Virginia
Tech Hokies
Preview 2008
By
Richard Cirminiello
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us know
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2008 CFN Virginia
Tech Preview
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2008 Virginia Tech
Offense
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2008 Virginia Tech
Defense
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2008 Virginia Tech
Depth Chart
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2007 CFN Virginia Tech Preview
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2006 CFN Virginia
Tech
Preview
Head coach: Frank Beamer
22nd year: 209-108-2
28th year: 167-85-4
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 19, Def. 21, ST 2
Lettermen Lost: 19 |
Ten
Best VT Players
1. CB Victor "Macho" Harris, Sr.
2. DE Orion Martin, Sr.
3. LB Cam Martin, Jr.
4. FS Kam Chancellor, Jr.
5. QB Sean Glennon, Sr.
6. RG Sergio Render, Jr.
7. LT Ed Wang, Jr.
8. QB Tyrod Taylor, Soph.
9. DE Jason Worilds, Soph.
10. TE Sam Wheeler, Jr. |
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2008
Schedule
CFN
Prediction: 9-3
2008 Schedule: 0-0
Aug. 30
East Carolina (Charlotte)
Sept. 6 Furman
Sept. 13 Georgia Tech
Sept. 20 at North Carolina
Sept. 27 at Nebraska
Oct. 4 Western Kentucky
Oct. 11 OPEN DATE
Oct. 18 at Boston College
Oct. 25 at Florida State
Nov. 1 OPEN DATE
Nov. 6 Maryland
Nov. 13 at Miami
Nov. 22 Duke
Nov. 29 Virginia
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2007
Schedule
CFN
Prediction: 10-2
2007 Schedule: 11-3
Sept. 1
East Carolina
W 17-7
Sept. 8 at
LSU L 48-7
Sept. 15
Ohio
W 28-7
Sept. 22
William & Mary
W 44-3
Sept. 29
North Carolina
W 17-10
Oct.
6
at Clemson
W 41-23
Oct.
13
at Duke
W 43-14
Oct.
25
Boston College
L 14-10
Nov.
1 at
Georgia Tech W 27-3
Nov.
10
Florida State
W 40-21
Nov.
17
Miami
W 44-14
Nov.
24
at Virginia
W 33-21
ACC Championship
Dec. 1 Boston College W 30-16
Orange Bowl
Jan. 3 Kansas L 24-21 |
The defending ACC
champions will begin the upcoming season as the favorites to win at
least the Coastal Division again, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t
huge holes that need to be filled between now and the opener, and that
doesn’t mean they should assume they’ll be in the ACC title game again.
Even so, they’ll be fine.
The Hokies took a beating through graduation and dismissals, losing
their top receivers, three-quarters of the starting defensive line,
All-ACC linebackers Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall, leading rusher Brandon
Ore, and steady PK Jud Dunlevy. As always, there’s talent waiting in the
wings in Blacksburg, but it needed to develop in a hurry to for Tech to
go from being good to championship-level.
Fortunately, this is a bit of a down/stepping-stone season for the
conference. For example, in the Coastal Division, Miami is at least a
year away from being ready to mount a challenge for the ACC title,
Georgia Tech is rebuilding under new head man Paul Johnson, North
Carolina is better, but still isn’t Virginia Tech yet, Virginia appears
ready to take a step back, and Duke, while improved, is still Duke. In
other words, the Hokies likely won’t have to be at their highest level
to get back to the title game. And they won’t be, but that doesn’t
necessarily matter.
Regardless of the hurdles it faces, Virginia Tech has gotten this ACC
thing down to a science since coming on board, winning the league or
playing in the title game in three of the last four years. There’s
little doubt that the season ahead will bring major challenges to both
sides of the ball, but again, in a division that has no scary threat,
the Hokies should have a relatively clear path to Tampa in December
against likely Clemson or Boston College.
Savvy recruiting plus outstanding coaching is a time-tested formula that
doesn’t fail Virginia Tech very often, and it won’t this year,
either.
