Keys For Rutgers in The Russell Athletic Bowl

Virginia Tech and Rutgers seem to be very similar teams at a glance. Both teams have very strong defenses to go along with erratic offenses, and they both rely heavily on turnovers in order to win games. Friday's Russell Athletic Bowl appears to be a close match up, at least on paper, since these two teams are so similar, but there is one big variable during bowl season: both coaching staffs have had a month to prepare for this game. With that much time on their hands, the two coaching staffs could add wrinkles to their offenses and defenses, or concoct ways to keep the other team's strengths in check. As someone who has watched Virginia Tech play on TV a handful of times this season, I think the keys to Rutgers keeping Tech's strengths in check lay in the hands of their offensive linemen and corner backs.
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Offense

Blitz Pick Up
Virginia Tech runs the vaunted 4-4 G defense, and with eight or nine defenders in the box most of the time, it is difficult to run against them. With that in mind, Rutgers very well might have to win this game on offense through the air. That will be no easy task though.

Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster loves to send exotic zone blitzes after opposing quarterbacks, bringing guys from everywhere, including off the corner, while also dropping defensive lineman back in coverage. Those types of blitzes make it tricky for offenses to throw short passes over the middle, as we saw when Gary Nova threw 6 interceptions against Kent State. So in order to prevent the same thing from happening, Rutgers should attack the Hokies deep and on intermediate routes towards the sideline.That is easier said then done, however. In order to throw the ball down field, Nova will need time to stand in the pocket, and that will be difficult when the Hokies are bringing extra defenders at him.

Here is an example of one of Virginia Tech's zone blitzes:

The boundary corner is creeping in, showing blitz, so Nova should recognize where the pressure is coming from and adjust his protection scheme accordingly, probably by sliding everyone but the right tackle to the left. A running back would likely have to pick up the corner, and Kaleb Johnson would have to pick up the linebacker blitzing off the edge. Antwan Lowery would have to take the end slanting into to him, while Bujari takes on the nose with help from Civil or Alexander. RJ Dill would not slide to his left and would instead take on the guy over his head.

If they are able to pick up this blitz, Rutgers could exploit match ups on the outside that are in their favor. Wide side corner Antone Exum is at his best pressing at the line and being physical, but he is some what vulnerable when giving up a lot of cushion covering the deep third. Brandon Coleman can out run him. Towards the boundary, the receiver would be matched up with a safety deep or with a linebacker who has a lot of ground to cover getting to the flat. A quick out, a comeback or a curl could be open in that deep flat area.

Get Jamison In the Open Field Behind the Hogs
As stated above, it's difficult to run the ball against Tech's 8 and 9 man fronts, but it's not impossible. Teams with big offensive lines have over powered the Hokies' front, with their small, shifty backs making Tech defenders miss in the open field to break off big gains. Giovanni Bernard of North Carolina, Duke Johnson of Miami and Rushel Shell of Pittsburgh all exploited the Hokies, each rushing for over 100 yards against them behind their massive offensive lines.

Rutgers does not have a massive offensive line as a whole like the Hurricanes, Tar Heels and Panthers, but Dill and Lowery are very big, so running off the edge to the right or up the middle to the left seem to be the ideal places to run the ball. If they can over power their guy at the point of attack and everyone else can get a hat on a hat, Jamison could use his shiftiness (assuming he is fully healthy) to juke or spin a defender out in the open field in order to break off a big run. 

Defense

Stop Logan Thomas on the Inverted Veer
Logan Thomas is the Hokies leading rusher and he is the only inside running threat they have. Their bread and butter run play is the inverted veer, which is basically a power play read option, where Thomas will read the defensive end and either keep it himself up the gut behind a pulling guard or hand it off to his back, who will run sideways and look for the edge that is set by the H-back. It looks like this: 

With the way Khaseem Greene and Jamal Merrell play in space and the way corners Logan Ryan and Brandon Jones can tackle, the outside run should not be a problem. I'm more concerned with Thomas running up the middle.  I think the end, who is left unblocked, should crash down on Thomas and force him to hand it off. If the end sits still or goes to the outside though, the most important defender will be the defensive tackle to the play side. Hopefully that defender will be Scott Vallone, as he is adept at taking on the double team that would come towards him as part of the power play blocking, but if it is Jamil Merrell or Darius Hamilton in that spot, they must hold the double team at the line or fight though it. If they can do that, it will allow Steve Beauharnais to fill the hole and make a play. Thomas is a load to bring down and he is bigger than Rutgers' linebackers, so the safeties must fly down in run support to get multiple defenders on him.

The Hokies' line is not very good, so hopefully they can be over matched by Vallone and co. on these plays, but they did do a good job with the down blocks required on this play against Miami and Florida State.

Don't get beat deep
Thomas has struggled with his decision making and accuracy all year, but he has no problems at all when it comes to his arm strength and throwing the ball down field. Nobody in the nation throws a better deep ball than Thomas, and with speedsters Marcus Davis and Corey Fuller at receiver, he can really burn you over the top. If Rutgers is able to take away the deep ball, Tech will be forced to settle for short passes, which hasn't always worked out well for them.

In order to not get beat deep, getting pressure on the quarterback would be the obvious solution, but Rutgers hasn't gotten a ton of pressure from their front four this year. In order to stop these deep balls, Logan Ryan, Brandon Jones and Marcus Cooper must be physical at the line while pressing Davis and Fuller. Neither of those two are particularly physical players, so getting in their grill and knocking them off their routes could frustrate the hell out of them, and cause them to be off their game. Using Mason Robinson and Wayne Warren more at safety would allow the corners to have more help deep if they are unable to re-route the receivers.

Force Turnovers
This seems like an obvious one, but it's importance can not be stated enough. Rutgers is undefeated this year when they win the turnover battle, and with an offense that could struggle yet again, they will need to set them up in good field position or score for themselves. Thomas makes some poor decision passing the ball, and the defenders must take advantage of it when they get their hands on the ball.


Special Teams

Prove it
Virginia Tech has been known as the the preeminent special teams program for a while, but their success has fallen off in recent years, and Rutgers could be on the verge making their claim as the best special teams program in the nation. Against Miami, the Hokies allowed a punt to be blocked and they gave up a long kick return, so this unit has been vulnerable for them. Rutgers leads the nation in blocked kicks since 2009, and they have turned many games around with big plays on special teams. If they can out Beamer Ball a Beamer team, they could prove that they have over taken the Hokies' special teams mantle and maybe turn this game around too.

The offensive line and cornerbacks are going to be the deciding factors for Rutgers in this game. If the line can pick up the blitzes and over power Virginia Tech's front, Jamison could have a big day and Nova could hit on some pass plays over the top. If the corners take away the deep ball and hold strong in run support, the Hokies could have problems moving the ball. If these two groups don't have outstanding games, it will come down to turnovers and special teams. This should be a close game and these keys could be the deciding factor whether Rutgers wins or not.