Inside Virginia Tech’s plan that neutralized Sam Howell and North Carolina, plus other notes
Matt Zenitz’s weekly Monday college football notebook for On3:
All hail Virginia Tech defense
From 56 points in 2020 to just 10 in 2021. From 656 yards to only 354.
In just 11 months, Justin Hamilton and Virginia Tech’s defense went from allowing North Carolina to accumulate the second-most yards ever posted by a Hokies opponent to spearheading the first top-10 upset of the 2021 season during a 17-10 Tech victory over those same Tar Heels.
Led by Hamilton, the Hokies’ second-year defensive coordinator, Virginia Tech had six sacks, induced a career-high three interceptions from UNC quarterback Sam Howell and held the Tar Heels to their lowest point total since Howell took over as their starter in 2019.
What was the difference compared to last season? And how did Virginia Tech pull this off against Howell and an offense that was fifth-best nationally in 2020?
It came down largely to the plan constructed by Hamilton and other Hokies coaches, such as cornerbacks coach/defensive pass game coordinator Ryan Smith. Here are a few bullet points:
1. Virginia Tech’s defensive staff entered the game knowing Howell consistently takes advantage of off-coverage with quick-hitting passes like slants, outs and hitches. As confirmed by film from last season, Howell and the Tar Heels gladly will drive the field like that. So, part of the strategy for the Hokies — who played a lot of man-to-man, Cover 1 defense — was trying to eliminate the opportunity for those quick-hitters on almost every snap.
2. With North Carolina losing its top two receivers from last year — third-round NFL draft pick Dyami Brown and sixth-round selection Dazz Newsome — Virginia Tech liked its matchups with the Tar Heels’ outside receivers. Thus, Tech zeroed in on trying to contain slot receiver Josh Downs in the same kind of way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers approached Kansas City Chiefs star Tyreek Hall during the Buccaneers’ 31-9 Super Bowl victory over the Chiefs in February. The Buccaneers were willing to give up throws to the tight end to instead provide help on Hill and limit his chances for big plays down the field. It was similar for Virginia Tech with Downs, a former top-100 recruit whom Hokies coaches viewed as a special talent.
3. Virginia Tech, a 4-3 base team, shifted to more of a 3-4 look against North Carolina. The thought was that it could catch the Tar Heels off-guard and help the Hokies against the run after giving up 399 rushing yards during the 56-45 loss to UNC last season.
It all contributed to the outcome — Virginia Tech holding Howell to his fewest passing yards since September 2019 (208) and limiting UNC to 117 rushing yards aside from a meaningless 29-yard run on the last play of the first half. While Downs did finish with eight catches for 123 yards and a touchdown, he had just two catches for 26 yards through the first 40 minutes. Much of his damage came on a 37-yard touchdown off a screen pass late in the third quarter with the Tar Heels trailing 14-0, then a 25-yard reception during the fourth quarter.
No other Tar Heel had more than three catches or more than 46 receiving yards.
Redshirt junior defensive end Amare Barno was one of the big stars for the Hokies. Barno, who led the ACC with 16 tackles for loss last season, had six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
“Our defense just continued to rise to the occasion with energy and execution,” Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said. “We looked fast. I was really proud of the defensive staff, Coach Hamilton and the defensive players.”
The win — sealed by a final Hokies interception with 37 seconds remaining — serves as a big early setback for North Carolina’s playoff chances and Howell’s potential Heisman campaign. Conversely, it also was a good first look at a Virginia Tech defense that the staff expects to be much better after a tough 2020 that saw the Hokies (a traditionally top-tier defensive team) rank 12th in the 15-team ACC in total defense.
“As impressive of a performance as I’ve seen,” Fuente said. “It was incredible.”
Schedule lines up favorably for Georgia
The win over Clemson isn’t the only thing that bodes well for Georgia moving forward. Its schedule does, too.
Of the top College Football Playoff contenders, there’s no one with a more favorable remaining regular-season schedule than the Bulldogs.
Now that Georgia has gotten through its massive matchup against Clemson, the Bulldogs have just one ranked team left on their regular-season schedule — a matchup against No. 13 Florida on October 30 in Jacksonville.
