There's not much to say about the Duke game. We can analyze it until we're blue in the face, but we all know why we lost: we have talent issues at certain spots,  we have depth problems at others, we have questionable in-game coaching decisions, we make too many mistakes, etc. In other words, we just aren't very good, and that's why we're 3-5.

I'll talk a little bit about the Duke game, but I want to touch on a couple of other topics as well.  It sure doesn't seem like Frank Beamer will be back for 2016.  If you're more interesting in reading about that than the Duke game, feel free to skip down to the "Recruiting Misses" section.

Situational Awareness, or the Lack Thereof

Situational Awareness is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to the team with regards to the mission. More simply, it's knowing what is going on around you.

Virginia Tech displayed a lack of situational awareness in a critical situation on Saturday. Their clock management was poor at the end of regulation, and we saw mistakes from a player and the coaching staff.

On first and 10 from the Tech 45, Brewer hit Cam Phillips for a 5 yard gain right in front of the Duke sideline. I was screaming for Phillips to get out of bounds, but instead he tried to get around the Duke defender for a bigger gain. The cornerback pushed him out of bounds, and forward progress was called, which resulted in the clock continuing to run. Whether or not the call was correct, Phillips should have gone out of bounds immediately to stop the clock.

To make matters worse, no coach on the Virginia Tech sideline noticed that the clock was still running. If they did, nobody thought it proper to call a timeout. With Scot Loeffler and Bryan Stinespring in the booth looking at play sheets and reading the defense, that responsibility falls to the coaches on the sideline: Frank Beamer, Shane Beamer, Stacy Searels and Zohn Burden. Somebody should have noticed it and called a timeout. They didn't.

Virginia Tech began that drive on their own 29, and ended it on the Duke 50. While taking 1:02 off the clock, they managed to run just three plays. Part of that is due to not noticing the clock running after the Phillips catch, and part of that is due to taking too much time after the 16 yard Travon McMillian run on the first play of the drive.

No matter how you slice it and dice it, Tech had plenty of time to get off at least another two plays in my opinion, and they failed to do so. That led to another decision that I viewed as a poor one: the 67 yard field goal attempt.

A 67 yard field goal would have tied the NCAA record set by Russell Erxleben of Texas, Steve Little of Arkansas and Joe Williams of Wichita State. In other words, the chances of that field goal going through the uprights were slim to none, and slim just left town. I have no idea if the math backs me up, but it seems to me that the chances were higher of Duke either blocking it and returning it for a touchdown, or the deep returner fielding it cleanly and returning it for a score, such as what happened in the 2013 Alabama-Auburn game.

The field goal attempt was well short, as expected. Duke returned it, but fortunately the Hokies got the ball carrier before he got into the open field, forcing overtime.

At any rate, over that final minute, Virginia Tech did not identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what was happening to the team. In other words, they didn't realize the important things that were going on around them.

Andrew Motuapuaka
Andrew Motuapuaka

It's Time for a Change at Mike

While I'm calling for a change at the mike linebacker spot, I freely admit that I don't know for a fact that either walkon Sean Huelskamp or true freshman Carson Lydon would do any better this season. But I'm fairly certain that they wouldn't do any worse.

Andrew Motuapuaka is a nice kid, but he's not physically cut out to be the starting middle linebacker at the ACC level, or perhaps even the FBS level in general. He was gouged up the middle time and time again on Saturday. He let the Duke running back punish him on those designed quarterback runs, and at one point in the second half the Blue Devil center handled him as roughly as I've seen a VT linebacker handled since Quincy Wilson ran over Brandon Manning in 2003.

Besides not being strong enough to get off blocks by running backs who he outweighs by 20-30 pounds, he also doesn't have the athletic ability to redirect his body and change directions quickly. I've brought up that point many times in the past, and we saw it again on Duke's game-winning two-point conversion yesterday.

