|
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Coach Frank Beamer and No. 13 Virginia Tech have every reason to feel better about their running game as they prepare to face No. 19 Nebraska this week. The Hokies managed just 155 total yards against No. 4 Alabama in their opener, but had exceeded that by the end of the first quarter against Marshall on Saturday. Ryan Williams and David Wilson both topped 160 yards on the ground -- the first tandem in Hokies history to do that -- and Virginia Tech gained 444 of its 605 total yards by running the ball. To quarterback Tyrod Taylor, criticized after the Alabama game for not being as willing to boost the offense with his own scrambling ability, it was the perfect prelude to a visit from a Cornhuskers team that is trying to play its way back into the national elite. "It's going to help us a lot," he said. "They're going have to put more people in the box and we're going to throw the football. That's the game plan -- to try to stretch the field and of course try to get the running game going. It's going up some holes for the passing game." Seeing the young backs -- Williams is a redshirt freshman and Wilson a freshman -- do in games what they have done in practice can only help them going forward, Taylor said. "I think it builds confidence for them to know that they can do any move that they do in practice in the game," he said. Williams gained his 164 yards on 16 carries and had scoring runs of 57, 4 and 28 yards. Wilson carried 12 times for 165 yards with a 36-yard TD burst. The numbers certainly caught the attention of Nebraska's defense. "Very potent," Huskers nose tackle Ndamukong Suh said. "They're very physical." The key for the Cornhuskers, he said, still will be containing Taylor. He is trying to be more prudent about when he runs, but helped in a big way last week, reading a play where he had the option to run or pass and breaking off a 46-yard scamper on Tech's second series. "He's definitely elusive, and he can make you fall down. That makes you respect him that much more. You make sure you're setting your feet and going right through him," Suh said. Keeping Taylor confined to the pocket will be one of Nebraska's goals. But Williams and Wilson showed last week what paying Taylor too much attention can do, each breaking off a run of more than 50 yards as the Hokies dominated the Thundering Herd. Their productivity also inspired their blockers to keep the momentum going, tight end Sam Wheeler said. "We know with the running backs we have, if we just give them any little bit of room, they're going to make a hole and they don't like being tackled," he said. "So at all times, we've got to be moving, make sure we stay on our blocks, just stay in front of our guy because we know the running back's going to find the hole and get somewhere downfield." Slowing the Hokies ground game down will be the biggest challenge the Cornhuskers have faced this season after beating Sun Belt Conference opponents Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State to start the season, linebacker Blake Lawrence said. He added that they likely can't beat Virginia Tech without playing better than they have. "There are a lot of areas where we can step up," Lawrence said. "If we play like we did last week, it would be too close of a game. There were a lot of breakdowns last week that might not be noticeable to the fans, but when we go back and look at film, there are a lot of areas where we need to improve this week or it's going to be a challenging game for us."
|
