3^rd quarter

14:01: Whitley gets open field tackle, dragged a bit, needed tackle.

13:04: Whitley thrown on, pass dropped for a would be short completion on 3^rd down. Whitley would have been in position to make tackle and stop well short of sticks anyway.

12:27: Coples gets pressure and gets a piece of the ball at the line.

9:05: Powell blocked off the play on a long touchdown run up the middle into his gap by the quarterback on a designed run.

8:50: Dwight Jones makes a great catch, but nullified by pass interference with a push off by Jones.

8:28: Whitley misses an open field tackle on the tight end, after he caught the ball wide open on a dump off.

7:49: Jones takes one in the flat, breaks Hosley’s tackle immediately, takes for a few.

3:34: Hosley gets in at the last second to deflect one from Jones.

2:21: Jarret Boykin with a good gain in the air against single coverage followed by several broken tackles. Great cuts and bounces on the play.

1:22: Powell shows poor motor too much for my liking.

0:11: Dwight Jones goes over the middle in a crowd and makes a nice catch on a slant against Whitley among others.

4^th quarter

14:55: Whitley allows a first down on a short catch, hits and drops him immediately.

14:30: Whitley shows good discipline on a trick play, maintaining his gap and is one of several who gets a hit on the ball carrier, though after a gain off a few.

13:22: Whitley goes to the sideline and makes the tackle in space, good job to cover space in a hurry, though after a first and a solid gain.

10:09: David Wilson fumbles, a common problem for him, forced by Coples, but recovered by Virginia Tech.

9:58: Coples with a sack on a very tough quarterback to bring down, former tight end back there.

9:43: Jones gets open against Hosley for a good gain and another first down.

4:50: Powell gets spinned around in penetration, can’t find ball carrier, looked confused, poor instincts.

3:40: Jones with a good catch over the middle, good fight, drags a pile, eventually does down, Hosley in on pile, but doesn’t allow catch.

3:10: Whitley allows a huge gain one on one on a receiver in the slot, eventually brought down at the 1, 64 yards.

1:42: Coples in on a tackle for loss.

1:37: Powell run at for a short gain.

0:00: The biggest matchup in this game was between North Carolina’s Dwight Jones and Virginia Tech’s Jayron Hosley. Jones is a potential late first round pick, while Hosley figures to go in the early to mid day 2 range. Jones dominated this matchup, finishing with 6 catches for 105 yards. It’s worth noting that Hosley only directly allowed 2 of those catches.

Two were over the middle and two were caught short in the flat wide open, though on both he broke Hosley’s tackle and got a solid gain so that’s essentially giving up two catches by Jones. Jones also had another catch nullified by a borderline push off, which was ruled offensive pass interference. Hosley’s best play of the game was one where he made a tough play on the ball at the last second and got in for a deflection that prevented another Dwight Jones catch and good gain.

Other than that, Hosley did not have a great game. I was not impressed with Hosley against Miami either. He struggled with another big wide receiver, Tommy Streeter, struggled to tackle and generally showed an unwillingness to play the run. In this one, he showed better willingness to play the run by the 5-10 171 pounder had trouble with tackling in the open field, especially trying to tackle the physical 6-4 230 pound Jones. He also struggled to cover Jones, the bigger receiver, again. He’s got good ball skills and quickness, but with his lack of size, he’s really a boom or bust player who might be best off in the slot.

Some compare him to former Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers, but he doesn’t have Flowers toughness and physicality to combat lack of size (5-9). He reminds me more of another Virginia Tech cornerback, DeAngelo Hall, a 5-10 cornerback. Like Hall, Hosley has great ball skills and will post great interception and deflection, but upon closer inspection he gives up a lot of completions and struggles to tackle in the open field. On the season, Hosley has 59 tackles, 1 for loss, 3 interceptions and 12 deflections after 9 last season.

Hosley isn’t the only highly ranked defensive back Virginia Tech has. Eddie Whitley is a 6-1 205 pound safety and after this game I’m convinced he’s best as a strong safety at the next level. He really struggled in this one. One of Jones’ interior receptions was one on one with Whitley, but he also gave up a 61 yarder deep one on one to wide receiver Eric Highsmith. He played the run well, but not enough to be an elite strong safety prospect. Once a potential day 2 pick, Whitley looks like a mid to late round pick as a safety. He missed a couple tackles in this one and is a bit undersized for a strong safety. On the season, he has 83 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 picks and 4 deflections.

Another key matchup in this one was between Virginia Tech’s left tackle Blake DeChristopher and defensive end Quinton Coples. Coples is an elite prospect who should go in the top 10, while DeChristopher is a mid rounder. DeChristopher looked like a mid round in this one has Coples dominated him, frequently against double teams, which he’s been facing all season. Coples had 8 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 1 sack, a forced fumble, and a deflection in this one and generally wreaked havoc in the backfield.

On the season, he has 55 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 7.5 sacks, underwhelming stats at first for such a highly rated prospect, but he’s so frequently double teamed so that saps his production a bit. He’s also a beast against the run and that doesn’t always show on the stat sheet. He remains a top 10 prospect in my book. His spotlight game against Louisville was one of the most impressive spotlight games all season.

Another talented defensive lineman for North Carolina is defensive tackle Tydreke Powell. On the season, he has 46 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and 1 sack. He has good athletic ability, but my general sense of him is that he should have more production with guys like Quinton Coples and Kareem Martin tying up blockers on the outside. Basically, this game just proved that. He had his moments, but against mostly single teams, he struggled to get penetration and didn’t hold up against the run, including on a play where Logan Thomas ran 23 yards up the middle for a touchdown on a designed quarterback run.

Virginia Tech has two other talented offensive players, 2 skill position players. Their running back David Wilson has declared for the draft recently. In just his first season as a starter, he has rushed for 1709 yards and 9 touchdowns on 270 carries. He also caught 22 passes. He’s a bit undersized at 5-10 205 and has struggled some against elite defenses. He rushed for just 32 yards on 11 carries against Clemson, 82 yards on 24 carries against Michigan, and 82 yards on 21 carries in this one. I wasn’t too impressed by him, but I may be when I spotlight him and get a better look. He’s also got a fumble problem, with 7 fumbles, including one in this one. Combine all that with the fact that he’s a one year wonder and I think he’s a bit overrated. He’s about a 3^rd or 4^th rounder in my book, but that could change.

Virginia Tech wide receiver Jarrett Boykin is Virginia Tech’s all time leading receiver. On this season, he caught 61 passes for 761 yards and 5 touchdowns. He had a great game here, one of his best, with 10 catches for 106 yards, a good portion of which were against North Carolina’ Charles Brown, a potential mid to late round pick. Boykin, also a mid to late round pick, also had one great play where he made a tough catch and broke several tackles in the open field for 39 yards. The 6-3 215 pound receiver will have to have a good Senior Bowl and run well at The Combine to raise his stock. Some believe he could run in the 4.6s. I’ll spotlight him at some point this season.