The Blue Devils went with a playcall that went for a touchdown earlier in overtime, though this time the Tech defensive backs did a great job of taking away all of Thomas Sirk's passing options. He cut back to his left and headed towards the endzone. Andrew Motuapuaka had a clean shot on him in the backfield, and he completely whiffed. I don't think he made contact at all.

As a former Tech player told me right after the game, "it's not like Sirk is Michael Vick." Indeed. He's much more like Logan Thomas than Michael Vick. He's a big kid who runs well moving forward. He's not a juker. Yet all Motuapuaka could do was tackle air.

Obviously Virginia Tech has issues at other positions on defense besides the mike linebacker spot. However, I feel like Motuapuaka simply isn't good enough physically to play football at this level. I hope he proves me wrong, but I feel like until he is replaced, Tech won't be able to field a defense as successful as the ones they've had in the past.

Carson Lydon would have his limitations as a true freshman, but one thing he would not do is get physically manhandled by a 200 pound running back play after play. He's too big, strong, and tough for that. Bud Foster needs to start getting him reps this week, and he needs to play him against Boston College, in my opinion. Perhaps he doesn't need to start him, but he needs to put him in the game and see how he does. If he looks better (or at least not worse) than Motuapuaka, then Bud should use the bye week to get him ready to start.

I fully realize that the mike linebacker has a lot of responsibilities in Virginia Tech's defense, and that Lydon will probably struggle at times. But it's clearly obvious that Motuapuaka just can't get it done at this point. With Bud Foster is getting paid nearly $1 million per year now, he's got to find a way to make it work.

Bud Foster
Bud Foster

Past Recruiting Misses Come Back to Haunt Us

The lack of a pass rush and no middle linebacker are two things that are just killing this Tech defense. We've gone over the fact that Tech recruited just two or three guys who could play mike linebacker over a span of five recruiting classes...

2015: Carson Lydon
2014: None
2013: Andrew Motuapuaka
2012: Maybe one, depending on whether you consider Devin Vandyke a mike or backer
2011: None

As critical as I was of Motuapuaka in the previous section, it's not his fault that Bud Foster sees him as the best option. Bud's only other options are undersized walk-on Sean Huelskamp, who is coming off a knee injury, and true freshman Carson Lydon. That's called poor recruiting, and we're suffering the consequences on the field right now.

Dadi Nicolas has one TFL and no sacks through eight games. He's battling some hand issues, and he's playing hard, but he's not effective at all. Seth Dooley (no other FBS offers) is not viewed as the answer. Vinny Mihota was recruited as a defensive tackle, but was moved to end because the Hokies didn't have anybody else who could play the position.

Meanwhile, Josh Sweat is starting at defensive end for Florida State as a true freshman. Jalen Dalton is playing as a true freshman for 6-1 UNC. Jalyn Holmes is in the two-deep at Ohio State. Da'Shawn Hand and Jonathan Allen play for Alabama. I'm sure there are a few others that I'm missing.

Bud Foster's system gets a lot of negative recruiting because it doesn't necessarily translate well to the NFL. However, if you choose to use that system, you still have to fill your team with guys who can play it. Tech's staff has not been able to do that recently. They've tried to go head-to-head with some of the big boys and they lost in the end. They have to do better, or else the advantages of Bud's system on the college level won't do them any good. No system can succeed without good players.

As we've also covered, it's also difficult to find diamonds in the rough these days because there are so many spring and summer camps. There are very few sleepers these days. It's important these days to land recruits that other major programs want. Motuapuaka had a very small offer list. We have no DE depth because Seth Dooley had no FBS offers. The days of landing a whole bunch of guys like Andre Davis, James Anderson, Aaron Rouse, Kam Chancellor, etc. are at an end. These days those guys would be attending camps, and their offer lists would blow up.

I don't know what the post-Beamer future holds for Bud Foster, but defensive recruiting has to be addressed somehow. If Bud and one or more of his assistants are retained, they have to get better at recruiting. As great as his system has been, it can't succeed without good players. The Hokies need to take whatever legal steps necessary to acquire the services of more good players on that side of the ball.

