Tech offensive gem started with coach taking the blame

BLACKSBURG The Monday morning meeting of Virginia Tech's offensive players and coaches proceeded as usual last week. Coordinator Bryan Stinespring stood at the front of the room, talking about several plays from the previous Saturday's game against Nebraska that flashed across a projection screen.

He pointed out the times when the Hokies could have executed better. He noted when the Cornhuskers' defense simply made a nice play. Then he put up a play and turned the conversation to his players.

"You know what this is, what happened here?" he asked.

Silence.

"It's a bad call," Stinespring said.

Stinespring, of course, is the man who makes the calls. He can't remember citing specific bad calls like this in a meeting before, but he did it last week because he "just wanted to let everybody see the big picture, that we're all invested in this thing," he said. "Each of us need to be at our very best. No one was excluded from that. I think it set us on course, got us on the same page."

The meeting began a week that ended with a breakthrough performance by Stinespring's offense. In a 31-7 win over Miami, the Hokies gained 370 yards -- 242 in the first half -- and had five plays cover at least 20 yards. Against Nebraska and in the season opener against Alabama, they gained 278 and 155 yards and totaled five 20-plus plays.

The Miami game also included Tech's longest scoring drive of the season -- a seven-play 89-yarder that featured a 23-yard pass to tailback Ryan Williams and ended with a 48-yard touchdown throw. The first pass further demonstrated Williams' knack for long plays. The touchdown showcased one of Stinespring's midweek adjustments: moving quarterback Tyrod Taylor's position in the pocket.

Stinespring's players want to continue that success in the regular season's final eight games, starting Saturday at Duke, a game the sixth-ranked Hokies (3-1) ought to win. However Stinespring's mea culpa affects that goal -- and this seems difficult to measure -- his words earned admirers and raised eyebrows.

Fullback Kenny Jefferson "thought that was good of him to do that," he said.

Tailback Josh Oglesby "was surprised to hear it," he said. "I just didn't expect a coach to come in and say that."

Part of Stinespring moving on from the Nebraska game -- which the Hokies needed a miracle, last-minute touchdown drive to win 16-15 -- involved changing Taylor's "launching point" for passes. Four of his passes were batted down by Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

On Taylor's 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jarrett Boykin, he ran a "half-roll," Stinespring said. A normal rollout pass calls for Taylor to run seven steps, pull up and throw. He does it on four steps for a halfroll.

Stinespring said he also had Taylor drop back deeper for some passes. Shallow drops make it harder for Taylor, who is listed at 6-1, to throw over the middle when defensive tackles penetrate the line.

"I think it benefits us anyway, because if you're always sitting at the same spot every time you throw the ball, it's very easy for a defense to set a landmark and try to get to that spot," Stinespring said.

Moreover, Taylor keeps pass rushers honest with his scrambling ability, which he demonstrated against Miami. Rain dictated a ground game, and Taylor threw just nine passes while running 10 times for 75 yards. In the first three games, he ran 15 times for 87 yards, not counting sacks, and one run against Marshall accounted for 46 of those yards.

"I feel like he's getting more comfortable back there, and he's becoming the Tyrod that a lot of people have been saying that wasn't there the first couple of games," said tailback Ryan Williams.

Taylor's runs are responsible for two of the 21 plays on which Tech's offense has gained 20-plus yards. Williams accounts for eight, including three catches. He had two 20-plus plays against Miami. A third of the way through the season, it is clear he gives Tech the big-play threat it didn't have last year.

When the Hokies' offense reconvened Monday morning, its confidence and hope boosted by Saturday's results, Stinespring's message was more pleasant and succinct.

"He just said we played a hell of a game," Oglesby said. "There wasn't much to say."