Virginia Tech Football Season Preview

 

If you were to ask me to describe Virginia Tech’s football program in one word, I would ask for more than one word. Upon rejection, I would say that Virginia Tech’s football program is consistent. The Hokies are consistently near the top of the ACC, winning double digit games six years in a row. They’re consistently near the top of the defensive rankings. And they’re consistent at making Virginia fans hate them more and more for beating them on a yearly basis. The Virginia Tech program is just consistently good.

 

One thing the Hokies offense knows how to do well is run the football. The Hokies were second in the ACC in rushing last year. And when the Hokies threw the ball, it usually resulted in a long completion. Tyrod Taylor completed 136 passes for 2311 yards, nearly 17 yards per completion. And when he needed to run, he generally ran it well. Taylor ran for 370 yards and five touchdowns last year, which was second on the team. The only thing I can see Taylor needing to improve on is the completion percentage, which at 56% isn’t bad, but isn’t great either.

There were question marks about the running game going into last season. Darren Evans had torn his ACL, and was going to miss the season. But that turned out to not be a problem very quickly. In stepped Ryan Williams, and as a freshman, rewrote the record books. Williams set an ACC record with 22 touchdowns, and became the first freshman to lead the ACC in rushing and scoring. Williams rushed for 1655 yards and 21 touchdowns. And with Evans back fully healthy, this is going to be a dangerous 1-2 rushing combo, arguably one of the best in all of college football.

Both of the starting wide receivers averaged over 20 yards per reception last season. Junior Jarrett Boykin led the Hokies with 40 receptions, 835 yards, and five touchdowns. Boykin averaged 20.9 yards per reception. The other starting receiver is Danny Coale. Coale had 30 receptions for 614 yards last season, averaging 20.5 yards per reception. When a third receiver is used, the Hokies will rely on Dyrell Roberts, who averaged only 17.7 yards per reception. Tight end Andre Smith only caught three passes, but at 6-5 and 271 pounds, is used mostly for blocking.

The offensive line returns a lot of experience, as three starters return. Center Beau Warren was third team All ACC last season, even though he missed a few games with injury. Senior guard Jaymes Brooks started every game last season as sophomore, and did a pretty solid job. A new starter is at the other guard spot, as junior Greg Nosal steps in. There will also be a new starter at one of the tackle spots, which will be filled by sophomore Nick Becton. He is joined on the other side by Blake DeChristopher, who has started 23 games in his career.

 

Unlike most years, there is a little bit of a question mark on defense. There are only three starters back from last year’s team. But with Bud Foster still around as the defensive coordinator, the defense will get whipped into shape pretty quickly. There are three new starters on the defensive line, with the lone starter back being defensive tackle John Graves. Graves started eight games last year, and finished with 15 tackles. Starting along side Graves will be Kwamaine Battle, who has seven tackles in two years. The new starters at defensive end aren’t inexperienced. Chris Drager played in every game last year, finishing with 22 tackles. Steven Friday played in 12 games, and finished with 11 tackles.

There is a question mark at linebacker, as the lone returning starter, Barquell Rivers, tore a quadriceps muscle in the offseason, and may not play in the Boise State game. For now, three sophomores are expected to start. Rivers’ spot will be taken over by Bruce Taylor, who only had six tackles last season. Jeron Gouveia-Winslow played in eight games and had three tackles last year. He will be joined on the outside by Lyndell Gibson, who had 53 tackles last season. This is not an experienced set of linebackers, and it may take time to develop.

The biggest strength of the Hokies defense was defending the pass. The pass defense was second in the ACC and 11^th overall. And the man feared by most quarterbacks was Rashad Carmichael. Carmichael is regarded as one of the top cornerbacks in the ACC, because of his speed and a nose for the football. Carmichael finished last year with 55 tackles, six interceptions, and six pass breakups. He probably won’t see a lot of passes thrown his way early, since there will be a new starter at the other cornerback. Jayron Hosley didn’t see a lot of time on defense, finishing with 11 tackles. At safety, Eddie Whitley had 18 tackles last year. Davon Morgan will be back to play the roving safety. Morgan had 47 tackles and 1.5 sacks last year.

 

There will be new kickers and punters this year. Senior Chris Hazley will handle the kicking duties thanks to a strong effort in the spring. The punter will be another senior in Brian Saunders, who has not seen any action in his three years at the school. There are experienced kick and punt returners, however. Dyrell Roberts and David Wilson split the kick return duties. Roberts averaged over 30 yards per kick return, and returned one for a touchdown. Wilson averaged 19 yards per return. Jayron Hosley will be back to return punts. Hosley averaged 11.2 yards per return, and had a return for touchdown.

 

You can argue that the biggest game of Virginia Tech’s season is the first game. A Labor Day meeting with Boise State in Landover, Maryland will have a lot of meaning for both schools. Other than that, the non-conference schedule is easy, with James Madison, East Carolina, and Central Michigan on the schedule. The key road games are at Boston College, at North Carolina, and at Miami. The Hokies do get Georgia Tech at home on a Thursday night.

 

There is no doubt who is the best fantasy option on the Hokies, and that is running back Ryan Williams. Williams was an absolute workhorse for the Hokies last season, carrying the ball 293 teams, and catching 16 passes. I don’t expect Willams to touch the ball nearly as much this year with Darren Evans back, but Williams should easily top 1000 yards.

 

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Hokies running game will be able to carry this team a long ways, and in order to do that, you need a great defense, which Virginia Tech usually has. But this year is a little different. This defense is young an inexperienced, and if they fall behind, it could be trouble. I’m not convinced Tyrod Taylor is a guy who can bring you back from a two or three touchdown deficit. And it’s possible that we could see that in the Boise State game. I’m not going to predict that, however. But what happens in the Boise State ultimately won’t affect the ACC standings though. The Hokies do have a couple of tough games on the road, but they do have a lot of easy games at home this year, and because of that, they will be right in the mix to win the ACC Coastal.