Tech freshman linebacker Jake Johnson tries to chase down Western Kentucky wide receiver Wenquel Graves during Saturday afternoon's game at Lane Stadium. The Hokies held the Hilltoppers to just 95 passing yards.
Virginia Tech captured its fifth consecutive win Saturday by topping Western Kentucky by two touchdowns, but it was surprisingly anything but easy.
"I said earlier in the year that I think every game is going to be a dogfight for us," said sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor. "You can't ever let your guard down; every team is going to play us hard."
Yet, with a young team, progress has to be made. At what point does this team say it's turned a corner? Many believed it was against Nebraska, especially in terms of offense. But now those people must reevaluate after what they saw Saturday.
The fact is Tech's offense, the same crew that seemed to be on the rise with its performance in Lincoln, took a major step back Saturday.
What people saw was a team struggling at times against an opponent that is considered to float leagues below the Hokies. One could sense a bit of concern in Lane Stadium when the Hilltoppers came within two scores of the Hokies early in the fourth quarter.
Please take note of the opponent.
Western Kentucky is a program that is currently transitioning into Division I-A. Its two wins this season have come against non-FBS schools -- Eastern Kentucky and Murray State. It is the same team that Kentucky and Alabama walloped by a combined total of 82-10 in September.
"It's somewhat frustrating," said cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris. "That goes to show you that we can't take any team lightly. We have to come with our 'A' game everyday."
The performance is a bit more unsettling when one takes into account the 13 penalties for 113 yards that were committed by the Hilltoppers. Continually, the Hokies were given second chances through those penalties.
On Tech's first drive of the day, a Hilltopper defensive back committed consecutive penalties for 24 yards and single-handedly brought the Hokies into field goal range. In the first play of the second quarter, a fake-punt pass by Western Kentucky would have been a touchdown had an illegal block not been called. Instead, it settled for a field goal.
The Hilltoppers held the Hokie offense to fewer than 300 yards of total production and they're the fourth team this season to do so. Many were hoping that unflattering statistic was a thing of the past after Tech manufactured 377 yards against the Cornhuskers.
Out of 120 Division I-A teams, Tech is one of 14 that have averaged fewer than 300 yards of total offense this season. Western Kentucky also falls into that category and only produced 50 yards fewer on offense than Tech did Saturday afternoon.
The numbers for Taylor, at least, look fairly nice on paper, as he went 10-for-15 for 125 yards and a touchdown -- his first passing touchdown this season in 63 attempts. But head coach Frank Beamer was unsatisfied with the overall passing performance.
"For whatever reason, our passing game wasn't as good as we'd like it to be down the stretch there," Beamer said.
Taylor gave an explanation that was eerily similar to past explanations in earlier games this season.
"I think it's a combination of young receivers and just everyone not being on the same page yet," Taylor said.
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Tyrod...in the future you might not want to use the phrase "dogfight"...just a thought
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Taylor, you have one thing you can work on even with young receivers: protect the football. Your fumbling of the football every single week has nothing to do with young receivers, or lack of maturity, or a new offense. It has to do with you failing, or neglecting, to put the time in on fundamentals such as protecting the ball, and it kills all the hard work everyone is doing on offense and on defense. And also - man up, and take responsibility for everything yourself. Defending your own play by "reminding" fans that our offense is young does nothing for the team. Tell us what they did that was good, because that's what obsevers may NOT know.
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