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Three Things to Know about the Virginia Tech Hokies

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6 years ago

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For the second straight year, the Pokes will bowl against a defensive-minded opponent looking to invalidate the Big 12’s offensive prowess. Similar to the Cowboys, Virginia Tech lost to its conference title participants (Miami by 18 and Clemson by 14) and a stodgy old running team (Georgia Tech by 6) to finish with three losses.

Forget the Alamo, we’re going Camping. Apparently a budding rivalry!

Virginia Tech-xas

Porter and Carson briefly previewed the Hokies in their Tuesday pod (listen here) and astutely dropped this Big 12 comp: Texas.

What do you think of when OSU plays Texas? First one to 20 wins. Put on those glasses and look at VT.

Points per drive would tell you the Hokies are just a hair better at that game. Texas scores 1.71 ppd (103rd) while Tech gives you 1.98 (84th) and defensively the schools are very comparable: Tech gives up 1.16 (6th) and Texas 1.47 (13th).

The defense is layered with stars (more on that later) and the offense is hit-or-miss. After losing three offensive playmakers to early departure for the NFL and the starting left tackle to injury, the offense wandered lost in the Appalachians.

It’s a struggle to find a highlight of quarterback Josh Jackson since opening weekend against West Virginia.

Late-season struggles swelled and it’s reasonable to ask if the Hokies can score into the teens to compete with the Pokes.

Virginia Tech is having a rough time producing points on the offensive end averaging 15.5 points per game in the past four games. In their first eight games, Virginia Tech averaged 35.4 points per game. So it is the injuries? Is it personnel? Or is it the play calling? Whatever seems to be the issue, it must be fixed if the Hokies want to have a chance at defeating Oklahoma State. [VT Scoop]

Their veteran quarterback has struggled with some injury issues but ineptitude is ineptitude. It’s hard to blame the Hokies for that, they did offer Mason Rudolph out of high school.

Attacking a Lock-Down Defense

Will Mason Rudolph have a hearty second-helping of turkey? It’ll be his Mona Lisa if he can carve up the VT defense.

A new metric called “stop rate” – how many times a defense holds the offense from scoring – says it all about Tech.

This metric, along with points per drive, gives a more accurate reflection of a defense’s effectiveness in today’s faster-tempo game.

And no defense better epitomizes the value of that thinking than Virginia Tech. This group, led by longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster, does not rank among the top 10 nationally in total defense, yards per play, run defense or pass defense. This group doesn’t even rank among the top 40 in takeaways. But it sure does get the job done.
The Hokies’ defense got stops on nearly 84 percent of all drives this season. They forced 90 punts, which ranks third-most in FBS, and the majority of those were on three-and-out drives.

They’re ranked No. 2 in FBS in third-down defense. This defense held offenses to 12.9 points per game and never gave up more than 28 in any game. They held four foes under 200 total yards, too. [The Athletic $]

The Hokies’ defense was strong enough to carry a floundering offense to a nine-win season. Longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster has been doing it since Michael Vick was in diapers and he’s got it going on.

Talented defensive backs roam the secondary, ready to test Washington and Ateman’s NFL-mitts. If the Pokes can get past a formidable front seven, a talented (and partially injured) Hokie defensive backfield will give a similar TCU, Texas-level of challenge.

…And it doesn’t get much easier when you get into the trenches against the Turkeys.

You recruitniks may remember Tim Settle – an east-coast five star Glenn Spencer went after. Here was Boone’s analysis:

The 2015 recruit is listed at 6’3, and weighs 362 pounds. Oklahoma State currently has ZERO players bigger than 356 pounds on its active roster. The big man is only a senior in high school, so it’s safe to say he’s not a guy you want to tussle with. [PFB]

Well he’s in full force playing DQ Osborne’s internal disruptor role and you don’t want any of it.

The interior of the VT defensive line is insane and Settle’s dominance begs the question: could you imagine if he had come to Oklahoma State and teamed up with Vincent Taylor?

If Settle and fellow backfield-wrecker Ricky Walker don’t get to No. 2 and No. 5 in the backfield, Butkus award finalist Tremaine Edmonds will be giving chase from sideline-to-sideline.

The veteran Cowboy line versus the Hokie front seven will go a long ways in determining the baby-Citrus bowl’s champion.

Beamer Ball

A major part of what made Virginia Tech successful under their 29-year head coach, their “Gundy” that guided them to national relevance – Frank Beamer – was the concept of “Beamer Ball”.

Distilled to its essence, Beamer Ball consists of making big plays in all three facets of the game — offense, defense and special teams. When the great Virginia Tech teams were doing just that, it was a confirmation of what Beamer spoke of Saturday: the presence of chemistry, trust and togetherness. [Washington Times]

To an outsider, it appears founded on the concept of focus and a three-pronged attack continually wearing you down. It’s like when you watch an Alabama game and you just know the other team at some point will make a mistake and the grinding attack will wear you out. An east coast K-State that stares at every detail and punishes you when you don’t.

It’s best understood by statistics above (blocked kicks) but all the metrics point to a special teams prowess harkening back to the Deforest days in Stillwater.

BCFToys.com, the site that puts out PFB-favorite numbers like points per drive, ranked Virginia Tech No. 8 in the country at special teams efficiency, based on numbers like efficiencies in kick return, punt return, kickoffs, field goals and the like. Top ten out of 130 teams. These numbers are buoyed by fantastic offensive (No. 7) and defensive (No. 3) field positions, things that set up a team for success.

If that’s not telling enough, ESPN ranks the Hokies just in front of TCU and a few spots behind the Snydercats at special teams efficiency, all three in the top five.

How the Cowboys are able to overcome these factors remain to be seen. It took an end zone pick by Ramon to survive the last time they had the field position screws tightened on them. Can the overwhelming offensive firepower and a defense with a knack to stiffen when they need to match these strengths?

Bonus here: give me a home-and-home with the Hokies – I want to see “Enter Sandman” at Lane Stadium.

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