Hokies delivered a dominant performance running the football against an active Herd front, taking advantage of Marshall's unwillingness to send their safeties near the line of scrimmage. Defensively, outside of a couple of circus-reel catches and one busted run fit, the Hokies completely dominated Marshall's Air Raid offense, thanks in large part to better linebacker run fits and solid alley play and coverage by safeties Jaylen Jones, Quentin Reddish, and Mose Phillips.
Mixed Results on the Offensive Line
Similar to last season, Marshall's defensive game plan rested on creating edge pressure by bringing their defensive ends screaming up the field to disrupt Tech's mesh points. Behind that edge pressure, the Herd played mostly four-deep shell zones. The premise was simple. Don't let the Hokies get to the edge, and if they go to the pass, force Drones to contend with pressure while processing short throws into tight windows.
Unlike last season, I thought the Hokies run plan against the Herd's defensive scheme was excellent. The only component I didn't like was that offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen continued to use more option stalk and crack blocking for his wide receivers than RPOs. However, Marshall's safeties were less aggressive than Vanderbilt's. The Hokies relied heavily on split zone runs and counters, with the H-Backs and centers pulling across to trap the backside edge defender. This suckered Marshall's edge guys up the field and out of the play while the Hokies outnumbered them back to the inside. Take this 2nd-and-10:
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