Thomas Still Confident, But Ready To Run

Though Saturday was a step forward for the offense overall, it was another struggle throwing for junior quarterback

For the day, Thomas completed 11 of 26 passes for 144 yards. But there were a few factors in Thomas' off day.

"I thought I was as accurate as I needed to be on Saturday," he said. "I had six or seven throwaways and a couple of them where I had to get rid of it because of pressure or whatever it was. I guess the stats don't indicate accuracy, but when I was able to set my feet and throw the ball I threw it where I wanted to. My finger was fine after halftime. I guess we didn't throw it a lot after halftime either, but everything seems pretty fine. Yesterday in practice I was good as well."

Instead, Thomas made good use of his ability to run, picking up 65 yards on 15 carries. But Thomas picked up a number of those yards lowering his shoulder and taking on hits instead of running for the sideline.

"I always thought that we need to get across that we need to be more physical and have an attacking attitude instead of just kinda sitting back and waiting for things to happen," he said. "I went and made it happen and so hopefully that sets it off for the rest of the season. Our run game hasn't been as great as we wanted it to be the first three games and it got back on track on Saturday. Hopefully, we'll keep it that way. If it comes down to me carrying the ball, I have no problem doing it. But I have faith in the four guys carrying it behind me. If they call my name, I'll do it, no problem."

Thomas will undoubtedly have to improve on his passing if the Hokies are to continue to improve.

On a positive note, he said his right thumb isn't affecting him. Thomas had the fingernail on his thumb ripped off on a late run to the goal line in the second quarter.

With his thumb not a concern, Thomas is trying to reconnect with his receivers to avoid too many incompletions.

"I don't really know to what extent it is, but we're just missing," Thomas said. "More repetition, more chances to get it done and it'll be a lot better off. I put a lot of it on my shoulders. I need to be more accurate, but on Saturday, we had three or four pass interference calls, so I couldn't really help it there. Then there were a couple where the timing got thrown off because of any number of things. It's something that we can work on and we'll get better on it this week and in weeks to come."