It was a sloppy night for both teams, but the Hokies’ talent edge helped them power through to a win that became comfortable in the second half.

Let’s go at this roughly chronologically:

Props to the Hokies for making sure they score. Meanwhile, there’s a cascade of communications failures by the Monarch players. It’s also a slip by the ODU coaches for not calling a timeout to talk things over as they had plenty of time with Tuten shifting wide.

Parker Clements’ performance got everyone’s attention, but what really makes this play work is that the Hokies have three eligible receivers on the backside of the formation, which draws the safety over. Had a safety been parked over the top of the field side, ODU might’ve covered Lane decently with a “poach” safety even while being confused. Instead, the play-side linebacker assumes he has zone help, and he doesn’t carry Lane. That still would’ve been a mismatch, but at least the route would’ve been contested.

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