Before every football game this year, The Blue Zone will sit down with a football writer from the opposing school’s student newspaper to get the scoop on their team and season.
This week, The Chronicle’s Nick Martin spoke to the The Collegiate Times' Sports Editor Ricky La Blue about this weekend’s matchup between Duke and Virginia Tech.
The Chronicle: Virginia Tech started off the season with the big win against Ohio State, but they haven't really lived up to expectations since then. What's gone right and what's gone wrong for them since that game?
Collegiate Times:There hasn't actually been that much that's gone right. Michael Brewer has really struggled. He's just turned the ball over way too much. He did play okay against Boston College, but he's just turned the ball over way too much. The running game hasn't been there—it's kind of been nonexistent the last several weeks.
Another thing too is injuries. We lost one of out top corners in Brandon Facyson for the year. We lost our starting defensive tackle Luther Maddy for the year. We lost one of running backs, our starter from last year, Trey Edmunds. We're not sure when he's going to come back. Marshawn Williams missed a game—he's become the starter now at running back. Then our right tackle is injured now for the year.
TC: To go back to Michael Brewer, he's tossed 13 touchdowns, but like you said, he's been turning over the ball a lot. Is that something where he's not in-sync with his receivers or is it him making bad decisions? What's forcing those turnovers for him and will he be able to cut down on them this week?
CT: I think a lot of it has been [the fact that] he's been running for his life all year. The offensive line hasn't been that great. There's three seniors on the offensive line, but none, other than the left tackle Mark Shuman, has really done anything. [Brewer's] been sacked a lot. If you watched the Ohio State game, you saw he was moving constantly during that game. So a lot of it is that. A lot of it is a lot of throws he's trying to force into tight windows. I think it's really just him trying to do too much.
He's just got to stay within himself and realize he's not an elite quarterback. He can still be successful if he stays within the offense and doesn't try to make too many big plays happen, especially downfield.
TC: If you look at this week's game, it's kind of flipped the script on last year's contest, just in terms of now it's Virginia Tech coming into Durham to face a ranked Duke team. The Hokies aren't really a team a lot of people believe in right now. Is there anything to be said about them looking for revenge for last year's loss in this game?
CT: For years, and no offense, but Duke was kind of a floor mat for the ACC. Now they're one of the perennial contenders in the Coastal. I think there might be a little bit of a revenge factor. Last year we were 16th when we lost at home. Now Duke is [No. 19]. Not to mention, Virginia Tech has to win two of their next three to make a bowl game. I think the Wake Forest game two weeks from now will be okay, but [Virginia] at home is a scary position. So is Duke on the road. How they play will determine whether they make a bowl game or not. Even if they lose, which I think that they will, if they show that they have some fight left in them, I think they can win their last two games. But if they come out Saturday and get swamped and the game's over by halftime like it was against Miami, I think they're done for the year.
TC: When you look at the Blue Devil receiving core, they've got Jamison Crowder and they've got Issac Blakeney, who has kind of had a resurgence in the second half of the season. What can the Virginia Tech secondary—headlined by Kendall Fuller—do and what kind of problems will they present Duke with?
CT: It's a very talented secondary. They have two senior safeties in Detrick Bonner and Kyshoen Jarrett, both of which are very fast. They're a little undersized, which has kind of hurt them in the run game, however Detrick is very good in coverage. Usually, he'll play more over the top. Kyshoen plays more in the box. But one thing I'm pretty sure [defensive coordinator] Bud Foster is going to do is play a lot of man coverage with maybe one safety over the top and sometimes none.
I saw it a lot in the Ohio State game where he'd play zero coverage and really just throw everybody at the quarterback and make the quarterback make really accurate throws. And that's something JT Barrett just didn't do that game. But the next week, when they played ECU, Shane Carden really just lit them up with these excellent throws. A lot of it is going to come down to who Kendall Fuller isn't covering.
TC: Alright, what's your final score prediction?
CT: I've got Duke 38, Virginia Tech 17.
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