The Hokies’ rushing attack is of course spearheaded by running back Brandon Ore, who has had a disappointing season after rushing for over 1,000 yards in 2006. There were reports that he showed up to fall camp overweight and out of shape, so the Virginia Tech coaches buried him on the depth chart, but he slowly earned his starting job back. He has rushed 194 times this season for an underachieving 674 yards and 8 touchdowns. His longest run this season has been 34 yards. Another man who you’ll see carry the mail for the Hokies is running back Kenny Lewis, Jr. He has 52 attempts for 176 yards this season and 4 touchdowns.

Virginia Tech’s most dangerous receiver(Justin Harper) might be their best friend on Saturday as they try and attack a suspect Virginia Cavalier secondary. Harper has hauled in 33 catches for 538 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. The Hokies have other top playmakers to stretch the Cavalier secondary in receiver Josh Morgan and Eddie Royal. Tight ends Greg Boone and Andre Smith also provide receiving options for the Hokie signal-callers. Those tight ends will have to force Virginia’s linebackers, like Jon Copper to cover them instead of keying in on Taylor. Copper is a film maniac who studies the game tremendously and it has paid off as he leads his team in tackles for the second straight season. He’s one of the most underrated players in America. Copper, a power lifter, has tallied an eye-brow raising 92 tackles and 3 sacks this season. Linebacker Clint Sintim is another one of the Cavaliers’ best defensive players, posting 5 sacks on the season for the Cavaliers, tying him for second on the team in that category.

The Cavaliers have been blowtorched by two of the ACC’s top quarterbacks in T.J. Yates of UNC and Daniel Evans of N.C. State and haven’t been tested by another quarterback since then. Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner likely would’ve had more passing yards had Wake’s coaches decided to let him pass more in the first half, but for some puzzling reason they decided to run it. The Cavaliers’ pass defense might be ranked in the top 25 in the country, but don’t be fooled. The Cavaliers were torched by T.J. Yates of UNC as defender after defender missed several open field tackles. Cavalier cornerbacks Chris Cook and Ras-I Dowling will be crucial in slowing the Hokies’ passing attack, because they are Virginia’s finest cover corners. Dowling will likely end up being the best cover corner in Virginia football history before he finishes up in Charlottesville. The stud freshman had 5 pass breakups and an interception against N.C. State, but it wasn’t quite enough as he still got beat on a few perfectly placed balls by Daniel Evans. If the Hokies know what is good for them, they will go to the air early and often on Saturday, because that is their greatest chance to make big plays. If they get a match up with cornerback Vic Hall, they better attack him, because he’s the weak link of the Cavalier secondary.

On special teams’ perhaps the games most dynamic special teams’ player will be receiver Eddie Royal of Virginia Tech. Royal is one of the most dangerous punt returners in the ACC, but he’s often as dangerous to his team as he is to opposing teams, because of his tendency to fumble the ball. He averages 15.82 yards per return and is ranked 8th nationally in that category. He also leads the team in all-purpose yardage, averaging 97 yards per game. Virginia’s gunners on the punt coverage unit will be sure to close on Royal quickly, or else he could make them pay dearly.
Jud Dunleavy is a solid kicker for the Hokies, connecting on 17 of his 20 attempts and making 35 of his 37 extra points. Brent Bowden is the punter for the Hokies, averaging 42.1 yards per punt, ranking him 24th in that category nationally.

The trophy for the Commonwealth Cup: The winner of the game will be awarded the Commonwealth Cup, which currently resides in Blacksburg, Virginia. The cup, made of marble cherry, is four feet tall and weighs more than 100 pounds. The top of the Cup is silver-plated with the names of the two schools. The trophy was first awarded to the winner of the rivalry in 1996.


My Prediction: On paper, this game would definitely go to the Hokies for a few reasons. One of the biggest would be because of their tremendous linebacking corps’ led by the likes of Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi. Not only that, their cornerback duo of Brandon Flowers and  Victor “Macho” Harris is just devastating. The Cavaliers might have Chris Cook and Ras-I Dowling and they are very talented, but not as good as the Hokies’ duo. The Cavaliers have the most effective quarterback, the most talented offensive line, and the most talented tight end unit in the game. The running back battle would likely have to go to the Hokies, but by a slim margin, because Mikell “Juice” Simpson is the better all-purpose back. Had Simpson played as much as Brandon Ore, he would have likely put up much better numbers than his Virginia Tech counterpart. In the battle of the X-factors, I would have to give Virginia’s Vic Hall the edge, simply because he can do so many things. The Cavaliers can use him on a variety of trick plays and he also can touch the rock on punt returns. Since he has the ball in his hands during field goals, he adds a new dimension to the Cavaliers’ special teams unit that the Hokies simply cannot match. Sure, Royal might gain more yards, but his problem of fumbling negates that advantage.

The Hokies might have a slight edge on paper, but I think the 16th ranked Virginia Cavaliers are a team of destiny. This season they have proven their doubters wrong at nearly every stage, with a combination of clutch plays and luck fueling their success this season. I think you’re going to see Jameel Sewell have an excellent game, as long as Mike Groh keeps calling the plays that he’s best at running, the screen passes to Simpson, the play-action bootlegs to Santi and Stupar, and the shovel passes. I think the Cavaliers will do just that and stick what got them in this position in the first place. Sure, the Virginia Tech defense is very good, elite is a matter of fact. There are certain plays in this world if you run them effectively and efficiently, they simply cannot be stopped. Heath Miller in the 2003 contest against Virginia Tech had 11 catches against the Hokie defense. Surely, the Hokies had to know the Cavaliers were going to Miller, because he was the greatest tight end in ACC history. But he simply could not be stopped because of his amazing ability to always find the seam in the defense.

The Cavaliers realistically could only run around five plays on Saturday and still win. Coaches have watched Mike Groh chop down the playbook for Sewell to his “bread-and-butter” the screen passes, the shovel passes, the play-action bootlegs to the tight ends, yet they still haven’t been able to stop it. Nick Nolte once said in Blue Chips, “It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it!”

The Virginia defense is very talented too and I think you’re going to see their talented pair of defensive ends(Chris Long and Jeffrey Fitzgerald) exploit the weakest link in the entire game, the Virginia Tech offensive line. Tyrod Taylor is extremely dangerous in the open field, but he’ll be running for life with the likes of Chris Long, Jeffrey Fitzgerald, and Clint Sintim chasing after him. The Virginia Tech offense will likely be able to exploit a suspect Virginia secondary, but in the end, it won’t be enough. On Saturday, November 24th, Jameel Sewell, Mikell Simpson, and company will bring me a belated birthday gift and not only claim state supremacy in the in-state rivalry but also punch their tickets to Jacksonville, Florida for the 2007 ACC Championship game against the Boston College Eagles. The ACC Coastal Division Championship will be the cherry on top of an already magical 2007 campaign for the 16th ranked “Cardiac Cavaliers.”

Predicted Score: Cavaliers 24, Hokies 20

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