2008 Previews: Virginia Tech
By Tim Cottrell
Sports Writer/Designer
Published: June 28, 2008
Preview No. 19 is Virginia Tech. Previews of all 65 BCS conference schools, plus Notre Dame and state schools, will be posted daily in no particular order. To view all previews, click here.
Virginia Tech wins with defense and special teams.
Always have, and always will (at least as long as Frank Beamer is roaming the sidelines).
This year, however, the offense is going to have to resemble something a Division I football team would put on the field.
Most of the offensive problems last year stemmed from an awful offensive line. But four starters return, so you’d have to think they’d be better.
Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor will probably continue to split time at quarterback. Neither was great last year, although from my limited perspective it seemed the offense performed better under Taylor.
They kicked their leading returning rusher off the team, so very little rushing yardage (outside of Taylor) returns, and they lost their top four receivers.
Defensively, the Hokies return only one lineman, one linebacker and two defensive backs, and the seven they lost were all NFL-caliber prospects. So there’s bound to be a learning curve, but if we’ve learned one thing about Beamerball over the years it’s that he won’t have a unit out there that can’t compete.
Tech has a new placekicker and punter, but that again shouldn’t be a problem under Beamer. And they should be good in the return game.
With just about any other team I’d say there’s cause for alarm, but Tech has been too strong for too long to lay think they can’t get it done. And they’re not playing a single team they won’t be favored to beat.
Here’s the schedule:
Aug. 30: vs. East Carolina (Charlotte, N.C.)
East Carolina will play them tough, especially with all the new players roaming about. There’s a mild upset alert here, but VT should be able to pull it out.
Sept. 6: Furman
Someone stop the madness.
Sept. 13: Georgia Tech
No worries here.
Sept. 20: at North Carolina
Big worries in this one. Carolina on the road might be the toughest game on their schedule.
Sept. 27: at Nebraska
Of course, there’s always a trip to Lincoln. But these aren’t the Huskers of old.
Oct. 4: Western Kentucky
WKU won’t top this hill *RIMSHOT*
Oct. 18: at Boston College
There will probably be some bad feelings after the Hokies completely blew that game in Blacksburg last year. And this BC team is nowhere near as good.
Oct. 25: at Florida State
This one could be dangerous, but FSU’s just not good enough yet to win this one.
Nov. 6: Maryland
A close win here.
Nov. 13: at Miami
It’ll be a couple years before this rivalry resembles what it was in the early-to-mid part of this decade.
Nov. 22: Duke
David Cutcliffe’s presence won’t change anything about this one.
Nov. 29: Virginia
Virginia is not a good football team this year.
So there you have it. When you look at this schedule, there’s not really a game they should lose. But this team’s not good enough to go undefeated. I say they’ll go 10-2. Where those losses come from is anyone’s guess.
