David Wilson (4) powers his way through Clemson defense.
Oh boy, was that tough to watch.
With the Hokies headed into Saturday’s big game with a perfect 4-0 record, there was no way anyone could have expected Tech to be embarrassed like it was on national television.
There are a lot of things to dwell upon following Saturday’s 23-3 loss, but there are two that stand out more than others: Logan Thomas’ arm and death of “Beamerball.”
I’m going steer clear of the first subject because it seems a little too soon to write off Thomas as the team’s answer at quarterback. That being said, I’d be lying if I said those thoughts weren’t creeping into my head.
However, it is the situation in coach Frank Beamer’s own territory, special teams, which is by far the most surprising failure that was on full display Saturday.
It’s ironic when you think about it — Tech has made a name for itself with “Beamerball” and a focus on special teams, but it has been that exact aspect of the game that is the Hokies’ Achilles heel this season.
At the epicenter of the Beamer’s headache is punter Scott Demler.
His performance Saturday was so poor that he was booed almost every time he stepped on the field. On the one occasion where he didn’t, he received sarcastic applause when he appeared to get a hold of a punt, only for it to take a bad bounce and end up going into the books as a 29 yarder.
Through five games, Demler is averaging just 33.1 yards per punt and has booted just one over 50 yards.
Since 1998, only Robert Peaslee averaged less than 36 yards per punt (35.3), and only he, Vinnie Burns and Jimmy Kibble have averaged less than 40 yards per punt since 1998.
Demler’s productivity has been so poor that Beamer has had him practicing rugby-style punting — the end result of which was Demler dropping the snap and kicking it just 11 yards.
The 11-yard punt was more likely the result of poor weather than anything else, but the fact that Beamer has Demler even trying to rugby kick it is a sign that he is running out of ideas for his punter.
Fans have been calling for Danny Coale, a senior wide receiver, to be the punter, but when he got an opportunity in the Marshall game, the punt went just 25 yards.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 4 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Oh my goodness! Hopefully everyone is ok after what is clearly a shocking animal attack!
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