While Virginia Tech’s offensive performance last Thursday was uninspiring, Frank Beamer’s confidence in his quarterback Monday was unequivocal.
“Michael Brewer, without question, is our quarterback,” Beamer said at his weekly press conference.
“He’s done a good job. We’ve put him in some tough situations I think at times. I think we need to help him with how we do things a little bit,” he said. “I’ve got every confidence in Michael Brewer. He knows how to play quarterback. I’ve said that before, but I really mean it.”
After backup Mark Leal came into the game late in the fourth quarter with the Hokies trailing by 30 and led Tech’s only scoring drive of the game – which extended the program’s scoring-streak to 251 consecutive games – Beamer said everything was on the table regarding position changes.
Three days later, he announced he is sticking with Brewer, though Beamer did say Leal would see an increase in reps during practice.
“We’ve got to be good around (Brewer),” Beamer said. “You look at the game, the throw doesn’t look very good, but the receiver is at the wrong depth. During a game you get tied in, ‘Well that throw wasn’t very good.” But then you go back and look at video and you know. We’ve got to run the football, we did a better job of that in the second half. If we are good around Michael, we’ll be OK. We’ll be OK.”
So far this season, according to the coaches, players and statistics, the offense around Brewer hasn’t been very good. At times, such as the Ohio State game, the second half against ECU and the first half against North Carolina, the offense has been brilliant. Other times, though, it has been stymied by opposing defenses, unable to move the ball let alone the chains.
Sixth-year offensive lineman David Wang, who has played left guard and center this year, said he’s spent a lot of time trying to figure out why there is a disconnect at times between the offense’s gameplan and execution.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve talked to all of our seniors,” Wang said. “I’ve talked to all of my close friends on the team. I can’t put a finger on it,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on. It just seems like something’s not there or something’s not right, right now.”
That’s the focus of the team right now: figuring out what is ailing and correcting it, improving this week and beating Boston College Saturday.
“What I’m interested in right now is do we get better this week,” Beamer said. “I’m not interested in anything else. I think effort is good, kids want to, coaches want to. Let’s get better and go win a football game.”
Beamer is not interested in talking about Tech’s 21-year bowl streak, which is in jeopardy of coming to and end – at least not outwardly.
Wang, on the other hand, is vocal about how much winning two of the final four contests and ending his long Tech career in the postseason would mean to him.
“It’s extremely important,” he said. “I’ve been to the good bowls. I’ve been to the less noticeable bowls. And I want to end this year at a bowl game, regardless of where it’s at or how we’re doing, because that streak, I believe that’s important to us as a team, the coaches and all of our fans out there that are watching us.”
Print
What has changed in Brewer is he has been Frank Beamer tamed. I am not a negative on CFB, but all he cares about is playing old fashion football by running the ball and not turning it over. He had some turnovers early in the yr (despite the offense moving the ball and winning and keeping us in the games), and you could start to tell he got really tenative after ECU. The article said we flashed offense in the OSU game (spread throughout), the ECU 2nd half (spread 2nd half), and the 1st half of UNC (spread until we got the lead, got CFB conservative, and have been that way since). 2 scores in the last 2 games are both when we used an up tempo spread…did it against OSU…..if something works, don’t go back to what hasn’t worked and fit this team a long time. Brewer is not hurt, he no longer runs a spread, doesn’t have plays called where the pocket moves, and he has been obviously tamed to make sure you don’t turn it over above all else. We have taken a tough gunslinger and tamed him to be a boring game manager for an offense that cannot run the ball. We force 3rd and long and send out 3 receiving options….disaster set up.
Nope…he’s lost confidence, is hurting some and is afraid of contact. We got him hit one too many times vs OSU & ECU. His mind was fuzzy for GT and that game is where he lost confidence totally.
Yep those are my thoughts, but he did decent at UNC, why do you think that is?>
Yup, seems to me that he tossed some picks and the breaks were put on the gunslinger. Had we not changed anything and kept running the spread how much worse could it be? His demeanor changed as well… So he is hurting because he has been handcuffed or he is physically hurt or both… You can see it in his face. He is a winner!
I believe the concensus is that Brewer is injured in some manner, which limits him being able to have any velocity with his throws and his throws also become uncontrolable. Stiney has mentioned that QB’s at times during a season develope “tired arm”. I’m not a coach nor a team trainer but to a vast number of laymen eyes Brewer looks like he’s hurting. When’s the last time anyone saw him throw a bullet over the middle or throw the ball deep with velocity and accuracy and also when is the last time you saw him do a read option or just run with the ball when not being pursued.
Also, what’s up with VT offering a former Clemson QB who’s now playing for a JUCO a scholarship? I thought we had 2 freshmen QB’s redshirting plus pursuing a 4 star dual threat QB.
I heard the jUCO kid we offered is Jim Kelly’s nephew and a former 4 star recruit
Again. Why would you want to inform opponent coaches that your QB is banged up and cannot throw past 20 yds. Makes no sense!!!!!
Opposing coaches can probably figure it out by looking at the tape, but fans don’t have that level of expertise. We feel like we’re being lied to, and would prefer the head coach or offensive coordinator to just come out and say “yeah, he’s got a bit of a sprain that he’s working through, but he’s still our best option”.
At least then we could say “Ah, alright – he’s injured, which explains why the offense is so limited.” Instead, we’re saying “What the hell is wrong with Brewer?!? Why don’t the coaches see it?? Are they blind?” Which of course isn’t the case, but when you’re being treated like a mushroom, it causes your interest in rooting for your team to decrease.
I’m happy to show up and cheer for my team if I know they’re just banged-up, and will likely improve once they heal. But if the problem is (still) crap coaching, then I’m far likely to be positive towards the team’s future prospects.
I agree completely with those who say that something has changed with Brewer. It’s more than just the play-calling. He is not throwing with anywhere near the authority he did in the first few games. The pics are on thing, but the all of the throws that are sailing high or falling way short of their target…something else is going on.
Until we get an answer (an honest, direct answer, not some vague football-speak answer) as to why Brewer is suddenly not able to make the throws he was able to make early in the season, then we’re not going to know how to improve.