The streak of tough Power 5 opponents to open Florida State’s season continues on Monday night. The Virginia Tech Hokies roll into Tallahassee to help kick off the Willie Taggart era for FSU, in the highly-anticipated Labor Day match-up. Monday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. EST.
Being the first game of the season, few know what to truly expect when each team takes the field. Here’s an overview of the 2018 Virginia Tech squad that enters its third year of the Justin Fuente experiment.
2017 Record: 9-4 (5-3 ACC)
2017 S&P Offensive Ranking: 96th
Returning Offensive Production: 68 percent (65th overall)
2017 S&P Defensive Ranking: 9th
Returning Defensive Production: 32 percent (129th overall)
On Offense
The Hokies have a quality mix of returning production and young talent on their offense. The main focus will be on starting quarterback Josh Jackson, who threw for 20 touchdowns and almost 3,000 yards, while also contributing 466 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. That being said, Jackson struggles with accuracy and tougher defenses found it easy to corral him in the run game. After the season opener, Jackson did not run for more than 38 yards until the bowl game.
He’ll be assisted by returning receivers Sean Savoy and Eric Kumah (778 yards, six touchdowns) and returning running back Deshawn McClease (530 yards, three touchdowns). Throw in three starters at offensive line, and Fuente has enough to work with in his variant of the spread offense. But the Hokies still lack explosiveness, which is why their raw scoring numbers were fairly unimpressive last season.
Much of their offensive success relies on Jackson making strides in the passing game. If he can generally improve as a passer, Fuente will have no problem opening up the playbook and forcing Florida State’s defensive backs into tough situations.
On Defense
The prevailing narrative heading into the 2018 season is how Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster will manage a dramatically young group of players. The Hokies lost 11 defensive contributors to a mix of draft departures, injuries, and academic disqualification. Before the unexpected (non-draft related) losses, Virginia Tech returned around 64 percent of its defensive production. The loss of three projected starters at defensive back cut that in half.
Virginia Tech’s hopes rely on the defensive line. It brings back six players who saw action in 10 or more contests, including starting defensive ends Trevon Hill and Houshun Gaines, and defensive tackle Ricky Walker. Foster’s defense is especially adept at shutting down interior running, mainly by utilizing his defensive line in a way that forces man-blocking rather than zone. Even if the defensive line cannot get into the backfield on a play, the linebackers are in good position to make a stop during a run.
This is where Virginia Tech will suffer. Both its linebacking corps and secondary are brand new. If the Seminoles want to test the pass defense or threaten with a mobile quarterback, Virginia Tech’s new starters will be pushed to their limit. It’s a matter of getting past that first level of defense.
On Special Teams
Both of Virginia Tech’s quality return-men for kickoffs and punts are gone. The Hokies are also replacing their starting placekicker, though they didn’t use him much anyway. Their biggest special teams strength is punter Oscar Bradburn, who performed very well as a freshman despite playing American rules football for just one year. His accuracy and ability to pin returners likely means that FSU fans won’t be seeing many fireworks from the special teams.
Summary
Virginia Tech looks like a team that could be a force at the end of the season. The young defense will take a lot of time to gel, while the offense simply needs one or two players to step up and provide explosiveness. Both Fuente and Foster have shown their ability to coach high-level units.
It just so happens that the Hokies face a huge test on the first day of class. The Hokies should be able to find success at the line of scrimmage, but the game could be blown wide open if FSU capitalizes with chunks of yardage through the air. How much Jackson has improved will be vital to the offensive success. Knowing Fuente, Virginia Tech will probably come out and have a successful first half. It’s that finishing aspect in the second half which remains a big question mark.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login