The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from the Virginia Tech Hokies Win against Duke

Nov 15, 2014; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils cornerback Breon Borders (31) gets an interception in front of Virginia Tech Hokies tight end Bucky Hodges (7) at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports

The Ugly

The ugly this week was definitely ugly.  There were two parts which stood out the most.  The first is a constant for most weeks and that is the penalty issue.  The Hokies were penalized 7 times for 75 yards.  75 yards in penalties is completely unacceptable.  How is an offense supposed to keep a rhythm if every time they run a successful play, it ends up getting called back because of a holding call?

The Hokies’ situation is more of the play never getting an opportunity to be run because the offensive line was moving or couldn’t remember who was going to be lined up on the line of scrimmage.  The season is almost over and the penalty situation has not gotten better and in some cases has gotten even worse.  This is completely unacceptable and in the offseason, there needs to be a new plan formulated to keep this from happening again next season.

The second bad part has to do with a part that affects the entire offensive game plan.  The Hokies could not protect Michael Brewer.  The Hokies gave up a staggering 6 sacks and it seemed like Brewer was on the ground more than he was standing up.  How can a team win a game giving up this type of pressure on the passer?  I have no answer for this other than they just can.

The offensive line is a patchwork of people at this point in the season.  The pressure is affecting the whole offensive game plan as the Hokies are unable to dial up shots down the field because of the lack of time given to Brewer.

The most disturbing thing about the pressure was the fact Duke was generating it with only three or four pass rushers.  However, this patchwork offensive line is going to need to protect better or in the last two games, Michael Brewer might not be able to walk away at the end of either of these two games.