Good, and Bad, Thoughts from Virginia Tech's Spring Game
Good, and Bad, Thoughts from Virginia Tech's Spring Game
How much can you actually pull from a spring scrimmage?
Pulling anything meaningful out of Virginia Tech’s annual Spring Game is as difficult as retaining a highly successful women’s basketball coach.
Too soon?
But seriously — the Spring Game is just one of many scrimmages that take place throughout the slate of spring practices. We only see one, and thus that one scrimmage takes precedent over the rest.
I was fortunate enough to watch Saturday’s “game” in person with some awesome Hokies. We had great seats and I came away from Saturday’s “game” with a few thoughts. Here they are — read them and weep.
The Passing Operation Needs Work
If you looked only at the passing statistics from Saturday, you’ll read the above heading and think I’m clueless. Kyron Drones and Pop Watson combined to throw for 252 yards and two touchdowns. The two completed 61 percent of their passes.
But if you watched Saturday, you noticed how often Virginia Tech found big plays on check down throws. Both Drones and Watson utilized throws underneath to get the ball to playmakers in space, who found lots of success in shaking defenders.
But when the two wanted to push the ball downfield, options were slim. Virginia Tech’s secondary mostly locked up the pass catchers on vertical throws. When receivers were open, the passes weren’t accurate.
Watson was credited with an official interception after a batted pass at the line of scrimmage. Drones would have been credited with an interception, had the play not been blown dead prematurely by Brent Pry.
Don’t get me wrong — it’s good to see the quarterbacks complete more than 60 percent of their throws and throw a couple touchdowns. But the passing game benefitted far more from yards after the catch than lethal throws down the field.
Speaking of yards after catch…
Depth at Running Back?
Coming into the spring, Bhayshul Tuten and Malachi Thomas seemingly had a stranglehold on the starting reps at running back. PJ Prioleau and Jeremiah Coney have other plans.
Prioleau and Coney combined for 178 yards from scrimmage on 20 touches. Prioleau scored two touchdowns and broke more than a handful of tackles, turning two or three-yard throws from the quarterback into chunks of yardage.
Tuten’s spot at the top of the totem pole should remain, but Prioleau and Coney have seemingly closed the game for the No. 2 position in the running back rotation. That’s encouraging, given Virginia Tech’s reliance on the run game last season.
The Hokies’ offense requires a consistent ground game to open up throws downfield. Tuten proved his worth last season, while Coney and Prioleau are chomping at the bit to prove theirs.
Other Observations
Virginia Tech’s core group of wide receivers were pretty quiet on Saturday, but two younger players took advantage of some opportunities in the passing game.
Chance Fitzgerald caught the lone long completion of the day, a 38-yarder from walk-on Ben Locklear. As far as the young wide receivers are concerned, Fitzgerald is one that at least looks the part. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Fitzgerald looks comfortable playing the ball in the air and has a long stride that allows him to push vertically against opposing secondaries. I don’t know how many reps he’ll get in 2024, but his future is encouraging.
Thanks to some radically conservative whistle blowing from Brent Pry and the referees, Virginia Tech defenders registered 13 sacks. There’s obvious value in making your quarterbacks off limits, but it obscured fans from seeing the defense’s ability to generate a real pass rush.
Keyshawn Burgos and James Jenette were each credited with three “sacks”. Even though they weren’t real, Burgos and Jenette both wreaked havoc off the edge and could offer the Hokies some help in the pass rush department.
Lastly, fans in attendance noticed that the limited contingent of Marching Virginians participating in Saturday’s event were mic’d up inside Lane Stadium. I’m not aware of that being done before, and I learned why on Saturday. Aside from the awful reverb between the actual band and the speakers behind them, listening to the banter between band members when they weren’t playing distracted from the on-field product. The band is plenty loud enough, there’s no need to mic them up for games.