The dust has settled and a new week is upon the Virginia Tech football program. After the most humiliating loss in school history the Hokies are looking for some answers against East Carolina this Saturday.
Virginia Tech went from the sixth ranked team to unraked in two games. That's a steep drop, but the Hokies have to rebound. There was no excuse for their performance against James Madison and everyone know's it.
Whatever the problem was or is needs to be fixed. If the Hokies lose to ECU then changes could be on the horizon at Virginia Tech. Would it be a knee jerk reaction? Absolutely not. You can't come into a season with national championship expectations, the favored team to win the ACC and play like the Hokies have played.
The coaches and the players are to blame, but it's time to step up. The past is history, and basically Tech's season starts this Saturday. Although they're off to an 0-2 start, the Hokies were unscathed as far as conference play is concerned, and it doesn't look like the ACC is very strong this year.
Dominique Davis, former Boston College quarterback, will lead the Pirates and their top 20 offense in 2010 into Lane Stadium; a place where the Hokies were once untouchable, but has turned into just another place to play.
The Hokies don't dominate on Thursday night in Blacksburg anymore, and clearly they don't dominate out of conference opponents at home. East Carolina is a much stronger team than James Madison, so the Hokies have their work cut out for them.
It starts with the offensive line. This has been the most disappointing unit of the season so far. These guys simply can not block, and a four man rush by JMU defenders were beating the Hokies O-line every single time.
You can have great weapons on offense, but if you have no one to block for you those weapons go unused. Ryan Williams and Darren Evans don't have anywhere to go, and Tyrod Taylor has been running for his life.
Speaking of Taylor, he has to start doing a better job of throwing the ball down the field. Taylor's missed a number of opportunities this year, and it has cost the Hokies points, maybe even a 2-0 start.
The defense, which was dealt another blow with the season ending ACL injury to defensive tackle Kwamaine Battle, has to play better. They were fooled by every read option play JMU ran, and quarterback Drew Dudzick made them pay.
Yes, the defense is young and inexperienced but the season has started, and it doesn't seem that memo was sent to anyone at Virginia Tech.
East Carolina is going to be a tough matchup, and if the Hokies continue to play with their heads down and a woe-is-me attitude they will continue to lose. That being said, it's possible we will see a motivated Virginia Tech team come out and make a statement on Saturday, but expect to see another close game until the questions marks are erased.
