Hokies participate in Fan Day, talk FSU

Justin Fuente spent a chunk of his Sunday afternoon signing autographs and posing for photos as part of Fan Appreciation Day.

Then he spent 14 minutes answering questions from media members as part of Media Day.

The rest of the day was probably spent doing what he and his staff have done routinely over the course of the past eight months – watching film and trying to gain an advantage over Florida State, Virginia Tech’s season-opening opponent.

As most know, the Seminoles have a new coach this season in Willie Taggart, whom Fuente knows well from having coached against him when he served as the head man at South Florida. But Taggart’s staff includes an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator who wasn’t with him at his previous stop, Oregon.

The Seminoles’ offensive coordinator, Walt Bell, came to Tallahassee from Maryland, while defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett spent the past 11 seasons at Michigan State.

So, the Hokies’ staff has been watching a lot of film of a lot of different teams – Oregon, Maryland, Michigan State, and of course, Florida State to get a feel for the Seminoles’ personnel.

“It takes a little bit more legwork,” Fuente admitted. “You have to piece things together. For instance, you watch Florida State film for personnel and then you watch where the coordinators are from and what they’ve historically done, and then you try to match those two together.

“The good news is that, when it’s the first game, you’ve got plenty of time to comb through all of that. The bad news is that you haven’t seen those two things together … it just takes a little bit more legwork.”

Complicating matters for the Hokies is their inexperience, particularly on defense, where they will be breaking in seven new starters. Contrast that with a Florida State offense that features two quality quarterbacks – Taggart has yet to name a starter – a dynamic tailback in Cam Akers and skill players galore.

So, Tech’s young players, guys like Rayshard Ashby, Dylan Rivers and Devon Hunter, not only need to deal with the Seminoles’ talent, but they also must be able to execute the adjustments of defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who has yet to see the Seminoles’ true 2018 offense.

“It could be,” Foster said when asked if it would be harder to make in-game changes with his young defense. “We’ve talked about that. That’s something you always worry about with a young, inexperienced team.

“Are they a group that learns with reps, or can they handle that on the fly? And that’s something that we’ll need to find out as we progress. I’m going into this game thinking that hopefully we’ll pin our ears back and play, play hard and play well. But there’s a lot of question marks as far as guys playing in their first college football game.”

The Hokies have seven days to figure everything out, as the opener kicks off exactly one week from Monday evening.

Like most coaches, Fuente is not overly enthusiastic about opening the season with a conference game. Truthfully, no coach is, but ACC coaches need to get used to it because ACC officials plan to schedule conference games earlier in the season because of the launching of the ACC Network.

“It would not be my first choice, quite honestly,” Fuente said. “But I’m not going to pout about it. I understand the things that we’ll need to do to continue to build up the network. I understand some of the requirements that come with it. If I was picking, I would probably not choose that, but also kind of get it. I understand why there may be, in the future, some more early-season conference games.”

There has been a lot of focus on Tech’s cornerbacks, and rightfully so, as the Hokies lost basically three starters (Greg Stroman, Brandon Facyson and Adonis Alexander). Tech’s staff appears to be leaning toward starting redshirt freshman Caleb Farley and sophomore Bryce Watts, with junior Jovonn Quillen also getting plenty of work. The best person to analyze the defensive backs is quarterback Josh Jackson, who faces this bunch every day in practice.

“Yes, I think they’re good,” Jackson said. “Their speed … even if you think you beat them, they’re going to catch up and be able to make a play. I think Caleb is probably the fastest guy on our team. You can see, his first three steps are pretty impressive. And then Bryce is also very fast.”

Vinny Mihota tore the ACL in his knee late last season, forcing him to miss all of spring practice. Tech’s staff expected him to be at full speed when August practices cranked up, and while the defensive tackle has been getting work, he probably won’t see more than 15-20 snaps against Florida State, according to Foster.

“I’m not sure if he is 100 percent yet,” Foster said. “He’s out there doing things, and he’s got tendonitis in the knee, which kind of aggravates that, and is working on getting some strength back in that knee. But he’s a guy that is working his tail off, and we’re controlling the number of reps he is getting, which is similar to what we do when other guys have injuries, too. We are counting on him to just continue to improve and develop and hopefully be ready for some duty for us in this first game.”

Much has been made of the lack of big plays from the Hokies’ running game a year ago, with most of the focus on Tech’s running back crew of Steven Peoples, Deshawn McClease, Jalen Holston, Coleman Fox, Terius Wheatley, and freshman Caleb Steward. Butt offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen pointed out Sunday that running ball better involves everyone and not just the tailbacks. Given the returners, Tech’s staff expects to be more productive in the running game this season.

“It’s nice to have three guys back that took a lot of carries last year, but it’s a group effort,” offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen said. “It’s the offensive line and the tight ends. We also run the quarterbacks a little bit, and our receivers play a big role whether they are carrying the ball or blocking on the perimeter. It’s not just one position or player, and it’s certainly a group effort that we have to continue to get better at.”

–VT Athletics