Virginia Tech: Reasons for the Struggling Hokie Offense

It's quite obvious that the Virginia Tech offense has taken a large step back this season but after sifting through certain plays from this season and last season, I have come to one realization:  Our offense has multiple problems but really, its not as bad as it seems.

Obviously to have an offense ranked in the bottom 20 in Division I, things are not going your way.  But we have had some offensive success over the last couple of seasons, so its not like we're incapable of moving the ball. 

I don't really know how to break this down so I'm going to start with what I think is the biggest factor and work my way down.

Recruiting

Normally, any problems you have in college football now days can be traced back to your recruiting success within the last five years.  I think the same can be said for Virginia Tech in this case.

If you look at our offense right now you will see a mixture of projects, solid prospects, and high school All Americans.  

The only highly recruited players currently in the two-deep on offense for VT is Tyrod Taylor, Darren Evans, and Dyrell Roberts.  Notice anything familiar about these guys…they're all in their first or second year on campus. 

Back after the 2005 season, the Hokies brought in three new coaches to fill the void that was left after Coach Ball, Coach Rogers, and Coach Pearman, who all left for new jobs. 

Ever since this move to bring in Coach Gray, Coach Sherman, and Coach O'Cain, the Hokies recruiting has taken off and honestly has moved up a level.  Tech had horrible misses in the 2005 and 2006 classes, which does play a hand in this situation.

The Hokies 2005 recruiting class was thought to be one of the best ever to enter the program however, that was far from the truth.   Tech brought in eight offensive linemen (two were technically tight ends in Wang and Graham) in this class, but only three have ever started a game (Render, Wang, Graham). 

Antonio North, Hivera Green, Brandon Holland, Robert Norris, and Eric Davis never panned out because of different individual reasons. 

Also in this 2005 class, we brought in three very good running backs including, one that scouts everywhere raved about.  Elan Lewis was going to be the next big thing but then he tore his ACL and was never the same after that injury. 

Tech also brought in a top-notch wide receiver in Todd Nolen, who had to go to a Junior College in order to get into Virginia Tech.  He was never able to make it to Blacksburg. 

So in the class of 2005, the Hokies signed 15 offense prospects but only five ever went on to start in a game (Render, Graham, Wang, Boone, and Wheeler)

The 2006 class (players would be either sophomores or juniors this season) was just as bad if not worse as the previous class, as far as attrition is concerned.  The Hokies signed 10 offensive players in this class but only 3 players have ever started a game (Kenny Lewis, Beau Warren, Andre Smith).  

In 2006, the Hokies also whiffed on a couple big offensive line prospects in Clark Crum and Aaron Brown.  Both players were heavily recruited, but they never panned out. 

Also in 2006, the Hokies missed out on a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball.  Running backs LeSean McCoy (Pittsburgh), Knowshon Moreno (UGA), Evan Royster (Penn State), and Brandon Minor (Michigan) all had Tech in their top 2 or 3 but yet still committed elsewhere. 

Wide receivers Percy Harvin (UF), Damon McDaniel (FSU and now Norfolk State), Jacoby Ford (Clemson), Ras-I Dowling (UVA), and Chris Bell (Penn State) all had Tech near the top of their list as well but committed elsewhere.

So as you can see in the 2005 and 2006 class, the coaches whiffed on a lot of superior offensive talent that would definitely have helped our offense this season.  However, is that why we're struggling right now?… No.

But as you can see if some of these guys actually lived up to their billing or if we got some of the guys that went elsewhere, then these past few seasons might have gone a bit differently.  

Youth

The Hokies offense was expected to be inexperienced this season but with Glennon returning for his senior year, expectations were still relatively high for this bunch.

However, heading into the ECU game, the Hokies had lost their top six wide receivers, best offensive tackle, and a two-year starter at running back. 

The only wide receiver we had on the roster that's played a snap the previous season was Ike Whitaker who eventually was kicked off the team for missing another team meeting.  So with the offense's only true playmaker redshirting (Tyrod Taylor), the very inexperienced offense took the field and eventually lost against ECU. 
 
So just how young are the Hokies?  The only seniors in the 2 deep on offense are Ryan Shuman, Sean Glennon, and Nick Marshman. The only juniors we have in our two-deep are Kenny Lewis (currently injured), Sergio Render, Richard Graham, Greg Boone, and Ed Wang.  

After reading the past two paragraphs, what you're wondering is that with so many upperclassmen on our offensive line, why is our line still struggling so much?

I think the answer to that is fairly simple.  We have some great kids on our line but if you look at these kids primarily from a talent standpoint, I'm not so sure they would match up with most of the other offensive lines from other big name programs from across the country. 

