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Central Florida came into Blacksburg, along with 65,000 Hokie fans, expecting to get a healthy dose of the Virginia Tech running game, featuring Heisman hopeful Kevin Jones. What they got instead was a completely unexpected barrage via the air from Hokie QBs Bryan Randall and Marcus Vick.

The result was a score similar to what most Hokie fans expected: 49-28, VT over UCF. But in many ways, the game took a different form than anticipated, and for VT, there was a troubling, familiar site: an offense moving the ball easily against the Hokie defense.

In this game analysis, we'll take a look at three of the more popular topics on the message board in the post-game:

• How about that Hokie air attack?
• Kevin Jones' running style.
• Why UCF scored 28 points.

We'll also hit some other highlights and help you appreciate and understand the game a little more.

Let's start with that unexpected Air Beamer attack.

In the 2000 and 2001 games against UCF, both big Hokie victories, Virginia Tech pummeled the Golden Knights with the ground game, scoring all eight of their TDs on the ground. The Hokies ran a total of 111 times and passed just 37 times in those two games, a run:pass ratio of exactly 3:1. The yardage totals were 545 yards rushing to 258 yards passing.

So excuse the Golden Knights for gearing up to stop the run. What else would they expect?

What they got instead was a 22-of-28, 278-yard, 3 TD performance by Bryan Randall and a 7-of-10, 102-yard, 1 TD performance from Marcus Vick. Instead of a ball-control rushing offense, the Hokies had a ball-control passing offense, using short throws, slants, and passes to the tight end (gasp!) to move the ball downfield.

Tech's offense was much more balanced than in past UCF games, throwing the ball 38 times for 380 yards and running it 43 times for 152 yards. Yardage-wise, that's not balanced, but attempts-wise, it is.

VT set a school record with 36 first downs in this game, an unusual stat for a team that passed 38 times. Most games in which a team has 30+ first downs are run-dominated games. If you're passing 38 times, then you're either (a) throwing a lot of incompletions, limiting your first downs; or (b) moving the ball quickly up and down the field.

Instead, the Hokies went on long drives, piling up first downs with the passing game. Tech had 23 first downs via the pass, just 10 via the run, and 3 via penalty. There were very few breakout passes, with the longest completions being 29 yards to DeAngelo Hall and 27 yards to David Clowney, both for TDs.

The average completion for VT was 13 yards -- not chump change, but not field-stretchers, either. Both Randall and Vick were very efficient with the shorter passes, and less successful on the longer stuff. Randall was sharp, in control, and he placed the ball very well, often throwing the ball just beyond the reach of UCF defenders, or positioning it where only the VT receiver could get it (see his TD to Justin Hamilton for a perfect example).

It's illuminating to take a look at Randall's incompletions -- all six of them -- to better understand his day. Here they are:

Incompletion #1: Ball was batted down at the line.

Incompletion #2: Randall escaped the rush and threw the ball away.

Incompletion #3: Deep "jump" ball to DeAngelo Hall, who positioned himself perfectly, got his hands on the ball, but couldn't come down with it (great play by the UCF defender).

Incompletion #4: Deep pass to Ernest Wilford, thrown behind him, ball hit defender in the back. This was one of Randall's few bad decisions on the day, as he threw into double coverage.

Incompletion #5: Deep pass to Chris Clifton, overthrown (he was open).

Incompletion #6: Short pass to Wilford, who dropped it (VT's only drop on the day).

Basically, with the exception of the deep stuff, an intentional throwaway, a drop, and a batted pass, Randall was perfect. He had a very strong day.

Randall looked more sure of himself in the pocket than last year, the result primarily of better pass blocking and a great job of picking up the blitz by the Tech O-line. Of course, UCF's defensive line won't remind anyone of Pitt's DL or the Miami DL of last year, but other, less-talented teams have given the Hokies' pass-blocking a hard time, so the pass-blocking in this game was an improvement.

This was a VT O-line that was operating without starting right tackle Jon Dunn, who was suspended for the game for violating team rules. Tech moved left guard Jacob Gibson out to replace Dunn and started backup Will Montgomery in Gibson's place, and the line didn't miss a beat, at least not in pass blocking (we'll discuss run-blocking later).

If Randall was more composed in the pocket than in the past, then Vick was cool as a cantaloupe. He stood tall in the pocket, shifted out when he was pressured, and didn't fold up his tent and run a single time.

As is well-documented, the Hokies used 11 different receivers: 7 wideouts, 2 tight ends, 1 fullback, and 1 tailback. They used the middle of the field, they used the tight end (3 completions in this game, versus 10 all last year), and they mixed it up.

It's really hard to find fault with the passing game, unless you're nitpicking. They were 29-of-38 for 380 yards, 4 TDs, and no picks. We'll see how they do the rest of the year, but if the Hokies serve up a performance like this one each week, the offense will be doing its part in the quest for a Big East championship.

