A touchdown pass from Jerod Evans to Jaylen Bradshaw and a touchdown run by Coleman Fox highlighted Virginia Tech’s 2016 Spring Game. The offense came from behind to defeat the defense 20-15 despite trailing for most of the game.
(Note: Virginia Tech did not keep official stats for the Spring Game. Thanks go out to all the media members such as Andy Bitter, Norm Wood, Mike Barber and David Teel who kept the stats during the game. The stats included in this article should be regarded as unofficial.)
The offense finally cracked the endzone early in the fourth quarter when r-junior quarterback Jerod Evans hit r-sophomore wideout Jaylen Bradshaw for a touchdown. The pass was slightly underthrown, possibly intentionally, and Bradshaw made a play on the ball over Adonis Alexander and then took it in for six points.
“I guess he didn’t want to throw me out of bounds,” Bradshaw said. “I guess he wanted to give me the best ball he could. He gave me a chance and I just tried to make the best of it.”
With starting receivers Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips out, it was a great opportunity for some of the young receivers to show that they are ready to step up and play. Bradshaw did just that, catching five passes for 81 yards, including his touchdown catch.
Walkon r-sophomore C.J Carroll added four catches for 37 yards, while true freshman Divine Deablo finished the game with four receptions for 45 yards.
Though he (and the offense as a whole) started slowly, Jerod Evans seemed to get the better of the quarterback battle during the Spring Game. He finished the game 8-of-15 for 104 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball three times for 18 yards. The numbers of the other quarterbacks looked like this…
r-Sr. Brenden Motley: 4-of-10, 19 yards
So. Dwayne Lawson: 2-of-5, 6 yards
r-Fr. Jack Click: 2-of-4, 39 yards
Fr. Josh Jackson: 5-of-9, 35 yards
At this point, it seems as if Evans and Motley will continue to battle it out for the starting quarterback position when practice resumes in August.
“They’re both big, strong kids who have some skills running the ball and have some skills throwing the ball,” Justin Fuente told the media following the game. “There are varying degrees of skills with both of those kids, but I don’t see a drastic different in terms of what you would do with one as opposed to the other.”
Coleman Fox, a r-freshman tailback, provided Tech’s second touchdown of the day. He followed great blocking off the left side for a 16 yard touchdown run. He finished the game with five carries and 40 yards. DJ Reid, a r-sophomore, led the team with 53 yards on nine carries. Shai McKenzie added six carries for 28 yards. Tech’s older backs such as Travon McMillian and Sam Rogers got limited work, as the coaches wanted to get the backups more reps.
The offense did not commit a turnover during the game, which featured four 12-minute quarters and a running clock. They gained a total of 432 yards of total offense in shortened quarters and with a running clock, which is probably better than most people would have expected.
Defensively, r-freshman Houshun Gaines had two sacks, while sophomore backer Tremaine Edmunds led the team with 7.5 tackles.
Virginia Tech announced the attendance at 44,700, though that was just an estimate. Overall it was a very good crowd, no matter what the actual number. The good weather was certainly a welcome experience for the fans. Tech’s 2012 Spring Game was cancelled because of a thunderstorm, and last year’s game was played in heavy rain.
TechSideline.com will have a complete Spring Practice review this coming week. The Hokies open the season in Lane Stadium on September 3 against Liberty.
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I liked a lot of the new plays. The fake to the RB and then the pass was very nice. The offense is going to be a lot different and more exciting for fans in my opinion. I’m just a fan not an expert however.
I was disappointed in Dwayne Lawson. He was off in the warm up and off in the game as well. Compared to the hype and the fact he was suppose to be the QB of VT this year. Just disappointing except for his running (another tight end in the making). I like the warm up the QBs did as well before the game. Even the warm ups are different. The new Fr QBs did a nice job. They didn’t look like deer in the headlights like most fr. QBs. Everyone seemed ready to go when the QB got the next play call – just like advertised. There seemed to be open receivers all over the field to me. The D line was just so quick and crashing down on the offense it was hard to get the ball to them. That was nice to see. Defense ends didn’t seem to stand out but hard to watch it all. Edmunds Lb play stood out as well as CJ Carroll and D. Eablo. Evans has a quick release and looked good for a qb that hasn’t been in the program long. Add his running ability and I would bet he will win out by Fall. If the O we watched at the spring game is just a sample I think it will match Bud and his boys. There will be a lot for opposing defenses to cover and do it quickly. It looks like we’re going to get what we paid for. Maybe not by Bristol but it’s coming. I’m Very Excited about the changes and I’m a hard core Beamer loyalest . Speaking of Beamer the Season Ticket video with Beamer trying to get in with out a ticket was too funny. I’m still laughing. Whomever came up with that did a great job. I can’t wait for Fall to get here.
