Josh Fuga and the Hokies didn't sack North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye in Chapel Hill. (Ivan Morozov)[/caption]
Virginia Tech defensive tackle Josh Fuga said the film doesn’t lie. The Hokies didn’t record a sack in their 41-10 loss to North Carolina and struggled to pressure quarterback Drake Maye.
The redshirt freshman QB was elusive and didn’t help the issue — he rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns on 13 attempts (5.6 avg). But despite having five quarterback hurries, Tech rarely laid a finger on Maye.
With Pitt approaching“We couldn’t get pressure as we wanted to on the quarterback last week, so we were challenged this week to get pressure throughout practice,” Fuga told reporters on Wednesday. “The thing I like about the group I’m in is that we’ve got guys that are willing to embrace that challenge and take it head on. We have that group that’s willing to just, ‘OK, you want to say that? Let’s do it then.’”
The Hokies are tied for 68th in the country in team sacks with an average of two per game (10 through five games). Meanwhile, Pitt is tied for 88th in the FBS in sacks allowed — 2.4 per game (12 through five games).
Panthers quarterback Kedon Slovis isn’t much of a runner — he has 15 carries for -34 yards this year — but as Pry mentioned on Tuesday, he moves out of the pocket and extends plays. Though he missed a contest due to injury, he’s 76-of-120 for 997 yards (63.3%) in four games. He’s also been sacked nine times; five instances came in Pitt’s season-opener vs. West Virginia.
“He’s still a multi-threat guy,” Pry said of Slovis. “What he does is extend plays and look to throw the football. … I did a bad job of just really spying [Drake Maye], covering him up, making sure we had enough in our rush lane to handle him. But Slovis can get around. He’s showed that on film and he’s taken some hits.
https://twitter.com/Pitt_FB/status/1568701123636391938?s=20&t=_MUpmbkLyotwl2f_zWgy5Q
“There are some throws you question and then there are throws where you go, ‘Man, that’s a big-league throw.’ When you have the ability to run the ball like they do and establish the run and set up the bootleg and the play action, they do a nice job of that. He’s the perfect quarterback for that.”
While Tech’s offensive line hasn’t been fantastic in the running game, the pass protection has been good. Grant Wells has been sacked six times, and the Hokies rank 28th in the nation in sacks allowed per game (1.2).
That’s the unit that Fuga & Co. are working against in practice, and Pry feels confident they’ll have a better performance in the Steel City on Saturday.
“We worked speed rush against the offensive line,” Pry said. “I do think this: the offensive line has pass pro’d pretty well, we’ve pass protected pretty well, so when we go against our own folks, we’re going against a pretty good group right there. It’s pass blocking well, but we’ve had a good week at it.
“We’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback. I think the D-line as a whole and Coach Price were disappointed last week. We just didn’t tee off and play on edges. And we’ve done that, so we know we can do it. We just got twisted up and sideways on some things. But I think we’ve got a group that can do it, and it was a big emphasis this week.”
[caption id="attachment_7361610" align="alignnone" width="2100"]
Cornerback Armani Chatman has Virginia Tech's lone interception this season. (Jon Fleming)
Injury Report
Pry told reporters on Wednesday evening that running back Malachi Thomas “looks great.” He seemed like his normal self in the practice the media observed and caught some swing passes out of the backfield. The Hokies will give him another day or two to be certain, but the chances of Thomas taking the field on Saturday continue to increase.
Cornerback Armani Chatman was in a blue “no-contact” jersey during practice. Pry said it was precautionary and he’ll be okay. However, fellow corner Dorian Strong is a “long shot” to play at Pitt, which leaves a thin room for cornerbacks coach Derek Jones.
“Honestly, you fret it for a minute and then you go, ‘OK, let’s get these opportunities for these other guys,’” Pry said about veterans not being 100%. “It’s exciting to watch Devin [Alves] and Cam [Johnson] and Mansoor [Delane].
“I’m not saying you don’t want to line up with Dorian [Strong]. You do. But Armani’s in blue because we wanted to protect him today. He didn’t necessarily have to be, but we didn’t want to risk somebody running into him, banging into him too aggressively and all of a sudden it reaggravates his injury.”
Running back Keshawn King looked good this week, according to Pry, and had a few explosive plays on a screen and a kickoff return. He has 38 carries for 231 yards (6.1 avg) in 2022 along with nine catches for 82 yards (9.1 avg). King’s a Swiss Army Knife of sorts, and he wasn’t fully healthy against Carolina last week. Having him ready to go is a big plus for the Hokies.