Virginia Tech’s defense has a long way to go, and four other thoughts after Saturday (2024)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — For a Virginia Tech program in desperate need of a narrative shift after what’s seemed like a year of bad headlines and results, Saturday’s 35-28 setback at Boston College wasn’t the momentum-changer most had desired.

Though it was only a touchdown margin, the Hokies lost for the fifth time in their last six ACC games dating back to last year, dropping a league game in which they were road favorites against a Boston College team that had close to, if not as many, question marks coming in.

Unless lightning strikes again and the Hokies stumble at home next week against Old Dominion — which needed a late touchdown to fend off an upset bid by FCS Norfolk State in its opener — Virginia Tech should have three relatively stress-free weeks before gearing up for ACC play again when Duke visits on a Friday night in late September, with an FCS matchup with Furman and an early open week after the Monarchs.

There won’t be any shortage of mistakes from the BC game to correct in that timeframe, however, which could set the course of the season.

Here are five thoughts the day after the Hokies’ season-opening loss at Boston College:

1. The defense still has some leaks to plug.

All the talk coming into Saturday was how the Hokies’ defensive front would hold up against a Boston College running game led by stud back AJ Dillon, and that no doubt was something that factored into the outcome. But not many people envisioned the Eagles being so effective through the air, where Anthony Brown threw for 258 of his 275 yards in the first half, beating the Hokies over the top with passes of 58 and 56 yards to Zay Flowers and Kobay White.

A nonexistent pass rush and shaky coverage from a dwindling group of defensive backs contributed to a first half in which the Hokies gave up 356 yards and 7.9 yards per play. Tech’s offense and special teams didn’t help matters, committing turnovers that gave BC short fields, though Foster’s group couldn’t keep the Eagles out of the end zone on either occasion.

“For whatever we played extremely tight as a defense,” defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “That wasn’t the same group that practiced and how they performed. You saw how we played the second half was kind of what I was hoping we’d play the entire game. we settled down and got our composure. Sometimes that happens in the first ball game.”

To the Hokies’ credit, that changed in the second half, particularly the third quarter, when Boston College ran nine plays and had zero yards, though the Eagles seemed to wear Tech down in the fourth quarter, rushing nine straight times with Dillon and David Bailey on a 10-play, 56-yard march for a touchdown that made it 35-21.

And when Tech desperately needed a stop for a chance to tie at the end, down 35-28, Dillon, who finished with 23 carries for 81 yards, ripped off an 11-yard run up the middle on third-and-9 to put the game away.

“What I was told upstairs was we had a guy jump out of his gap,” Foster said. “They ran power. All you have to do is gap fit and I promise you that there was a guy who ran out of his gap. And all you need is that. That’s a big guy to go through an arm tackle. That’s where we’ve got to be consistently good. you can’t do it nine times out of 10 at this level of football.”

On the whole, the Hokies weren’t the sieve they were at times last year. Though BC had 432 total yards, only 76 came in the second half, when the Eagles averaged 2.5 yards per play.

“They showed in the second half what we’ve been doing all fall camp. We just need to do it for 60 minutes,” Foster said. “But we’ll improve.”

2. Injuries aren’t helping.

It didn’t take long for the injuries to put the Hokies in a bind Saturday. Starting defensive end TyJuan Garbutt, who is a breakout candidate this year, had to leave on the opening drive after getting hit on a blindside block. He didn’t return and Tech had no update on his status or the nature of his injury after the game.

“I’m anxious to see that block, because that’s kind of what the new rule is about right there, the blindside block,” Foster said. “Obviously, he’s one of our better football players; (he) had a big-time camp, is a big-time pass rusher, and all of a sudden he’s out of the game right on the first series.”

The Hokies’ D-line was already pretty thin, with sophom*ore Rob Porcher not traveling for injury reasons. At times, Tech trotted out an all-freshman defensive line, with Jaevon Becton, Mario Kendricks, Norell Pollard and Eli Adams making up the lineup.

The secondary took some hits too. Starting corner Jovonn Quillen had to leave early and was on crutches in the second half. Backup safety Tyree Rodgers was woozy after delivering a big hit on a kickoff, dressed in street clothes in the second half. With starting safety Divine Deablo shaken up on a kickoff too, backup nickelback Khalil Ladler was forced to play free safety, though Deablo eventually returned to action.

The offense took some hits as well. Returning All-ACC receiver Damon Hazelton didn’t play after being limited in practice by a hamstring injury, something that made him a spectator for several games late last year. Running back Jalen Holston had to leave after getting banged up, leading to a bigger workload for freshman Keshan King in the second half.

The one that’s sure to rile up Hokies fans, however, is the ankle injury suffered by Zachariah Hoyt, who appeared to get rolled up on late in the fourth quarter. Hoyt, who was starting because the NCAA denied Brock Hoffman’s seemingly slam-dunk appeal for immediate eligibility, didn’t put any weight on his left leg while being helped off the field and was carted off the sideline.

