An Early Preview of Virginia Tech in the Camping World Bowl

Oklahoma State is headed to Orlando for an intriguing showdown in the Camping World Bowl against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 at 4:15 p.m. It’s an opponent OSU hasn’t faced since 1972 in an all-time series that is split 1-1.

It’s not the playoff, and it’s not a New Years Six bowl — one or both of which many would have probably taken second mortgages out to bet on before the season.

But all things considered, this bowl and this matchup is pretty enticing. With Notre Dame being snatched up by the Citrus Bowl, and USC being tabbed for the Cotton with Ohio State, Virginia Tech is a big enough name to draw some national interest.

So … what do we know about Virginia Tech? Let’s dissect it from a few different angles.

Playing history

OSU and Va. Tech have played just twice on the gridiron, according to Winsipedia. OSU won the first by a final score of 24-16 in 1971 under Floyd Gass in Stillwater — the final year of his brief three-year tenure from 1969-1971.

The two teams played the following year in Blacksburg, and Oklahoma State came out on the wrong end of a 34-32 contest under Dave Smith. The loss was a big upset win for the Hokies. They knocked off No. 19 Oklahoma State thanks to a game-winning field goal kicked in the final 12 seconds of the game.

When Virginia Tech is on offense …

The player to watch is senior wide receiver Cam Phillips He’s got double the yardage of the team’s second-leading receiver, (nearly) double the touchdowns, and (nearly) double the receptions. At 6-foot-even, he’s not a big-bodied go-to like OSU’s Marcell Ateman, but he’s got a little Josh Stewart in him. He’s fast, shifty and explosive in the open field.

Delivering Phillips the ball is freshman Josh Jackson, who completed a tick over 60 percent of his passes and tossed for 2,743 yards in his first year as the starter. Jackson is a threat both in the air and on the ground, as head coach Justin Fuente — a former University of Oklahoma football player — has shown a willingness to run his QB.

Jackson is VT’s third-leading rusher with 274 yards on 108 attempts — more attempts than leading rusher Travon McMillian. Jackson logged 101 yards on the ground in the season opener against West Virginia, a 31-24 win, and averages nine rush attempts per game.

Virginia Tech puts up an average of 404.1 yards per game and has 37 offensive scores in 2017. They average 28.8 points per game, which is ranked 63rd nationally.

When Virginia Tech’s on defense …

As far as defenses go, Va. Tech has a pretty stout unit on the whole. The Hokies are 12th nationally in total defense, allowing only 305.3 yards and 13.5 points per game. They pitched three shutouts — against Delaware, Old Dominion and Virginia.

The defense allowed a team to score more than 30 points just once this season, and that came against Clemson early in the conference schedule. By contrast, Oklahoma State scored 40 or more points in 10 of its 12 games.

As far as overall impact on defense, outside edge-rusher Tremaine Edmunds is arguably the biggest difference maker. The junior from Virginia has 5.5 sacks and 102 tackles on the season.

Statistical comparison

Unsurprisingly, Oklahoma State’s high-flying offense is the eye-popper on paper when comparing the two teams. OSU scores 46.3 points per game, good for third in FBS, which far outweights Virginia Tech on that side of the ball.

But as mentioned previously, Virginia Tech has a nasty defense led by defensive coordinator Bud Foster, which gives up a measly 13.5 points per game. So it looks like it should be a strength-on-strength contest with powerful offense pitted against stingy defense.