The Virginia Tech Hokies trail the Furman Paladins 14-3 at the half in Blacksburg. Furman, an FCS team from Greenville, S.C., has thoroughly dominated the Hokies on both sides of the ball in the first 30 minutes of action.
Offensively, quarterback Ryan Willis has completed nine of 12 passes for 81 yards. He had a terrible interception in the second quarter where he overthrew Hezekiah Grimsley and the pass was picked off in Virginia Tech territory. That led to Furman’s second score. Willis has been sacked multiple times, too.
Furman’s first score came after a Tre Turner catch and fumble. The Hokies now have a -8 turnover margin on the season. Mind you, Tech’s opponents through three weeks are Boston College, Old Dominion and Furman.
Defensively, Virginia Tech got off to a good start and Chamarri Conner has had a strong half. That’s about it. The front seven is not generating enough pressure, although the Paladins have just 107 total yards of offense in the first half.
Keshawn King again showing the most juice in the running game, yet he has just six attempts. Those six attempts have resulted in 38 yards, while the rest of the team has chipped in with 12 attempts for eight yards. Imagine if Turner did not have 12 yards on a sweep play?
So, Hokies, how much worse can it get? Should Willis be benched? Something must happen as this team needs some energy. Somewhere. It certainly isn’t going to come from the head coach.
30 more minutes.