2013-14 Preview (ACC) Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech really struggled last season, a year where it seemed very little went as planned. The 7-6 season marked the first time the Hokies did not win 10 or more games since joining the ACC all the way back in 2004.
Virginia Tech Hokies (Team Link)
Coach: Frank Beamer
2012 Record: 7-6
Odds of winning BCS Championship: +25000
The only way they are going to improve on last year’s performance is if senior quarterback Logan Thomas really polishes up his game. He looked lost at times last season and made too many negative plays.
While Thomas was struggling the defense was very solid last year, as usual, and has a great chance to be even better this season with 9 starters returning. I definitely trust these guys, led by defensive coordinator Bud Foster, to hold up their end of the bargain – they always do but I am not sure they can be good enough to help the team get more wins than last year if the offense sputters again.
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After much fanfare and comparisons to Cam Newton all offseason QB Logan Thomas was a complete bust last year. He barely completed 50% of his passes and threw almost as many TDs and INTs (18 to 16). Even as a runner he was not the dynamic threat we were promised, though he did lead team in yards (with just 524).
This season we should see some improvement in decision making but I am not sure there is enough else around to make this more than an average offensive team.
Virginia Tech has experience on their offensive line but only two starters return from last season.
All the projected starters are upperclassmen and they need to do a job to take the pressure off of Thomas. In the backfield they have high hopes for sophomore J.C. Coleman who was second on the team in rushing last year.
VT has a history of producing NFL calibre runners and he could certainly grab onto the job and be productive enough to be on that path.
The Hokies defense could easily be the best in the ACC after being second last season. 9 starters return with the only gaps being the outside linebacking spots, which I think should be easy to fill in around tackling machine Jack Tyler, the inside linebacker.
VT has every member of its secondary returning this season but star CB Antone Exum will not be available for their challenging opener against Alabama. This unit should be stingy all season long even if they don’t look great against ‘Bama
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2013-14 Record Projection: 8-4
The defense should be great but I am not confident that Virginia Tech will be good enough on offense to get back to 10 or more victories this season. They have a tough start to the season with nonconference games against Alabama as well as underrated Marshall and East Carolina.
They could possibly lose all three but I want to give Beamer the benefit of the doubt there and call it a split. I also want to give the defense and the coach the benefit that they can solve at least one of North Carolina, Miami and Georgia Tech (most likely). If they can’t then they will be fighting to claim a spot in a bowl game yet again.
Watching Thomas makes it easy to see how important QB play is to being an elite team in college football right now. A generation or two ago, with a defense like they should have, a guy who just handed off the ball except for on 3rd and long probably would have been good enough.
For me Thomas has a really long way to go and I won’t be sold until I see him beat some teams with patience as much as any of his physical gifts. The defense should keep them in a lot of games though and be a friend to all of us against the spread.
This team can be a dangerous underdog.
2013 Hokies Schedule:
AUG 31 – Alabama
SEP 7 – Western Carolina
SEP 14 – @East Carolina
SEP 21 – Marshall
SEP 26 – @Georgia Tech
OCT 5 – North Carolina
OCT 12 – Pittsburgh
OCT 26 – Duke
NOV 2 – @Boston College
NOV 9 – @Miami
NOV 16 – Maryland
NOV 30 – @Virginia
