[Ed. Note: Bumped from FanPosts. Thanks again to Trevor for his quality FanPosts over the last few weeks.]

Very seldom do I criticize Bud Foster. It is because he typically field some of the best defenses in the country on a consistent basis. They lose players to the NFL draft, reload, and it doesn't look like they miss a beat.

Last year, Clemson came to Blacksburg, bringing a Chad Morris high octane spread offense in tow, and we witnessed the most lopsided defeat in Lane Stadium. Unfortunately, it didn't get better. Clemson followed that up by thrashing Virginia Tech at Charlotte in the ACC Championship Game.

Saturday in Chapel Hill, UNC's spread offense, spearheaded by Larry Fedora, made the defense look absolutely silly all afternoon long.

Oh sure, the defense forced three straight 3 and outs on the first three possessions, however, UNC began to flex their muscles, began to increase the tempo, and suddenly, the Hokies couldn't tackle, couldn't defend passes, and they couldn't even get to quarterback Bryn Renner (although linebacker Jack Tyler registered the team sole sack).

Foster prided his defense on their ability to make their residency in the opponent's backfield. They always carried the lunch pail. It was their identity, blue collar, hard-nosed and hard assed team that would bend, but not break. They routinely could force turnovers and turn them into points.

This defense was billed to be the best defense ever in Blacksburg. Unfortunately, fans and the media overlooked one critical area - the secondary were mighty thin with unexpected transfers, dismissal, and injuries. As a result, the secondary was shuffled to create artificial depth.

I will be the first to say this about the defense. The spread offense has become Bud Foster's Achilles heel. His defense were designed to stop pro-style offense.

Unfortunately, the ACC have teams who employ the spread offense, and this league is quarterback driven.

Duke is coming to town next Saturday. It is going to be a Homecoming weekend in Blacksburg.

Guess what? Duke runs a spread offense, they are veteran laden team, and if the defense doesn't shore up, expect a third straight loss.

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