Hokies drop another game at Pitt, 21-16

PITTSBURGH – It took 55 minutes and eight seconds for Virginia Tech to find the endzone for its first and only touchdown against Pittsburgh Thursday night.

Because of that late Michael Brewer to Cam Phillips 19-yard connection, and despite an offensive output that ranged anywhere from nonexistent to anemic for much of the game, Brewer and the Hokies found themselves down by five points in a position to lead a last-minute, game-winning drive.

When Brewer’s last-ditch effort on 4th-and-11 ended with Phillips getting hit hard over the middle and the ball falling to the ground though, it became official: Tech’s early offensive struggles would not be eradicated by late-night heroics.

By a final score of 21-16, the Hokies fell to 4-3 on the year and 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Tech is 0-4 all-time at Heinz Field.

“I thought we came in here and we made a lot of plays,” head coach Frank Beamer said. “But we sure missed on a lot of plays.”

For the third-consecutive game, the Hokies were poised for another quick start.

On the opening possession of the game, Donovan Riley stripped Pittsburgh quarterback Chad Voytik, giving the Hokies the ball just shy of midfield. Three plays and six yards later, Tech was forced to punt.

At the end of the first quarter, Pittsburgh had seven points – on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Voytik to receiver Tyler Boyd – and the Hokies had seven yards of offense.  The Hokies had more penalty yards on one holding call than offensive yards on the 10 plays they ran in the first quarter.

“They did some things new,” offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler said. “We adjusted in the second half, which we thought there were some good decisions made at halftime. The fact of the matter is when you can’t run the ball and you’re not staying on the field on third down and penalties, those are killers. Extremely disappointed, I thought the kids had a great week of preparation, and the fact of the matter is we didn’t get it done at all.”

Greg Stroman’s 38-yard punt return five minutes into the second quarter gave the Hokies the ball on Pittsburgh’s 32 yard line. Tech’s offense, by now fully frustrating to Hokie fans, could not move the ball and settled for a 42-yard field from Joey Slye.

It was a similar story on Tech’s final drive of the first half.

Defensive tackle Corey Marshall feigned a pass rush before dropping back into coverage and intercepting a Chad Voytik pass attempt. The Hokies offense came on to the field trailing 14-3 after running back James Conner ran in from 15 yards out (following a J.C. Coleman fumble, on which the official missed a facemasking call), with the ball on Pittsburgh’s 39-yard line.

The Hokies got as close as the three yard line, but before executing a 3rd-and-goal play from the, a pair of back-to-back pre-snap penalties (delay of game and false start) backed them up to the 13 and Tech was forced to settle once more for just three points.

Beamer, Loeffler and Brewer all mentioned a discrepancy between the two on-field play clocks, which led to the delay of game penalty, they said.

“One of the play clocks was at zero and the other was at 12,” Brewer said. “So (the officials) didn’t reset one of the play clocks. You know you can’t leave it in the officials’ hands, but you’d like to have that one back. There is nothing we can do about them not resetting the play clock.”

“I could’ve did more,” Marshall said about his interception, which set up the possession.  “The way I look at it is if as a player you walk off the field and you say ‘I could’ve did more,’ you have to put more in and you have to do more. A good return might be the difference in this game.”

The Hokies had 61 total yards in the first half, six of which came via running plays (on 10 attempts). Quarterback Michael Brewer, who was unable to settle into a rhythm all night, was 9-for-19 in the first half for 55 yards. He finished 26-for-45 for 265 yards and one touchdown.

“They crowded, they blitzed us,” Beamer said. “We just needed to throw the ball a little bit better, connect on a couple more that we had an opportunity to and it’s a different game.”

Brewer was forced to throw the ball 45 times as a result of a running game that couldn’t find its way. The Hokies ran the ball just 22 times for 26 yards, with Sam Rogers being the only back with more than one carry to average more than two yards per carry.