GO HOKIES!!!
Agree. However I wasn’t as disappointed in Lawson. Beamer add was great. Shows the kind of guy Beamer is. Able to laugh at himself. Also sign that he may serve VT in his new role
Sorry Team. Looks like my post got caught in some crazy loop….the 2nd & 3rd paragraph repeats and I don’t know how to go in and correct after a post.
But how was the tempo?
My wife asked if we now have a no huddle offense now. She doesn’t follow the Hokies like most of us do but she has seen tons of football with me – she noticed the tempo.
Fast but occasionally slower than what we’ll play at because of some late substitutions
I thought tempo was significantly faster than in the past; Didn’t hear any cadence play-calling at line however but you could tell emphasis was on tempo.
Aside from that, i watch the QBs warm up…..which was the main reason I came to town. There is naturally a lot of buzz around JUCO Evans but wow Dwayne Lawson has a CANON of an arm! The ball comes out extremely fastball quick and in a tight spiral. Faster and tighter than Evans in the moments I watch them both throw. Not that Evans wasnt good but I like how I saw Lawson prepare for the game…..he was intense and was getting loose and ready to play. I would have liked to have seen Lawson make quicker reads which was probably just as much a product of the Defense as it was Lawson but Evans seemed to edge Lawson in this same category.
All the QBS were decent though. I was very impressed with Jack Click & Josh Jackson……but showed their understanding of the offense very well at this early juncture and made very quick reads. They boyh could be good option players to change up tempo or have in the option game with the ability to throw down field. All QBS made it difficult for Motley to standout and show he’said the candidate in the lead. Motley has a fiI thought tempo was significantly faster than in the past; Didn’t hear any cadence play-calling at line however but you could tell emphasis was on tempo.
Aside from that, i watch the QBs warm up…..which was the main reason I came to town. There is naturally a lot of buzz around JUCO Evans but wow Dwayne Lawson has a CANON of an arm! The ball comes out extremely fastball quick and in a tight spiral. Faster and tighter than Evans in the moments I watch them both throw. Not that Evans wasnt good but I like how I saw Lawson prepare for the game…..he was intense and was getting loose and ready to play. I would have liked to have seen Lawson make quicker reads which was probably just as much a product of the Defense as it was Lawson but Evans seemed to edge Lawson in this same category.
All the QBS were decent though. I was very impressed with Jack Click and Josh Jackson and their confidence and knowledge of the offense at this early juncture. Both were very quick with their reads. Both could be good option players to change up tempo or have in the option game with the ability to throw down field. All the QBs made it very difficult for Motley to stand out as the incumbent candidate to lead the team. Can’t say he did anything specially impressive. He has a dogfight on his hands.
Didn’t mean for this reply to turn into my practice review but I also liked what I saw from Chris Durkin at the new TE role …..man he is fast for his size. Coleman Fox- RB and CJ Carroll- WR are small at 5’11 and 5’7 respectively but are gamers and are going to be playmakers if we play em. They reminded me of the fast and toughesness of Wes Walker or Willie Burn fast. In fact another fellow watcher called out Wes Walker as well. Divine Deablo’s name was called many times.
The crowd of 40k plus looked great in the stands. One day, I want to see the entire stadium fill for our Spring Game like Univ of Georgia….who had 90k last week. Fuente gives me hope. I am sure with the great tailgates going on we had at least 50k plus there this weekend. This new team and regime has a chance to surprise this year.
Sorry Team,
Looks like my reply got caught in some crazy kind of loop…..the 2nd and 3rd paragraph repeats itself and I do not know how to go back in and correct it after you post.