After fast start, Virginia Tech offense stalls in loss to No. 17 Tennessee in Bristol
Fittingly, on a NASCAR track, it was all about that pace.
That was the schematic edge that Virginia Tech's offense seemingly had going into Saturday night's 45-24 loss to No. 17 Tennessee in the Battle at Bristol. One week after Appalachian State worked to milk the clock against the Volunteers, the Hokies had designs on doing the exact opposite in first-year coach Justine Fuente's scheme.
In beating Liberty in the opener, the Hokies had run 89 plays, and they got off to a fast start at the fabled NASCAR short track, jumping out to a 14-yard lead via Jerod Evans' 7-yard touchdown strike to Sam Rogers and a 69-yard Travon McMillian run.
The tempo had the Volunteers on their heels, and the Hokies were buoyed by the fact that Joshua Dobbs and Co. simply couldn't get going. Their first three possessions resulted in minus-2 yards, 8 yards and 22 yards, and three punts.
But up two scores, Evans' fumble at the Virginia Tech 5-yard line was the opening the Volunteers needed, and Tennessee rattled off the first of 31 straight points with Joshua Dobbs hitting Jauan Jennings on a 5-yard TD pass.
Whatever momentum Virginia Tech had built in taking that surprising lead had evaporated, and until Evans hit Cam Phillips for a 10-yard gain at the 5:44 mark in the third quarter, the Hokies had gone without a first down of their own doing since a Bucky Hodges' reception with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
While they had a pair of first down in the interim, but those both came via Tennessee pass interference calls.
Virginia Tech had to settle on a 26-yard Joey Slye field goal on that drive, but it was something after going over 29 minutes without a point. When the defense did its part on the ensuing Tennessee possession with Mook Reynolds picking off Dobbs, a familiar plot line played out for the Hokies.
A fumble. Virginia Tech had four against Liberty -- losing all of them -- and they had five more against the Volunteers -- likewise, losing all of them, and Tennessee turned four of those miscues into 24 points.
Last season, in Frank Beamer's swan song, the Hokies lost just seven fumbles all season..
Now, part of that can be blamed on an offense that's playing at a faster clip, and hence having more chances to turn the ball over. Under Fuente, they are playing in a much more wide-open scheme and subsequently taking more chances. Against a Tennessee team that opened the season in the Top 10, it can also be blamed on the Volunteers playing at a level on both sides of the ball that was missing in their survival of the Mountaineers on opening weekend.
The next time out, Virginia Tech -- which totaled 330 yards, including 239 on the ground -- will see another elite defense in Boston College, which is allowing 180 yards per game. That's a hotter start than last season when the Eagles led the nation in giving up just 254.3 per.
Virginia Tech can rest assured that it's unlikely they'll have another scenario like they had at Bristol, when a span of 25 plays in the second half resulted in three fumbles.
Playing at the World's Fastest Half-Mile, in front of the largest crowd ever at a college football game provided a moment in the spotlight for a program trying to regain its footing nationally. The Hokies may not be in the same class as what Butch Jones has built in Knoxville, but they at least provided a glimpse of how potent they can be in Fuente's system.
With time to try and make that a more consistent piece before ACC play has even started, Virginia Tech didn't completely fumble this one away.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His book, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' is out now, and 'The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners' will be released Nov. 22, 2016.
