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Hokies Football: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly From Virginia Tech's 49-0 Win Over Boston College

Hokie fans, last weekend was how you come off a loss. After a heartbreaking defeat in the world’s largest football game, the Hokies returned to the friendly confines of Lane Stadium and dominated Boston College. The Hokies posted a 49-0 thrashing of their usually pesky ACC foe. This was more than just a “get right” game, it was important for the Hokies to create momentum in conference play. This game was everything that could go right for the Virginia Tech football team. After a game where there was much more bad than good, it was just the opposite this week with there being much more good than bad. In this week’s edition of the good, the bad, and the ugly; I promise there is going to be a lot of good and not so much bad.

The Good

The first good part was the play of Jerod Evans. Evans masterfully directed the offense for three quarters; he didn’t play the fourth by the way. The Hokie signal caller was 16-23 for 253 yards and not one, not two, but a recording-tying five passing touchdowns. Jerod Evans tied former great Bryan Randall with those five touchdowns in a single game. He also added 48 yards on the ground. Evans seems to have a strong handle on the Justin Fuente offense, making the correct reads and calls at the line. This weekend was an example of how good the Hokie offense could be. Evans wasn’t the only one excelling in the Hokie offense. Two other Hokies made their marks on the game as well. First, the Hokies primetime receiver Isaiah Ford continued to assert himself into the conversation of best receiver in the ACC. Ford had four catches for 91 yards and two of the five touchdowns thrown by Evans. Ford’s second touchdown grab was a highlight catch in between two Eagle defenders. The Hokie offense is just the type of offense Ford can thrive in. The next Hokie offensive star was one Hokie fans have been waiting on to return. Marshawn Williams was a stud as a freshman. However, a knee injury derailed the Hokie running back, causing him to miss not only the final games of his freshman year, but caused him to also need a redshirt year. Saturday though, Juice as he is known as, was running wild. Granted Williams was mostly a second half back, when the game was well in hand, but he took advantage of his opportunity and rushed 15 times for 81 yards. Williams had some punishing runs and showed his ability to make people miss. Justin Fuente should definitely consider using Williams more as the Hokies' rushing game evolves. Above all these performances, the most important and best aspect of the game was there were no fumbles. The opposite side of the ball was also a great part of the game. The Hokie defense not only put up a goose egg on the scoreboard, but held the Eagles to a very paltry 124 yards of total offense. The defense was flying all over the field and hardly gave Boston College any room to breathe offensively. The Eagles spent most of their offensive possessions on their side of the 50 yard line. The Hokie secondary was the real star as they completely shut down any passing game the Eagles hoped to get started. This performance catapulted the Hokies to the number one passing defense in the country. It is safe to say Bud Foster has ironed out the youth issues he had last year in the secondary, and has created a feared unit.

The Bad

The bad part of the game would have to be the drops by the Hokie receivers. Now I guarantee there will be those who say I am being very critical with this assessment. Honestly, I probably am at this point. However, hear me out. As the game started in the first quarter, there were many drops which in all seriousness could have been caught. Many of these occurred on slant patterns where drops many times lead to turnovers. This was the case in the only turnover the Hokies had, an interception that went through the hands of Isaiah Ford. The other glaring drop was one by Bucky Hodges on a go route, where he was wide open. The drop not only took away a touchdown, but also put the Hokies behind the chains in a possession, which ultimately ended in a punt.

The Ugly

Now fans it was very hard to find an ugly part of the game. The part I have picked really is knitpicking, but I believe is still an issue with the Hokies. That part is the play of the center position for the Hokies. For three weeks now the position of center has not been settled. Both Eric Gallo, last year’s starter, and Kyle Chung have had significant game reps at the position. However, it seems that Chung has had more problems at the position. It seems that Chung is having problems snapping the ball cleanly to the quarterback position. Evans should be given a lot of credit sometimes even coming up with some of these bad snaps as it was Chung who also snapped the ball over Evans head in the Battle at Bristol. Sometimes, it even looks like Chung is telegraphing which way the play is going based on where he is snapping the ball. This position needs to be settled and stable in order to keep the offense running smoothly. Next week presents a new set of challenges for the Hokies. Hopefully the trend of great plays will continue for the rest of the season. This game just shows fans how dominant this team can be when they are not handicapped by turnovers. It is safe to say that I am optimistic about how the rest of the season will go. As always, until next time LETS GO HOKIES!!!
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