Statistically, the third quarter was better to the Hokies, as they accumulated 121 yards in that quarter. Still they were unable to find the end zone.

The Hokies’ only points in the third frame came on a 21-yard Slye field goal when the Panther defense held up on a 1st-and-goal situation.

The proverbial dagger came less than two minutes into the fourth quarter. Brewer, rolling out of the pocket, was unable to connect with intended receiver Willie Byrn on a fourth-and-two in Pittsburgh territory. Thirty-seven seconds later, the Panthers found paydirt.

On first down, Voytik kept the ball on a read option bootleg for 49 yards. The next play Conner broke arm flailing arm tackles and scored from 13 yards out.

Voytik ran for 140 of Pittsburgh’s 210 rushing yards in the game (while losing 22 yards on sacks and other runs), much of which came on read-option keepers. Conner had another 85 of them.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily a tough matchup,” Marshall said referring to containing the quarterback run. “What it comes down to is fundamentals and tackling, we didn’t execute today. I think if we wrap that guy up and he doesn’t break several arm tackles, I mean this game is looking a lot different.”

Defensive end Dadi Nicolas blocked a field goal attempt with 7:24 left in the game, keeping the deficit at 12 (21-9). The Hokies then went on a nine play, 80-yard drive, elapsing two-and-a-half minutes of game clock.

The Hokies retook possession of the ball with 2:30 remaining in the game. Because they were forced to burn a pair of time outs in the third quarter however, they were forced to be in a exaggerated hurry up offense.

They were successful converting one first down, but a Nicholas Grigsby sack of Brewer put the Hokies behind the sticks and in a position from which they couldn’t recover.

“It’s very frustrating,” Marshall said, “Our season’s been like that, but it’s not just that. It’s compounding mistakes on the offensive end, sloppy things defensively that we know we can clean up that we know we are better than. When you beat yourself it’s worse than anything they could put up on that board.”

Game Notes, courtesy Virginia Tech Sports Information

• VT Captains: 8 Detrick Bonner, 41 Derek Di Nardo, 82 Willie Byrn, 88 Ryan Malleck

• Virginia Tech is now 0-4 all-time in Heinz Field. Tech lost 38-7 in 2001, 31-28 in 2003, 35-17 in 2012 and 21-16 tonight.

• The Hokies are now 12-24 under head coach Frank Beamer at current NFL stadiums. Prior to last year’s win at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, the Hokies had lost seven in a row at NFL stadiums.

• Virginia Tech wore maroon helmets, with white jerseys and white pants. Tech is now 55-36-1 all-time under head coach Frank Beamer wearing the maroon-white-white combination.

• Sam Rogers got the start at tailback for the Hokies, his first career start at the position. Derek Di Nardo started at the whip linebacker for his second start of the season.

• Nigel Williams recorded his second career sack in the second quarter. His other sack came against Alabama in last year’s season opener.

• Joey Slye’s field goal in the second quarter extended Tech’s school- and ACC-record scoring streak to 250 games, the 11th-longest streak in FBS history and the fifth-longest active streak.

• Slye’s field goal was 42 yards, tying his career long which he made against Georgia Tech earlier this season. He later made a 24-yarder to end the half and a 21-yarder in the third quarter to tie his career high for field goals made in a game.

• Defensive tackle Corey Marshall picked off Chad Voytik in the second quarter, the first interception of his career.

• Freshman Cam Phillips tied his career high for catches in a game with seven. He also had seven against East Carolina earlier this season. Phillips also hauled in his second touchdown pass of the season.

• The six points at halftime were a season low for the Hokies. The previous low was seven against East Carolina. The last time the Hokies failed to score a touchdown in the first half was last season against Duke. Tech trailed 6-0 at the break and lost 13-10 to the Blue Devils.

• Dadi Nicolas recorded Tech’s first blocked kick of the season when he tipped a field goal in the fourth quarter. It was the 132nd blocked kick under head coach Frank Beamer and the 40th field goal.