Wang is a converted tight end that has gone from tight end to right tackle to left tackle in four years.  Marshman and Shuman were not very highly recruited and they are nowhere near being listed near the top as far as offensive lineman go but they've done well so far this year. 

Render has been one of best guards in the country this year but even he has broken down some on a few plays this season.  Then Dechristopher has seemed to hit the freshman wall this season and has played horribly over the last few weeks. 

So even though Coach Newsome is working hard to correct the play of the offensive line, it's going to take a few years to cycle in his players and get this line back to the shape it was in the mid-1990's.
 
With so many freshmen and sophomores in the two deep, you should expect the offense to struggle some.  That was easily the case this year and sadly as young as Tech was, they fared a lot better then the teams that were in similar position as far as youth went this year.

Miami and Georgia Tech were the only two teams in the country that were younger than Virginia Tech, and both finished behind the Hokies in the Coastal Division.

Coaching

Frank Beamer came out and said that after the win against UVA that he thought his staff did the best coaching job in his tenure here at Virginia Tech.  The truth is, he's right. 

Tech was by far one of the youngest teams in the nation this year and still managed to earn a spot in the championship game in their conference.  The only two teams younger, as mentioned above, finished behind Tech in the conference.  

The fact is, as frustrated as most Tech fans were this season, this team actually did a damn good job at finishing the regular season with eight wins.  Tech also still has a shot at a fifth straight 10-win season if they can win their final two games.

The Hokies managed to win every home game this season as well and won on the road at UNC and at Nebraska.   That's fairly impressive for a team that was forced to start three true freshmen and a redshirt freshman at wide receiver this season.
 
Ok, I digressed a bit but getting back to the coaching evaluation, I truly thought that overall the coaches did a good job this season. 

Is the offense where it needs to be, no.  Could the coaching be a lot better… it always could. 

I'm fairly certain that Texas fans and Oklahoma fans still have coaches on their staff who coach in a way that they don't quite agree with.

But, having an eight-win season with one of the youngest teams in the country is quite amazing and actually really exciting.  Imagine what this team should be like in two years when all these young guys are upperclassmen… Yikes!

Conference

The Atlantic Coast Conference was probably one of the toughest conferences this year and quite possibly the third-best conference this year behind the Big 12 and the SEC.  The league this year was especially tough defensively.  Let's take a look at some stats that support this:
 
The highest ranked offenses this year in conference were Georgia Tech (46th), Florida State (55th), and Maryland (76th).  The rest of the offenses are ranked in the bottom 40 nationally:  Clemson (82nd), Miami (88th), NC State (89th),  Boston College (94th), North Carolina (96th), Duke (101st), Virginia Tech (103rd),  Wake Forest (104th), and Virginia (106th).

However, when you look at the defense statistics, its pretty clear that the ACC may have been the best defensive conference in the nation this year. 

The top three defenses in the ACC this year were Virginia Tech (6th), Boston College (8th), and Florida State (13th).  Notice anything about those three teams?  They were the only three teams that were still able to make the trip to Tampa Bay up until last night.  Defense wins championships, folks… that will forever remain a truth in college football.
 
The remaining total defense ranks were as fallows: Clemson (16th), Wake Forest (19th), Georgia Tech (22nd), Miami (24th), UVA (45th), Maryland (60th), Duke (61st), UNC (62nd), and NC State (81st).

Just for comparison the highest-ranked Big 12 team is ranked 50th and that team is Texas.  Anybody still think that the Big 12 has superior offenses?  No, they have a bunch or good offenses that go against horrible defenses. 

If you put Virginia Tech in the Big 12, they would probably average 10 to 15 more points a game and another 100 to 150 yards per game.

Conclusion

This year has truly been a roller coaster ride, but looking back on this season, we've actually had a very good year.  An 8-4 record, in a tough ACC conference, is nothing to frown on.  The Hokies have another shot at an ACC Championship, which would be their third in just five years in the conference. 

This would also be their fourth appearance in the championship game in five years in the conference (I'm including the 2004 Miami game in here as well since that was technically a championship game…If Miami won that game they would have been ACC Champions). 

So what you all are probably wondering is the offense as bad as it looks or what?  From what I can gather, our offense is not where it needs to be.  Whether its coaching, recruiting, or whatever the actually reason is it needs to be fixed. 

However, we don't need a Texas Tech offense in order to win a National Championship.  We honestly don't even need a top 50 offense to win a championship.  We just need an offense that doesn't turn the ball over and can score in must-score situations, and we'll be fine. 

Right now, the Hokies are on the right path.  We played one of our toughest schedules in the last decade or so, with by far the youngest team we've ever, had and we're still probably the favorite to win yet another ACC title.   You can't ask for much more than that.

Virginia Tech is on the right track… just sit back and enjoy the ride, Hokie fans.