This week, I am taking time to grade each offensive and defensive position group. A few days ago, we graded the offense and discussed what areas I would like to see improvement in and what areas I think they've been good at so far. You can find the offensive report card here.
Today we will discuss each defensive position group in an effort to do the same thing: put language to what we've seen on the field so far and to zero in on some key areas of improvement.
The Hokies are giving up 29.3 points per game, 149.7 rushing yards per game (4.3 yards per attempt), 14 rushing touchdowns, 223.4 passing yards per game (12.22 yards per catch), 10 passing touchdowns, and have managed 14 total sacks for 113 yards. Similarly to the offense, the defense has been very Jekyll and Hyde with games where they play lights-out (or at the very least good enough to win) and others where they look lost. Let's take a closer look into each group and evaluate the season to this point.
Defensive Line: B
The defensive line has been probably the best group on the entire team and I don’t think that gets highlighted enough in both the scheme and given how porous the defense has been at times. Defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes consistently rushes four and likes to use stunts to create pressure. The defensive line is responsible for 32.5% of the defense's tackles; 148 out of 456. They are led statistically by senior transfer Ben Bell with 25 total, 7 solo, 18 assisted, 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovery.
The line has also accounted for 10 of the team's 14 sacks for the season, which shows their pass rush is getting home compared to the rest of the defense on passing plays. However, they still do struggle at times to generate meaningful pressure when only rushing four, as evidenced by their passing yards per game stat listed above.
That being said, the defense's ability to stop the run over the last several weeks (excluding Georgia Tech) has begun up front with solid play from defensive tackles Kelvin Gilliam Jr and Kemari Copeland. Overall, I would say the defensive line has been solid and has done a really good job swarming to the ball when the ball carrier or quarterback get jammed and are unable to escape. Gap integrity and the ability to defeat double teams has been key to this and has allowed the edge rushers time to seal the edge on run plays or to get home to the quarterback on pass plays. They seem to play as one unit and that has paid dividends compared to the one or two man show the last few years (to be fair, Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Aeneas Peebles were just that good and are two of my favorite Hokies of all time).
