Virginia Tech’s secondary is heading into Clemson with little margin for error, and defensive coordinator Brent Pry knows the issues have been bigger than just missed assignments.
The Hokies have shown flashes on the back end, but the season has also brought communication breakdowns, lost chances in one-on-one coverage and penalties that have repeatedly put the defense in bad spots. Pry said the group has not been winning enough matchups or making enough plays, and too often the result has been either a completed pass or a defensive pass interference flag.
"We obviously weren't winning enough one-on-ones. We weren't making enough plays," Pry said. "And we were either allowing them to catch the ball, or we were getting a DPI [defensive pass interference] called."
Virginia Tech has spent extra time working on its perimeter defense, and Pry said the secondary has improved. Still, he pointed to zone discipline as the next area that needs attention, noting that fixing those issues should also create better pass-rush chances.
"There's some other things going on with our zone disciplines," Pry said. "We've got to get that fixed and I think that will help us with the pass rush opportunities as well."
Pre-snap communication has been another problem, especially with offenses like Clemson that use motion, shifts and other movement before the ball is snapped. Pry stressed that the defense cannot assume the message has been heard and understood across the entire unit.
"Regardless of the motions, regardless of the shifts, regardless of the adjustments, we can't ever take it for granted that the communication's there," Pry said. "You gotta see it be received."
Virginia Tech has also been pushing a "hip-tap team" mentality, with Pry saying the back end simply wasn’t mature enough early in the season to handle those responsibilities consistently.
"We just weren't mature enough pre-snap for several weeks to execute the way we needed to in the back end," Pry said.
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