Friday, September 20, 2013 Print Edition

Page 1

Friday, September 20, 2013

The Collegiate Times’ comprehensive guide to Virginia Tech Football

www.collegiatetimes.com

THE ONE CONSTANT:

TECH’S DEFENSE KEEPS THE TEAM AFLOAT JACOB EMERT sports editor

A

TREVOR WHITE / SPPS

James Gayle celebrates after his game-sealing sack late in the fourth quarter against East Carolina last Saturday. He had two sacks total.

YOUNG RECEIVERS ADJUST WELL TO THEIR NEW ROLES

BEN WEIDLICH / SPPS

JAMES O’HARA contributing sports reporter

For the second year in a row, the only consistency in the Virginia Tech Hokies passing game is quarterback Logan Thomas. After working with all new starting receivers in 2012, Thomas again has to break in a new group this season. Of the five receivers who have received the bulk of the Hokies playing time, only two — D.J. Coles and Demitri Knowles — caught more than one pass before this season. With Coles still struggling with a knee injury that kept him out for all of 2012, the Hokies have had to rely on inexperience. Tech has two redshirt freshmen — Joshua Stanford and Charley Meyer — among their main receiving corps, though Meyer is currently sidelined with a hamstring

injury. With Meyer’s injury, redshirt junior Willie Byrn, who earned his scholarship this fall, has stepped up to take on a larger role in the offense. With such an inexperienced group, the Hokies have had trouble early on establishing a good rapport between Thomas and his receivers. But Thomas can defi nitely see improvement from weekto-week. “I’m gaining confidence when they gain confidence,” Thomas said. “It kind of gives me peace that if I have put it out there, then they’re going to do their best to make a play.” However, there is still a long way to go to establish a legitimate passing threat — and receivers aren’t pretending otherwise.

see WRs / page 2

see DEFENSE / page 3

JOURNELL PREPARED TO REBOUND ZACH MARINER sports staff writer

It’s not uncommon for a college football player who has an off day to refuse media interviews after the game. But that wasn’t the case for Virginia Tech senior kicker Cody Journell, who missed two field goals and an extra point during last Saturday’s 15-10 win over East Carolina. “Honestly, it’s probably the worst game I’ve ever played my whole career,” Journell said afterward. “I apologized to the team for it, they were all behind me, but I told them I would get on it this week and make sure it never happened again.”

Demitri Knowles (80) set career highs in both yards and receptions.

fter both the special teams and offense failed to seal the deal last Saturday against East Carolina, the task fell on the broad shoulders of the defense. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The defense rose to the occasion. Two plays, two sacks, a safety and a win: the lunch pail way. “Great back end pressure making (ECU quarterback Shane Carden) hold it, snugging up receivers,” defensive line coach Charley Wiles said, referring to what allowed defensive end James Gayle to make the game’s decisive play. “We’ve have some older guys that can get pressure. James finally had a game that we’ve been pushing him to have, and that’s the biggest thing is making the quarterback hold the ball.” The Hokies’ defense is the second best in the nation, allowing just over 190 yards per game. Their seven interceptions — three of which came at the hands of true freshman cornerback Brandon Facyson — are tied for the second most in the country. “Everybody knows about (the rankings). Everybody’s heard, but honestly those are our expectations here,” said senior linebacker and captain Jack Tyler. “We expect to be the top defense in the country.” In the past five games, the Hokies defense hasn’t per-

mitted an opposing offense to gain more than 217 total yards of offense. Opponents averaged 197 yards per game against Tech in that time. Perhaps more obvious than in any year prior, the defense is the greatest determining factor between a win and a loss, a trend that doesn’t seem likely to stop until Thomas, the rest of the offense and new coordinator Scot Loeffler coagulate. Since the beginning of the 2012 season — after offensive stars Jarrett Boykin, Danny Coale and David Wilson left Blacksburg — offensive production has been relatively non-existent. Many attribute the lack of offensive success to quarterback Logan Thomas, but the blame more appropriately falls to the lack of playmakers surrounding him. The non existent offense led to a 7-6 season in 2012 — the worst in 20 years of Tech football history. But it was a year that could’ve easily been worse had defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s squad not saved the day. So far in 2013, the story has been more of the same. Against No. 1 Alabama in late August, the Hokies surrendered 35 points. Only 14 of the 35 came against Tech’s defense. “I think it just comes with Coach Foster,” said senior defensive end J.R. Collins. “He spends a lot of time watching film and coming up with a good game plan

Honestly, it’s probably the worst game I’ve ever played, my whole career.” Cody Journell Kicker

Coming into the game, the Giles, Va. native had hit 36 of his 44 career field goal attempts and 84 of his 87 extra point attempts, dating back to 2011. He had also never missed back-to-back attempts in his career until Saturday. “I felt like I did everything I usually do, but it’s just one of those days I guess,” Journell said. “It’s defi nitely something mechanical. I just have to go back and look at it.” Journell’s problems started after Logan Thomas hit D.J. Coles for a three-yard touchdown midway through

the third quarter to give the Hokies a 13-10 lead. Journell’s extra point attempt sailed wide left. One possession later, after a Brandon Facyson interception in ECU territory, Journell’s 38-yard field goal attempt missed wide right. Then, after Tech’s defense forced a three-and-out, Thomas marched the team 43 yards before Journell missed yet again, this time from 40 yards out. “I guess that’s what sets good kickers and bad kickers apart,” Journell said. “I wanted to go back out there and redeem myself and get my rhythm. It just wasn’t happening today.” Journell missed what would’ve been a third field goal on the ensuing possession, but had it negated by a running into the kicker penalty. “He hurt his lower back here early in the week, but I don’t think that was it,” said head coach Frank Beamer. “I think, maybe, the protection we need to clean up. They were getting in there a little too far and he got sidetracked there. That’s not like him. He’s way too good.” Way too good isn’t far from accurate — not only has he made 78.3 percent of his career field goal tries, he’s also been mighty important for the Hokies in the past two seasons. He hit game-winning field goals against Georgia Tech, Virginia and Rutgers in 2012, as well as a game-tying kick against Boston College that sent that contest into overtime. Despite his struggles Saturday, Journell’s teammates are behind him going forward.

BEN WEIDLICH/ SPPS

Cody Journell (89) struggled mightily on Saturday against ECU. “I have no problem with Cody,” Thomas said. “Last year Cody won what, two, three games for us — three games that I know of. “I talked to him, we’re good friends. He was like ‘It was just a miserable day.’ And I was like ‘Yeah, I’ll have a couple of those every now and then.’ I said ‘You’ll hear it, but just block it out and move onto the next one.” Journell appreciated, but wasn’t surprised by, his teammates’ reaction. “They’re not going to hold it

against you,” he said. “We’re all teammates. We’re all brothers. They’d come up to me on the sideline in between and tell me it’s going to be okay. They had my back. “After the game I just looked at them and said, ‘Hey guys, it’s not going to happen again. I know you guys pulled through this game, but you’re going to need me in another one so I’ll make sure I’ll be there for you.’”

@ZachMariner


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