Bombs Away

I'm willing to bet you didn't see that one coming. I know I didn't... at least I didn't see it live. In fact, I was forced to DVR the game on Saturday because my wife and I were attending a wedding in Norfolk. What Hokie fan has their wedding the day of the Nebraska game?? I drove about 2 hours down to the wedding, where a few friends and I were trying desperately to avoid hearing about the game, which was already well underway. We knew it would be a struggle seeing as how former VT defensive end Cols Colas is married to the groom's sister, but we felt like we could just avoid him and everyone else long enough to get out of that wedding with our game-virginity intact. While we are waiting in line to get food at the reception, the DJ decided he was going to update the pro-VT wedding attenders with the final outcome of the game. In an era where DVRs are so prevalent, what was this guy thinking? Surely several males and possibly a few females were planning to watch the game when they got home! I was stuck... I had a plate of food in my hands and couldn't drop the plate in time to cover my ears. I tried to yell "La La La La La" to myself, freaking out a woman on the other side of the buffet, but it was to no avail. I heard the cheer of the wedding guests and knew the Hokies had won. Fortunately, I didn't know anything about how we had won.

When was the last time Virginia Tech scored the winning touchdown on our last drive of the game? I'm serious, I really can't remember. 2004? Was Bryan Randall our quarterback? It's possible that it's never happened. I really don't know... my researching skills aren't quite good enough to figure it out. At any rate, WOW. Tyrod Taylor hadn't made a good, confident throw all game, then he throws two in the same drive. One being an 81 yard bomb to Danny Coale where Coale stealthily slipped past his defender, caught the ball in stride, then just barely stepped out of bounds at the 3 yard line. The next incredible pass was to Dyrell Roberts as Tyrod rolled left, couldn't find anyone open, then rolled back right and made a desperation pass as he was being tackled. This was also after Taylor was sacked sending the Hokies back to the 11 yard line. It was an incredible feat and I couldn't believe it was our Hokies doing it.

I have to put my usual somewhat-pessimistic slant on this game, though. Nebraska really deserved to win. They screwed themselves out of a field goal by committing about 4 or 5 penalties back-to-back-to-back-to-back, forcing a punt that went into the end zone. They also ran all over us. Tech's players probably have cleat marks on their backs from where Roy Helu Jr stomped on them. He gained 176 yards on 6.0 yards per carry. The Hokie run defense is usually what keeps us in games, but in this case, it was actually the pass defense. Either that or Nebraska's Zac Lee is a terrible quarterback. I think the jury is still out on that one. If it weren't for a penalty here and a timely drop there, you might have seen fans in red and white rushing the field instead of Maroon and Orange.

With all that being said, the defense actually played well enough to give us the win... it was, again, the anemic Hokie offense that almost ruined the game. VT got some solid runs from Ryan Williams, but most of his 107 yards came on a 46 yard jaunt. Tyrod Taylor and the boys had a really rough time trying to pick up first downs, especially with Ndamukong Suh continually batting down passes and getting pressure on the quarterback. He led his team in tackles from the defensive tackle position. That almost never happens... this guy is a top 5 NFL draft prospect and he showed why on Saturday. The offensive line continues to disappoint against quality opponents, and I really don't understand why. You would have Beau Warren and Jaymes Brooks double-teaming Suh, but they would let him disengage and drop back just far enough to jump and get his hand on a pass. It feels like poor coaching to me. In previous seasons, the rap on Tyrod was that he took too long to find receivers and so the high sack totals were his fault. That wasn't really the case in this game. Tyrod had a few opportunities where he waited too long, but most of the pressure came quickly as the Cornhusker defensive line crashed through our flimsy barrier. This was a game where you just had to be happy that your team came out with a "W".

Some other items I noticed in the game:

- Jason Worilds is a quality pass rusher... he's just a little unlucky right now. He only has one sack on the season, but he is always around the quarterback. He had 6 QB hurries in that game. To compare, Nebraska only had 1 QB hurry for their whole team. Granted, the other "hurry" situations ended in sacks, but two of those hurries helped lead to interceptions. He has 13 QB hurries on the year, compared to 7 as the next highest from John Graves and Nekos Brown.

- When we can get the ball to our receivers, they are good. Xavier Boyce had a drop, but he also had a nice gain on his one catch. Jarret Boykin had two catches where he jumped and twisted so he could grab a ball that was thrown behind him. Those size XXXL hands are coming in very handy (hyuck hyuck hyuck). Dyrell Roberts had a key drop on a tough catch on the drive just before the final winning drive. He more than made up for it with his grab in the endzone to win the game. That was not an easy ball to catch as it had just slipped past a defenders arm, which no doubt shielded Roberts from seeing the ball for a split second. And let's not forget the over-the-shoulder grab that Danny Coale had on the 81 yard bomb. That was a very difficult catch to make, and the pressure was on. The receivers are young, but boiling over with talent.

- Kam Chancellor is playing better. He had a nice read on his interception, and he came up to help with the run game every time the line and the linebackers let Helu slip through.

- Jake Johnson has a lot of talent, but his frequent misreads are a little off-putting. Barquell Rivers has adjusted very nicely to his new role as starting middle linebacker and leader of the defense. He had 10 tackles and 2 passes broken up (both game-highs for Tech).

Next week we face a Miami team with an offense about 5 times better than the one we just played. I am a little bit worried about our ability to contain Jacory Harris and stop the Miami running game. Miami's defense is a bit worse than Nebraska's, so we really need to see improved play from the offense. This is a home game, and I hope the Hokies will come out fired up.