Tech Talk Live notes for September 1, 2014

Scot Loeffler

Loeffler thinks Tech has made a lot of improvements from last year.  They ran the ball.  They protected the ball except for the J.C. Coleman fumble.  The interception was a great read by Michael Brewer, but it just got tipped.

Tech has to handle the non-talent issues better.  They can’t have false start penalties at Columbus.

Tech decided to go no-huddle against William & Mary.  We’ll see where it goes from here.

Michael Brewer graded out at 95% in the run game and 87% in the passing game.  He would like to have four plays back.  If he can keep improving he can be a productive guy.

It’s encouraging to not allow any sacks and to have no lost yardage plays in the running game.  That was the most exciting part about the game.  Tech needs to stay in 2nd and medium.  They can’t get behind the chains.

Tech’s converted a third and 15 with Brewer scrambling, but they need to avoid those long yardage plays.  You have a 17% chance of converting that play in college football.

It was a great competition between Brewer and Mark Leal in the preseason.  Leal has improved tremendously.  It came down to a few different factors in coaches meetings, and they are going to keep those factors in-house, but it was a tough decision.

Brewer is a cerebral guy.  He’s a decision maker.  He’s essentially the CEO of Tech’s company.  He’s a smart guy who makes good decisions.

Tech’s young players did a great job for their first time out there.  They made some typical freshman mistakes.  Cam Phillips lined up wrong once on the goalline.  But that’s typical.  They are really smart guys, and they will get better.

Loeffler is very excited about his tight ends.  If you have tight ends who can move in space and you can line them up in multiple formations, you have an advantage.  Bucky Hodges has a lot of potential.  You can’t coach his size.  He’s athletic, smart and he loves the game.

Ryan Malleck is a quiet leader, but he has a great hold on this football team.  People listen to him when he speaks.

Michael Brewer has the same mental capacity as the NFL quarterbacks that Loeffler has coached.  He isn’t as big as those guys, but he’s plenty physically good enough.  He was born with some traits that quarterbacks have.  He has the leadership, poise, etc.

There is a misnomer about the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.  The players and coaches respect each other.  Most of the hatred is between the fans.  Loeffler played for Michigan.

This will be Scot Loeffler’s eighth game in Columbus.  It’s a great college environment.  It’s super loud, and Tech’s players need to do a great job of communicating.  The Hokies can’t turn the football over.

Tech will practice in Lane Stadium this week with the noise piped in to make it as loud as possible.  They will practice hand signals and silent cadences.  If you can handle the crowd, you have an advantage.

Loeffler feels like the biggest improvements occur in the second and third week.  Tech’s players will be locked in all week.  They will improve this week in practice because they will be so focused on the big game game this weekend.  The Hokies have to beat Ohio State at their own game.  They have to protect the ball and establish a running game.

Loeffler thinks his freshmen will be fine on Saturday night.  It will be their first time traveling, but it’s just like any other football game.  It will be a great experience for them to go into that type of environment.

Urban Meyer is a great coach.  Scot Loeffler was his quarterbacks coach at Florida.  He has a simple plan.  He plays great defense, he runs the ball, and protects the ball.  That has always been his formula.  He holds guys accountable and does a great job.

Loeffler feels bad for Braxton Miller.  Loeffler went through arm trouble when he was in college, and he got a chance to recruit Miller when he was at Florida.

Ohio State’s front seven is really hard to block.  The entire defense is super athletic.  They are fast and aggressive.  They all stand out.

Loeffler assumes that Joshua Stanford will be able to play against Ohio State.  Mike Goforth and his staff do a great job.

Tech didn’t play well in goal line situations on Saturday.  They had chances to punch it in.  Everybody has to execute their blocks in that tight space, but they failed in that area.  They have to get that cleaned up.

Tech had a good start.  They aren’t where they need to be yet.  Great teams and great players have a hunger to improve each week, and they need to do that.

Frank Beamer

The worst part of Saturday’s game was seeing a couple of important William & Mary players get hurt.  Beamer is close friends with Coach Jimmye Laycock.

Tech has some exciting young players.  Saturday went about as well as it could have gone.  Joey Slye did a nice job with his kicking.  Michael Brewer handled himself exceptionally well.  The two freshmen running backs were very productive.  The wide receivers as a group are better.  Now the Hokies have to take a big step forward.

Michael Brewer was very much in control.  He made some good throws.  He handled himself very well.  He didn’t make any bad decisions.  That’s what you want with your quarterback.

Scot Loeffler recruited Shai McKenzie, and said that if he could get back to anywhere close to where he was before the knee injury they were going to have a heck of a back.  He has a lot of ability.  He and Marshawn Williams had good production.  They broke tackles and had yards after contact.  That’s why they are at the top of the depth chart right now.

All the freshmen as a group are good kids.  They are talented, and you like being around them.  You’ll see more of Greg Stroman this week.  They could have him back there on their punt returns.  Beamer is really high on him.

Beamer told the team he wanted them to play extremely hard, and they did.  Nobody loafed or took a play off.  He wanted them to play smart.  They had a few too many mistakes such as the false start penalties, and that wasn’t good.  But overall it was a good opening ball game.

J.C. Coleman and Ken Ekanem both wanted to wear #4, and that’s okay with Beamer.  They can’t be on the field at the same time, but that won’t happen since one plays offense and one plays defense.

Tech is trying to keep Trey Edmunds active and then eventually get him back to playing tailback.  Beamer might get him in there on the punt return team.  They want to keep him active and get him back to having the quickness he had last season.

(Editor’s note: I missed the final 10 minutes of Frank Beamer’s segment when my recording device ran out of battery power.  I apologize.)

Monday was day 3,565 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.