Sunday, September 07, 2008
Sports columnist Aaron McFarling: Decision sound; Taylor needed
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
Photo by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times
Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor (5) runs down the field and away from Furman's Brandon Williams during the first half Saturday. Taylor was in on the majority of offensive plays for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech 24, Furman 7
Stories
- Game highlights
- Hokies labor for win
- Ground assault revived
- Aaron McFarling: Decision sound; Taylor needed
Photo gallery
Multimedia
Virginia 16, Richmond 0
Stories
Press Box blog
BLACKSBURG -- They call it a "house blitz." It's when the defense sends more guys than you can block.
If you didn't know better, you'd think that's what Furman ran the entire first half Saturday against Virginia Tech. The Hokies' offense looked that bad.
But early in the third quarter, with Tech's eventual 24-7 victory still very much in doubt, the Paladins ran it for real. And we were all reminded why Tech coach Frank Beamer made the decision he did this week about his quarterbacks.
At the moment the house blitz came, the Hokies were leading just 3-0. They were facing a third-and-10 on their own 36-yard line. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor was lined up in the shotgun.
The ball was snapped, four receivers took off on their routes, and Taylor saw an unblocked defender rushing toward him on the left side.
To that point, the largest cheers from the sellout crowd at Lane Stadium had been for (in descending order of raucousness):
n The time they showed Jared from Subway on the video screen
n The time they showed cartoon double cheeseburgers engaging in some kind of shell game on the video screen.
n The time the NCAA semifinalist men's soccer team was introduced at midfield -- and shown on the video screen.
So you could argue -- and I would -- that the video screen will be a critical element in keeping the fans entertained in 2008.
But so will Taylor.
In a 15-second span that changed the game for good, Taylor recognized the blitz, took off toward his right, sprinted down the sideline for the first down, cut back toward the middle of the field and ran out of bounds at the Furman 14. A 50-yard gain, a huge cheer from the crowd and a giant sigh of relief from the sidelines.
"When he takes off down the field," Tech tailback Darren Evans said, "it's amazing."
Yes. Amazing, electrifying, galvanizing, momentum shifting and downright crucial to the well-being of this team. Because it's quite obvious now: If they'd left the redshirt on Taylor, the Hokies might have lost this game. That's how anemic their passing game was, no matter which quarterback was in there.
Taylor and Sean Glennon combined to throw 13 passes. Tech gained 68 yards on them. One was picked off. Taylor was sacked three times, Glennon once.
Against Furman.
"The good thing is we won," Beamer said, and he's right about that. But the other good thing is that he had the sense to change his mind after an opening-week loss to East Carolina. Right now, the Hokies aren't as good as they thought they'd be or half as good as they hope to be, and it's clear they'll need Taylor to get there.
Taylor rushed for 112 yards. In other words, he represented 43 percent of the Hokies' ground game. This despite sharing time with Glennon and carrying the ball just 14 times.
He estimated that half the times he was supposed to throw a pass, he ended up running instead.
"The defense played good and they took some of my routes away," Taylor said. "I found gaps in the defense where I could run and tried to make a play with my feet."
And those feet have a way of making bad plays into good ones.
"We needed that, 100 percent," Tech tailback Kenny Lewis Jr. said. "They can bench me and put Tyrod in the backfield, and he'll get the job done. That's how good of a rusher he is."
Lewis said Tech has an option play that is impossible to run correctly when Taylor's in the game.
The tailback's job is to stay near Taylor until the play is over, offering him a lifeline if the quarterback is corralled in the open field.
One problem.
"We can't keep up with him," Lewis said with a smile. "As soon as he makes that initial cut, he's gone. Run for your life just to keep up with him. He's just that good of an athlete."
That athlete saved the Hokies on Saturday. They'll need him to do it again.
Because in 2008, there's no sure thing in Blacksburg. Just house blitz after house blitz, and somebody's got to amaze.