What to watch for on offense: Where are the playmakers? Now that
leading rusher Branden Ore has been exiled and last year’s top four wide
receivers have graduated, the Hokies are about to experience a power
outage on offense after not exactly burning things up last year
finishing 100th in the nation. While so much attention is
being given to the quarterback battle between Sean Glennon and Tyrod
Taylor, it won’t matter who wins if the supporting cast is impotent. In
the backfield, redshirt freshman Darren Evans has stood out and a deep
ensemble of tight ends will be instrumental to the success of the
passing attack.
What to watch for on defense: The run defense will be more
vulnerable than it's been in years. No, opponents won’t be able to gash
and dash, but they’ll find a little more running room than normal. Tech
was gutted by graduation at defensive tackle and the losses of
linebackers Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall won’t be easily overcome. The
onus falls on new tackles Cordarrow Thompson and John Graves, and middle
linebacker Brett Warren to pick up the slack and exceed
expectations.
This team will be far better if … the offensive line does its job.
It was a tale of two halves for the group last season, getting abused in
the early going before coming together down the stretch. The Hokies are
dangerously light at the skill positions, meaning it’s up to veterans RG
Sergio Render and LT Ed Wang, to create an environment for the new
starters in the backfield and at wide receivers to succeed. The line
dominated at times in the Orange Bowl loss to Kansas, but when
the coaches went away from the power running
game, the offense struggled.
The Schedule: The road trips are going to be challenging.
There aren't many breaks in interdivision play having to travel to face
Boston College and Florida State, while a late Coastal Division showdown
at Miami could end up making or breaking ACC title hopes. The
non-conference schedule is interesting with a trip to Nebraska for the
first machup with the Huskers since the 1996 Orange Bowl (a 41-21 Hokie
loss) to off-set layups against Furman and Western Kentucky. The opener
against East Carolina won't be a walk in the park.
Best Offensive Player: Senior QB Sean Glennon. No disrespect to
the veteran, but this is a selection by default on an offense that’ll be
hunting for new playmakers and better blocking up front. Glennon
actually played well down the stretch last year, handling some early
season adversity and doing his part to get the Hokies an ACC title.
Considered a low-risk game manager throughout his career, he’s a heady
competitor with enough zip on his passes to get some looks from NFL
scouts.
Best Defensive Player: Senior CB Victor Harris. How much
confidence do the Hokies have in Macho’s athleticism? Enough to move him
to the more demanding boundary corner position, use him as a return man,
and work him at wide receiver for part of the spring. While there are
better lockdown corners in the country, few possess his combination of
size, speed, and ball skills. He can punish opposing receivers and pick
their pockets like a thief.
Key player to a successful season: Junior PK Dustin Keys. While
the defense will be typically stingy, the offense is going to struggle
to put points on the board. Interpretation? The Hokies will be involved
in plenty of close, low-scoring games this fall. The difference between
winning and losing on many weekends could come down to the sporadic leg
of Keys, who was the leader to replace Jud Dunlevy coming out of spring.
The season will be a success if ... Tech wins another ACC
championship. Is that setting the bar too high in a season rife with
turnover? Nah. The Hokies are still the class of the Coastal Division
and the only program with a clear edge in talent, Clemson, isn’t on the
schedule and tends to be schizophrenic when it’s expected to win. Even
though Tech isn’t as potent as last year, the goal of a league title
remains in the crosshairs.
Key game: Nov. 13 at Miami. By this late stage of the
season, the young ‘Canes might be all grown up and dreaming of knocking
off the defending ACC champs on national TV. In a watered-down Coastal
Division, it’s conceivable the winner of this game will hold serve in
the race to the league title game.
2007 Fun Stats:
- First half scoring: Virginia Tech 234 – Opponents 122
- Sacks: Opponents 54 for 297 yards – Virginia Tech 47 for 308 yards
- Red zone scoring: Virginia Tech 42 of 46 (91%) – Opponents 28 of 39
(72%)