I think Coach Foster’s read on Rhode Island’s passing game was similar to mine: great receivers, iffy QB, a slow/grabby o-line, nothing from the TEs, and poor blocking from the backs. Even if you didn’t know their receivers were good, you could tell Foster respected them when he did things like covering them in the slot with his corners. It also sounds like he was as surprised as I am that quarterback Vito Priore played as well as he did, and I’ll also bet he was pleasantly surprised that receiver Aaron Parker wasn’t as sure-handed as usual.

On the season, Priore’s completing 66% of his throws for 7.8 yards an attempt; Tech held him to 55% and 6.1 yards an attempt (roughly the same as he did against FBS Ohio U.) I would’ve taken that going in, especially if a pick or two were thrown in for good measure. Still, I expected him to be a little more inaccurate; while he did have his usual slew of high balls roped in by his receivers, there weren’t many complete misses and the general problems that plagued him against Ohio. I also expected one or two of those incompletions to be interceptions, and while Tech had some opportunities late that they didn’t capitalize on, he didn’t have the early-game screw-ups that would’ve helped Tech close the contest early.

His success had many fathers. Part of it was him being tighter on some throws, part of it was the Rams’ conservative approach, part of it was the Hokies’ lack of pass rush, and part of it was some coverage lapses. You might be wondering where the Rams’ dictating of on-one-one match-ups plays in, since it was a big point of the broadcast. As it turns out, it wasn’t nearly as big a deal as the TV folks made it. Instead, the Hokies’ botching of bracket coverages (especially Robber concepts) might’ve been a bigger problem than one-on-ones. (And bigger than that might’ve been dumb penalties, but you already got mad about those.)

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