ACC Football: Five Reasons Why Virginia Tech Will Maintain Its Dominance in 2011
After an embarrassing second half performance in the Discover Orange Bowl, Virginia Tech fans have been quick to forget about the ride the Hokies took their fans on in 2010.
It started with two devastating losses in the same week and the dream season seemed like just that, a dream.
Slowly but surely the team began to rebuild, all the while led by its seniors. Youth, inexperience and injuries plagued the Hokies, but the trudged on, winning, but not against quality opponents. They earned a BCS bid and many people, myself included, thought Tech would beat Stanford.
Then the second half of the Orange Bowl happened.
Everyone on the team was exposed, including the coaches. With one glaring exception–Tyrod Taylor.
Sadly, Tyrod will no longer be a Hokie, but the rest of the players who were exposed return, as well as all the coaches. AlsoRyan Williams and Darren Evans have also chosen to forgo their final year of eligibility.
So why should 2011 be any different than the Orange Bowl? How will a team that losses three of its biggest players be able to compete? Here are five reasons why Virginia Tech will at least maintain its streak of ten win seasons next year and has the potential for more.
Experience
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The one glaring problem coming into last season was the loss of seven defensive starters.
That lack of experience cost the Hokies dearly against the run. Nine times out of ten the defense would be stout and hold opponents on the ground. But that last time was the killer, especially in big games.
Someone would over-pursue, lose track of their lane or simply make a poor tackle and it would result in a huge run.
Offensively, the biggest problem, outside of Bryan Stinespring, was the offensive line and its inability to block against tough opponents.
Virginia Tech only loses four starters on both side of the ball and Darren Evans. Not having Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams, John Graves or Roc Carmichael will hurt, but they aren’t irreplaceable.
Only one offensive lineman and all of the linebackers who played last season will return. J.R. Collins and James Gayle are fully capable of taking over for Steven Friday at defensive end and Kwamaine Battle returns from an injury against Boise State.
While Andre Smith was a fantastic tight end, the Hokies haven’t had a problem producing solid TEs and Randall Dunn figures to continue that trend. Kyle Fuller and David Wilson are primed for breakout years and Nick Dew could be a big contributor at the rover position.
It’s just that pesky quarterback position that rightfully has fans worried. Logan Thomas has seen some snaps in game situations and converted a huge third down against Miami on a 24 yard dart.
Thomas not only has outstanding mechanics, but the play call really showed how much confidence the coaches have in him. He likely won’t make people forget about Tyrod in his first season, but the experience of the offensive line, David Wilson and the receivers are sure to ease his transition.
The Schedule
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Looking at Virginia Tech’s schedule for 2011, there isn’t a single game that isn’t winnable.
North Carolina figures to be the toughest of the bunch and will likely be the Thursday night game this season which helps about Tech a lot.
Miami and Boston College are always good for an upset, but they come to Blacksburg this year.
Georgia Tech’s triple option is always a thorn in the Hokies’ side, but they don’t return enough talent to seriously threaten, at least at this point.
Clemson may be good, but Virginia Tech has dismantled them in every game since 1989.
The finalized schedule has yet to be released and Tech could get a couple of tough games back to back, but even that doesn’t seem to terribly difficult. Plus, the ACC has become notorious for placing teams high in the preseason only to fall out shortly after – Virginia Tech hasn’t exactly helped that, but they aren’t the only ones.
Thomas will need some time to develop at quarterback and he'll likely figure it all out.
The Hokies don’t have to play Florida State in the regular season and they figure to be the toughest team in the ACC not located in Blacksburg, VA. A possible championship game rematch sounds like a fantastic game right now, but, again, it’s the ACC.
Until a team outside of Virginia Tech proves it’s a top 15 team, the Hokies should be favored in every game in their regular season.
Parity Throughout the Nation
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A lot of people are talking about Oklahoma heading into 2011 and rightfully so, but there are multiple top 15 teams in every major conference besides the Big East.
The Sooners have to play at Stillwater again this year, get Texas A&M at home and go on the road to Florida State. They are the team most likely to go undefeated in 2011.
Alabama has to replace Greg McElroy and has to get through a tough SEC West and on the road at Penn State. LSU faces a similar problem, but gets more teams on the road and has a huge game against Oregon who loses most of both lines. Stanford loses most of its offensive line and its head coach and Boise State loses its best receivers.
With the top teams all losing big time talent and/or have multiple tough games, the odds are good that there won’t be an undefeated team out of the preseason top ten in 2011.
Without Ryan Williams or Darren Evans, a lot of the pollsters have slated the Hokies somewhere around 15. I would put them around ten because I believe in Logan Thomas and David Wilson–Wilson will be better than C.J. Spiller this year, you heard it here first–but of course my vote doesn’t really matter.
Virginia Tech has the schedule and returning talent to go undefeated which would put them in the top five at the end of the regular season. It only took Oregon six weeks to go from 11th to second in the polls, 14 weeks should be enough to put the Hokies squarely in the national championship talk, assuming they take care of business of course.
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Likely Offensive Coaching Changes
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I got some slack for my midseason article on why Bryan Stinespring needs to go at OC.
Welcome back, everyone, I’ve missed you; the bandwagon started to feel lonely.
The Orange Bowl unequivocally proved that Stinespring is unable to win the big game or make in-game adjustments and Curt Newsome is just an awful offensive line coach.
Stanford and James Madison absolutely embarrassed the Virginia Tech name and may have cost the Hokies some serious recruits like Curtis Grant.
The alumni are fuming and there are some coaches with ties to the program who are currently unemployed.
Rickey Bustle was the offensive coordinator from 1995 to 2001, but hasn’t fared well as a head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette and figures to head the wish list. Kevin Rogers and Ralph Freidgen are other top names that Hokie fans would want to come aboard.
There isn’t a clear cut list for offensive line coach, but anything is a step up from Newsome.
Anyone who watched the Orange Bowl can tell you that Virginia Tech was out-coached. The teams started with similar talent, but that didn’t matter too much in the second half when the Hokies flat out refused to throw a screen or protect Tyrod Taylor or open up a running lane.
The time to make coaching changes is now and a lot of media following the game centered around coaching. The alumni bought one of the best locker rooms in the country. It’s time they bought better offensive coaches.
Bud Foster’s Defense
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As the 2010 National Championship proved, defense doesn’t always win championships, but it does at Virginia Tech.
Bud Foster had to replace seven defensive starters and it showed in 2010. He won’t have nearly as tough a job in 2011.
Roc Carmichael, John Graves, Steven Friday and Davon Morgan are all great players and their leadership will be missed, but their talent is replaceable.
Kwamaine Battle, Barquell Rivers and Eddie Whitley are the likely leaders on defense. Battle can replace Graves, Jay Hosley can replace Carmichael, J.R. Collins can replace Friday and Antone Exum can replace Morgan. Their backups are pretty good as well—look out for Nick Dew, Nick Acree and Kyle Fuller this season.
Barring an injury season like the basketball team has seen, Virginia Tech should have enough returning talent in starters and bench players to return the Hokies to a top ten defense based on pure talent.
With all of these things put together, Virginia Tech could have a special 2011 season.
For more up to date news on Virginia Tech, the ACC and college sports, follow me on Twitter @VT_CaceClosed.
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