• Bucky Hodges had three catches to give him 20 on the season. He becomes the eighth tight end under head coach Frank Beamer to record 20 or more receptions in a season. The record for catches by a tight end under Beamer is 38 by Steve Johnson in 1987.

• Isaiah Ford had four more receptions to give him 32 for the season. The 32 catches are the most ever in a season for a true freshman under Beamer, surpassing Jarrett Boykin’s 30 in 2008. The record for catches by a freshman is 40 by Joshua Stanford, who had 40 last season as a redshirt freshman. Phillips also has 25 receptions, putting him within striking distance of Ford with five regular season games left.

hokiesports.com box score

 

34 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. The O-line is just plain terrible! The one play that really stood out to me was David Wang getting tossed into the back field on Brewer like he was a wet dish cloth, even after the replay where ESPN showed again I had to rewind it just to see it again and the next problem is Jonathan McClauglin on the right side of the line, last year as a true freshman he held his own on the left side so why move him to the right side if it’s not broke don’t fix it. Obviously Gibson is not working on the left side Or anywhere for that matter so put J Mac back where he belongs and try someone else on the right side. CSL is really calling some ugly games here lately and if it continues something needs to change. One thing for sure we don’t have to worry about someone coming along and offering him a job at a bigger school that would be like Florida firing their coach and hiring Brady Hoke or Lane Kiffin. This is just so frustrating to love a school and it’s program so much and just watch it as it continue to become more and more like UVA every passing week!

    1. Do we have the players on the OL that can get the job done? Sure doesn’t look like it. Is the zone blocking concept to difficult for the guys we have on the OL? Why do we use the zone concept anyway? I believe that it’s more difficult for O linemen to work together in zone blocking and also I believe it’s more difficult for the running backs to locate a hole in zone blocking (what hole).
      When will our OL play smash mouth football and knock the defensive guy out of position. O linemen are suppose to love hitting somebody over and over again. Did you see the Pitt OL, they lined up and hit someone over and over again and pushed us out of position.
      Also, it seems like Brewer is short arming his throws and trying to guide his throws plus it seems he’s taking a big drop after after the snap. He might be gun shy.

      OC is also struggling in adjusting on the fly and game plan is somewhat suspect but to his defense he doesn’t have all the pieces he needs, not even close to having what he needs.
      Bud does a great job, as we all know. However, he’s becoming a wild riverboat gambler and also not adusting on the fly. To many big plays for major yardage and TD’s. There should have been no way that the Pitt QB should have gained all those yards.
      Torrian needs to really look at what Jarret is doing out there. He’s making some big time mistakes and it was most glaring at the Pitt game especially on that TD catch.

      ONE MAJOR QUESTION FOR ALL US HOKIE FANS: WHAT ARE OUR VT FOOTBALL EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS YEAR AND YEARS TO COME?

      CC and Will your comment please. Thanks.

      1. I think I speak for many when I say our expectations are for VT to win the coastal every year….at the very least. we should win the games we are “supposed” to win and be near or at 10 wins a season. In the ACC coastal, that is the least of our goals.

    2. I wish we played like UVa this year….it would be a surprise to keep the commonwealth cup this year

  2. When your O struggles all game to get a single TD, you’re not dealing with Championship caliber team and we continue to be completely inept at any kind of respectable running game. It’s truly mind boggling on how turrible our O-Line has been for the past 3 seasons!! Until we return to ability to score points, we’ll continue to watch our team play not to lose and have D coordinators easily preparing to play our O! On the bright side, for as lousy as we played in all 3 losses, we were very close to winning each game! I do think next year we could return to real ACC contender assuming there will finally be a marked improvement on the O-Line talent! Its been tough last couple of seasons and this one might end up being the worst, but I’m still hopeful to finally turn the corner next season! This season I’m just hoping for winning record and any bowl!
    In Bud We Trust!

