My thoughts on the offense’s struggles are pretty much the same as Will Stewart’s, though for me the end began with 7:18 left in the third quarter, when Virginia Tech settled for a field goal after hammering Miami. My hope for the game dimmed here—Tech had its way with Miami all the way down the field, but in the red zone, they couldn’t push the score to a 28-13 lead against a team I wouldn’t trust to keep its cool when losing in the fourth.

Different things kept going wrong on this drive and the ones after, and it made for a tough conclusion to the game. We’ll focus on the execution—“I’m in favor of it”—of the plays, but we’ll get into fan-favorites like “predictability,” too. I’m not going to change anyone’s mind about what ails Tech or how to fix it, but you might get some details to bolster your argument. (And we’ll swing back around to the defense on a later date.)

Let’s start with the Hokies having slashed their way down to Miami’s fifteen-yard line. On 1^st and 10, Tech came out in 12 personnel, with Smith, Turner, and Gallo split to the field. Gallo was the #3 (innermost) receiver, while DeIuliis was the nub TE to the boundary. Miami responded with a Bear front. They had five defensive linemen in, and they were graders in what amounted to a pseudo-nine-man box, with the centerfield safety at linebacker depth and the boundary corner hugging the edge:

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