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Virginia Tech Hokies (Last Year: 9-4, ACC Champions, Orange Bowl Champions)
2009 College Football Season Preview:
Star Players:
QB Tyrod Taylor, RB Darren Evans, WR Jarrett Boykin, TE Greg Boone, T Ed Wang, T Blake DeChristopher, G Sergio Render, DE Jason Worilds, DT Cordarrow Thompson, OLB Cody Grimm, ROV Dorian Porch, CB Stephan Virgil, FS Kam Chancellor.
Draft/Graduation Losses:
QB Sean Glennon, G Nick Marshman, C Ryan Shuman, DE Orion Martin, ILB Purnell Sturdivant, ILB Brett Warren, CB Victor Harris, K Dustin Keys.
2009 Virginia Tech Hokies Offense:
After the shocking season debut loss to East Carolina, the Virginia Tech coaching staff realized the redshirt must be removed from Tyrod Taylor. Sean Glennon was terrible, and to think he was going to improve you would have been an idiot.
This is Taylor’s team, but if you ask me, anytime Taylor is in shotgun for the Hokies I think it should be referred to as the Wildcat formation. The guy can’t throw the football. He can run and that is great, but when push comes to shove, he is not Pat White. Taylor averaged 6.0 yards per attempt last season with two touchdowns and seven interceptions. His passing touchdown rate was an abysmal 1.1 percent.
Virginia Tech will not throw the ball on anyone, but they do have a potent rushing attack led by sophomore Darren Evans. Evans is an athletic back with the power to break tackles, and he shocked everyone last season running for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns good for a 4.4 rushing average. He also notched 17 receptions last season.
Despite Taylor’s faults as a passer, he is a good running threat. Taylor averaged 5.0 yards per rush attempt last season and totaled seven touchdowns. Forty-six percent of his plays at quarterback were runs, and the Tech offense will look for Taylor to stretch the field horizonatially with his legs to open up running lanes for Evans. Watch out for opposing defenses to blitz Taylor quite a bit and play a lot of Cover 1, forcing the Tech offense to go deep and test Taylor’s arm.
The offensive line is arguably the best in the ACC. They are led by left guard Sergio Render. Render is an athletic player and plays with a nasty demeanor. However, Virginia Tech is inexperienced elsewhere on the interior. Sophomore center Beau Warren doesn’t have much experience and neither does sophomore right guard James Brooks. Blake DeChristopher was a big recruit who should have a solid sophomore season as well at right tackle.
This is a team that heavily relies on the running game, and that is why they will not live up to the preseason hype. Tech was seventh in the nation last year in rushing attempts per game, and they don’t have the passing attack to keep linebackers off the line of scrimmage and safeties in the box. Tech has a solid offense, don’t get me wrong, but it is a little overrated at this point.
2009 Virginia Tech Hokies Defense:
The bread and butter of Beamer ball is always a tough, aggressive defense that makes plays. The 2009 defense should be no different and their best player is defensive end Jason Worilds. Worilds has the eyes of NFL scouts next season and will definitely get looks from the 3-4 teams should he declare early for the 2010 NFL Draft. Worilds reminds me a lot of former Auburn Tiger Quentin Groves and he really stepped up as a sophomore last year. Worilds had 18.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, eight QB hurries and two forced fumbles. Next season should be even better.
The rest of the defensive line is very solid. Senior defensive tackle Cordarrow Thompson is an emerging prospect. He has good size and is an athletic playmaker.
One player to watch out for on this defense is senior outside backer Cody Grimm. Grimm has good speed, instincts and durability to be a big leader on this defense. With two interceptions and 7.5 sacks last season, he is a player offensive coordinators must gameplan for.
The best unit on this defense without a doubt is the defensive backfield. Dorian Porch brings a lot of toughness and playmaking ability to the strong safety/rover position. Kam Chancellor covers a lot of ground for a collegiate free safety, but will have to move to the strong safety position in the NFL. Senior corner Stephan Virgil is arguably one of the best corners in the ACC. He notched six interceptions and can really play press man defense frustrating opposing receivers.
The most talented players on this defense have the most experience, and that leadership will really pay off in crunch time. Can this defense create enough turnovers to offset the lack of production in the passing game?
2009 Virginia Tech Hokies Schedule and Intangibles:
We have to give VT a lot of credit. Despite playing in a very weak conference, this athletic department has the cojones to schedule Alabama for their season debut as Clemson did last year, and we saw how it really hurt Clemson’s season. Make no mistake about it, Tech doesn’t stand a chance against the Crimson Tide. They simply don’t have the passing game to move the chains and their rushing game will be smothered.
The rest of the out of conference schedule is comprised of Marshall, a weak Nebraska team (not VT’s fault), and East Carolina. With so much parity in the ACC, Virginia Tech stands a great chance to repeat.
This team must find a replacement for place kicker Dustin Keys. The Hokies are really high on senior Matt Waldron claming he has an accurate leg. We’ll see.
Macho Harris is gone, so somebody will have to take over punt return duties. Virginia Tech claims redshirt freshman Ryan Williams is the real deal. He was the No. 3 RB recruit in the country by Rivals.com for a reason, and hopefully he lives up to the hype. My question, if he was so good, why didn’t he return punts last year?
2009 Virginia Tech Hokies Positional Rankings (1-5 stars):
Quarterbacks |
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Offensive Line |
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Secondary |
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Running Backs |
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Defensive Line |
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Special Teams |
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Receivers |
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Linebackers |
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Coaching |
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2009 Virginia Tech Hokies Analysis:
Virginia Tech will win the way they always have: via defense and special teams. The running game is explosive enough to put up points on the scoreboard, but this isn’t a team that can hang with the big boys yet and they certainly are not worthy of a top-10 ranking. The only reason people are ranking them in the top 10 (or five) is because they’re in the ACC and played in the BCS last year. They are fresh in the minds of BCS watchers and therefore get a lot of love, but not from me. Tyrod Taylor is a very overrated player and will continue to struggle as a passer. Can they get back to the BCS and win the ACC? Yes, but that isn’t saying much.
Projection: 9-3
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