Bullied in the Bluegrass State

After feasting on teams struggling with line play, Virginia Tech was dominated by Louisville at the line of scrimmage. The 34-3 bludgeoning once again exposed the painful truth that the Hokies aren't good on either line to pose a serious threat to the top teams in the ACC. This game was lost in the trenches, and there aren't really many X's and O's adjustments that can make up for the obvious disparity in physical play. Louisville has been very smart with the portal, with transfers making up the majority of offensive starters, including their most physical offensive linemen. The Hokies need to hit gold in the portal in order to add similar snarl to their running game to take the next step in Brent Pry's rebuilding effort.

Manhandled at the Point of Attack

With family visiting, I didn't get to see the game live. Following along on social media, I fully expected this week's film review to be another exercise in calling out poor run fits. The film told a bit of a different story. Most of the time, the Hokies got into the right place defensively, but once they got there, Louisville's blockers won the battle the vast majority of the time.

While there isn't much that can be derived from a scheme standpoint, I think this seemingly innocuous play told the story much better than any deep-dive chalkboard talk.