  3. We need to get rid of the coaching staff. Do you think Frank Beamer is trying to leave our team in the shape it was when he started. He did a good job for many years. His time has come to leave. When I hear the announcers introduce him as the winningest coach still working I cringe. Does that make him the oldest as well. Thank god for Bud Foster or we would never win a game. Beamer needs to leave now while he can at least lift his head from all the shame. Or I afraid our stadium will be empty again just like Virginia’s. God knows the Hokie Club support will truly go to hell in a handbag.
    I know I have been a supporter for 20 years and I an done.

  4. I am still not yet at a Fire Beamer stage like many. I remember that we are a school in the foothills of the western part of VA away from beaches, don’t have hot women, are not in the warm south, have limited legacy (zero for total national titles) and we are not in the SEC. For years we have stayed pace with teams, or better, by coaching up 2 and 3 star prospects. The reality is that in todays game, there are so many recruiting rankings that ratings are more accurate becuase of the amount of film on players and the amount of media and money being thrown at the machine that is college football recruiting. So we have to get 4 and 5 star recruits…especially at QB. When we were perennial contenders for ACC titles, we had premiere qbs that could run and make up for terrible 2 star o-linemen. As we have moved away from the mobile qb (LT was more of a power run than elusive), we have eliminated our winning equation to assist a terrible line. We need to eliminate the zone blocking scheme, because we can’t do it. We need a mobile qb, and we need actual defensive front 7 that are the size of the position. This all starts with better talent. The freshmen skill players are great, but we whiffed for so long that we struggle with the older guys. Lastly, start benching guys for false starts.

    1. What happened to all the hot women? Did they leave after the OG’s graduated?

      They were pretty hot in my time.

  5. As it has been mentioned. We are not a very good football team. Is it time for a change within the coaching staff starting with the head coach? For the last few years we have been degressing totally. We have had some super players that made things on the offensive side of the ball look very good ie, Tyrod. Take out Tyrod and Logan running stats and the running stats have been miserable. Williams and Evans definetly were highlights for the running game.
    Our OL has not performed like OL from a top 25 team for many years and that goes back to coaching and recruiting. Pittsburgh had freshmen playing OL last night.
    If change in coaching personnel happens it will take a number of years before we get back to being mentioned as a ACC Champion contender. It all has to start from the head coach. Bud also needs to review how he game plans and adjusts, because he didn’t do it last night with 9 in the box and Pitt’s QB breaking through the line for max yardage.

    Whit has his work cut out for him. This ride is getting old and and full of excuses. New direction from a Class I head FB coach needs to be put in the drivers seat for a new ride that will get VT FB back as a power house.

    1. I would not blame the athletes at this moment. The coaching issue started in 02-03.

      VT sure needs a new head coach and even Bud Foster would do a better job.
      Coaches that need to leave the VT campus forever. Frank Beamer/ his son and Bryan Stinespring. If you notice in the booth… OC is not calling the plays.. Could it be the old boys. …filtering the calls.. Shane and Bryan.!!

      VT needs the following coaches on offense: Head, QB, RB, TE and SP team. If Bud Foster becomes the head coach, I would recommend Torrian to be the next DC. In this case VT would need 2 new DB coaches. VT offense had identity when Bruce Arians was here.
      Talent and competition never couple well with nepotism. We respect Frank and hope he would count himself respectfully in the equation this time. It has to change and it is a hard fact. Have we not learned enough from other universities in last 10 years?

  6. You turn the ball over, you have pentalites and you can’t run the ball. Receipe for a loss. I did not watch the second half as I knew the outcome. Seen this movie to many times. I love my Hokies but we will have another sub par year for sure.

  7. Fire everyone!!!
    OK now serious, we had a weak to middle running game with our number 1-3 backs in the game. Now we are using the 3 & 5 back with the FB sometimes at tailback. Talk about a make shift offense. Our O-line has been weak for about 4 years and with last years and this years recruits and maybe the year after the O-line will be more road grader type. However, this does not excuse the repeated false starts on the line. Come on man your killing me!@!!