Six players most deserving of Week 1 Heisman buzz
Is it way too early to speculate about the Heisman? Yes.
That said, if you’re going to talk about it, here are the six players most deserving of Heisman buzz coming out of Week 1.
Alabama QB Bryce Young: 344 yards and four touchdown passes, the most-ever for an Alabama quarterback in a first career start, during a 44-13 rout of Miami.
Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave: Four catches, 117 yards, two TDs in a 45-31 victory over Minnesota.
Alabama outside linebacker Will Anderson: Team-high nine tackles, one sack during the Tide’s win.
Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder: 295 yards, five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) during a 49-14 victory over Miami (Ohio).
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Bryce Underwood
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Barstool founder fired up over 5-star commit
- 3
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- 4Hot
JuJu to Colorado
Elite QB recruit Julian Lewis commits to Coach Prime
- 5
Travis Hunter
Colorado star 'definitely' in 2025 draft
Texas running back Bijan Robinson: 176 scrimmage yards (103 rushing on 20 carries, 73 receiving on four catches) and two touchdowns in a 38-18 win over No. 23 Louisiana.
Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis: Three tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack during the Bulldogs’ 10-3 victory over Clemson.
** Tuesday morning update: Adding in Ole Miss QB Matt Corral, who threw for 381 yards and a touchdown while also running for 55 yards and a score during a 43-24 win over Louisville Monday evening.
Carson Strong buzz continues to grow
Two minutes into the third quarter of Nevada’s upset of California, Wolf Pack redshirt junior quarterback Carson Strong unleashed the type of throw that has NFL scouts so intrigued. Fifty yards in the air. Dropped perfectly in stride to wide receiver Tory Horton down the left sideline in tight coverage.
It was one of several “wow” throws during the Wolf Pack’s 22-17 win for Strong, who continues to look worthy of being included in conversations about the nation’s top draft prospects at quarterback.
Strong, the 2020 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, was 22-of-39 for 312 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Strong (6-4, 215) threw for 2,858 yards last season, with 27 touchdowns, a completion percentage of 70.1 and just four interceptions.
Quick hitters
+ The stock continues to move in the right direction for several Group of 5 coaches who could be in line for bigger jobs in a few months. Will Healy (Charlotte), Jay Norvell (Nevada), Kalani Sitake (BYU) and Jeff Traylor (UTSA) all got wins over Power 5 opponents. In addition, a rising-star FCS coach — Holy Cross’ Bob Chesney — led the Crusaders to a win over FBS Connecticut.
+ Despite Emory Jones struggling and backup Anthony Richardson rushing for 160 yards in limited action during Florida’s win over FAU, there’s no quarterback controversy in Gainesville. At least not yet. A Florida source said any talk of a potential change at quarterback is very much premature. Though Jones finished with only 113 passing yards and threw two interceptions, he remains the more trusted option for the Gators’ staff from a command, decision-making and execution standpoint.
+ There are a few teams in the Big Ten who look capable of adding to the competition level in the conference this season — Maryland, Michigan State and Rutgers. All three secured Week 1 wins — Maryland over West Virginia (31-24), Michigan State over Northwestern (38-21) and Rutgers over Temple (61-14). Maryland, which was 1-9 in its previous 10 meetings with West Virginia, got 332 yards and three touchdown passes from quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, Tua’s younger brother and an Alabama transfer. With Tagovailoa and wide receivers Dontay Demus and Rakim Jarrett, the Terrapins could have one of the better Big Ten passing attacks and will have a shot at the program’s first bowl appearance since 2016.
+ We talked about two Group of 5 quarterbacks above in Ridder and Strong. Here are two others worth mentioning: SMU’s Tanner Mordecai, a transfer from Oklahoma, and Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe, a transfer from FCS Houston Baptist. Both threw seven touchdown passes in season-opening wins against FCS opponents (Mordecai in a 56-9 win over Abilene Christian, Zappe in a 59-21 victory over UT Martin). A longtime NFL personnel evaluator mentioned to On3 during the summer that he views Mordecai as an interesting prospect with NFL potential.