:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/11862169/20130420_pjc_bc1_020.0.jpg)
Many Hokie fans, including myself, left Lane Stadium yesterday afternoon saying "what happened?" The offense, after showing some promising progress through the two spring scrimmages I have attended and reported on, was not there today. Logan Thomas threw three interceptions, while back up quarterback, Mark Leal, had the only touchdown pass of the day for the Orange team.
"All of y'all are gonna say I had a bad day but I couldn't be happier with the way I threw the ball. I hit my spots." - Logan Thomas
— Kyle Bailey (@TheClubhouseKB) April 20, 2013
This comment from Thomas just rubs me the wrong way. I guess Thomas didn't think that throwing 3 interceptions was having a bad day, instead just being slightly off target. But on his first interception, Thomas threw it right to Der'Woun Greene, who returned it 98-yards for the touchdown. Then later, he overthrew Joshua Stanford, and Donovan Riley intercepted Thomas' pass, and returned it all the way to the end zone.
I am not sure what Thomas was trying to say here. It almost sounded he was being dismissive of the three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns by the White team, but I did see a later tweet from a beat writer who said Thomas was going to study the film and see what went wrong. Joshua Stanford took the blame for the 2nd interception. Ultimately, though, Logan Thomas is the quarterback, and being the face of the program, he should show a bit of a ownership.
No joke RT @normwood: Quarterback controversy! Mark Leal completes 30-yd. TD pass to Ryan Malleck. #Hokies
— GobblerCountry.com (@gobblercountry) April 20, 2013
Mark Leal probably was the better quarterback today. He did not throw any interception and he tossed a touchdown pass. Do we have a quarterback controversy? I doubt it because I believe Beamer, being loyal to a fault, is going to continue to stick with Thomas, and I believe Loeffler is feeling the same way. Also, as this fan tweeted:
#Hokies fans are expecting LT to become Tom Brady after one month of REAL quarterback coaching. Calm thyselves and breathe. It'll be OK
— Ty Hodges (@STH_Hokie) April 20, 2013
We have to bear in mind that Loeffler has clearly gotten Logan Thomas far better than he was last fall. Unfortunately, there were times yesterday that Thomas reverted back to staring down his primary read, giving the back-up secondary plenty of time to lock on to the pass, and turn it into a pick-six fest.
The tailback situation, as I mentioned in last week's article, is still muddled. To recap, I said that the none of the tailback candidates emerged as the de facto starter, in spite of Trey Edmunds getting the majority of reps during the game. Being blunt, I am going to say it was a tie between Edmunds and Michael Holmes.
The offensive line is just as much a mystery as the tailback position. None of the offensive linemen really stood out Saturday. There were two long runs executed by Trey Edmunds that were called back due to holding penalties. The linebackers and defensive linemen were blowing up the offensive line repeatedly. I credit this to Foster's hybrid 4-4 defensive scheme that is more aggressive and attacking than on the offensive line's ability to generate rushing lanes. It is rather unfortunate, though, that the offensive line could not even impose their will on the back up defensive line. If the coaches are trying to instill toughness, then the offensive line either needs to strap on their boots, or they can just ride the pine while the younger players, such as Jonathan McLaughlin, getting the starting nods based on the want-to and desire.
Unfortunately, the red zone woes are continuing to plague the program, which, to be blunt, is simply unacceptable. They ran Trey Edmunds on three straight running plays out of the full house formation, and each time, the White team defense did not yield.
I was hoping that the spring game would yield some answers, but unfortunately, it left me with more questions and made me realize that the offense has a long, long way to go before becoming a cohesive unit. I have already tweeted that we might as well scale back our expectations of beating Alabama on August 31, because if yesterday was any indication of what we will look like come August, Alabama will beat the pants off of us.
For more Virginia Tech football news, updates and analysis, Gobbler Country is your number one option on the internet. Don't stray too far.