October 12, 2003

Virginia Tech-Syracuse Postmortems

Oklahoma might have made the biggest statement of the day nationally, but now-#3 Virginia Tech's 51-7 demolition of Syracuse on Saturday spoke volumes in settling a serious conference score on the Hokies' way out the door. VT notified the remaining doubters, both local and national, that the Hokies are prepared for their upcoming stretch run (@West Virginia, Miami, @Pittsburgh), and showed signs of improvement in several areas that will be critical to their Sugar Bowl hopes.

VT quarterback Bryan Randall got an early boost from the Roanoke Times Saturday morning, in an article wondering why Randall hasn't gotten more Heisman consideration this year. He then took the field on Tech's first series and promptly ran 75 yards for a score on an right-side option keeper, juking three Syracuse defenders as he cut back left at the sideline and prompting ESPN raves that he currently stood as the best QB in both the Big East and the ACC. Randall's stats on the day were mediocre (6-14/88/1INT), but suffered a couple of bad drops by his receivers and exited in the third quarter (with the score at 41-7) to allow Marcus Vick some playing time.

The player of the day, though, had to be DeAngelo Hall. Some have recently criticized Hall for perhaps buying into the crossover (CB/PR/WR) public hype and not living up to it on the field. I'm not sure I agree with those folks, but his two recent dropped punts (A&M and Rutgers) had inspired nervousness in Hokie fans who remembered his similar problems last year. Well, no more of that. After Randall's first-quarter score, Hall capped off the next two VT defensive series with 58- and 60-yard punt returns for touchdowns. Then in the third quarter, Hall came in as a WR on Marcus Vick's first series, and scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 2nd-down reverse. Lost in the crossover hype and mumblings about his underwhelming performance at WR have been two things: (1) he's still playing excellent shutdown defense, and (2) we haven't needed him to do much on offense, so why show too much for upcoming opponents to observe on film? Beamer stated at the start of this season that Hall wouldn't be a trick-play-only receiver, and he's lived up to that statement so far.

The special teams, I'm now convinced, are back to 1999-caliber. Carter Warley appears to have finally recovered from the back problems that have haunted him for two seasons. He's been solid on FGs, and after kickoff specialist Brandon Pace's injury last week, Warley has now assumed that responsibility as well, which he hadn't had since 2001. One problem spot had been deep snapping on placekicks, both in terms of location of the snap (holder/former punter Bobby Peaslee had pulled several wild ones in) and protection (several blocks had come straight up the middle). Starting center and All-American candidate Jake Grove took over that role this week, and Syracuse didn't even bother trying to challenge him with a special-teams rush.

The VT defense deserves props for holding Syracuse's star RB Walter Reyes to a total of 40 yards. Still of concern in pass defense is the weekly Mismatch Theater, where an opposing receiver gets isolated on a VT LB and runs riot; this week it was Johnnie Morant for 37 yds against Michael Crawford. (Crawford is listed by some press outlets as a strong safety, but in Tech's scheme, he's the Rover, essentially the fourth linebacker that Tech's eight-in-the-box/"attack" defense adds onto a standard 4-3.) Tech's defense relies on strong man-to-man coverage skills from its cornerbacks and good help from the free safety (fortunately, FS Jimmy Williams appears to have grown into his role over the past month). It can, however, be overloaded by a complex, varied passing attack. That didn't happen yesterday (Syracuse essentially rolled over and died after Hall's twin TDs), but you can bet that Miami's star TE Kellen Winslow is salivating at the thought of getting one-on-one against Crawford or Vegas Robinson. That'll be a primary concern of VT DC Bud Foster in the week-and-a-half between WVU and Miami.

The Hokies are off this week in preparation for a Wednesday night, 22 October date at Morgantown. This game is scary both from a football/motivation perspective (WVU is in the worst conference-shuffle position of anyone but Connecticut) and a security perspective (West Virginia message boards have seen open advocacy of violence against Hokie fans, and the local press has fanned the flames in several cases). Syracuse attempts to pick up the pieces in the Carrier Dome against Boston College on Saturday.