Redshirt freshman John Harris, who’d taken plenty of snaps in the preseason, replaced him, but if Hoyt’s injury is as serious as it looked and the Hokies are already down to, effectively, their third-string center, it’s sure to add to Tech fans’ already white-hot rage against the NCAA.

3. The offense won’t truly take off until the running game does.

Game circ*mstances dictated a lot of passing in the second half, with the Hokies down 14 for much of the final 30 minutes. As a result, Ryan Willis ended up chucking it 47 times for 344 yards, with four touchdowns and three interceptions.

While that’s a lot of yards, it’s not necessarily a recipe for success, especially when the ground game only supplies 98 yards of support. The Hokies averaged 2.3 yards on 42 carries. It was the first time since last year’s Duke game that Tech didn’t reach the 100-yard mark on the ground and only the fourth time overall under Fuente.

King (10 carries, 33 yards) and Deshawn McClease (11 carries, 32 yards) got the majority of the carries with Holston dinged up. Willis ran 14 times for 38 yards but also had 31 yards in losses to finish with 7 yards overall.

Boston College traditionally is a tough team to run against (Tech’s 111 rushing yards against it last year was its second-lowest total to Duke), with a strong linebacking group coming back. But the Eagles were replacing three starters on their defensive line and there was hope coming in that Tech’s burgeoning offensive line would be able to create some holes like it did at the tail end of last year.

Instead, it was a struggle all night. The Hokies’ longest run was 10 yards, and 11 of their 42 runs went for zero or negative yardage.

“I think we’ve got to do a better job as a staff of giving us opportunities to run the ball,” Fuente said. “Better up front. Better at running back and our decisions and what we are doing. They are a big, stout team. They are historically very difficult to run the ball against.”

With a full-strength roster of pass-catchers, the Hokies’ offensive strength is still through the air. But they’ll only unlock the full potential of the passing game if there’s some sort of consistent run threat to keep defenses honest.

4. There were some bright spots for the youngsters.

Though overshadowed in the loss, freshman receiver Tayvion Robinson showed why he’s drawn so much August hype, getting the start and leading the team with six catches for 72 yards and scoring his first career touchdown on a 20-yard reception in the second quarter.

Two more second-year pass catchers caught touchdowns as well, adding to the notion the Hokies really do have a deep roster of offensive weapons.

Tight end James Mitchell, everybody’s breakout pick for 2019, had his first career touchdown, an 11-yarder that pulled the Hokies within 28-21 late. Kaleb Smith, a walk-on in the 2018 class who was just put on scholarship, made a diving catch in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown with just over two minutes left that pulled Tech within 35-28. Smith, whose playing time increased dramatically with Hazelton sidelined, had four catches for 62 yards.

“He’s been an incredible worker,” Fuente said. “He’s still learning the craft. He’s still working on some technique. It’s good to see him have some success today. He has been out there every day just busting his tail trying to get better.”

Two true freshmen got significant time on defense as well, with Pollard and Kendricks part of a defensive tackle rotation throughout the night. Pollard had four tackles, tops among the defensive tackles. Kendricks had two tackles, including one for a loss.

“I don’t feel it was too big for them,” Fuente said. “I felt like they were ready to go play. We knew they were going to have to play through the entire year. We knew that was going to happen.”

5. Be cautious about drawing too firm a conclusion off one game.

After they lost to Tennesse by three touchdowns in the Battle at Bristol in 2016, the Hokies were labeled “not ready for primetime.” They ended up winning the Coastal Division.

After his big game helped beat West Virginia at FedEx Field in 2017, quarterback Josh Jackson was penciled in by fans as the team’s starter for the next four years. He’s now starting at Maryland.

And after Bud Foster’s group shut down what was then not known to be a disastrous Florida State offense last year, Hokies fans were ready to build him a statue in downtown Blacksburg. It’s safe to say those construction plans have been tabled.

So while Saturday’s outcome was by no means great, especially since it was one of what should be plenty of 50-50 games this year, it’s probably too soon to write off the season as another lost cause, as much as that sentiment is out there on the message boards.

Willis wasn’t his sharpest, but his backups have still never completed a college pass. Any notion that Fuente, who historically has always stuck with his starting quarterback through tough times, will give the backup a whirl after one uneven game seems misguided.

The defense wasn’t its best either, though the first half and second half stand in stark contrast to each other.

Tech’s talent level probably means it’ll have plenty of coin flip games this year, particularly in a Coastal Division that’s not shaping up to be the greatest. The only teams in the division to get through Week 1 unscathed were Virginia and North Carolina, and no, we’re not talking about basketball right now.

The last time the Hokies committed five turnovers in an early-season test, against Tennessee in 2016, they tightened things up and went 8-2 over the next 10 games to win the division. Is this team good enough to do that? Only time will tell. But definitively saying no based on one game seems shortsighted.

(Top photo: Malcolm Hope / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)