    What I do like on the Offense is Isiah, Cam and Bucky. Talk about skill!!!! I can’t remember when we ever had a group of receivers like that. Ryan still looks gimpy but he too is making plays.

    Defense, first I miss Skip but he graduated, and Luther out definitely doesn’t help. We are light up front and we knew it, Will and Chris told us at the beginning of the season the one area we can NOT afford and injury was DT. However, with Luther out we did beat unc, and still came within 6 of beating Pitt and the D was on the field a LONG time in this game.

    So here is hoping Williams is back on Offense and Luther is back on Defense for the Miami game. There are a lot of things that went south on the team years ago and I see changes happening now, but I see them happening (unfortunately) not for another year or two.

    GO HOKIES BEAT da U!!!!

  8. I was there last night – again – in that miserable dungheap otherwise known as Heinz Field, to watch the debacle. I am 0-4 there. It doesn’t matter what year, what our record is, or who our – or Pitt’s – players are. VT simply does not play well in that cursed place. I hope to eventually see us win there, after which I’d like to see it imploded.

    I was at the 1993 “coming out party” game in which a rising VT program demolished Johnny Majors and Pitt in the old on-campus stadium by a score of something like 63-27. It was one of the few times I can remember Frank RUTSing. I wonder if the Pitt coaches play the video of that game to their team for motivational purposes before each meeting with VT?

    Anyway, last night the stadium wasn’t even half full, and it appeared that the VT sections (which is where I was sitting, BTW) were only 50-65% full. I go to lots of road games and there’s usually a pretty good vibe between the Hokie team and our visiting fans. Not last night. The team and fan enthusiasm was not there and our crowd was relatively sedate. Part of that had to be due to the fact that we didn’t have a lot to cheer about.

    As for the game and my take on it, the facts and the posted comments speak for themselves. I don’t have a lot to add, but I’ll vent by stating the following:

    With a shaky O-line and missing our top 3 tailbacks, we couldn’t run. Mike Brewer is clearly not the same QB who coolly dissected Ohio State as though he were an 8-time Pro-Bowler. He looked bad most of the night. As usual, our D played their hearts out but allowed several big plays. The loss of Maddy and Facyson was further aggravated by the loss of Chase Williams. Meanwhile, we couldn’t generate many big plays on O and didn’t cash in when we did. The failure to punch it in after the deep ball to Bucky Hodges was a case in point. Pitt’s kicking game was vastly superior to ours. Coupled with our inability to move the ball, we had awful field position most of the night.

    The self-inflicted wounds continue unabated: dumb penalties, along with poor game situational awareness and clock management. Many of the play selections were mind-numbing. Our coaches need a lesson in basic geometry. If you’ve got a QB who doesn’t have the arm strength to throw 40-yard darts, you’re not making it easier for him by always having him throw sideline “out” routes (versus simply throwing 10-20 yards directly upfield).

    I will give a special shout-out to Sam Rogers, who I thought showed fire and desire. He should bottle it. And I loved the jarring hit on the Pitt QB (who did that, BTW?). But I give Voytik credit. He got back up and battled.

    At about midnight, as I drove on I-376 West to my hotel in the western ‘burbs, I passed the caravan of buses carrying the Hokies back to the airport. They were proceeding at a 45-mph funereal pace, escorted by an army of police vehicles that had the most violently obnoxious light bars I’ve ever seen. The blinding police lights created a very hazardous situation for drivers attempting to overtake legally and pass on this multi-lane divided highway. It’s a miracle there wasn’t a crash. It was a fittingly bizarre ending to yet another bizarre night in Pittsburgh.

    I hope this struggling young team can find its way again. Let’s help them out next Thursday night against the Canes with a rousing show of support. Bloodied but unbowed. Go Hokies!

