Oklahoma St. tempo one of quickest around
On the second series of his first college start, Virginia Tech safety Reggie Floyd dropped his mouthpiece between plays. Not a big deal, in most cases.
Against a withering tempo such as West Virginia’s, a very large deal.
As Floyd bent to fetch his mouthpiece, defensive coordinator Bud Foster changed the Hokies’ alignment from the sideline. Floyd missed the call and had no idea what to do.
“I looked up and they just snapped the ball,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Man, I’m just going to take the tight end.’ ”
Courtesy of Tim Settle’s sack of Will Grier, Floyd’s confusion wasn’t costly. But Floyd and his defensive mates can afford no such lapses during Thursday’s Camping World Bowl against Oklahoma State.
The Mountaineers play fast. The Cowboys play faster.
The Mountaineers’ offense is potent. The Cowboys’ offense is lethal.
And as Tech players, coaches and fans realize, no opponent gained more yards against the Hokies this year than did West Virginia in the season opener (592). Tech’s issues coping with pace were most evident in the second half, when the Mountaineers hit overdrive and posted numbers rarely seen against a Foster defense.
The comforting facts for the Hokies: They won, 31-24, and their defense has progressed markedly in the subsequent months, posting three shutouts and holding a fourth team without a touchdown. Moreover, Oklahoma State hasn’t encountered a defense the caliber of Tech’s.
Foster’s group secured a 20-14 victory over Pittsburgh on Nov. 18 by stuffing the Panthers on four consecutive plays from the 1-yard line. Six days later, the Hokies allowed a meager 191 yards in a 10-0 road conquest of Virginia.
In short, the defense closed the regular season in top form.
The disconcerting facts for the Hokies: The Cowboys have scored at least 40 points in 10 of 12 games, and Mason Rudolph-to-James Washington is the college game’s premier passing combination.
OSU ranks seventh nationally in tempo at 2.74 plays per minute of possession. West Virginia, the quickest team Tech faced during the regular season, averages 2.67.
The Mountaineers were even faster versus the Hokies, averaging 3.07 snaps per minute, and in the second half they went warp speed at 3.48. And in that second half, West Virginia scored 17 points and gained 372 yards on 45 plays, at 8.27 yards per snap.
This against a defense that on the season yielded 4.85 yards per play, 15th-best among Bowl Subdivision teams.
“In the first half, it wasn’t an issue,” Hokies coach Justin Fuente said of the Mountaineers’ pace. “We were getting off the field and we were stopping them. …
“In the second half, it was a little bit more of an issue.”
Thanks in large measure to Rudolph and Washington, Oklahoma State is third nationally in scoring at 46.3 points per game and first in passing at 392.3 yards per game.
Virginia Tech has allowed that many points twice in the last 10 seasons, 52 to Tulsa in 2015 and 48 to North Carolina in 2012. Similarly, the Hokies have yielded that many passing yards twice in the last decade, 427 to East Carolina in 2014 and 405 to Syracuse last season.
All four of those offenses dictated pace.
“I don’t want them to dictate to us,” Foster said, “but at the same time, if they’re going to go to tempo, then we’ve got to be able to get lined up and be ready to go and not give up anything cheap.”