Frank Beamer
Frank Beamer

Go Easy on Frank

Like most of you, I'm 100% convinced that Frank Beamer won't be our coach after this season. Nothing has been announced, nor do we know the timetable of the announcement. But I think it's clearly obvious at this point what has to - and will - happen. Whit Babcock declined comment, and that is a pretty clear indicator of what is coming.

I was hoping it wouldn't end this way for him. I watched his press conference on HokieSports.com when I got home last night, and he looked very emotional. His eyes were watery, and I thought a tear was going to drop from his right eye at any moment. It was sad to watch. This is not the exit any of us wanted for the guy who put us on the map.

What I'm asking is that everybody go easy on Frank Beamer for the final four games of the season. I've grown tired of reading posts after every press conference or after every Tech Talk Live saying things like "Frank has lost it", "Frank dodged the question", "Frank sounds old and tired," etc. At this point, what does it really matter what he says in media functions? That's not going to change any of the issues with the team.

If you feel the need to make a comment like that after hearing him talk or reading his comments, step back for a second, count to 10, and think to yourself, "Does it really matter at this point? Is anything he is saying to the media right now going to have an effect on how we close the season, or the future of the program?" The answer is no, it's not.

If this is truly his last year, let's let him go out with some dignity. Come out to the UNC game, watch what is very likely to be his last home game, and save your ticket stub for posterity. That's all any of us can do. If he's not coming back next year, the decision has already been made. Extra streams of vitriol over the next few weeks aren't going to make things change any faster.

The Bowl Streak is Probably Over...What Does That Mean?

Virginia Tech has gone to 22 consecutive bowl games, but that streak is probably going to end this season. The Hokies have to win three of their final four games to qualify for postseason play, and three of those final four games are on the road. Tech is 4-8 in the last eight ACC games, and they haven't won back-to-back league games since October of 2013. I think the chances of making a bowl are slim to none, and slim is packing up his bags and preparing to leave town.

Making a bowl game these days isn't as big of an achievement as it used to be. It doesn't necessarily say anything about your team if you make a bowl. However, if you don't make one, it most certainly says something about your team. It says that you don't have a good team. Making a bowl game should always be a goal, because if you don't make one, it means you aren't good at all. That's where we are right now. This is not a good football team.

I hate it for Frank. He's a truly good man who has done great things for the school. Not just the program, but for the university itself and the surrounding regions. I'll be the first to admit that I wouldn't have this job if Frank hadn't built a great program. We all love him, and we all want to see him go out on a high note, but sadly that's probably not in the cards.

On the other hand, it makes life a little bit easier on the next coach. If the next coach had come to Blacksburg on the heels of a good season (let's say 8-10 wins for the sake of argument), then the fanbase would be expecting instant success. I don't think that will be the case. I think he's going to have a 1-2 year grace period.

Assuming he comes in next season, he'll be taking over a team that did not qualify for a bowl most likely, and who played middling football on the whole for the previous four seasons. Let's say the Hokies split their final four games and go 5-7. Here's what the final four years of the Beamer Era will look like..

2012: 7-6
2013: 8-5
2014: 7-6
2015: 5-7

That's an overall record of 27-24. Had Frank retired after 2011, the new coach would have taken over a program that had gone 42-13 over the previous four years. That's a big difference. Expectations would have been much higher.

At this point, most knowledgeable fans recognize where we are as a team. We lack depth at certain positions, overall talent at certain spots, and our recruiting needs a major boost. I'm not expecting the next coach to have a huge year in his first season, and I'm guessing most of you aren't either. So while not making a bowl game this year would certainly not be good for Frank, it's actually going to put a bit less pressure on the next head coach, at least in the early stages.

Still, I don't like it, mostly because I hate it for Frank. No matter what happens over the next four games, let's be respectful of him.