    1. If you are referring to the time where Voytik tried to drive through the defender but instead found a brick wall, that was Dadi. Voytik should get some mad props. He took a lot of hits/tackles but he kept on trucking and actually seemed to get meaner with every hit. It’s a shame our team can’t come out fired up like that anymore. CFB and staff need to ditch the cozy, warm family attitude and go into boot camp mode for the rest of the season. But they need to do it more that Buzz Williams is doing it. Buzz said he is trying to find their team’s identity, that football already has theirs. Well, football’s identity right now is similar to what the cows are dropping out on the farms all day at VT. Forget trying to be innovative or sneaky or fancy (speaking to you SL). For the rest of the season, get back to the basics. Eliminate the penalties. Knock every team member down to the lowest peg there is. Make every player earn their spot regardless of seniority or scholarship. For every instance in the Pitt game that someone didn’t complete their assignment, punish them in practice, ESPECIALLY if it caused a penalty. Everyone keeps saying this team is young and will make mistakes (which is true), but coddling them isn’t working. Get back to toughness. I don’t care about winning games anymore. All I care about is that the Hokies get their toughness back and look the part out on the field. Last night was incredibly embarrassing despite the score.

  9. Sometimes it looked like men against boys. Not sure that having McKenzie and Williams running would have made that much difference. That Voytik really runs with intensity, and had no trouble turning the corner. No question, Conner is a hoss. Especially when led by that HUGE fullback. The pre-snap penalties continue to be a huge disappointment. Gonna hang in there cause they are OUR team, and most are playing hard. Disappointed that others claim association with the Hokes only when the team wins.

  10. This team has very talented atheletes. In a business leadership will not develop a strategy around potential failure that could occur. The Hokies are a few mistakes away from being undefeated. Learn from those mistakes, but do not plan for mistakes to occur. Challenge the athletes, do not lower the bar by creating a conservative approach for the athletes to operate within. The VT athletes I watch each week are talented, the leadership needs to find a way to get that talent to show up each play.

    1. Agree with you; needs to simplify things. All of these motions pre-snap, coupled with our relative youth, is killing any momentum we get on drives. And Brewer does best when he is in “his” rhythm. Figure out a way to call plays that get him in the rhythm that he likes.

  11. Brewer was short arming everything in the first half. He was not trying to make completions but trying to not throw interceptions. Miserable performance by the whole team. For lack of better words! Loeffler called a sorry game, The offensive line executed horribly, They sucked! Kyshoen missed critical tackle after tackle! There will be many empty seats at the Miami game. Anybody need 4 tickets at the 50 yard line, west stands? Embarrassing game of the ages for the fans! I’m done with season tickets.

  12. I went into the game last night believing that we would lose, but still hoping that I would be proved wrong. Still, what really burns me is how often we “help” the other team through mind blowing mental mistakes, etc. There will always be better teams out there, but we don’t need to help them beat us.
    Report Card for last night’s game:
    Running Game: F (would have given a lower grade, but there isn’t one)
    Passing Game: C (F in the first half and B in the second half)
    Against the Run: D
    Special Teams: B
    Play Calling: F (Why are we trying to run when they stack the box? Why are we running 3-yard routes when we need 7 yards? Play action anyone? etc.)
    Game Management: F (Never ceases to amaze me how the coaches fail to manage the clock and time outs. Granted, play clocks may have been out of synch, but why take so long to run a play in the first place?)
    Overall: D- (Sorry Hokies, but you are now on probation.)

  13. Brewer looked like a guy who was told to cut out the interceptions or else. He looked very tentative on several of his throws, and he seemed to take the approach that it was better to be high in the first half. I think the deep pocket was designed to give him room to step up into the pocket to buy time or escape.

    The worse call of the game was going for the forth down play, when we could have pinned them down by the end zone. We were only down my one touchdown. Instead, we gave them momentum and field to work with.

    In the end, our STUPID Penalties are killing us.

    1. Amen, an undisciplined team. Yes we have young talent but the false starts are getting silly. Tech players want to win more than the fans but coaching is an issue beginning with strength training through play calling. ESPN should have cut away at half time to bowling. Both teams were horrible but VT was worse.

