The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Virginia Tech’s Win Over Western Michigan

Sep 27, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies running back Shai McKenzie (22) rushes the ball against Western Michigan Broncos linebacker Devon Brant (11) during the first quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

The Ugly

The ugly part of the game is becoming a recurring theme for the Hokies.  The penalty situation is becoming a constant problem for the Hokies.  The Hokies were penalized 9 times for 69 yards with the majority of the penalties coming on procedural penalties.

The Hokies need to clean up these mental mistakes in order to be successful against better ACC competition.  The youth of the team can be blamed for part of the penalty situation. However, that excuse will soon be not such a valid one.  Frank Beamer needs to square this situation away and do it quickly.

Once again, the Hokies were victim to the big play.  The defense gave up several big plays to an offense they bottled up for most of the game.  However, on the positive side of things, these big plays only really went to one player.  Daniel Braverman led the Broncos in receiving, amassing 100 yards on the day.

Two of his longer catches happened right before the half after a Michael Brewer interception and set Western Michigan up for a field goal to gain momentum going into halftime.  Bud Foster’s defensive philosophy leaves his secondary in one-on-one matchups and sometimes these matchups don’t always go in the Hokies’ direction.  That being said, if the defense continues to get burnt for large chunks of yards, Foster might have to rethink his defensive alignment.