You all know the book on Kevin Jones: great talent, powerful, good speed, but tends to juke around behind the line, trying to hit the home run, instead of hitting the hole and getting a few tough yards when there's not a lot there.

This is not a knock against KJ's toughness, because he will put his head down, and in the secondary, he's tough to bring down. It's just a desire on the part of VT fans for Jones to be satisfied with getting the few yards available to him every time, instead of sometimes turning a short run into a loss by changing direction.

A perfect example of this came in the first quarter, with the Hokies facing a second and one from the UCF 43. The Hokies faked an end around and gave the ball to Jones on a delayed handoff. There was a big hole on the right side of the line. A UCF linebacker was there, but Jones could have hit the hole and easily gotten at least a yard and the first down.

Instead, seeing the linebacker, Jones cut left, looking for additional running room, and immediately encountered a UCF cornerback. KJ reversed field, and to make a long story short, turned an easy first down into an 11-yard loss.

All in all, Jones had 22 carries for 83 yards, consisting of 16 carries for 107 yards in gains, and six carries for 24 yards in losses. I broke down the lost-yardage plays, and I found that of the six plays that lost yardage, only the one I just described was completely KJ's "fault."

Here's the breakdown:

So Jones was the victim of bad (or no) blocking on at least four of his negative carries. UCF was geared up to stop the run, with the linebackers and safeties coming up into the box and shooting the gaps, and they also blitzed cornerbacks from the edges on what they felt were sure running plays. Jones got nailed in the backfield several times by blitzing DB's when his fullback (and even tight end) failed to make the blocks.

KJ also got some yardage in spite of bad blocking. On his 18-yard TD run, he was met head-on in the backfield by a defensive tackle the instant he took the handoff (right guard Jim Miller missed the block on that one). He spun, bounced to the outside, and motored around the end for a SportsCenter touchdown.

I noticed a couple of instances where Jones shied away from a hole that had a linebacker waiting just beyond it, but I also noticed a few instances where he put his head down and went into the line. I've decided that that's simply KJ's running style. He's going to poke, prod, and search for the hole. Should he always do that? No. He should have taken on that linebacker on the second and one discussed above. The VT coaches know it, and they'll point it out to him on film. But overcoming natural tendencies is a hard thing to do.

As for the other parts of his game, part of the reason the Hokie offense picked up the blitz so well was Kevin Jones. Time and again he stepped up, met blitzers head on, and stopped them in their tracks.

I've been watching the board, and it's split between KJ's defenders and critics. My take is simple: he has talent, he's elusive, he's big, and he's fast. His body and his game are improving. But he's got a tendency to kill his own momentum with a change-of-direction jump-step. Sometimes it pays off handsomely, as it did against LSU on his spectacular run last year. Other times, he shoots himself in the foot with it, as he did when he lost 11 yards on the second and one against UCF.

At one point, Tech led the game 28-0, had 18 first downs to 0 for UCF, and had outgained UCF 287-9. That was with 8:52 left to go in the second quarter.

Over the next quarter and a half, UCF scored 21 straight points, with TD scoring drives of 8 plays, 67 yards; 6 plays, 80 yards; and 8 plays, 95 yards. While the Knights didn't do it with the power running game -- like so many VT opponents did late last year -- it was shades of the Hokies defensive fold at the end of last season.

Was it the same, or was it different? I watched the tape of UCF's three mid-game TD drives (not the one that happened late), and I saw the following plays and sequences that contributed to the UCF scores.

• On one ten-yard run by UCF's Alex Haynes, the entire Hokie defense dropped into pass coverage, opening up the running lanes for Haynes.

• On a flanker screen, Vegas Robinson didn't see that a pass had been completed and engaged a blocker instead of going after the receiver with the ball.

• Tech was offsides twice in three plays.

• On the TD pass, Tech free safety Jimmy Williams played the ball instead of the man, let the receiver get behind him, and gave up the TD. In the future, he'll be taught to play the man, keep him in front of him, and make the tackle.

• On third and ten, VT blitzed, UCF picked it up and completed a 23-yard pass on Garnell Wilds.

• Haynes had a 38-yard run where Jimmy Williams met him as he came through the line and missed the tackle (eerily reminiscent of Brandon Miree's game-winning run for Pitt against Willie Pile last year).

• On Haynes' 16-yard TD run, he took the handoff and started up the middle. To the right, Nathaniel Adibi took an inside rush, and whip linebacker Brandon Manning bolted to the middle of the field to meet Haynes coming through the line. The line was jammed up, and Haynes bounced to the outside, where Adibi and Manning had cleared out. He scored rather easily.

UCF's Third TD Drive

• On second and 12, Haynes caught a pass in the flat and juked Michael Crawford and Mikal Baaqee out of their shoes for an 18-yard gain.

