N.C. State Week, Vol. 2: A closer look at VT's red-zone woes ...

Let's revisit a couple of telling comments from the Hokies after Saturday’s game against Boston College.

First, head coach Frank Beamer, addressing the Virginia Tech's red-zone struggles offensively, said, “On most of those, our first-down play wasn’t very good.”

He is correct. I did some digging today and it turns out, Virginia Tech – which ranks 91st nationally in yards per carry in the red zone (1.97) – has run the ball on 15 of 16 plays on first down in the red zone. (None of those were sacks or QB scrambles. All runs by the tailbacks and a couple of reverses to receivers.) The Hokies have gained a total of 25 yards on those carries, and the lone pass fell incomplete.

After the game, tailback Darren Evans had this to say: “It’s hard to run the ball (in the red zone), especially if they’re expecting it.”

And yes, it’s safe to say opponents are expecting it. I did some more digging today and it turns out that last season the Hokies ran the ball – brace yourself – 56 times in 57 plays on first down in the red zone. Now, that figure includes six runs/scrambles/sacks involving QB Tyrod Taylor, so not all were called runs. But most were. The lone pass went for a 7-yard touchdown to RB Ryan Williams. Those other 56 plays gained 128 yards (2.3 per play) and eight of those runs went for touchdowns.

So to review, since the start of last season, Virginia Tech has throw two passes in 74 plays on first down in the red zone. (By the way, along with my trusty note pad and calculator, these numbers are brought to you with help from the EPIC stats site, cfbstats.com.) In general, on all downs, the Hokies are running the ball 79 percent of the time in the red zone this season.

Only nine other BCS teams have run it that often – three of which are largely option-oriented offenses. I asked Beamer this morning if the Hokies are running too often in the red zone. His response:

“Well, I think it depends on what the defense is doing, too. You take all those things into consideration. We’ve been a good red-zone team in the past and I think we’ll be a good red-zone team in the future. We’ve just got to get all 11 (offensive players) hitting on the same page.”

That was quite a non-answer. And while Beamer concedes that “we’ve got to get seven points out of those deals,” I’m sure Hokies fans won’t be thrilled to hear the other part of his answer this morning:

“Even though we didn’t get some touchdowns in the red zone, we didn’t give up the ball. We got points, got field goals, and that’s a good thing.”

Well, that is certainly one way to look at it. Here’s another way. Below is a list of every BCS conference and how often each team runs the ball in the red zone. The Hokies and the nine teams who run it more than them are italicized.

Here goes ...

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

Georgia Tech: 43 of 45 (95.6 percent)

Virginia Tech: 34 of 43 (79.1 percent)

Maryland: 21 of 28 (75 percent)

Wake Forest: 11 of 16 (68.8 percent)

Clemson: 26 of 39 (66.7 percent)

Florida State: 36 of 56 (64.3 percent)

Miami: 21 of 34 (61.8 percent)

Boston College: 18 of 31 (58.1 percent)

N.C. State: 35 of 61 (57.4 percent)

Duke: 21 of 37 (56.8 percent)

Virginia: 18 of 38 (47.4 percent)

North Carolina: 15 of 33 (45.5 percent)

BIG EAST

Rutgers: 18 of 23 (78.3 percent)

South Florida: 31 of 40 (77.5 percent)

Connecticut: 38 of 51 (74.5 percent)

Louisville: 17 of 23 (73.9 percent)

West Virginia: 48 of 67 (71.2 percent)

Syracuse: 22 of 32 (68.8 percent)

Pittsburgh: 22 of 35 (62.9 percent)

Cincinnati: 14 of 25 (56.0 percent)

BIG TEN

Minnesota: 35 of 41 (85.4 percent)

Wisconsin: 45 of 56 (80.4 percent)

Iowa: 33 of 45 (73.3 percent)

Michigan State: 19 of 27 (70.4 percent)

Penn State: 26 of 43 (60.5 percent)

Indiana: 23 of 39 (59.0 percent)

Purdue: 16 of 28 (57.1 percent)

Ohio State: 36 of 69 (52.2 percent)

BIG 12

Nebraska: 36 of 41 (87.8 percent)

Kansas State: 37 of 46 (80.4 percent)

Kansas: 28 of 38 (73.7 percent)

Colorado: 19 of 26 (73.1 percent)

Texas: 41 of 61 (67.2 percent)

Iowa State: 15 of 23 (65.2 percent)

Texas A&M: 29 of 45 (64.4 percent)

Missouri: 32 of 53 (60.4 percent)

Oklahoma State: 23 of 41 (56.1 percent)

Texas Tech: 21 of 38 (55.3 percent)

Oklahoma: 27 of 49 (55.1 percent)

Baylor: 16 of 31 (51.6 percent)

PAC-10

Washington State: 20 of 28 (71.4 percent)

UCLA: 22 of 31 (71.0 percent)

Stanford: 47 of 71 (66.2 percent)

Oregon: 35 of 53 (66.0 percent)

Oregon State: 11 of 18 (61.1 percent)

California: 30 of 50 (60.0 percent)

Arizona State: 29 of 58 (50.0 percent)

Washington: 11 of 22 (50.0 percent)

Arizona: 24 of 49 (49.0 percent)

USC: 11 of 34 (32.4 percent)

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

Mississippi: 35 of 43 (81.4 percent)

LSU: 32 of 42 (76.2 percent)

Florida: 36 of 48 (75.0 percent)

Vanderbilt: 6 of 8 (75.0 percent)

Mississippi State: 17 of 23 (73.9 percent)

Auburn: 28 of 40 (70 percent)

Kentucky: 36 of 53 (67.9 percent)

South Carolina: 26 of 39 (66.7 percent)

Tennessee: 12 of 19 (63.2 percent)

Arkansas: 23 of 39 (59.0 percent)

Alabama: 30 of 52 (57.7 percent)

Georgia: 20 of 38 (52.6 percent)

* For instant updates on the Hokies, follow me at twitter.com/kyletuckerVP

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