  14. We seem to do much better on O when we line up and snap vice line up, wait, shift, shift, shift, play with cadence, etc. When we fire up the tempo, this offense snaps out of it and performs better. We shouldn’t have to fall behind to understand this. Put the D on its heels vice letting them dictate the tempo.
    Speaking of cadence, Brewer does a better job of causing our guys to move than drawing the D offsides. You can see him try to play with the hard counts. I don’t think it’s helping.

  15. First time I have seen Brewer really playing timid. All his throws in the 1st half were off his back foot. Ford had beaten their entire secondary by 15 yards on one of our first series and MB underthrew the ball by 20. To his credit, how many times does the camera pan back to him after he releases the ball and shows him getting up off the ground!!!
    We may not be able to run d/t injuries, but no excuse for not protecting him. Reminded me of LT last year running for his life, except Brewer is throwing for his life.
    Again, like last year, no identity on offense. Trying to react to what a defense is dictating to us. Listen to SL, “they were doing different things and we adjusted.” When are we going to offensively dictate a game. I garuntee you that Bud does not worry about what an offense is going to run at his defense, he gets a game plan and dicatates the physicality, tempo, etc… Sure, you need to adjust, but our offense is in no man’s land trying anything to get a couple of yards. Frustrating…

  16. Virginia Tech is NOT a good football team anymore. We are starting to look and act like the Redskins (a once great team and franchise that now is horrible). The Hokies are heading in a really bad direction. We got killed in recruiting for many years. We don’t have any depth. We don’t have any discipline, especially on offense. There is no worthy backup QB. This is not an innovative offense. Defense continues to bail out a crappy offense for many years. Beamer really needs to retire. Loeffler has to go. Admit it folks. This is not working any more. I’m sure the rose colored glasses crowd and the apologists will come out and give me an earful so bring it on with facts because there are no facts to support we are a good football team. Chris and Will I welcome your input.

    1. Agree 100%. The first half last night was embarrassing and as ugly as anything I have ever witnessed. We need an “oil change” starting with the coaches. Beamer needs to retire since he is on the same road of Bowden and Paterno in their last years of coaching. When you can’t run the ball, don’t have an offensive line and the QB makes critical mistakes with interceptions on key plays you have a recipe for disaster! It occurred last night in the first half. Honestly, I don’t know how much more I can take of a team that is clearly going down in most every aspect of the game. WE ARE NOT A GOOD FOOTBALL TEAM….PERIOD!!!!! Something has to change and it better be soon because like the country we are looking at our best days in the rear view mirror!!!! Sorry, but no confidence in coaches or the players at this point. We are absolutely awful. Pathetic is how I would describe it.

  17. IMHO, I think we are a small young team, full of injuries. I know all the jazz about the next man up and calling a number etc., but how different would this game have been if we had had all our backs, and Maddy in the game as well. I am not ready to give up yet!

  18. Hey Loeffler, maybe try adjusting BEFORE halftime if they’re doing “new things” u didn’t prepare for. You’ve got time when the D is on the field, in left them out there long enough to figure something out

  19. I agree, whats up with Brewer? Ever since East Carolina smacked him in the mouth it has been a comedy of errors. But, at the same time its hard because he has been learning on the fly in a sense because of his lack of time to prepare for the season.

    Even when he had time on some of those deep throws he was just missing. Luckily Bucky made some amazing grabs. Especially that deep ball where he fell on the ball MB had plenty of time and almost over threw him.

    Are teams adjusting and making it harder on him or is he regressing, Chris and Will?

  20. How would you describe our offensive play last night? How about undisciplined and inept. SL continues to un-impress. Brewer is going backwards and seems like he has lost confidence. Receivers really helped him out last night. OL looks like it did under CN; why can’t they get a snap count down? Next couple of games will tell the story but last night looked like a giant step backwards.

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