Some of the numbers from the first half of Saturday afternoon's Virginia Tech ACC opener at Boston College were nothing but ugly. The Hokies held a 3-0 lead on a John Love field goal in the final minute of the half, but later in the game, trailing 14-6, first-year head coach James Franklin had a message for first-year offensive coordinator Ty Howle.
After playing the first three quarters in terrible weather conditions, Franklin saw a break in the conditions and told Howle that it was time to do something that they hadn't been able to: get aggressive.
James Franklin had a simple message for offensive coordinator Ty Howle
After a second Love field goal in the third quarter gave Virginia Tech a 6-0 lead, the Eagles responded with a pair of Mason McKenzie rushing touchdowns for a 14-6 lead in the fourth quarter. At that point, Franklin saw a break in the weather and told Howle to get aggressive, and it paid off.
"I thought late in the game, the weather died down,'' said Franklin. "Like the one drive (Boston College) had, the weather died down. Then I got on the headset and told Ty, ' Look, we need to be aggressive; the weather has died down.' And the weather picked up right back up, and I told him, 'We're going to need to continue to be aggressive.' (Ethan Grunkmeyer) made some big throws, which I think helped open him up. Then some stuff in the running game we're doing by creating an extra gap, I think, helped us today.''
Well, it certainly helped in the final three drives. Trailing by a touchdown and a two-point conversion, the Hokeis marched down the field following Franklin's instruction to Howle and capped off a 10-play, 80-yard drive in just 2:58 with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Grunkemeyer to Marlion Jackson. Jeffrey Overton Jr.'s two-point conversion tied the game.
After Virginia Tech's defense got a stop, Overton Jr. needed just one play to rip off a 76-yard touchdown run for a 21-14 lead with 4:58 left. Again, the Hokies' defense got a stop, and the offense and Overton Jr. were able to run out the clock. Game. Set. Match.
It was easy to be frustrated as a Virginia Tech fan with the playcalling through three quarters. No, really. It was bringing back flashes to the Tyler Bowen days in Blacksburg, and those were painful. Franklin has been doing this long enough to know when it's time to get aggressive and when it's not. Message sent, message received.
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