BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech's crowd certainly did its part Saturday night against Notre Dame, but on the field, the Hokies couldn't hang with the Irish in the second half and dropped a 45-23 decision to the No. 6 team in the country.
There were pockets of good play, and Tech certainly had chances – three drives ended with field goals and two others ended with missed field goals. But the Irish are a physical, veteran and mature team. They showed it by not letting the crowd bother them and scoring on four of their first five second-half drives to pull away.
Here are the takeaways from the game:
Penalties were daggers – Going into this one, the Hokies needed to play a clean game, and that meant keeping the penalty count down. Unfortunately, Tech hurt itself with some costly penalties.
Trailing 10-0 in the first quarter, Tech drove into Notre Dame territory and ran a trick play that resulted in Hezekiah Grimsley throwing a 49-yard touchdown pass to Sean Savoy. Unfortunately, Christian Darrisaw was flagged for being an ineligible lineman down the field, negating the score.
Later in the drive, the Hokies managed to drive to the Notre Dame 25, but then two false start penalties pushed the Hokies back, giving them first-and-20 at the Notre Dame 35. That ultimately forced them to settle for a field goal to end a 13-play drive.
The field goal was a letdown, and both players and coaches knew that field goals weren't going to beat the No. 6 team in the country.
Hokies lack balance – After the game, Fuente admitted that his team needs to be able to run the football to enjoy success, and the Hokies rushed for a respectable 132 yards against a stout Notre Dame defense.
The problem was the disparity between rushing and passing attempts. Tech threw the ball 52 times and ran it just 33 times.
The 52 passes were the most by a Tech team in Fuente's brief tenure and the most pass attempts by Hokie squad since Michael Brewer threw 56 times against East Carolina in 2014. In fact, Tech has won just one time under Fuente when throwing the ball at least 40 times in a game – Jerod Evans threw 40 times in the Hokies' 39-36 win over Pitt in 2016.
People view the Fuente offense as one with a lot of passing, but the truth is that he wants to establish the running game. The Hokies struggled to do that, particularly when Notre Dame started pulling away in the second half.
A game effort by Willis – Yes, Ryan Willis' second-quarter fumble was returned for a touchdown, and yes, he threw an interception. But given the circumstances – facing Notre Dame on national TV in his first start at Lane Stadium – Willis put forth a tremendous effort against the No. 6 team in the nation to keep the Hokies in the game, throwing for more than 300 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
Willis should be confident after this performance and figures only to get better as the season goes along. Also, give credit to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brad Cornelsen, too. He has done a great job of preparing Willis over the past two games.
Missing Deablo – It certainly seems as no coincidence that the Hokies are 0-2 when free safety Divine Deablo doesn't play. Deablo missed the game with a hamstring injury, and his presence certainly provides a comfort level for the rest of Tech's secondary.
Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster elected to keep Khalil Ladler at the nickel spot and start Tyree Rodgers at free safety instead of moving Ladler to free safety, as he did in the loss at ODU. Predictably, Notre Dame attacked Rodgers on its second possession, completing a 56-yard pass to Chris Finke, a play that ultimately led to a field goal for the Irish and a 10-0 lead.
The Hokies' young defensive backs are going through growing pains – all of them are sophomores or younger. Hopefully, they get better each and every game.
And hopefully, Deablo returns to the lineup soon.