• On third and inches, UCF made a great play call by handing off for an apparent end-around to Brandon Marshall. Marshall stopped and fired a pass to tight end Darcy Johnson, who had faked a block and released downfield. Johnson caught the pass for a 56 yard gain. Jimmy Williams got sucked in on the fake and was late seeing Johnson release.

• On the 7-yard TD pass to Tavaris Capers, Brandon Marshall screened Garnell Wilds and Michael Crawford off of Capers, and Capers was wide open. Marshall didn't run an illegal pick play, but Capers did break behind him, and both Wilds and Crawford either (a) covered Marshall, or (b) were screened away from Capers.

Early in the game, VT's defensive line was allowed to control the game over UCF's offensive line, which started at least two freshmen. In one sequence, Nathaniel Adibi and Cols Colas beat freshman tackle Larry Peoples on two consecutive plays for sacks. Adibi beat him to the inside, and Colas beat him to the outside.

Then (by UCF Mike Kruczek's own comments to the press), UCF went to shorter drops and quicker passes, helping to neutralize the VT defensive line.

That put the onus on the VT linebackers and DB's to stop UCF's offense, and they struggled. The linebackers took the wrong attack angles (as in the example of Brandon Manning vacating his spot on Alex Haynes' TD run), missed a few tackles, and generally were often of position. Ask yourself how many times you saw Vegas Robinson and Mikal Baaqee make a tackle, and the answer is "not many." They had 11 tackles between the two of them, and that's not very many for the two positions on the Tech team that historically get the most tackles. Ben Taylor averaged about 11 tackles a game by himself.

UCF's a passing team, so maybe the linebackers won't get a lot of tackles against them. But Haynes rushed for 81 yards on 10 carries, a Bud-Foster-headache-inducing 8.1 yards per carry. Haynes is a good back, but Robinson, Manning, and Baaqee shouldn't have allowed him to average 8 yards a carry.

Moving on to the secondary, Jimmy Williams got an education in this game. He's a young player, and a sophisticated passing offense like UCF's is going to present a challenge to an inexperienced guy like Williams. That's fine, he'll learn it, but it was disappointing to see him miss the tackle on Haynes' 38-yard run. The hope was that Williams would make those plays against the running game as he learned how to defend the pass. All in all, a bad day for Williams, who finished second on the team with 7 tackles but would no doubt like to have a few plays back.

Garnell Wilds had a mediocre day in coverage, and Michael Crawford simply isn't much of a force at the Rover position. Crawford, a redshirt senior, is listed at just 202 pounds and isn't big enough or physical enough to be an effective Rover in the mold of Cory Bird or Kevin McCadam. I don’t like to keep beating that drum, but I've watched enough film to know that it's true. You like your Rovers to plant wide receivers and running backs in the ground, pick off passes, and cause fumbles, and Crawford simply isn't a forceful presence at the Rover position.

So there you have it. Once UCF took the VT defensive line out of the ballgame, the linebackers, free safety, and Rover weren't up to the task. The game film tells the tale.

While watching tape, I noticed some new things about the VT offense that show that offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring continues to evolve as an OC.

First of all, there was all that passing.

Secondly, I saw a little bit more misdirection, pulling and trapping from the OL than before. On a couple of Bryan Randall's rollouts to the right, the right guard and right tackle blocked down (in the opposite direction of Randall's rollout), and the left guard pulled and came down the line to escort Randall on the rollout (or to flatten any overeager defensive end who might try to sneak in behind the right guard and tackle). Tech also pulled the right guard to block down on a running play up the middle.

Thirdly, the Hokies have started doing that fake-reverse thing that is so popular in college football now. In this play, the wideout runs behind the QB for a fake reverse, to keep the defense honest and keep the linebackers planted in place. Every once in a while, you have to hand it off in order for it to continue to work as a fake.

Lastly, the Hokies used a lot of two-tight-end, one-back sets. I'm not sure if this is completely new, but they used it in the middle of the field and even ran from it (former OC Rickey Bustle would have a fit if he knew Tech was running from something other than the I-formation!).

UCF came out geared to stop the run, and they were effective in slowing down Kevin Jones. But it made them vulnerable to the pass, and Virginia Tech took advantage of it behind improved QB play and improved pocket blocking and blitz pickup from their offensive line and running backs.

Defensively, Tech's DL was strong, but the linebackers and safeties didn’t play all that well. Tech will need improvement from those guys (it's only the first game) if they want to challenge Pittsburgh and Miami for the Big East championship.

I had a weird, weird thought as I was pondering the themes for this analysis. I was thinking about how the defense isn't championship caliber yet, and how it will need to improve if the Hokies want to go to a BCS bowl. And I found myself thinking, "If the offense keeps playing that well, they can pick the defense up and maybe win a shootout or two to get the Hokies where they want to be."

Blasphemy!

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